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
The Game Design Bible
Story
Gameplay
Interface
The Art Bible
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 Testing

Release
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

Release
Med Priority Code
Run out of time and
money
Med Low Priority Code

Low Priority Code

Game Development Documents
Concept Document
Game Spec
Design Document
Story Bible
Script
Art Bible
Storyboards
Technical Design Document
Schedules and Business/Marketing Documents
Test Plan
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?
Overview Entities
Players Features
Look and Feel Rules
Interface Gameplay
Start Up Level Design
Objectives Technical Requirements
Marketing
Design Document
Highly Detailed
Can be quite large (100+ pages)
Should contain all elements not addressed in
other documents
Is a living document!!!!!!!!
A Design Document Construct
Table of Contents
Introduction/Overview
Game Mechanics
Artificial Intelligence
Game Elements
Story Overview
Game Progression
System Menus
Story Bible
Story outline is in design document, the story
bible fleshes out the story.
Plot and Story Flow
Detailed Story Flow
Detailed Characterizations
Backstory
Generally Prose instead of bullets
Script
The Dialog that occurs in the game.
Tree structure that controls dialog
Art Bible
Concept sketches
Resources for artist
Look and feel
Art styles
Technical guidelines
Generally created by lead artist, not designer.
Storyboards
May be part of art bible or standalone.
Puts game flow in a visual context
Useful to entire team, not just artist
Technical Design Document
Sister specification to Art Bible and Game
Design Document
Discusses how functionality will be implemented.
Generally constructed by the lead programmer.
May include overall code structure, major
classes, rendering architecture, AI design, etc.
May contain pseudocode
Schedules and
Business/Marketing Documents
Documents necessary for management of
project.
Generally responsibility of Producer.
Nature of Documentation
Must be living documents.
Allows communication and direction across the
team
Can be a trap if misused.