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Game Making and the Importance of the Design Document
By Ravenhawk | October 22, 2006
There are many people out there who wish that they could create video games. While many of those are two lazy, or don’t have the resources or time, to go out and learn any programming language, a large variety of game making programs are out there to help them.
And so they download such programs as “RPG Maker 2000″ and “Game Maker” and attempt to go forth and make a game, armed only with a brilliant idea and some sprites ripped from a SNES rom. Not that I have any problem with RPG Maker. Some quite entertaining games have arisen from it.
The problem that arises with many of these would-be game makers is that no real planning has gone into what their game will look like. Or how the mechanics will work. What they lack, is planning.
The amature games that do end up being brilliant, the ones that you play and they’re just as good the professionals, often hold but one thing over the games that really bite: Meticulous planning.
Not that this lack of planning exists only with those making games without programming skills. Those who learned programming are just more likely to have learned to plan out their projects. Writing out what you need your program to do in psuedocode helps you put together a project a lot easier.
It’s what is known as the Design Documents. Within them are not only drawn out how you want your town to look, but what your npcs are going to say, how your plot is going to evolve and the mechanics behind your clever little fishing minigame.
Only once this is done does the programming, or drag and drop depending on your media, begin.
When this are clearly planned out in the beginning, your end product is going to be a lot cleaner. Lets face it, Gamers can tell when a game was sloppily put together. So if you want your audience to enjoy your games (And why else would you make them?) you have to make sure to put some solid planning into it.
While this won’t gaurentee your game is the next best thing since sliced bread, it will help make the end product a lot closer to the super awesome idea in your head.
Until next time comrades,
Tags: Game Design
Topics: Game Design |