Game design document

A game design document (a.k.a. GDD) is an in-depth document used by the development team to outline a project for a multitude of purposes, such as but not limited to pitching a game, keeping a project on course, and seeing the full concept laid out on paper. Despite being commonly used for larger studio production games, it can also prove useful for solo developers, as it helps control the scope of the project and key in on primary focuses of the game. GDD's commonly contain the following categories (as seen below): Game Objective/Storyline, Main Character Cast, Primary/Important Assets, Game Mechanics, and the games target Demographic/Player Base.

While there's is no set industry standard for what a GDD should look like nor how they should be formatted, these are the key points that all GDD should contain in some capacity. Beyond these key points however, every team is fully able to and recommended to style their GDD in a way that is comprehensive and suits their own needs.

Purpose

Since the GDD is considered a living document, it should be revised and kept up to date as the game changes and takes on new forms. This is so that way it is the easiest and most viable reference point when it comes to progression on the project. Whether a visual novel is being made by a solo dev, an indie team, or a large organization, the GDD is useful for the following key reasons:

• It helps solidify “ideas” into concrete story and gameplay elements
• It has the latest concept and design goals
• It forces the team to maintain realistic expectations for the game
• it keeps all important information in one easy to access location
• It contains information needed for a future pitch deck or press kit for publishing and/or marketing purposes

Basic Contents

Story

At the heart of every game, regardless of genre, is its story. Since visual novels generally focus more heavily on the story than any other genre, this is usually the most in-depth and important section of the GDD alongside the character section. This is generally expected to contain the following:

• A short summary of the story
• The setting (e.g., modern-day Japan, 1780's Paris, early 2000's New York)
• The genre and tone of the game (e.g., mystery, otome, dating sim, dark comedy, slice of life)
• Themes, symbolism, and desired emotional impact
• Any major or recurring themes in the game (e.g., forbidden love, power of social status, meaning of justice)
• The narrative structure of the game (e.g., will it be a kinetic novel? Will the story branch according to player choices? Will there be multiple endings?)
• Summary of the story branches (if applicable)

In this section of the GDD you can also add in the cleaned up version of the stories outline/structure (e.g., 3 Act Structure, Hero's Journey, 7 Point Story). While this is not entirely common practice, it also isn't uncommon and can be a great place to keep note of the specifics of your stories flow.

Characters

There should be enough info about the characters in the GDD to give a clear understanding of their personalities, roles, and arcs in the game to anyone who reads it.

Information for each member of the cast that should be considered and included consists of:

• Name
• Gender
• Sexuality
• Occupation
• Personality
• Background
• Appearance (with visual references)
• Relationships

Some character information may be genre or setting specific. For example, the GDD for a game set in a school may specify the club activities the students participate in. If the GDD is for a game set in a fantasy world it may be important to note what faction/species they are apart of.

Here is a template for GDD character bios:

• [NAME]:
  • Gender Identity:
  • Occupation:
  • Key Adjectives:

• Description:
  • Hair:
  • Eyes:
  • Skin:
  • Build:
  • Other Key Features:

• Interests:
  • Interest One:
  • Interest Two:
  • Interest Three:
  • Interest Four:

• Background/Story:
  • Important Lore/Notes:

When it comes to GDD character bios, it really comes down to what you need for your project. Some projects have massive amounts of character information and backstories that need to be tracked, and others have a simpler cast that doesn't require more than a small bio. Hence whatever amount of information is necessary for you game, is what's needed for your GDD.

Assets

When it comes to VN, after the story and characters, assets are going to be your next highest priority for your GDD. Assets are generally any art, audio, or related GUI files found in the game. When it comes to your GDD it is important to make the distinction between your assets. General categories for assets will fall into:

• Important/Necessary Art (e.g., Main Character Sprite, Background, CG)
• Less Important Art (e.g. Unnamed NPC Sprites)
• Audio
• GUI

While creating the GDD, the team should discuss how many and which assets they can reasonably create within their time, budget, and skill restrictions (see scope). It is important that when it comes to primary assets that you strive to have an exact number of needed assets listed per type. (e.g. 7 character sprite sets, 13 backgrounds, 3 audio tracks, and full GUI set up)

When you begin planning your GDD, its better to include fewer assets and to only add more if there’s extra time/money/energy later in the production schedule than to over scope the number of assets, which will in turn cause the team to work under far higher stress and may also lead to important assets being cut from the game.

Some teams indicate which assets would be needed to create a minimum viable product if they plan on releasing the game commercially and/or pitching the game to a publisher.

Art

When it comes to Visual Novels, art is one of the key points in telling your story, hence why its such a high priority to many developers. However, the process of deciding on what art is needed can be tricky and entirely depends on the game you are creating. Following the standard set path of most visual novels the "necessary" Art assets usually include:

• Character Sprite art
• Background art
• CG art

Any variations to the art assets should also be listed, such as facial expressions for each sprite or time of day differences for backgrounds. If, for example, all sprites have the same set of expressions you can list them once as a standard and in following asset lists note them as "Sprite Sets" instead.

However, not all visual novels require all 3 of the key assets. Visual novels can exist with blank backgrounds, no character sprites, or no CG/Cutscenes.

• Examples of VNs without sprite art: Dear Devere ^[VNDB]
• Examples of VNs without CGs: Cinders ^[VNDB]

Audio

When it comes to the 3 main types of assets, audio is usually the most optional. Due to audio being entirely dependent on if the player chooses to use it, it is commonly the last objective for teams and low down on the GDD asset list for many developers. This is not true for all games though, and in same cases audio may be the most important to your story. Audio assets that are typically used in visual novels include:

• Music
• Ambiance
• Sound effects (SFX)
• Voice acting or dialogue blips

Audio, specifically voice acting, is also a great accessibility feature for your game as it allows those with may have some visual impairments to enjoy the story of your game without worries for how their disability may affect their experience. It is important to note in your GDD what audio assets you wish to aim for as this can greatly affect production time and the projects cost.

GUI

GUI is the most forefront of all your assets. It can also be the trickiest of simplest of them. GUI basically encompasses all art that is not your sprites/backgrounds/cutscenes. The common examples of GUI include:

• Main Menu/Title Screen
• Save Menu
• Settings
• Textbox
• Buttons
• Misc Menus

When it comes to planning your GUI for your GDD the most important thing to consider is how complex you want it to be. The more complex your GUI, the more complex you will need to make your GDD. In turn a more complex GUI will also increase production time and may drive up costs for your game due to the art and coding needed to set up more complex GUI ideas.

Mechanics & Gameplay

Will the VN contain gameplay elements such as minigames or quick time events? If so, how many? What type? Be as specific as possible about how the mechanics will work and what features are needed.

Audience Demographic

What demographic (or demographics) is your game targeted towards? Who will enjoy your game? See also: Guide:Target Audience

Monetization, Funding, and Distribution

How will your game be funded? Will you utilize crowdfunding, spend your own money, or work for free with a team?

Once the game is complete, where will players be able to download it? Will you charge for it? How much? (Will you charge different prices in different countries/regions?)

Production Timeline

When do you plan to complete the game? When will various assets be completed, in order to meet this target date? Is there enough time and person power to complete those assets by those times? See also: Production

Examples

• GTA 1995 GDD PDF
• Azrael's Tears/Raptor 1992 GDD
• Doom Bible/Doom World 1992 GDD