Games GDD

 

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What is a game design document?

I'm still learning a lot about game design as we progress through this module, so learning about game design documents this week was quite interesting. I read this article by Lennart Nacke about what game design documents are and also some rules to follow to create a good game design document.

Game design documents have two main purposes, for memory aid and also they're a communication tool. They mostly help us in defining how a game will work in detail and also how to communicate with other people on your team, that help create these games, on how you plan to develop the game.

Some rules for creating a good game design document would be to know your target, just so you know what needs you are dealing with while creating the game. To keep the game design document short, just so its straight to the point and easy to read, wastes less time. And also to use clear terminology, you don't want people to be confused about what they're reading.

Another article I read was more on how to write a good game design document written by Leandro Gonzales. He speaks about how they don't create a document that evolves during the development of the game, rather they create a game design document that is used to help the team get up to speed about what is going on. Since I'm creating this game alone I don't think this kind of method would be useful to me because there is no one that needs help catching up to what I am doing, rather I need a game design document that lays out all the mechanics and techniques I plan to use within my game.

I also watched a video that helped with using a game design document and it was very useful for me to watch. I think these two articles and the video will really help me when it comes to creating my game design document.