We will be using the following pattern when creating the game design document:
• Title page
° Game name: Adesa
• Game overview
° Game concept: A game such as Contra, 2D Platform shooter. The player is a cartoon Space Soldier who was launched into space after his ship exploded.
° Genre: Platformer shoot 'em up.
° Target audience: Young children to adults (the game will not contain any graphic violence).
° Game flow summary: The game will be a side scroller and the player will be controlled via touch controls, both in the game and in the menu.
Creating the Stuff • Gameplay
° Game progression: Level by level, no player upgrades
° Mission/challenge structure: Locate lost equipment → find a way off
the planet
° Puzzle structure: NA
° Objectives: What are the objectives of the game?
Find lost equipment
Hunt for food after finding destroyed rations
Escape inhabitant captivity and reclaim stolen equipment Reach communications relay
Fight communications officer
Radio home to find out crash was intentional Begin salvaging parts to build a ship
Build ship
Fight inhabitants to prevent destruction of your ship
Return home (space gameplay?)
Fight nemesis
• Mechanics: What are the rules of the game, both implicit and explicit? This
is the model of the universe that the game works under. Think of it as a
simulation of a real world, how do all the pieces interact? This can actually be
a very large section. ° Physics: Normal
° Movement in the game: Run and jump
° Objects: Some moveable by pushing (for example, walking into them) ° Actions, including whatever switches and buttons are used,
interacting with objects, and what means of communication are
used: Buttons to be pressed (exactly how will be figured out as development continues), communication will be via on-screen text ° Combat: Shooting enemies with telefuser (need to remember
this name) ° Economy: None
Chapter 2
° Game options: Possible difficulty, Facebook integration to post achievements, multiplayer
° Cheats and Easter Eggs: To be figured out as development continues • Story, setting and character
° Story and narrative: Simple and sweet, your ship explodes on a space mission, vaulting you into deep space. You land in an unexplored world and have to locate your supplies and fight your way back home. You find out the explosion was planned as the main enemy wanted your position in the Space Army.
° Game world
° General look and feel of world: Dark and gloomy, almost forest like.
° Characters: Jeff, the main player, is the head of the Space Army. Moly, the second in command, is the second playable character. Nemo is your arch nemesis who planned the destruction of your ship to take over your place in the Space Army.
• Levels
° Levels: Each level should include a synopsis, the required
introductory material (and how it is provided), the objectives, and the details of what happens in the level. Depending on the game, this may include the physical description of the map, the critical path that the player needs to take, and what encounters are important or incidental (see section 3.1.4 for level-progression ideas).
° Training level: Locating your equipment will get the player used to the controls and gradually dip their feet into combat.
• Interface
° Visual system: If you have an HUD, what is on it? Health, lives, and gun heat level
° Control system: On-screen touch controls
° Audio, music, sound effects: To be completed at a later time
° Help system: Help screen on main menu and training level • Artificial Intelligence
Creating the Stuff • Technical
° Target hardware: iPhone and iPad
° Development hardware and software, including game engine: SpriteKit
° Network requirements: Bluetooth and possible wireless requirements for online activity
• Game art: In development
See? It's not that difficult! It's pretty in-depth but not all of it is required. I actually
deleted quite a few lines because they weren't applicable to the game we are going to be creating. Now that the game is essentially planned, there are two other design
documents you can make use of. The first is level design sheets, and the second is
storyboards.
Chapter 2 Blank templates are supplied for you in the resource section of this book. I suggest printing them out and putting them in a binder so you can have a "game design book" as shown in the following image:
I use storyboards for designing cut scenes that will occur throughout the game. This is not required but, hey, it's still a good thing to have things planned out so the development will run quickly and smoothly.
Creating the Stuff
I love the planning process! I think we are about ready to blast off and get into some development don't you? Yeah! That will have to wait until the next chapter though,
I've rambled enough in this chapter already. There's a lot to take in when it comes to device performance and optimization, and it can be pretty confusing. I'm all self-
taught, so I hope you learned something!
Onwards and upwards, so let's blast off into the development of our awesome game!
Summary
In this chapter we discussed asset creation, what programs to use, as well as the
best formats to use. We then had a great comparison between file type rendering to show which file type is more efficient and easier on the system. We then discussed
the design aspect of game development. We took a look at a game design document, as well as level design and storyboard documents. In the next chapter, we begin