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After all even though writing a document might be cheaper than putting a feature through the whole code & art pipeline, it is still nowhere free and needs to yield benefits to be worth the time expense for creating it. Having written your shared team goals and vision is a great help for onboarding new team members. This can even be important after big sections of the game are already playable. Documentation is often seen as the most frustrating and tiresome aspect of game development but it doesn't need to be. When done right it can facilitate communication and collaboration within your team and become a testament to your hard work, a record of all your struggles and victories along the way.
Key Sections within a Game Design Document
Namely, you can follow some of these pro tips on how to make a game design document all-around efficient. Game design documentation plays a crucial role when seeking funding or partnering with publishers. A comprehensive GDD demonstrates professionalism and a clear vision, growing your chances of securing financial support or collaboration opportunities. A well-structured GDD acts as a project management tool, helping developers track progress, set milestones, and manage resources efficiently. It serves as a central document that guides decision-making and prioritization throughout the development lifecycle.
Examples of Game Design Documents
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Start by describing the game’s unique selling points, and point out what might set it apart from other games in the market. Be sure to identify your target audience, because that will help guide many different design decisions. But if you’re starting fresh and aren’t yet sure what you need to include, here are some of the most common sections to write first.
Rule #3: Make it visual
All of these are variables that might be raised, lowered, and otherwise adjusted to make an experience more appealing and responsive. These can be their own section or embedded into the Gameplay section. Role-playing games are incredibly complex in their story for each individual player, so GDDs mostly aim to document the key directions that the story can take without each individual path being outlined. For example, a character can be described as turning to the dark side, staying neutral, or following the light with the appropriate consequences listed instead of a path defined for each unique choice they make. If the outcome of user choices cannot be divided into a few options, the GDD will just allude to individualized results with the dev team having more specific insights. Slot games tend to be simpler to make than traditional games, but feature a lot more UI elements – cards, symbols, reels, VFX, and other elements.
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By following the steps and writing some key sections, you’ll start building a solid foundation for your game’s development. If you’re looking for a way to jump start your game design document, start by copying and pasting this outline into a blank Word or Google Doc. As you write, feel free to change or reorganize the structure as the needs of your unique game become more clear. Remember, there is no one “right way” to write and develop a game design document. But if you’re looking for ideas on how you might go about it, here are some steps to think about as you get started.
The game design document's role in capturing these early-stage plans cannot be overstated. It ensures all team members understand the game's visual and interactive components from the outset. As the game design process advances, this document becomes a critical reference point, ensuring that the game's aesthetic aligns with the overall vision and gameplay experience.
Detailing the game's mechanics, story, art style, and more ensures that every aspect of the game meets the desired level of quality. A well-prepared design document facilitates clear and consistent communication among team members. It acts as a central repository of information, which can be referenced by anyone on the team, thus reducing misunderstandings and ensuring that everyone is on the same page.
How to Write a Game Design Document (GDD)
GDD serves as a common reference point for the entire development team, ensuring everyone is on the same page regarding the game’s vision, mechanics, and overall direction. It minimizes misinterpretations and fosters effective collaboration. The vast and peculiar realm of game development is riddled with standards, specifics, and baselines that drive the creation of any product worthy of the end-user’s attention. But no project takeaways are as valued as a clear vision and organized plan. Finally, collect visual references that will help bring it to life.
Game development is an iterative process, and GDD facilitates it by providing a foundation to review and refine design decisions. It allows developers to identify and address potential issues early on, saving time and resources in the long run. While this is a longer example, the Deus Ex GDD has been analyzed and discussed online and by the original development team extensively and offers many insights into the GDD writing process. This article describes some different GDD formats and goes into detail about how to write a one-page GDD, an idea put forth by Stone Librande in a GDC talk about Diablo III. There are many other examples you can use to get started – below are links to a few of them.
A story summary is a brief overview of the story your game follows. Every game has a story, even if that's more of an abstract description in the case of art or puzzle games. Whether you're working alone or on a team, having thoughts exist in hard-copy formats outside of our individual heads is useful.
Considering what a potential publisher might want to know about your project can help you to make your design or pitch documents much more effective. Which can be extremely useful, as the process of writing down and describing part of your game can force you to decide exactly how it’s going to work. One solution is to write a Game Design Document, which is typically a detailed guide that describes what your game is and how it will work.
The GDD serves as a foundation for the entire game development process. It articulates the game's concept, objectives, and overarching vision, ensuring every team member understands the project's goals and direction. This clarity is essential in maintaining a cohesive approach to game design and development.
There will always be ways to improve your game and its important to get those thoughts out of your head and onto paper, even if there isn't always time or aren't always resources to implement them. I prefer to keep this as its own document and then transfer ideas over once the team agrees to them, but this section can find a home inside the GDD as well. The queue is for resolving inconsistencies in more finalized designs while the idea dump is for tracking unfinalized designs. With a GDD, the development process becomes more structured and streamlined. Each development phase can be planned and executed with reference to the document, leading to a more organized approach and timely completion of tasks.
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