[hemmerling] Game Development

Important Game Development Documents

Documents

  1. Vision Document.
    • Guiding Light.
    • 1-2 pages.
    • Created in an early project phase.
    • Mission Statement.
    • “Maybe” is allowed :-).
    • Paint a picture with words :-).
  2. High Level Concept.
    • The interlocking ( German: “Verzahnung” ) between and the amount of contents ( scope ).
    • Mission statement.
    • Platforms.
    • Game Setting - In which “world” does the game take place?
    • Central Gameplay Mechanics.
    • Control / UI.
    • Story Synopsis.
    • Concept Art.
    • Audio Concept.
    • Maybe a prototype.
  3. Game Design Document ( GDD ) / Detailed Game Design Concept.
    • Goal of a good GDD:
      • Shared Vision and focus ( to keep everyone on the same page & get up-to-speed )..
      • Base for the project plan ( once it's built, set the deadlines ).
      • Urge you to rethink of detail questions ( think it through, it's fast and cheap ).
      • Makes visible future dependancies and conflicts ( visibility is key ).
    • Target audience:
      • Design team.
      • Software developers.
      • Producer.
      • Quality assurance.
    • Contents of the GDD:
      • A complete description of the game project ( how many game levels,..)
        • The amout of your prototype.
        • The contents of your Vertical Slice.
        • The features of your game.
        • A concrete description of all game elements.
    • How to design a good GDD? Requirements:
      • Short.
      • Up-to-date.
      • Relevant.
      • Structured ( Example: Clear structured language, bullet lists prefered ).
      • Link redundant informations, don´t repeat yourself.
      • For checking off. Programmers like that.
      • Separate story from game mechanics ( Example: Level-up of a character ).
      • Define project phases. Example:
        1. Phase #1.
        2. Phase #2.
        3. Nice to have.
        4. Year,right.
    • Contents
      • ...
      • Audio Concept
        • Music.
        • Sound.
        • Music and sound-systems.
        • Formats.
      • Prototypes.
        • Answer concrete questions.
        • Might be base for further development, but this ist not a must ( throw-away prototypes ).
        • Might be “analog”.
  4. Technical Design Document.
    • Straightforward, clear.
    • Game engine.
    • Tools.
    • Specifications if necessary ( graphics quality ).

Literature

Resources

Marketing for Game Developers

Social Media Strategy & Contents ( Twitter, Hashtags, ... )

  • Development updates.
  • Direct feedback ( Likes / Retweets and comments ).
  • Pre-planning of posts, equipped with suitable hashtags:
    • Platform: #Steam, #NintendoSwitch, #PS4.
    • Genre:
      • #shmup, #shootermup, #arcade, #retro.
      • Use proper international notation ( by Internet research ).
    • Engine: #madewithunreal, #unity3d
    • Special days of the week and repeated occasions: #screenshotsaturday, #throwbackthursday.
  • Payed influencers :-(.
    • Catapult ( indieboost.com ) - “On demand video game influencer marketing”.

Animated GIFs for Social Media Marketing ( Twitter GIFs )

  • Why GIFs?
    • Short videos:
      • Are better than screenshots. It is more likely that users will share it.
      • Provides a better first impression of the game / gameplay.
  • How to create an animated GIF?
    • Do a video recording with interesting game scenes ( e.g. with Bandicam ).
    • It is ok to cut 2-3 game scenes to one video.
    • Convert the final video to GIF, e.g. by ezGIF.
  • Where to publish?
    • Maximal filesize for Twitter: 15 MB.
    • Gyazo- “Share screen captures instantly. Take screenshots, GIFS, and replays that are ready to share. Save what's on your screen without missing a moment”.

Press Kit

  • presskit() ( pronounced “do presskit” ) - “Spend time making games, not press”.
  • What should be provided?
    1. Description.
    2. Screenshots.
    3. Videos ( trailer, gameplay ).
    4. Logos.
    5. Team infos.
    6. Product infos ( release, price, ... ).

Events, Fairs, Conferences, Communities

Serious Games Conference

Events & Organisations

Bootcamps

Federal Business Promotion

Level Designer Toolkits

Assets

Literature

Monetarisation

Game Research / Game Theory

Technical Resources

Resources

Forums, Newsgroups, Communities


When this document changes ! Site Navigation ( My Business ! My Topics ! Imprint / Contact ! Privacy Policy ! Keyword Index ! ! Google+ Publisher "hemmerling" )

 
en/gamedevelopment.html.txt · Last modified: 2024/04/19 19:56 (external edit) · []
Recent changes RSS feed Powered by PHP Valid XHTML 1.0 Valid CSS Driven by DokuWiki