After you make a storyboard, you have a basic idea of the game. But, you can't start developing the game just yet, you have to resolve some discrepancies and inconsistencies with your ideal game. This is where the Game Design Document, or GDD, comes into play. The GDD tells anybody, developers or anybody not associated with the game, what the (initial) idea is for the game, in full detail. The full detail is very important, everything from what type of mechanics and features are in the game, to demographics and specific releases, it is the "hard and fast rules" when it comes to designing games. There are two types of GDDs, full 500 page bricks of paper that go into very fine detail of what the game will become, or one page visual pieces that are easier to follow. These are important since you need a game to be focused, to avoid any unnecessary or really out of place features. It's just as Mr. Bourgeois says, "if it isn't in the GDD, it probably won't make it into the game." After you make the Game Design Document, you need a prototype, a pen and paper example of how your game is truly going to play out. It's sorta like a storyboard, but you can physically go out and "play" it. The level is drawn on paper, and important mechanics are represented by some type of piece, it could be anything small enough to associate with in game items or characters. This is really important, as it can make sure you resolve any problems you could have with player interactions, since you have a guinea pig to test whether players will act well with the idea. These are the last steps until the game goes into development, after the Post Mortem, a reflection on what worked or what didn't work in your process. The Game Design Document Made From The previous Steps
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An important part of starting the game making process is making some way to show how to put a game together correctly. But, explaining concepts to people is really, really hard without being eloquent, and that's only for what the basic premise is. One of the best ways to really communicate your idea is to have an image, or images, made to show the idea. Concept art is that image made and is small scale and simplistic, as to get the point across. Since dwelling on the first design too much will be a detriment to development, it will most likely change in some way and is only done to get what you want into someone's head, since a picture IS worth a lot of words. But, how do you put together a convincing, and provoking handful of small sketches? A good idea is a mood board, which is a group of images that you can take inspiration from. These images could be anything, from other artwork, to paintings, or even other video games, that all show some snapshot of your idea. The most important aspect to keep in mind is that you can't make a mood board just about one thing, if you're making a 7th generation realistic shoot-y shoot military game, you can't put a bunch of guns and serious looking marines in your mood board. Put some different spin on the idea, is it really graphic and gory? is it going to be really, really serious, really, really dull, or both? Use images to show whichever it is. The second thing to remember is to have multiple aspects in mind, like what colors you'll use, what type of attitude your game has, and what characters look and act like. Each of which has a group to represent aspects, with their own different images, divide and conquer the mood board to show your idea with the most clarity. Now that your group knows what the heck you are making, you can now start an example to really seal the deal, a storyboard. A storyboard is like the game is being played, but in different steps to show the pace and thinking a player would take. Storyboards are the "my mind is made up it will be like this" example you will base the game off of, until the Game Design Document of course, which is primarily based off the storyboard. So, make sure to make it have the aspects of concept art you made. The first steps of game design are a natural path to your GDD, from the mood board, to the storyboard, your game's premise is important to pin down, to avoid complications in your true game development. Character Mood Board Character Sketches Storyboard
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JamesHe aspires to be a game designer, let's just hope he gets there. He also happens to goes to DSA. Categories
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