CollaborationHow to play well with others

Collaboration

● Working with a team is hard

● Everyone needs to:

o have the same vision

o know what they are in charge of doing

o have a task to work on

o know who to ask for direction

o know where to store the code (svn, github, etc.)

● How can we accomplish this effectively?

Game Design Document

What is a Game Design Doc

● “A GDD must teach everyone who reads it how the

game that you’re talking about works.”

● “In order to do this, you need to explain not just the

mechanics, but also how the game’s objects

(characters, enemies, puzzles, weapons, environment,

and so on) interact with each other, what your game is

about, and how it looks.”

What a GDD Looks Like

Parts of a GDD

● Introduction

o Concept

o Summary

o Features / ideas

● Gameplay

o First 5 minutes

o Gameflow

o Victor conditions

● Art / Sound

● Game Specific

Introduction

Concept

● Acts as the introduction to the GDD

● Should briefly introduce what the game is about

● Think of it as the high level concept of your game

● Guidelines:

o 1 or 2 paragraphs max

o Avoid any technical aspects or details about the

game

Summary

● Detailed description of the game

● Describe

o Core mechanics

o Secondary mechanics

o Player progression and goals

o Game narrative / setting

Features / Ideas

● Keep a running list of all the neat ideas and features

you would love to put into the game that would make it

great

● Best to do this as a bulleted list

● Rank each feature / idea

Gameplay

First 5 Minutes

● Describe what the game looks / feels like as soon as it

loads up

● Describe

o What the player is shown

o How the player knows what to do

o What information is presented to the player

o How the player interacts with the game

o Etc.

Gameflow

● Diagram how the player progresses through the game

● A flow chart is often used

Victory Conditions

● Describe how the player wins / losses

Art / Sounds

Art

● Describe what you will need art for (characters, menu

screens, buttons, etc.)

● Describe the HUD

● Show

o Examples of what the interface or graphics could

look like (for inspiration)

o Sketches

Sound

● Describe what you will need sound for (background

music, effects, etc.)

● Describe what style of sounds you are looking for

Technical Aspects

Game Specific

● Controls

● Level Design

● Enemies

● Plot

● Characters

● AI

● Code repository

Credit

● http://gamedev.tutsplus.com/tutorials/business/git-and-

github-for-game-developers/

● http://gamedev.tutsplus.com/tutorials/business/around-

the-world-making-international-collaborations-work/

● http://hub.tutsplus.com/articles/effectively-organize-

your-games-development-with-a-game-design-

document--active-10140

● http://gamedev.tutsplus.com/articles/business-

articles/working-with-other-gamedevs/

Additional Reading/Viewing

● http://gamedev.tutsplus.com/tutorials/game-design/the-

many-ways-to-show-the-player-how-its-done-with-in-

game-tutorials/

● Extra Credits: Tutorials

101https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCPcn-Q5nKE

● Extra Credits: Starting Off

Righthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFU4tjMndi4