Project Update: Writing The Concept Brief
Game development is messy as hell. I don’t think that comes as a surprise to anyone.
I had originally planned to write about creating a game design document and subsequently creating a schedule. I was going to use that design brief to create a list of tasks and schedule based on that design document.
Doing this would require me to create the game design document first. Both of these activities are out of scope for the actual stage of the project. I try to avoid writing large design documents before creating a small playable version of the game.
The goal of the concept phase is to develop a prototype. I’ll use this prototype to create an actual design document, and eventually a schedule.
Creating a Game Design Brief
Creating large documents is usually full of too many assumptions that can quickly become outdated. Instead, I created a small design brief to get me started.
A brief is usually a one or two-page document with a few details on what the game is intended to be.
I’m creating a game using the Tower Defense Tool kit. This tool kit covers a lot of the basics I would otherwise have to build. Because TDTK already has code for waves, buildings, and upgrades covered, I don’t need to spend as much time defining these areas in the game design document.
I use the game design document to define the work I need to do to bring the game to life. This brief helped me figure out the first couple of tasks to realize the prototype.
For the game brief, I focused on the following:
Unique Selling Proposition- I wrote a few sentences on why this game would be unique from other tower defense games.
The setting- Story isn’t super important on this project, but I wanted to write a few sentences to help me figure out the aesthetics of the game.
Mechanics- Although I’m using a starter kit, I still wanted to write out how my tower defense game would play. This also gives me ideas on the type if content I’ll need.
Scope- Last, I wrote out bullet points on how much game I’ll need to build. This is just a guess- and may change after I build the prototype . The scope and mechanics give me a general idea of what my early tasks.
After writing a small brief, I like to start prototyping. I used my brief to figure out my early tasks. I decided to focus on tasks that helped me learn the tool kit.
Learn How to Create New Unit Prefabs
Create a new tower prefab
Create a new enemy unit
Create New Unit Types
3 towers for player
3 enemy types
1 level
Create a backdrop of the level using sci-fi building tool kit
Now I start working on the prototype! As I build the prototype, I’ll keep track of how long tasks take, his Information will help me when I develop a production schedule.