Prototype

Image of first putting a road in 

 This week I have started to make the website.  I first started by making the road by creating a 3D quad and changing the size to a size similar to the first unity tutorial about the car which will have the same layout as the game that I'm making where the camera will follow the player. I then added an image to the road to make it look like a  road to cover the white up. After finding an image that I thought suited the game I then had to find a police car this was a bit difficult and took longer than I expected to find, as most of them I had to pay for I found one which can be seen in the second image which was free however when I brought it into the game the colour of the car came off and it did not look like a police car and I could not use it. I eventually found a police car and brought that into the game. The next challenge was trying to find a background in New York that was free, which also took longer than I expected. I ended up finding some separate assets that I had to add to the game separately.  I added a script called playercontroller and added this to the player. The biggest challenge was finding the assets and trying to resize them this took a lot of unnecessary time and this is all I got done in the 3 hours.  I decided to copy and pace the first building to save time. I then added colour to the buildings. 

First police car

Game Design Document

After the reading task this week and finding out what a Game Design Document is I designed my first one.  I did by game design document on Dundoc. It took me a while to find out how to use it I did it wrong at the start and had to start over again. Here as seen from my diagram my characters is at the bottom as I somehow deleted it and didn't know how to go back to put it in the position as before therefore I had to place it down the bottom. I decided to use the background image as the NYPD logo as the player will be the police in New York. 

Some of my ideas may change from what is in my document now after I see peoples comments on how I could improve my game and what to change 

Purpose of GDD- The reason for doing this was to clearly see the idea that I will be doing and what material I will need such as sounds of the police car and the traffic. 

Screenshot of the introduction of the document

Games GDD

 

What is the GDD for?

(Frontpage of GDD)

A Game Design Document (GDD) is a blueprint for the design and development of a game.

The GDD is a way of being creative and documenting the approach to the development of the game. Gonzale (2016) states that “ the important thing is to have something that describes your game project (or any other project for that matter) before jumping into production.( Gamasutra ) It should help to plan out your game. Though it is recommended that the GDD should be short it needs to be detailed enough so as game developers and artists can coordinate the development of the game independently whilst still keeping to the design. The GDD is a blueprint for how the game is going to be designed and built, similar to a mind map. In conclusion, the game design document is vital to making a game and it is important to have in order to describe your game project.

How do we make one?

There are a variety of tools that could be used to create a GDD. These include word processing tools, visual tools like Powerpoint, or new web-based tools such as DunDoc. Each of these tools has their advantages and are a personal choice. Many of the examples shared via the internet are in Microsoft Word format. Romero Games(creators of Doom) favour a more visual tool such as PowerPoint. Whichever tool is used they should support the development of the game in an open and transparent manner.

What should be in it?

The GDD should be simple enough to read through details about your game design and concept. Schubert (2007), who was at the time lead designer for Bioware Austin, gave a GDC talk in about how to create design documentation, some of the most relevant elements include:

1. Know your target.- Have a clear vision and understanding of what you want to make. Make sure your game is suitable and fits your target audience.

2. Keep it short.  Keep it to the point and clear, the shorter they are, the easier it is to read, write, and maintain.

3. Prioritize the design.  - Divide your game in order of importance e.g have a functional game. Concentrate on core mechanics and visuals, and then expand. 

4. Illustrate. - Draw sketches of your plans that make it easier to structure and implement. Present what your game would look like as it’s important to have a clear idea of the visuals before you begin creating.

5. Use user stories.- Describing the game through the player’s vision (Similar to what we did in the game vision statement).

Take into account the games users, their ideas may help develop future storylines or ideas.

6. Invest in a good format. Take the time to structure your work so that it is easy to navigate.

7. Use clear terminology. Don’t over-complicate the document. Make sure language is concise and accessible.

8. 
   

9. Kill redundancy.  -Recycle your code - use variables, not hard code). Always reference the new section on your page to have a clean document. Avoid copy and pasting sections.

10. Capture your reasoning - why did you make the choices you made? What led to that thought process?

References

Nachen, Lennart. 2014 Communication and Game Design Documents accessed 02/11/2020 http://acagamic.com/game-design-course/communication-and-game-design-documents/

Fern

s, Shaun (2020) Readings Week 06 accessed 02/11/2020 https://cdmonline.ie/multidev1/reading-week-06/ 

 Gonzalez Leandro. 2016 How to Write a Game Design Document accessed 02/11/2020 

https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/LeandroGonzalez/20160726/277928/How_to_Write_a_Game_Design_Document.php