I'll be honest: I've only written about 5 or 6 college GDD's and they were pretty lame by anyone's standards. So me telling you how design a GDD would be hilarious to the professionals, who have websites dedicated to the stuff.
Instead of telling you how to make one, I'm going to go into what a GDD actually is and what it accomplishes. I will also add in some links to websites if you'd like further help in creating the documents themselves.
What is a game design document?
A GDD is a humongous stack of papers that tells everyone on a gaming staff what the game is, how it works, and every single small and large detail incorporated within the game. It's an exhausting document that makes Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace seem like a children's book. Grant you, the less complicated the game, the shorter the GDD. But for large game worlds like Grand Theft Auto or Kingdom Hearts, these documents can be anywhere from 200-1000 pages.
Who is in Charge of Writing it?
This usually depends on the company. The most common way of doing it is to have everyone fill out their own pieces and then the lead designer puts it together and makes it shiny. If there is a technical writer on the staff (which isn't as common as you may think) they usually have a hand in it.
Why do games need such a big friggin document?
If you're a studio of 3 or 4 working in someone's mother's basement making an arcade game, maybe you only need a few pages of memos. But if you are Ubisoft, Square-Enix, or EA Games and employ 100s of people, you're going to need one.
A GDD tells everyone what's going on at any time. If something changes, it's in the GDD. It may not seem like it, but this document saves buttloads of time down the road.
Not only is it important for the developers, but for the publishers as well. They look at the GDD to see if they want to fund the developer or not.
So make sure it doesn't suck.
What does a GDD Cover?
Everything. Seriously. Here's a list of some of the things a GDD covers:
- Why you should play this game
- What sets this game apart from others
- Characters and Controls
- AI and Enemies
- How the World is Set Up
- Storyline
- Graphics and Engines
- Scales and Objects
- Camera and Lighting
- Interface and Sounds
- Weapons, Health, and Special Abilities
- Single Player vs Multiplayer
- Etc
How does the template work?
Depends on the company. There really is no set way of making a GDD except for a few things: First, the beginning pages are the ones that make the readers (AKA publishers) excited about making the game. Second, there is always a well written table of contents. And third, everything about your game is easy to find and well written.
Other Notes
GDDs aren't really meant to be particularly exciting nor creative. They're just a reference for publishers and developers. So if you're a college student and you find writings up GDDs boring, just be grateful yours will only be 5-20 pages instead of 500.
Conclusion
All game companies have GDDs. If you want to be a game designer, you're going to have to learn how to write them well. If you want to become a game writer, it wouldn't hurt to know the strings.
Great Links
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19970912/design_doc.htm
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/specs.htm
http://www.thecorpament.com/the_importance_of_design_docs_in_game_development.html
Templates
www.runawaystudios.com/articles/ctaylordesigntemplate.doc
http://www.cowgodgames.com/articles/designdoctemplate.htm
Examples
https://www.digipen.edu/fileadmin/website_data/gallery/game_websites/Claustrosphere/GDD.pdf
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