Studio 6 - Exploring Playability

Part 1 - Summary

• Every game development project is unique
• All games need new content and must focus on improvements
• The game development process consists of two main parts
• The first part is going from an idea to a plan, the plan will change as it moves into the production phase
• During preproduction, the team prepare all the elements that are involved in the main process
• The idea gets put into a design document, which is used as an outline throughout the development process
• Having the right development team is the most important ‘resource’ of game development
• Members of most teams are put into their positions during preproduction, and each team has a leader, and each group of teams will have a leader
• The project leader will be the one who produced the ‘high concept’
• Before anyone begins work, everyone must understand the main aims
• The design document is a blueprint for the game, it describes everything, including how the game will be played
• A design document should have a world diagram or mission flow chart, which maps out where the player should go. These will usually start out as a list of locations and objectives.
• Level designers use the design document as a guide to create a level diagram

Part 2 - Similarities

• Both readings state that the design document is extremely important
• Both think that the design document shapes the idea
• Both readings say that the design document includes everything about the game, including the characters, the controls, what you do and how the game is played
• The design document is where games designers get to ‘flesh out’ their ideas
• A design document requires input from the entire team, it is very hard to finish one(for a big project) on your own

Part 3 - Differences

• Bethke states that the design document should be used to answer further questions about the game.
• Bethke doesn’t mention mission flow charts
• Bethke does not go into as much detail about how all the members of each team have to communicate with there ‘leaders’, so that the design document can be continuously improved until everyone is ready to move forward with the development process.