You Shirk it at Your Peril

Game Designer Ernest Adams writes a frequent column for Gamasutra titled "The Designer's Notebook." His latest entry is subtitled: "Why Design Documents Matter." Its a really interesting article explaining why game design documents are necessary to have a successful game development. My favorite part of the article comes on page 3, where Adams describes how "design documents turn generalities into particulars."

The process of writing a document turns a vague idea into an explicit plan. It’s one thing to say “Harpies will be flying creatures” in a meeting, but that’s nowhere near enough to build from. In fact, there’s not even any point in writing it down if that’s all you have to say. What the developers need are details: How high can they fly? How fast do they fly? Are they affected by the weather? Can harpies land? Can they land anywhere they want to? Can they also move on the ground, and if so, what sorts of terrain and how fast? Are they more, or less, vulnerable when in the air or on the ground? And so on and so on, and it all needs to be written down so that everyone on the team has all the information they need to build the product.

It would be nice if game design consisted of sitting around with your feet up and daydreaming about cool content and features, and I’ve met some designers who thought that was the whole job. It isn’t; they were slackers. The vast majority of design consists of figuring out the details.

Although you’ll always change those details later in testing and tuning, you have to start with something. In a real sense, the process of writing documents is the process of design, because it is then that you turn abstract concepts into concrete plans. Even if no one reads your document at all, an idea written down is a decision made, a conclusion reached.

A good example of above excerpt is Warcraft III, which actually has several types of Harpys in game, and to which most of the above questions apply. As a matter of fact, there are many, many types of creeps in Warcraft III, it would be nigh impossible to have designed all of them without a document at hand.

I have taken to writing design documents for my own game concepts. It really is quite fun. When I think about a game I'm creating, ideas pop in and out of focus and also change over time. Remembering all of those ideas is basically impossible, not to mention extremely stressful. At first I write down notes on a legal pad I carry around, pages of notes. I write down every idea that comes into my mind, and all of the variations and potential forms of those ideas. Then, when I feel comfortable enough with where I'm going I take to a word processor and type all of my notes to the hard drive. Then begins the process of refining and organizing and deciding. Its really cool to see how the game develops over time, even conceptually as all of my games do, because eventually you have whatever number of pages of ideas that you can print off and show to people and say, "Hey, this is a game I'm making, what do you think?"

I imagine you go through a similar process. How do your game design ideas develop over time, and how do you keep track of them?

Game Design Journal

Game design is a deep subject. Like medicine or theology, game design is best understood when researched and studied. This is the primary purpose of this blog. But no one blog nor an amalgam of them can reveal all there is to know about game design. It is a dynamic subject that can be observed from a variety of perspectives. One perspective I propose today is a Game Design Journal. This is a diary in which you pen all of your musings, exasperations, and conclusions on game design. No doubt many of you already make note of your random game design thoughts, possibly on spare scraps of paper. I think this is a wonderful thing to do. If you already are, keep it up. If your not, or if your looking to expand or organize your notes, then please read onward.

I've recently been wanting to journal specifically about my personal game experiences. This is the way it works. When playing a game, any game, (regardless of whether its lauded for excellence or mocked for its mediocrity) mentally note the various aspects that you find appealing or effective. Also, note things that you find appaling or ineffective. Ask yourself questions like the following: Why is blank part of this game cool? What does the art style do to compliment the game? How do the controls work, could they be better? Why do I like blank character? Then, ask more specific questions: Why did Retro Studios opt for their control scheme in Metroid Prime? How do the enemies in this game challenge me, through skill, problem-solving or some other way? What things are good or bad about Final Fantasy XII's license system?

Undoubtedly, these will prompt more and more questions and push you to ponder things you never thought mattered. I would recommend the journal to be simple. A handy pen and notepad works fine. As does a basic .txt document. You may never go back and read these entries, but other things are at work. Simply writing your thoughts forces you to think harder about any given topic. Also, the act of writing will strengthen your memory considerably, creating a greater imprint of the game design topics than otherwise only thinking of them. Lastly, games themselves are not the only thing that represent game design. Don't be afraid to think abstractly. I feel many seemingly unrelated topics can easily be applied to game design. Biking, the time/space continuum, how your stereo works, all of these are viable subjects for provoking thoughts on design theory, in the same way articles on game design do.

Have fun exploring the vast reaches of game design theory and the infinite possiblites it offers.


Artwork:
Gnome Warlock Shop by Harald Oesterle at Blizzard Fan Art