Table of Contents

Design Document

This part of the process has yet to start.

Story

This should be a separate document that is as complete as possible.

Intro

This is the opening scene of the game, whether it is a movie, splash screen, or a flash of the title. Be as descriptive as possible and supply a story board when necessary.

This is the upfront and in-game menu system. Be as detailed as possible with concept art and font types.

Controls

Describe in detail how the control system will work and how the user can change it.

Sounds

Describe the background music and event sounds that will need to be created. Also, discuss any voice acting that needs to take place.

Camera View

This is the in-game camera view. Identify where it is to be placed: first person, second person, third person, or side. Also, describe how the camera moves within the environment.

Engine

Describe each of the characteristics about the game engine or provide an assessment of a few game engines based on the following:

http://www.devmaster.net/engines/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_engines

Heavy Reading

Action

Main Character

Character Action Images

A Full Character Action Sheet

Enemies

Levels

Game Level Design Definition

Mario Level Map

Sonic Level Map

Weapons

RPGs

Character Growth

Statistics

Combat

Adventure

Story

The story is everything

Puzzles

Identify the location of the puzzles within the story. Also, describe the puzzles indepth.

Exploration

Go into detail about where and what the player can do in each area. Is it a linear area or can you just wander around? The more they can wander the better.

Strategy

Resources

Identify all the resources available to the player. Also, try and set an idea of how much (this will be tweaked over the development of the game). The resources are everything in the game from guys to gold.

Teams

How many are there and what style of game play do they employ.

Units and Weapons

Describe all the units and or weapons that will be used in the game. Be as detailed as possible.

Artificial Intelligence

At a minimum describe how the AI should behave. This piece is more for the expert to go into great detail. Work with the expert closely to get a good design.

Testing

For a strategy game, testing will be part of the development more so than the other genres. Take this into account and go into some detail as to how it will be worked into the development cycle.

Missions

Describe all the missions within the game. Also, include the mission objectives for each mission.

Simulations

Decide if this will be a identical replica of the real world or if it will be something that's familiar to the real world but is not technically accurate.

Physics

If this is a replica then technical manuals will need to be reference. If this will be the latter then describe how the physics will be close to the real world.

Sports

Rules

Cite the rules.

Roles

Identify which roles the player will be. Will he be a single athlete amongst AI or will he be coaching the team?

Licenses

This section maybe included in other genres but it is most prevalent in sports. You need to decide if there will be any licensing. If so, be sure what is licensed and what is not. Anything is licensable, for instance a signature move could be licensed.

Character Movement

How will this be done? Will you use motion capture or a highly skilled animator?

Fighting Games

Characters

Identify the characters.

Fighting Style

Describe in detail what moves the character has and describe what button sequence initiates the moves.

Look

Does the character have a weapon? Do they wear clothes?

Casual

They are simple games keep it that way.

God Games

Describe all the things a player can do in this world in detail.

Artificial Intelligence

As stated above, work with the expert in the field to accomplish what you want.

Educational Games

What is the player to learn by the end of the game. Describe the game in detail.

Puzzle Games

Describe all the puzzles in the game. Or if it is one algorithm that creates each level, describe the algorithm. Also describe or create concept art for the look of the game.

Massive Multi Online Games

This is an addition to one of the previously mentioned genres. The components that make it online is the communication infrastructure for the clients and servers to talk.

Server

Describe what the server will store and process.

Client

Describe what the client needs to display the game. Will there be in game chat?

Packets

What data needs to be transmitted between the client and server. Try to keep this as small as possible.

Interface

The interface will need to contain a piece to find games and or other players.

External Game Elements

Most of these elements will have their own design documents.