I know the point about the Design Document. But do we really need them? Some people say "Yes!" and some people say "No!". So what is your opinion? Do we really need them? Why and why not? I am currently trying to complete a design document but it is going quite slow because we actually don''t know exactly what we should write... Anyway, post your opinion and experiences here! Regards!

nah.. first time round, just sit down and code, it''ll look horrible, be full of bugs, but you''ll then know how important it is to have a design doc , learn the hard way but it sinks in much better

Yeah, just try to get a team of people bigger than 2, or have any team members working remotely, and when it all falls apart because nobody really knows what they are supposed to be doing this week, or what is and isnt supposed to be in a game, you''ll see.
Big habit with non-design-doc projects: One or two ''leaders'' of the group change something, or talk about changing something, the team hears about it, thinks it has or hasn''t changed, the ''leaders'' change their minds, soon nobody on the team knows what the hell is going on.

*dim lights*
"So, did you get that bsp map working yet?"
"BSP map?! Dude, Code_Killah99 totally said we werent doing that anymore!"
"No way, man, what the hell have you been working on?"
"Well, I heard in the forum somewhere that we were''nt going to make an RPG anymore and we were making a space fighter game, so I''ve been working on spaceship sprites"
"Dude, its a FF-style RPG!"
"Well how the f*ck am I supposed to know? We don''t have a well designed, precise design document to guide us!"
*applause*
This skit was brought to you by PBS.

quote: Original post by Sir_Manfred
... some people say "No!" ...

Who says no?

John B

Those who refuse to comment their code ??

"Game Design" forum trolling is almost *too* easy...

Hasn''t this issue been covered enough in this forum alone to fill several "Gems" books?

DavidRM
Samu Games

Yo, I hear ya, right now i'm doing my first design document myself, and its going really slow. I think that it is almost impossible to do it without one. I can't count how many times i've tryed to code out my games and gotten confused on how to implement the content or how to switch to the next screen or what items to include, etc, etc. Unless your a lonewolf company and its a really small project, you should do a design document. Gamedev has a good article on the anatomy of a game design document that includes an example with a small pac-man clone. It's called "A Crash Course in Game Design & Production" under the General Game Design Section.

~ The Dragon Is Feared By Many ~

[edited by - DragonSoft on April 2, 2002 2:57:37 PM]

quote: Original post by JohnBSmall
Who says no?

John B

Peter Molyneux, for one ? Does Black&White (and Populous, etc) ring a bell ?

I'm not in position to say that design docs are useless, specially for certain situations, like team members spread across the globe. But are they really necessary in all situations ? I don't know... Many people seem to believe in a "design doc dogma", just because they heard it from someone else.

As I said, I believe they are useful, but sometimes, when the design doc is used like a straightjacket, the game suffers by not being allowed to "breathe".

Just my 2 cents, as they say...



[edited by - ktulu on April 2, 2002 3:24:07 PM]

I think it is possible to live through a medium sized project without a design document (especially if only one person is handling the core of the game, with the other team members working on very loosely connected modules), but it''s not possible without planning ahead. And it''s hard enough to plan ahead with a design document...

The problem is you need experience to be able to plan ahead. And if you don''t have the experience, you may be better off just trying and failing and trying again for a while.

quote:
"Game Design" forum trolling is almost *too* easy...

Hasn''t this issue been covered enough in this forum alone to fill several "Gems" books?

Well, yes, but by different people.

I think everyone should go through a C vs. C++ and a Design Doc vs No Design Doc thread at least once. Actually replying to such a thread is a much better learning experience than reading old dead threads.