Game development is a very complex and multifaceted process that involves numerous people working together to craft an interactive and immersive product. At the heart of this creative process lies a crucial piece that serves as the blueprint for the entire game: the Game Design Document (GDD). In this blog post, we’ll delve deep into the world of GDDs, exploring what they are, why they are essential, and how they shape the gaming industry.
What is a Game Design Document?
A Game Design Document, short GDD, is a comprehensive document that outlines every aspect of a video game’s design, development, and game play. It serves as a reference point for the entire development team, including designers, programmers, artists, and sound engineers. This document ensures that everyone is on the same page throughout the game’s production cycle and also functions as a documentation of the project.
It also serves as a good foundation if you want to pitch your idea to potential investors and stakeholders to give them a better insight of what you plan to do. Keep in mind that if you plan to use it for a proposal that you need to put in a lot more effort into the marketing and financial sector which usually isn’t necessary if you only use it to outline and manifest your game project.
What are the components of a GDD?
The GDD typically is a detailed guide for everyone that can be used to track core themes, styles, features, mechanics and ideas for your video game.
Here are some of the basic elements the average Game Design Document might include:
- Concept & Overview
- Game Mechanics
- Story & Narrative
- Characters & Entities
- Levels & Environments
- Art & Visuals
- Sound & Music
- User Interface (UI)
- Technical Specifications
- Progression & Balancing
- Target platform & target audience
- Similar games & genres
- Development timeline & major milestone
Every GDD looks different depending on the studio and the needs of their project so make sure to craft the topics in a GDD around your game.
Evolution of Game Design Documents
As stated above a GDD is a vital part of your project because it serves as a general outline for what you and your team want to achieve. These documents used to be hundreds of pages long & very detailed to cover every possible detail of the game which often made them hard to navigate and hardly anyone bothered to read through all of it.
Thankfully Game Design Documents have evolved over the years and instead of a heavy file with endless chapters in it, they have become Game Design Wikis.
A wiki is an online database of information that can be managed and edited by multiple users. It’s easy to navigate, easy to update, has high accessibility and provides information in smaller and often more visual bits & pieces.
The only flaw with that system is that it often doesn’t properly explain the relationship between different parts which is why many studios use a combination of database and management tools to communicate their ideas. Those systems are commonly known as collaborative design tools like Nuclino, Trello, Notion and more.
Why is a Game Design Document so important?
There are multiple reasons why you should consider writing a GDD, even if you’re the only one working on the game. It gets the thought out of your head and onto paper which forces you to actively think about it while also documenting your different ideas for the future.
If you’re working in a team it provides clarity and consistency, reduces misunderstandings and miscommunications and also provides a clear vision for the game. This helps you to increase both the efficiency of your development and the effectiveness of collaborations between the teams.
You can create an overview of the game while also scoping the expenses of the project to better avoid delays and budget overruns. It also helps Quality Assurance by serving as a benchmark for testing and ensuring that the final product aligns with the original vision.
Also don’t be afraid to diversify from your original plan. Sometimes things sound good in theory but won’t work out during development or maybe you stumble across something new while making your game. A GDD is just a guideline and if the opportunity arises for your team to improve your original plan, go for it.
All in all you’ll be fine if you don’t have a Game Design Documentation but it definitely increases your productivity and reduces the risks of failures. Try experimenting with your own GDD and let us know what you’ve come up with in the comments down below!
If you liked this article and you want to know more about Game Design, click here:
What is Game Design? – The Art of Video Game Creation
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