Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
user interface elements, and so on. The art director also plays a major role in creat-
ing and enforcing the visual style of the game. Within the team hierarchy, the art
director is usually at the same level as the lead designer, so it is imperative that the
two of them have a good working relationship and similar goals for the project.
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Audio Director.
Like the art director, the audio director of a game oversees pro-
duction of all the audible assets in the game: music, ambient sounds, effects, and
dialog or narration. Typically there is not as much of this material as there is of art-
work, so the audio director may be working on several projects at once. Audio is
critical to creating a mood for the game, and the lead designer and audio director
work together to establish what kinds of sounds are needed to produce it.
DESIGN RULE
Don't Design by Committee
Do not treat the design work as a democratic process in which each person's opinion has
equal value (“design by committee”). One person must have the authority to make final
decisions, and the others must acknowledge this person's authority.
GAME IDEA VERSUS DESIGN DECISION
Here's a game idea: “Dragons should protect their eggs.”
Here's a design decision: “Whenever they have eggs in their nests, female dragons do
not move beyond visual range from the nest. If an enemy approaches within 50 meters of
the nest, the dragon abandons any other activity and returns to the nest to defend the
eggs. She does not leave the nest until no enemy has been within the 50-meter radius
for at least 30 seconds. She defends the eggs to her death.”
See the difference? This is what creating design documents is about.
As part of their job, game designers produce a series of documents to tell others
about their game design. Exactly what documents they produce and what the doc-
uments are for vary from designer to designer and project to project—but they
usually follow a common thread.
