Saturday, January 20, 2018

How to describe your own videogame? It's easy, use this free Game Design Document (GDD Template)

Hi game devs that are reading this blog! 
We want to share here a very good and useful document! It's the template of a Game design document (GDD) used by Devs to show their Games and their features. It is a highly descriptive living design document of the design for a video game.

A game design document may be made of text, images, diagrams, concept art, or any applicable media to better illustrate design decisions. Some design documents may include functional prototypes or a chosen game engine for some sections of the game. 

Here it's an example or better, a template, to use to describe your own game. It's made and share by Benjamin “HeadClot” Stanley.


<Your Game Name Here>

<Your Company Logo Here>
  
Revision: 0.0.0





Overview


Theme / Setting / Genre

         - <Insert Theme here>

Core Gameplay Mechanics Brief

         - <Gameplay Mechanic #1>
         - <Gameplay Mechanic #2>
         - <Gameplay Mechanic #3>
         - <Gameplay Mechanic #4>

Targeted platforms

         - <Example Platform #1 Here>
         - <Example Platform #2 Here>
         - <Example Platform #3 Here>

Monetization model (Brief/Document)

- <Monetization Type> (Premium, Paid Alpha/Beta/Final, Ad Driven, Micro-transactions, Subscription, etc.)
         - <Link to Monetization Document>
(How do you plan to monetize the game?)


Project Scope

         - <Game Time Scale>
                   - Cost? (How much will it cost?)
- Time Scale (How long will it take to make this game?)
- <Team Size>
         - <Core Team>
                   - Team Member name?
                            - What does he/she do?
                            - <Cost to employ them full time or part time>
                   - etc.
(List as many core team members as you need to)
- <Marketing Team>
                   - Team Member name?
                            - What does he/she do?
                            - <Cost to employ them full time or part time>
                   - Etc.
(List as many marketing team members as you need to)
         - <Licenses / Hardware / Other Costs>
         - <Total Costs with breakdown>




Influences (Brief)

         - <Influence #1>

                   - <Medium> (Television, Games, Literature, Movies, etc.)
- /Explain why this is an influence in 1 Paragraph or less/

         - <Influence #2>

                   - <Medium> (Television, Games, Literature, Movies, etc.)
                   - /Explain Why in 1 Paragraph or less/
- /Explain why this is an influence in 1 Paragraph or less/

         - <Influence #3>

                   - <Medium> (Television, Games, Literature, Movies, etc.)
- /Explain why this is an influence in 1 Paragraph or less/

         - <Influence #4>

                   - <Medium> (Television, Games, Literature, Movies, etc.)
                   - /Explain Why in 1 Paragraph or less/
- /Explain why this is an influence in 1 Paragraph or less/

The elevator Pitch

<A one sentence pitch for your game.>
Pretend that your were pitching your game to a executive going to the elevator. You have less than 60 Seconds.

Project Description (Brief):


<Two Paragraphs at least>
<No more than three paragraphs>
  

Project Description (Detailed)


<Four Paragraphs or more If needs be>
<No more than six paragraphs>

What sets this project apart?

         - <Reason #1>
         - <Reason #2>
         - <Reason #3>
         - <Reason #4>
         - <etc.>

Core Gameplay Mechanics (Detailed)

         - <Core Gameplay Mechanic #1>

                   - <Details>
                            /Describe in 2 Paragraphs or less/
                   - <How it works>
                            /Describe in 2 Paragraphs or less/

         - <Core Gameplay Mechanic #2>

                   - <Details>
                            /Describe in 2 Paragraphs or less/
                   - <How it works>
                            /Describe in 2 Paragraphs or less/

         - <Core Gameplay Mechanic #3>

                   - <Details>
                            /Describe in 2 Paragraphs or less/
                   - <How it works>
                            /Describe in 2 Paragraphs or less/

         - <Core Gameplay Mechanic #4>

                   - <Details>
                            /Describe in 2 Paragraphs or less/
                   - <How it works>
                            /Describe in 2 Paragraphs or less/

Story and Gameplay


Story (Brief)


<The Summary or TL;DR version of below>

Story (Detailed)


<Go into as much detail as needs be>
<Spare no detail>
<Use Mind Mapping software to get your point across>

Gameplay (Brief)

<The Summary version of below>

Gameplay (Detailed)

<Go into as much detail as needs be>
<Spare no detail>
<Combine this with the game mechanics section above>


Assets Needed


- 2D

         - Textures
                   - Environment Textures
         - Heightmap data (If applicable)
                   - List required data required - Example: DEM data of the entire UK.
         - Etc.

- 3D

         - Characters List
                   - Character #1
                   - Character #2
                   - Character #3
                   - etc.
         - Environmental Art Lists
                   - Example #1
                   - Example #2
                   - Example #3
                   - etc.

- Sound

         - Sound List (Ambient)
                   - Outside
                            - Level 1
                            - Level 2
                            - Level 3
                            - etc.
                   - Inside
                            - Level 1
                            - Level 2
                            - Level 3
                            - etc.


- Sound List (Player)
                   - Character Movement Sound List
                            - Example 1
                            - Example 2
- etc.
                   - Character Hit / Collision Sound list
- Example 1
                            - Example 2
- etc.
                   - Character on Injured / Death sound list
                            - Example 1
                            - Example 2
                            - etc.

- Code

         - Character Scripts (Player Pawn/Player Controller)
         - Ambient Scripts (Runs in the background)
         - Example
- NPC Scripts
         - Example
         - etc.

- Animation

         - Environment Animations
                   - Example
                   - etc.
         - Character Animations
                   - Player
- Example
- etc.
                   - NPC
                            - Example
                            - etc.

Schedule

         - <Object #1>

                        - Time Scale
                            - Milestone 1
                            - Milestone 2
                            - Etc.

         - <Object #2>

                        - Time Scale
                            - Milestone 1
                            - Milestone 2
                            - Etc.

         - <Object #3>

                        - Time Scale
                            - Milestone 1
                            - Milestone 2
                            - Etc.

         - <Object #4>

                        - Time Scale
                            - Milestone 1
                            - Milestone 2
                            - Etc.




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