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开发者谈开发环境下需要游戏设计文档(GDD)的4个原因

发布时间:2017-12-20 11:52:16 Tags:,

原文作者: Jasmine Greene 译者:Megan Shieh

无论你是独自在开发一款游戏,还是开发团队中的一员,手头上一定要有的东西就是记录游戏设计信息的文档。如果你曾经担任过任何开发团队中的一员,那么你肯定听到过关于“是否应该使用游戏设计文档(GDD)”的讨论。这时你估计也会问自己同样的问题:“我真的需要一个GDD吗?尤其考虑到我是一个人在独自开发游戏。”

Unty3(from gamasutra)

Unty3(from gamasutra)

答案是肯定的,你当然需要有一个GDD。它不需要有100页长,但是一个优秀GDD的角色往往不仅仅是游戏开发过程中的指导方针。

(一)整理你的想法

研究表明,我们的记忆不是很可靠。你可能在洗澡的时候想出了一个很棒的主意,但是如果没有把这个想法记下来的话,随着时间的流逝,甚至几周过去了,你记得的细节会越来越少。一个很好的、跟踪这些想法的方式就是创建一个GDD文档。

更重要的是,你可以用它来查阅游戏中的某些特性或方面。当你与一个团队一起工作的时候,GDD可以为团队中的所有成员提供对游戏总览以及运作方式的深入理解,使得不同部门之间的沟通更加容易,减少了理解上的混乱以及来回沟通的次数,从而节省大量的时间。

如果你是一个单独的开发人员,GDD对你而言仍然是有用的,因为它是一个很好的参考文件。没有人的记忆是100%的,所以你可能会忘记一些细节。有了GDD,你就不必担心这个问题(除非你以某种方式删除了里面的内容)。

(二)帮助你聚焦注意力

有些开发者的特性太多,而有些开发者则没有足够的特性。GDD可以同时解决掉这两个问题。在特性太多的情况下,GDD会帮助你聚焦你的注意力,从而达到你的终极目标。你需要的所有特性都已经记录在GDD里了,而且你也已经把所有东西与各个系统的交互方式都列举出来了。这时你就可以问问自己:“我想要的这个特性会为整个游戏提升价值吗?”还是“它虽然有趣,但是感觉有点多余?”。通常情况下,答案往往是后者。

一个好的GDD还可以揭示游戏中缺少的功能和特性。比如说你在开发一款跳台游戏,但是里面却没有跳跃机制。除非你是故意不加的,不然肯定得补充进去呀。

GDD应该作为你的主要参照列表。参照这个列表可以给你带来巨大的激励和满足感,因为每完成一项任务,你就离开发结束又近了一步。

(三)做一个详细的时间表

过去我会在Trello上直接制定一个开发截止日期,也不会想太多。(游戏邦注:trello是一个方便的团队协作工具)但是在查看了各种GDD实例模板之后,我发现它们都包含了一个细节化的时间表。然后我自己试着做了一个详细的时间表。这时我意识到,给每个具体的任务设置截止日期会迫使我真正地思考“每一项任务需要多少时间来完成”还有“我希望游戏在1个月、6个月、1年里具体达到什么程度”,它使我更加意识到从美术、到声音、到编程的每一项独立任务间的相互作用。

虽然不是每个人都会有同样的感觉,但我认为值得一试,特别是当你发现自己开始了一个游戏项目,但是好像永远做不完的时候。仔细查看GDD中的所有特性,从美术资产到编程,诚实地考虑每项任务需要多长时间来完成。这意味着你需要把可能会影响到开发时间的其他因素考虑进去,比如你的全职工作、家庭琐事,等等。然后在这个基础上再加上一些时间。举个例子,如果你认为某个项目需要一周的时间来完成,那么就给自己两到三周的时间,因为开发的时间总是会比你想象的更长。

(四)对营销超有帮助

如果GDD做得好,基本上就等于是公关和市场营销的金矿。GDD包含了你游戏中的所有独特特性,美术概念,整体主题等。负责营销的人员可以根据它来制作游戏截屏、宣传片、新闻稿,等等。而且,一个好的GDD通常都会包含一些关于目标人群的信息,因此营销人员就应该可以确切地知道如何创建上述营销材料来吸引这些人的注意力。

本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Whether you’re working alone or in a group, the most important thing to have on hand is documentation. Enter the game design document (GDD). If you’ve been a part of any game development group, at some point you’ll run into a discussion about whether people should use a GDD or not. At this point you might be asking yourself the same thing. Do you really need one, especially if you’re a solo developer?

The answer is YES. You should absolutely have a GDD. It doesn’t have to be 100 pages long, but a good GDD is a lot more than just guidelines for your game.

ORGANIZE YOUR IDEAS

Studies show that our memories aren’t very reliable. While this study focuses only on our recollection of events, it’s also true of our own ideas. You might have come up with an amazing idea in the shower, but as the days or even weeks go by without writing it down, the less you’ll remember. A GDD is an excellent way to keep track of your ideas on paper.

More importantly, it’s a way for you to reference certain features or aspects of your game. When you’re working with a team, a GDD provides all team members with a deep understanding of the game’s overview and how it works. This makes communicating between different departments much easier and reduces confusion and the amount of back-and-forth saving you a lot of time. If you’re a solo developer, a GDD is still useful because it serves as an excellent reference. No one’s memory is 100 percent so it’s likely  you’ll forget some details. With a GDD, you don’t have to worry about that (unless you somehow delete it).

KEEPS YOU FOCUSED

Some developers suffer from feature creep while others don’t have enough features. A GDD could solve either option. In the case of feature creep, a GDD keeps you focused on your goal. All of the features you need are already in there and you’ve already laid out how everything interacts with the various systems. You can look at the GDD and ask yourself if that feature you want will really add to the overall game or if it’s fun, but unnecessary. More often than not, it’s the latter.

A good GDD can also reveal missing features and functions in the game. Perhaps you have a platformer game but you didn’t include a jump feature. Unless that’s part of a conscious design decision, it’s definitely something you should add.

The GDD should serve as your master checklist. Checking off the various items on the list can be hugely motivational because it means you’re one step closer to finishing your game.
SETS A SCHEDULE

I used to just assign deadlines in Trello without a second thought about timing. But after looking over various sample GDD templates, I found they all include a schedule. When I tested it out, I realized setting milestones for each item forced me to really think how long a task would take and where exactly I wanted the game to be in 1 month, 6 months, a year and so on. It made me more conscious with the interaction of each separate task from art to sound to programming.

While not everyone will feel the same way, I think it’s worth a try, especially if you find yourself starting game projects but never finishing them. Really take a good look at all of the features in your GDD from the art assets to programming and honestly think how long each task would take. That means you need to factor in other things like your day job, family and other items, then give yourself even more time. If you think something will take one week, give yourself two or three weeks and so on. Development ALWAYS takes longer than you think.

GREAT FOR MARKETING

When done well, a GDD is pretty much a goldmine for PR and marketing. It contains all of the unique features of your game, concept artwork, general theme and more. From it, you or whoever handles your marketing can put together screenshots, trailers, press releases and more. And since a good GDD generally has some information on the target demographic, you or your marketer should know exactly how to create these items to make sure it catches their attention. (Source:gamasutra.com  


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