The Game Development Process Typical Development Cycle Idea

The Game Development Process

Typical Development Cycle Idea Proposal Design Evaluation Coding Testing Release

The Game Development Process The Game Idea The Game Proposal The Game Design

The Game Design Ü The Game Design Bible Story Gameplay Interface Ü The Art Bible Ü The Software Bible

Evaluation Game Design Evaluation Development

Development Coding and Debugging Testing Release

Typical Development Cycle Idea Proposal Design Evaluation Coding Testing Release

Waterfall Development Cycle Idea Proposal Design Evaluation Coding Testing Release

Spiral Development Cycle Design Coding and Art Start Evaluation Release Testing

Evolutionary Prototyping Proposal Design and initial prototype Refine Prototype Until Acceptable Release

Design to Schedule Idea Proposal Design Evaluation High Priority Code Med High Priority Code Run out of time and money Med Priority Code Med Low Priority Code Release

Game Development Documents Ü Concept Document Ü Game Spec Ü Design Document Ü Story Bible Ü Script Ü Art Bible Ü Storyboards Ü Technical Design Document Ü Schedules and Business/Marketing Documents

Concept Document or Pitch Document or Proposal To sell the game To create a framework for design Generally 10 pages or less. Concept art Can be written by committee, but needs leadership Acts as a springboard

Game Spec – Concept Doc? Ü Overview Ü Entities Ü Players Ü Features Ü Look Ü Rules and Feel Ü Interface Ü Start Up Ü Objectives Ü Gameplay Ü Level Design Ü Technical Requirements Ü Marketing

Design Document Ü Highly Detailed Ü Can be quite large (100+ pages) Ü Should contain all elements not addressed in other documents Ü Is a living document!!!!

A Design Document Construct Ü Table of Contents Ü Introduction/Overview Ü Game Mechanics Ü Artificial Intelligence Ü Game Elements Ü Story Overview Ü Game Progression Ü System Menus

Story Bible Ü Story outline is in design document, the story bible fleshes out the story. Ü Plot and Story Flow Ü Detailed Characterizations Ü Backstory Ü Generally Prose instead of bullets

Script Ü The Dialog that occurs in the game. Ü Tree structure that controls dialog

Art Bible Ü Concept sketches Ü Resources for artist Ü Look and feel Ü Art styles Ü Technical guidelines Ü Generally created by lead artist, not designer.

Storyboards Ü May be part of art bible or standalone. Ü Puts game flow in a visual context Ü Useful to entire team, not just artist

Technical Design Document Ü Sister specification to Art Bible and Game Design Document Ü Discusses how functionality will be implemented. Ü Generally constructed by the lead programmer. Ü May include overall code structure, major classes, rendering architecture, AI design, etc.

Schedules and Business/Marketing Documents Ü Documents necessary for management of project. Ü Generally responsibility of Producer.

Nature of Documentation Ü Must be living documents. Ü Allows communication and direction across the team Ü Can be a trap if misused.