Game Design Documents
Summary
One of the most important sections of this site is the Game Concepts section. In it, I try to make a game design document for the game ideas I have. A struggle I’ve come across is…
What exactly is a game design document?
Generally speaking, the type of document I am trying to create is a document that gives you a good idea of the features and game loops of a game, ideally it should also include an idea of the visual style and feeling of the game as well. These documents should be helpful to developers that intend to make the game, as they’d give an idea of the scope.
What does a game design document look like?
It’s tempting to use a template for a design document, and I think that gives a really good starting point, however that’s unlike what I’ve found when looking at finished design documents. In finished GDDs I’ve seen, the style and flow of them has varied wildly, some carefully tuned to evoke the same feeling the game its describing should feel. Others can feel a bit more dry, reading more like a product requirements document.
Examples of Game Design Documents
#TODO I’d like to do a bit of an analysis of these documents, and find out what they thought was critical, and how much really lead into the final game.
Diablo
Grand Theft Auto
Planescape: Torment
Claw
DOOM
Other resources
- This Reddit Post asks for game design documents, and has been my primary source for the design documents linked here.
- gamedocs.org has quite a lot of documents listed, and a separate section for pitches!
Call to action!
Are you working on an indie game? Do you have a design document? Let me know! I’m very interested in gathering information on this topic, and it truly feels like there’s no one right way to do it, so I’m interested in seeing everyone’s opinion on this.