Bethke, Chapter 8: The Games Design Document

The games design document in short details all the information about the game. It can be a more fleshed out version of the skeleton games concept that it was before in the initial stages. This should also outline to all the team members what features need to be implemented for the game.

The Games design document is part of a suite of documents, which include:

· Proposal document
· Art design document
· Technical design document
· Project schedule
· Software testing plan
· Risk mitigation plan

Within i the design document are various sections:

· Section 1: defining the game

Bethke, Chapter 7: Key Design Elements

Key design elements are:

· The business context is important as is the design shape, both are used to refine each other after each stage.

· Finance is also a big factor, which determines to what detail the game can be designed to.

· The design of the whole game will be based on a concise games concept.

· The theoretical games design.

· The technical design side of it.

· The software and approach used for the actual implementation.

· Appropriate prototypes.

· The games development teams i.e. the programmers, animators, actors etc.

· User requirements. This needs to be captured so that the game is user orientated.

· Brainstorming the features of the game by doing use case diagrams.