Communication and the Design Document
Contents of a Design Document
- overview and vision statement
- marketing and legal information
- gameplay
- characters (if applicable)
- story (if applicable)
- world (if applicable)
- media list
Sample Table of Contents
NAME OF GAME 1
DESIGN HISTORY 5
VERSION 1.10 5
VERSION 2.00 5
VERSION 2.10 5
GAME OVERVIEW 6
PHILOSOPHY 6
Philosophical point #1 6
Philosophical point #2 6
Philosophical point #3 6
COMMON QUESTIONS 6
What is the game? 6
Why create this game? 6
Where does the game take place? 6
What do I control? 6
How many characters do I control? 6
What is the main focus? 6
What's different? 7
FEATURE SET 8
GENERAL FEATURES 8
MULTI-PLAYER FEATURES 8
EDITOR 8
GAME PLAY 8
THE GAME WORLD 9
OVERVIEW 9
WORLD FEATURE #1 9
WORLD FEATURE #2 9
THE PHYSICAL WORLD 9
|
Overview 9
Key Locations 9
Travel 9
Scale 9
Objects 9
Weather 9
Day and Night 9
Time 10
RENDERING SYSTEM 10
Overview 10
2D/3D Rendering 10
CAMERA 10
Overview 10
Camera Detail #1 10
Camera Detail #2 10
GAME ENGINE 10
Overview 10
Game Engine Detail #1 10
Water 10
Collision Detection 10
LIGHTING MODELS 11
Overview 11
Lighting Model Detail #1 11
Lighting Model Detail #2 11
THE WORLD LAYOUT 12
OVERVIEW 12
WORLD LAYOUT DETAIL #1 12
WORLD LAYOUT DETAIL #2 12
GAME CHARACTERS 13
OVERVIEW 13
CREATING A CHARACTER 13
ENEMIES AND MONSTERS 13
USER INTERFACE 14
OVERVIEW 14
USER INTERFACE DETAIL #1 14
USER INTERFACE DETAIL #2 14
WEAPONS 15
OVERVIEW 15
WEAPONS DETAILS #1 15
WEAPONS DETAILS #2 15
MUSICAL SCORES AND SOUND EFFECTS 16
OVERVIEW 16
RED BOOK AUDIO 16
3D SOUND 16
SOUND DESIGN 16
SINGLE PLAYER GAME 17
OVERVIEW 17
SINGLE PLAYER GAME DETAIL #1 17
SINGLE PLAYER GAME DETAIL #2 17
STORY 17
HOURS OF GAME-PLAY 17
VICTORY CONDITIONS 17
MULTI-PLAYER GAME 18
OVERVIEW 18
MAX PLAYERS 18
SERVERS 18
CUSTOMIZATION 18
INTERNET 18
GAMING SITES 18
PERSISTENCE 18
SAVING AND LOADING 18
CHARACTER RENDERING 19
OVERVIEW 19
CHARACTER RENDERING DETAIL #1 19
CHARACTER RENDERING DETAIL #2 19
WORLD EDITING 20
OVERVIEW 20
WORLD EDITING DETAIL #1 20
WORLD EDITING DETAIL #2 20
|
EXTRA MISCELLANEOUS STUFF 21
OVERVIEW 21
JUNK I AM WORKING ON… 21
"XYZ APPENDIX" 22
"OBJECTS APPENDIX" 22
"USER INTERFACE APPENDIX" 22
"NETWORKING APPENDIX" 22
"CHARACTER RENDERING AND ANIMATION APPENDIX" 22
"STORY APPENDIX" 22
|
Writing the design document
- game flowchart
- paper prototype
- breakdown of tasks
Flowcharts and wireframes
- pass one: outline levels
- pass two: describe each level
- pass three: map each level
- pass four: fill each level with content
Using the game document
- keep it current
- internal web page
- weekly update schedule
- email list
Excersises
Research a Document
Create a Flowchart
Create a Table of Contents
Flesh out the Document
Reading Assignment
Review: The Design Document