Developing a Game Design Document for Indie Game Teams

This paper focuses on the development of a Game Design Document (GDD) model tailored for indie game development teams and small projects. It identifies key features of an effective GDD through research in software engineering, game design, and the indie game development environment. The proposed GDD model emphasizes simplicity, utilizing minimal text and incorporating numerous figures to prevent monotonous reading, while still aligning with the needs of its target audience. The paper evaluates existing game documentation and proposes a streamlined GDD that prioritizes the game's overall goals, rather than detailing implementation. The paper also discusses the importance of game play testing in validating the game design and ensuring a positive player experience. The conclusion highlights that the GDD should describe the experiences the game will offer to the player. The model is intended to be validated by game developers through reading the GDD and then playing a game based on it.

Game Design Document
Abstract

This paper aims the particular model of game design record (GDD) as the
particular device for indie games advancement teams and small tasks. The
features of the suggested Game Design Document had been identified from
researches plus analysis about software anatomist, game design and the
video game development environment by indie teams. The features
suggested to the model of GDD had been then used to make a good analysis
and an evaluation from the different documentation about online games
found on the web. Assuming that considerable amounts of documentation do
not necessarily properly adequate to the fact of indie games advancement
and small projects, an auto DVD unit of GDD was created plus matured on
multiple ways of this ongoing work. The particular proposed model is simple,
utilizes only a few texts and concentrates on the overall game so that the
GDD can be considered a source of a set of targets to be attained by the
online game and do not describe how to get these types of goals. The total
result is really a smaller and simpler to realize game design document,
numerous figures in order to prevent monotonous reading, while keeping this
in accordance with the real features of this particular article’s target
audience. At this point we are working to validate this particular model with
some small groups, by asking some sport developers to read the particular
suggested GDD, play the game produced by the game designer then. Finally,
the target game developer floods a form about the read suggested GDD and
the game play encounter expected by them.

INTRODUCTION
Over the full many years the particular games industry is increasing, using
new technologies plus reaching new target viewers. In the scenario of the
online games development, sometimes professionals through numerous
areas work in exactly the same product with thorough plus large
documentation. This fact it is certainly not a good solution to get indie teams
and little projects that often change. Celebrate many documents to an item
that changes a lot which has decisions that will be verified after tests with
customers makes hard the process of up-date the documentation. When
people enjoy games, they have an experience [6], and this experience is
known as game play. Game play is the function of digital games which make
it different others software program. An application for the supermarket one
example is can be made to manage supply but, for games the particular
game play not can straight be made. Game design will be the act of deciding
exactly what the game should be. That is it. On the surface, it sounds as well
simple [6], nevertheless, is not too simple since the game designer has to
look for a means to use the game relationships to give the good encounter to
the player
ONLINE GAME DESIGN AND SOFTWARE ANATOMIST
Game design is the region that focuses on experience that this game gives
the player. On the book, Salem and Zimmerman [5] declare that game
designers define guidelines and structures to create an experience for
gamers (game play). Digital games are software program with many special
features which makes wrong the conventional software anatomist. According
to Zimmerman and Salem [5], the game play cannot be calculated, have to
be resided. On his book, Somerville [8] says how the software is specified
from the providers and restrictions about the procedure and development of
system. Somerville [8] furthermore state that software is authenticated when
confirmed that it really is according with the particular standards. About

games, the specs have to offer a good experience in order to player and
these experiences is going to be validated just one game play tests, which
makes a game style focused on game play tests essential.
RELATED WORK
Through initial it was enough to know the overall game mechanics and how
to player interacts with the game. Over time a lot more things have been
additional and the 90's with the brand new film games, appeared the
particular 3D games, characters along with facial expressions and
complicated songs in games [7]. Explain all these points to the developer
team which will develop the game in a way that offers a good game play is a
challenge in order to game designers. A number of functions focus on game
design procedure and game development to assist the united teams in order
to develop a game. In their function, Motta and show the particular short
game design record (SGDD) as the textual content tool to clarify little games.
The SGDD can be utilized in situations such as sport jams, prototype for
checks, game development classes plus small projects as a great averages
and casual video games. The SGDD describes the overall game using user
tales along with rules, interactions, achievement problems, defeat conditions
and contains a listing of assets to be used in the game. The particular short
game design record offers a tool to describe the overall game with little
documentation regarding cases where development needs to happen
quickly.
Game Style Document Features
This function was influenced by Motta and Almeida plus Silva in features to
offer a document. One discussion about software engineering plus game
design and the particular research about indie online game development
environment were designed to get a list of requirements regarding the game
design record. Then, an analysis plus a great evaluation of 10 GDDs found on
internet have been made. All the game had been influenced by these steps

style document model proposed. Additionally, the indie game advancement
atmosphere was considered to establish a game title design document most
sufficient to the case. Some features like many modifications throughout the
development, small teams, much better integration of all united group and a
lack of deadlines affected the proposed model. Consequently, the proposed
document offers less text and more pictures where these images displays
some concepts of mechanic, user others, interactions, entities and interface.
When something is not really precise, the game designer should conceal how
the game has to be to find the game play, and describe exactly what feelings
the game has to complete to the player. After this, the team will have to
discover a way to make the game pass the knowledge and feelings to the
gamer. This really is important because the game play changes a few times.
CONCLUSIONS
This particular work concluded that the game style document should not
really already been seen as the document that will describes how the game
is to player, it should be seen as the particular document that describe the
particular experiences which the game will offer to the player. Additional
important summary is that the video game should be seen as done once the
customers experiences are authenticated on game play tests, it seems
sensible with the conversations about the function of game designers simply
because they not create a game in order to users, they create encounters
through the games. Do a great deal of documentation to a product that will
changes frequently provides lots of energy to make and up-date a document
that the programmers usually not read. Thinking about these types of points,
was proposed the design template of a small GDD that is not need to update
a great deal because it describes the encounters. The proposed game style
document uses few text messages and many images to show the overall
game information.

REFERENCES
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Exploration into the Contexto of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing
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