What Is a Design Document?

A design document is often overlooked in the rush and excitement of a game idea. After all, if you have a unique idea that could conceivably be a great game, why would you want to waste your time working on something that doesn’t really get you any closer to the end product?

Many times, even relatively large development teams don’t spend the time to create a fully functional design document. Most game developers will try to stay away from unnecessary work, but the long hours spent creating a thorough design document will actually save countless hours down the development road. You might be lucky enough to create a very good quality game without a design document, but the key word in this is luck. Most often, a game that begins without a properly developed design document will be delayed for months or may not even be finished.

The creation of a design document is similar to the creation of a movie script. In it, you will write details of an exact story (if you have one—for example, racing games would probably not have a story), an overview of the characters or opponents you are intending to create, detailed descriptions of every level, and so on. If this is the first time you’ve ever considered creating a design document, there are a few things you should be aware of.

First, the design document is not chiseled into stone. That is, it can and should evolve as the game does, but it shouldn’t be drastically altered. The design document will serve as a sort of road map to how the project will develop and should be as complete as possible. That being said, it can be changed when necessary to include a new character or a slight change in the plot. Design documents are team oriented and therefore should include as many contributions as possible from the individuals who make up a team.