Game Documentation Guide - Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing - page 32

the GDD is the master document that all other documents derive themselves from.
Following are the things that can be found in a game design document.
Full description of game mechanics and system design. This section of the game
design document drives deep into the mechanics and systems the player finds in the
game. In here, you will find the following.

• The controls the player will use to operate the game.

•

The things the player can do in the game, such as

- go into combat with enemy AI, both close up and from range;
- jump over things;
- climb up walls;
- shimmy along ledges;
- slide down ropes;
- hit and destroy objects;
- pick up or move objects;
- use objects in some way, such as pulling switches or reading topics;
- talk with nonplayer characters;
- upgrade the character by picking up weapons or growing in skills;
- how different skills affect gameplay;
- how the player loses or dies in the game;
- multiplayer mechanics, such as
∗

how the player interacts with other live players;

∗

what is different between the regular game and the multiplayer ver-
sion;

∗ types of multiplayer options: multiple players on a single machine,

players meeting through a network, etc.;

∗

cheating countermeasures.

•

AI behaviors.

- How enemy or friendly AI should act in the game. This should have
several examples listed to show how the designer wants the game to feel
when the player encounters an AI.

•

Boss design.

- Much like AI behaviors, this lists the major bosses of the game and gives
the reader an idea of what kinds of abilities they bring to bear to chal-
lenge the player.