CS 134 Design Documents

Any Requests for the Flexi-Lectures?

Team projects start NEXT CLASS! Team Game Project Team projects start NEXT CLASS!

Problems with Team Projects Communication is an O(n^2) problem Everyone may have a different vision Programming is not parallelizable

Problems with Game Projects “Fun” is not well understood Development is also animation, world, enemies, rewards, pacing, story, and more Non-programmers need the engine to do their work

End Result End Result

End Result End Result The whole notion of "Columbia" was created halfway through development. Elizabeth AI was extremely not fun one year before the game launched Irrational spent four years working on multiplayer... then cut it from the game Brought in Jordan Thomas in 2012 to get the game done And all this is pretty normal.

Why? Really big teams! No clear vision! Iteration on iteration on iteration Development of games can be quality based or deadline based, YOU MUST CHOOSE ONE!

Design Documents Create a specific vision Communicate how you will do something Identify potential issues sooner Prototyping (hopefully without code)

Types of Design Documents Tech Design Document Level Design Document Art Design Document Reward Design Document Monetization Design Document Etc.... For this class, just focus on the “why”, “what” and “how”

Why – the Pitch Sell others (and yourself) on the design When working in a studio, used to get funding / convice others to work with you Should be EXTREMELY short Under 10 pages in real companies One paragraphs for this class Sections: High Concept Project Overview

Why – the Pitch High Concept A one or two sentence description of what the game is about. Project Overview Expands on the High Concept to describe details of how the game will function

What – the GDD Solidify the design for the game Don't need to specify everything Game can change during dev (but you don't have much time for that) Sections: Game Mechanics User Interface Storyline (if important) Level flow (or full example levels)

What – the GDD Game Mechanics Everything the player can do and how he interacts with the world. Think about moment to moment and level to level flow User Interface A mock up of how the game will look and how the player will control themselves.

What – the GDD Storyline Plot (of course) Also world building. What is the history of the characters in your world? Level Flow Define how levels for your game should be made. Think about pacing, rewards, and progression. Examples can help greatly here!

How – the TDD Prove to yourself (and others) you can implement the design. Figure out what parts of the game design are risky and should possibly get cut. Estimate how long it will take to implement your game Sections: Graphics, Physics, AI, Events Other unique things: Moving platforms, networking

How – the TDD For each section: What you will support What you will not support How you will do this

Design Document Remember the goal: To help communicate with other people on your team, and possibly with outside groups.

In the Industry Many formats for all the documents Powerpoint, Word doc, paper diagram Every document is only a jumping off point Rarely frozen until the game is done

On that note...

Scheduling Development of games can be quality based or deadline based, YOU MUST CHOOSE ONE! But you have to be deadline focused Due end of class Keep it simple!

Scheduling Aim for two – five minutes of fun! One or two levels Build on existing engine. You already have Animation Scrolling Movement Collision detection (maybe platformer style) Creativity can help!

Creative Engine Use

Was Originally This

Team Project Teams must have one or two people You must have a complete “game” Title screen, Levels, Ending You can have just one level Other students will be trying out your game. Due last day of class Make your teams!