Games GDD!

 What is the GDD for?

A Game Design Document (GDD) is a blueprint for the design and development of a game.

A game design document is a way of being creative and documenting the approach to the development of the game. 

Gonzale (1999) states that “ the important thing is to have something that describes your game project (or any other project for that matter) before jumping into production. Gamasutra 

It should help to plan out your game. Though it is recommended that the GDD should be short it needs to be detailed enough so as game developers and artists can coordinate the development of the game independently whilst still keeping to the design.

Example of a GDD

The GDD is a blueprint for how the game is going to be designed and built, similar to a mind map.

In conclusion, the game design document is vital to making a game and it is important to have in order to describe your game project.

How do we make one?

There are a variety of tools that could be used to create a GDD. These include word processing tools, visual tools like Powerpoint, or new web-based tools such as DunDoc. Each of these tools has their advantages and are a personal choice. Many of the examples shared via the internet are in Microsoft Word format. Romero Games(creators of Doom) favour a more visual tool such as PowerPoint. Whichever tool that is used they should support the development of the game in an open and transparent manner.

Rough Work 

This Game Design Document is important for creating and developing your final project along with recording your ideas. It’s important not only for others to be able to analyse your work but also for your own reflexion. 

Game design documents are important in terms of communicating with your team / game developer. 

A GDD is very important when it comes to designing your game when trying to layout and describe the project you are working on, it also helps you to plan out the future for your project and helps you achieve goals that you wish to succeed within your timeframe set out. It puts you in the right direction for the final product.

In conclusion, the game design document is vital to making a game and it is important to have in order to describe your game project. 

Overall, GDD is one of the most important parts of our game process as it gives us a view of what our game would look like and how it should be played. It also keeps us on track on developing our games. The GDD is a document for your game that helps you to plan out and show your game design in a simple and easy to follow guideline.  

Essentially, the GDD acts as a guide and point of reference for the direction the game project is taking. It is a live document open to change  throughout the development stage but useful nonetheless to give designers and developers a big-picture understanding and description of the game. 

The Game Design Document is there so you can plot your ideas for your game so the gameplay, tools, software etc. and given to a game developer so the game developer knows what exactly want game you want and they make it.

How do we make one?

There are a variety of tools that could be used to create a GDD. These include word processing tools, visual tools like Powerpoint, or new web-based tools such as DunDoc. Each of these tools has their advantages and are a personal choice. Many of the examples shared via the internet are in Microsoft Word format. Romero Games(creators of Doom) favour a more visual tool such as PowerPoint. Whichever tool that is used they should support the development of the game in an open and transparent manner.

Knowing your target demographic is extremely important as it allows you to research other popular game genres and see what worked best for them.  It's this process of gathering relevant research that helps progress your game concepts that allows us as developers to see what is currently popular with the player base and grow from it.

That's it for this blog post!:)