Christopher Thurman

I was reading a post on gamecareerguide about media forms for document entry. I have used all of the forms execept Wiki. I looked up a couple of things and I’m still really confused about how to start one. Now, I of course host my own website and I would like to have it linked though it. From what I have seen or at least the places I have looked up I would have to do it though their site. The other forms were word, photoshop and google docs. If others would like to read it. The link is http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/737/four_ways_to_write_your_design_.php?page=1

In the game design part of the document, there is a beginning sheet. This is usually about a page long that decribes the game in about a page. It list the title of the game, the number of players, the market that you are aiming for. The genre and the setting of the game should also be described here. The most important section of this is what the game is actually going to be about. You will have to describe what the player actually does and the goal of the game.

Lets talk about game documents for a second. Game documentation is something you could say that I am specializing in while I am attending school. When I first started I thought that it would be the easiest part of game development. Actually, I just fell into it. I am not really a good programmer or artist. I try however, I just need more practice before I am able to try to compete. Back to the documentation. I am in no means a pro. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to game document, but the more and more I write, the better and better I feel that each document is.

There are a couple of different types of documentation when it comes to games and they are really huge. Found what I am finding so far there are three different types of documents and then there is a final document which all three are compiled into. The three types are technical (for the programming), art (for the art style) and design (for all the design parts). 

Each of the types is self explanatory. In the technical the writer of the document has to include all the code for the game. The information about how the game is backed up. The information on the computer that you developed it on as well as the information on what is the medium the game is made for.  The design document is what is the game about, who is the market, what is going to happen in each level, mappings of each level, flow chart of each of the game levels. If there is character dialogue that would go into this document as well. In the game if there would be merchants the price of each item for every store, the list of enemies and their attacks. The enemies must have a description of what they look like and there attack description. There should also be information about how much damage the character should take. If the player has any action that should be described in this document as well. The art document needs to have all the concept drawings, the inspiration for the art style, the color choices, a storyboard; it also has to have the method in that the team used to export the animations into the engine. The software used for the art has to be mentioned.

The final document has to have all 3 of those in a nice packet. That is why documents can and will be hundreds of pages. There are also a lot of appendixes that added all that information when it comes to the drawings and the code.