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Contents
TheAnatomyofaDesign
Document,Part1:
DocumentationGuidelines
fortheGameConceptand
Proposal
Page1
Page2
Page3
Page4

TheAnatomyofaDesignDocument,Part
1:DocumentationGuidelinesforthe
GameConceptandProposal
byTimRyan[Design,Production]

11comments

October19,1999

Page2of4

GuidelinesfortheGameConcept

PROGRAMMING

Agameconceptdocumentexpressesthecoreideaofthegame.It'saonetotwopagedocumentthat's
necessarilybriefandsimpleinordertoencourageaflowofideas.Thetargetaudienceforthegame

ART

conceptisallthosetowhomyouwanttodescribeyourgame,butparticularlythoseresponsiblefor
advancingtheideatothenextstep:aformalgameproposal.

AUDIO
DESIGN
PRODUCTION
BIZ/MARKETING

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Typically,allconceptsarepresentedtothedirector
ofproductdevelopment(orexecutiveproducer)
beforetheygetoutsideoftheproductdevelopmentdepartment.Thedirectorwilldeterminewhetheror
nottheideahasmeritandwilleithertossitordedicatesomeresourcestodevelopingthegameproposal.
Thedirectormightliketheconceptbutstillrequestsomechanges.Heorshemaytosstheconcept
aroundamongthedesignstaffandproducersoropenituptothewholedepartmentorcompany.The
conceptcanbecomeconsiderablymorecompellingwiththeimaginationandexuberanceofawidegroup
oftalentedpeople.
Agameconceptshouldincludethefollowingfeatures:

June4,2016
Ten4
VR/VirtualReality
CreativeDirector
Planet3
LeadUI/UXDesigner
AgeofLearning,Inc.
LocalizationProducer
AgeofLearning,Inc.
GameDesigner,
Development
SuckerPunch
Productions
Producer
TelltaleGames
Producer

Introduction
Background(optional)
Description
Keyfeatures
Genre
Platform(s)
Conceptart(optional)
Introduction:Theintroductiontoyourgameconceptcontainswhatareprobablythemostimportant
wordsinthedocumentthesewordswillsellthedocumenttothereader.Inonesentence,tryto
describethegameinanexcitedmanner.Includethetitle,genre,direction,setting,edge,platform,and
anyothermeaningfulbitsofinformationthatcannotwaituntilthenextsentence.Theedgeiswhat's
goingtosetthisgameapartfromtheothergamesinthegenre.Forexample:
"ManorMachineisafirstpersonshooterforthePCthatusestheprovenQuakeIIenginetothrust
playersintotheroleofanandroidspacemarinecaughtupintheepicsagaoftheinterstellartechnowars
ofthethirtyseventhcentury."

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Breakingtheintroductionupintoseveralsentencesforthesakeofclarityisacceptable.Justknowthat
thelongeryourintroduction,themoredilutedyourvisionwillseem.

June4,2016

Background(optional):Thebackgroundsectionofyourgameconceptsimplyexpandsuponother

TheLucasArtsYears:
ResolvingAnIdentity
Crisis
AdventuresinGame
WritingPAXEastPanel

products,projects,licenses,orotherpropertiesthatmaybementionedintheintroductionsoit's
optional.Thebackgroundsectionisphysicallyseparatedfromtheintroductionsothatreaderscanskipit
iftheyalreadyhavetheinformationpresented.Butthebackgroundsectionisimportantforlicensed
propertiesandsequelsandconceptswithstronginfluencesfrompreviouslyreleasedtitlesinthesame
genre.Ifyouintendtouseanexistingsetofcodeortoolsortolicenseagameengine,thendescribe
theseitemsandtheirsuccessstorieshere.

QTSpecial:AnInside
LookAtMotionCapture

Description:Inafewparagraphsorapage,describethegametothereadersasiftheyaretheplayers.

GDC

IGF

I'mNotAddicted.I'm
Connected!
CreatingEmotionalArcs
WithWeapon
Progression

Press Releases

Usethesecondpersonperspective"you."Trytomakethissectionanexcitingnarrativeoftheplayer's
experience.Encompassallthekeyelementsthatdefinethecoregameplaybydescribingexactlywhat
theplayerdoesandsees.Avoidspecificssuchasmouseclicksandkeystrokes,butdon'tbetoovague.
Youwantthereaderstobecometheplayer'scharacter.HoveryourdetaillevelrightabovetheGUI
interaction.Youwouldsaysomethingsuchas,"Youscanyourtacticalradarandpickuptwomorebogies
cominguptherear,"insteadof"Youclickonyourtacticalradarbuttonandthewindowpopsuprevealing
twobogiescominguptherear."Thedescriptionsectionshouldmakethecontentandentertainmentvalue
ofthegameobviousandconvincing.

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PRNewswire
FromTheCreatorsOf
The"Burnout"Racing
Franchise

Keyfeatures:Yourgameconcept'skeyfeaturessectionisabulletpointlistofitemsthatwillsetthis
gameapartfromothersandprovidegoalstowhichthesubsequentdocumentationandimplementation
shouldaspire.It'sasummaryofthefeaturesalludedtointhedescription.Thesebulletpointsarewhat
wouldappearonthebackofthegameboxoronasellsheet,butincludesomesupportingdetails.For
example:

GestureRecognitionfor
GamingConsoles
Consumption
MoreThan40Million
AmericansAge50Plus
PlayVideoGames
ViewAll

GamesPress

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Calendar

"AdvancedArtificialIntelligence(AI):ManorMachinewillrecreateandadvancethechallengingand
realisticAIthatmadeHalfLifegameoftheyear."
Determininghowmanyfeaturestolistisadelicatebalancingact.Listingonlyoneortwokeyfeaturesisa
badideaifyou'redoinganythingmorecomplexthanapuzzlegamelistingmorethanapageoffeatures
impliesthattheprojectwouldbeaHerculeantaskandmayscareoffthebeancounters.Listingtoofew
featuresmightsellyourconceptshortlistingtoomanywatersdowntheconcepts'strongestfeatures.
Keepinmindthatyouneednotlistfeaturesthataregiven,suchas"greatgraphics"and"compelling
music,"unlessyoureallythinksuchfeaturesaregoingtobefarsuperiortothoseofthecompetition.
Greatgraphics,compellingmusic,andthelikearetheunderstoodgoalsofeverygameproject.Onthe
otherhand,iftheparticularflavorofgraphicsandmusicprovidesyourgamewithanedgeinthemarket,
thenyoushouldspellthatout.

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Genre:Inafewwords,definethegamegenreandflavor.Useexistinggames'classificationsfrom
magazinesandawardsasaguide.Forexample,youcouldchooseoneofthefollowing:sports,realtime

About

strategy,firstpersonshooter,puzzle,racingsimulation,adventure,roleplayinggame,flightsimulation,
racingshooter,godsimulation,strategy,actionstrategy,turnbasedstrategy,sidescrollingshooter,

EditorInChief:
KrisGraft

edutainment,orflightshooter.Thenyoucanrefineyourgame'snichegenrewiththeseorotherwordsfor
flavor:modern,WWII,alternatereality,postapocalyptic,futuristic,scifi,fantasy,medieval,ancient,

BlogDirector:
ChristianNutt

space,cyberpunk,andsoon.

SeniorContributing
Editor:
BrandonSheffield

Platform(s):Inafewwords,listthetargetplatform(s).Ifyouthinkthegameconceptisapplicableto
multipleplatforms,youshouldalsoindicatewhichplatformispreferredorinitial.Ifyouintendmultiplayer
supportontheInternet,indicatethataswell.

NewsEditors:
AlexWawro
Advertising/Recruitm
ent/Education:
PoccoJimenez

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Conceptart(optional):Alittlebitofarthelpsselltheideaandputsthereadersintherightframeof
mind.Usearttoconveyuniqueorcomplexideas.Screenmockupsgoalongwaytoexpressyourvision.
Artforthegameconceptmaybebeyondmostemployees'capabilities,sorequiringitwouldlimitthe
numberofsubmissionsthus,itisoptional.Ifaconcepthasmerit,theartcancomelaterfromaskilled
resource.OftenartfrompreviousprojectsoroffoftheInternetwilljazzupadocument.Justbecareful
withanycopyrightedmaterial.
CommonMistakes
Herearesomecommonmistakesthatdevelopersmakeincreatingagameconcept:
Theconceptistotallyoffbaseorinapplicabletothecompany'scurrentplans.Ifyoudon'twantto
wasteyourtimewritingupconceptsthatgettossed,findoutwhatthecompanyinquestionis
lookingforandkeepaneartothegroundforopportunitieswithwhichyourideamaybeagoodfit.
Intermsofresources,thedocumentasksforthemoon.Trytokeepyourconceptwithintherealm
ofpossibility.Keepingthebudgetsdownbysuggestingexistingtoolsorpropertiestoreuseis
helpful.Limityourideastothatwhichcanbeaccomplishedinatimelyfashionandwitha
reasonablebudget.Limitexperimentaltechnologiestoonearea.Don'tsuggestrevolutionaryAIas
wellasanew,stateoftheart3Dengine.Ifyouarebeingsolicitedtoproducethegameconcept,

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Ifyouenjoyreadingthissite,
youmightalsowanttocheck
outtheseUBMTechsites:
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findoutwhatthetimeframeandbudgetexpectationsarefirst.
Thedocumentlackscontent.Simplysaying,"It'sCommand&ConquermeetsMechWarriorwhere
youorderyour'Mechsintacticalcombat,"isinsufficient.Yourdescriptionhastoexplaintheactions
thattheplayerwillperformandmakethemseemfun.Agooddescriptionmightread,forexample,
"Youorderyour'MechtofireatpointblankrangeontheexposedrighttorsooftheClanMadCat
OmniMech."Thiskindofdescriptivecontentwillhelpmitigatemisinterpretationsofthecoregame
playthatyouenvision.
Thegameisn'tfun.Ausefulexerciseistobreakdownalloftheplayerverbs(suchasshoot,
command,run,purchase,build,andlook)andenvisionhowplayerperformseach.Then,foreach
verb,askyourselfifit'sfun.Thenaskyourselfifthetargetmarketwouldfinditfun.Beobjective.If
theactionthattheplayertakesisn'tfun,figureoutanotheractionfortheplayertotakethatisfun
ordroptheverbentirely.
Thegameconceptdocumentemployspoorlanguageandgrammar.Don'tmakeyourselflooklike
anassoranidiot.Checkyourgrammarandspellingandavoidfourletterwordsandsexual
innuendo.Youdon'tknowwhowillultimatelyreadyourdocumentorwhomyoumightoffendwith
someparticularlyexpressivewords.Eventhemacho,politicallyincorrect,culturallyinsensitive,
slangusingmanagerwithwhomyouexchangedirtyjokesoverabeeratlunchtimecangetquite
sensitivewithdocumentedverbiage.

Thedesignergivesup.Don'tgiveupsubmittingideas.Youneverknowwhenoneofthemwilltake
off.Persistencepaysoff,believeme.

Page2of4

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Comments
AnupamBiswas

1Mar2011at12:38amPST

ThankyousomuchforthisarticleTimRyan.

LogintoReplyorLike

DavidOso

23May2011at3:25pmPST

eh?
theGDDneedstoincludetheproposalaswellastheconceptdesigndocuments?
whyshouldtheybothbeincludedinthegamedesigndocument?
theconceptdesigndocumentisusedtogetthepublishersattention,proposalisusedto
pitchyourideatothepublisher.SoIdon'tknowwhybothmustbeincludedintheGDD
again.

dotheyhavetobeincluded?
LogintoReplyorLike

AaronPierce

12Jun2011at9:12pmPST

Whywouldn'ttheybe?Theproposalespecially.It'sthebasisofthegame,
the"thisiswhatwe'regoingfor"document.It'sthebackbonethatsays
"Hey,we'reofftargetonthisfeature"or"thatfeatureisspoton"duringthe
developmentprocess.Andtheconceptdesignartissuchanintegralpartof
thegamesdesignprocessthatIcouldn'tseeitNOTbeingapartofthe
GDD.Now,mindyou,chancesareitbeasupplementtotheGDD(a

conceptdesignBibleofsomesort),butit'dbeapartofitnonetheless.
LogintoReplyorLike

MelanieStegman

20Nov2015at7:29amPST

It'sbeenmyexperiencethateveryefforttokeepeverymemberofthe
teamonthesamepageshouldbetaken.Afterburyingyourheadin3or3
weeksofcodeormodelingitiseasytostartdownanotherpath.

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DannyBreen

29Oct2011at11:22amPST

thankstim,thishashelpedmequiteabitwithmycoursework!

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NarasimmarajanK

25Oct2012at1:49amPST

informative...

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CelmarGalindez

7Jan2014at10:03pmPST

Well,expressivethoughts.Thisisanusefultoolfornovicewhohadneverbeeninthe
industry.Simpleyetwellspoken.

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TimothyRyan

10Jan2014at8:04pmPST

Wow,thisisreallydated.Ishouldrewriteit.:)Thanks,Gamasutra.I'mgladthisremains
available.

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TynanWyllie

16Apr2014at5:20pmPST

That'dbegreat!I'mverymuchstartingoutandwouldloveanupdate.Love
what'shere,though,anditisprovingquitehelpful.

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WillJones

2May2015at10:20pmPST

Thisissomegreatinformationandveryusefulforanyonenewtocreatinggamedesign
documents.

LogintoReplyorLike

WillJones

14May2015at8:36pmPST

Greatinfo.
ApplythesesameconceptstothenewGameDesignDocumentcreatorandmanagerat
Dundoc.http://www.dundoc.comIt'sgonnabegreat!
LogintoReplyorLike

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