So I'm looking into really starting to game design, as I self-learned everything I know. What I'm really searching for is some articles or other various places to access in order to help me.

I'd first like to get to know general game design better, not anything specific but rather an overall view on game design and what it's about.

The second thing I'd like to research is game design documents. I've seen various different ones, and I'm finding many conflicted views and ideas in them. Can you give me personal recommendations?

this is where I'd like to start, I'd appreciate the help.

"As I self-learned everything I know." It's harder to switch from one mode of learning to another you haven't done so much. Welcome to seeking human stimulation fellow Autodidact.

I'd first like to get to know general game design better, not anything specific but rather an overall view on game design and what it's about.

Try playing just about any game and think about each action you take. Then you may want to think about what could have happened and changed the entire game. This is actually a common ability early gamers have, but you'll annoy the heck out of people who aren't heated up to this ability if you begin a discussion. Always bear in mind casually disclosing ideas can result in hostility, and remember you're doing this to improve how quickly you can recreate a scenario in video games.

The second thing I'd like to research is game design documents.

There is no unified standard for representing such a complex design. Learn one at a time as the need arises and discover what's missing, back to self learning.

I'd first like to get to know general game design better, not anything specific but rather an overall view on game design and what it's about.

Some links:

Lost Garden

The Designer's Notebook

Extra Credits

Sloperama

The second thing I'd like to research is game design documents.

The general consensus is that there isn't any one template or design to be universally followed; different projects and different teams require different information, and any layout and contents that provides all the necessary information and gets the job done is a good one.

Tom Sloper provides a possible outline you might use as a starting point, and links to a number of examples by different designers down the bottom.

Can you give me personal recommendations?

Otherwise you might turn into an armchair designer who only talk and plan and never finishes :)

Making games is soo much more fun than reading some boring design docs...

He might not know how to make a game? He might not be a programmer or an artist. He is talking about game design and just designing a game is a job in the industry. If he doesn't know these other skills then he needs to get his idea across to people who do, which is why a detailed game doc is handy.

"As I self-learned everything I know." It's harder to switch from one mode of learning to another you haven't done so much. Welcome to seeking human stimulation fellow Autodidact.

I'd first like to get to know general game design better, not anything specific but rather an overall view on game design and what it's about.

Try playing just about any game and think about each action you take. Then you may want to think about what could have happened and changed the entire game. This is actually a common ability early gamers have, but you'll annoy the heck out of people who aren't heated up to this ability if you begin a discussion. Always bear in mind casually disclosing ideas can result in hostility, and remember you're doing this to improve how quickly you can recreate a scenario in video games.

The second thing I'd like to research is game design documents.

There is no unified standard for representing such a complex design. Learn one at a time as the need arises and discover what's missing, back to self learning.

Ah, yes I do that quite frequently. I find the more you delve into game design, the more your brain looks at a game scenario and thinks 'why is this good' or 'how could i make this better'. I do that quite frequently on a sub/semi conscious level, but I should start doing it with my full attention; its a great learning tool.

And yes, I realise that the GDD is quite complex and varies from game to game, but I was seeking a general basis on that and maybe some finished versions of them to have a look through.

Thanks jbadams for that and the other links, I'll start off with them.

Can you give me personal recommendations?

Well, my personal recommendation would be to stop reading these design docs and start making a game. Any game.

Otherwise you might turn into an armchair designer who only talk and plan and never finishes

Making games is soo much more fun than reading some boring design docs...

I second this. The Global Game Jam is coming up soon. Find a location near you, join up on a small team, and make a game in a weekend. You'll learn more about game development in that one weekend than you could from reading design documents.

He might not know how to make a game? He might not be a programmer or an artist. He is talking about game design and just designing a game is a job in the industry. If he doesn't know these other skills then he needs to get his idea across to people who do, which is why a detailed game doc is handy.

I disagree. My point is he should get the skills of a programmer (or an artist) first, not to learn how to get his idea across to others. As for designers in the industry, they *usually* don't code because they don't need to, not because they don't know how. Besides, when I watch these videos of "making of the game" I notorously see a designer coding a rough prototype to test a concept all alone. Personally, a computer game designer who don't know how to code is a nonsense to me...

I realize many people disagree with my opinion :)

Did you already read the design-related tutorial linked in the sidebar of the design forum's main page? Mine, the bottom one, in and intro to what game design is and how to step by step start designing a game and writing a design document.

Here's a direct link to the tutorial sunandshadow mentioned in case you had trouble finding it.