CxD Archive
Video Game Project
Video Game Project
  • Project Introduction
  • Project Challenge
  • Project Outline
    • 1-1 Determine Gamer Motivation Profile
    • 1-2 Analyze External Motivations in Games
    • 1-3 Analyze Internal Motivations in Games
    • 1-4 Analyze Game Design Elements
    • 1-5 Phaser Practice 1: Matching Game
      • P1: Steps 1-5
      • P1: Steps 6-10
    • 1-6 Phaser Practice 2: Top-Down Game
      • P2: Steps 1-5
      • P2: Steps 6-10
      • P2: Steps 11-15
    • 1-7 Phaser Practice 3: Side-Scrolling Game
      • P3: Steps 1-5
      • P3: Steps 6-10
      • P3: Steps 11-15
    • 2-1 Form Project Teams
    • 2-2 Create Persona for Target Players
    • 2-3 Generate Game Ideas
    • 2-4 Refine Ideas to Create Game Treatments
    • 2-5 Evaluate Game Treatments
    • 3-1 Draft Game Design Document
    • 3-2 Create Paper Prototype of Game
    • 3-3 Playtest Paper Prototype
    • 3-4 Present Game Proposal
    • 4-1 Create Development Plan
    • 4-2 Code Game in Iterative Stages
    • 4-3 Create Art and Sound for Game
    • 4-4 Create Marketing Website
    • 5-1 Evaluate Game With Playtesters
    • 5-2 Evaluate Marketing Website
    • 5-3 Analyze Evaluation Data to Improve Solution
    • 6-1 Create Project Poster
    • 6-2 Present Project to Public
    • 6-3 Write Personal Reflection
  • Project References
    • Phaser Introduction
    • Phaser Game Template
    • Visual Assets
    • Audio Assets
    • Phaser Coding
      • Game Display
      • Game World
      • Game Camera
      • Text
      • Images
      • Sprites, Animations, and Health
      • Group of Sprites
      • Tilesprite Scrolling
      • Audio
      • Input
      • Physics and Collisions
      • Weapon
      • Particles
      • Tweens
      • Timers
      • Random Numbers
      • Enemy Behavior
      • Misc Game Features
  • Notes for Teachers
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  1. Project Outline

3-1 Draft Game Design Document

Previous2-5 Evaluate Game TreatmentsNext3-2 Create Paper Prototype of Game

Last updated 6 years ago

In the previous assignment, your team evaluated your game treatments and selected one game concept that your team will prototype for its project.

Next your team will prototype its game in a series of stages:

  • Conceptual Prototype → Physical Prototype → Digital Prototype

The conceptual prototype will be a that describes your game in detail and includes concept sketches. This represents your team's mental model of the game.

A game design document is a more detailed version of a game treatment. Besides a summary of your game concept, the game design document has specifics about your concept's :

  • Structural Elements — which determine your game's mechanics

  • Dramatic Elements — which determine your game's story

  • Artistic Elements — which determine your game's aesthetics

Once your team has a first draft of its game design document, your team will create a physical prototype — a paper version of your game that you'll use to demonstrate and test the game design.

Even though a paper version of a video game may seem unusual, you can actually learn a lot from the paper prototype — before you do any coding or create any digital artwork.

Based on the playtesting of your paper prototype, your team will refine your game's design (and update the game design document). This will put your team in a better position to create your digital prototype — a working computer version of the game.

YOUR TASK

Your team should use to create a first draft of your game design document.

  • Start by transferring the information from your game treatment. Your team may need (or want) to revise some of this information based on the feedback received in the previous assignment.

  • Brainstorm, discuss, decide, and document the game design elements for your team's concept.

  • The goal is to have a sufficiently clear sense of your team's game's design, so you're ready to create a paper prototype of it for testing and feedback.

game design document
game design elements
this template