University of Washington
CSE 481D: Games Capstone

Game Design Document 

This document is a contract between you, the game designers and developers, and us, the "investors in the game" (who also happen to be able to assign grades in this class. =)

Group name:

Group members: 
Contract

Please fill in the table below with your assessment of what you need to accomplish on your project. For each component listed below, list three scenarios: must have for a functional game, should have for an effective game, should have for a game that is measurably appreciated by players worldwide.  You can roughly think of these as analogous to (requirements to pass the class, to get a B, to get an A).  I say roughly because we're really measuring your systematic process through each of the stages.  if you do a great job on each of the stages of game development by being thorough systematic and creative and your game is still not popular in the wild, you will still get an A.  In the row below each requirement, state explicitly how this requirement can be measured. This measurement should be clear and unambiguous - any team member or grader should easily be able to judge "yes, this is complete" or "no, this is not complete".  Be sure that your design includes measures that can explicitly show level of success.  Make boxes as large as you need them to clearly specify things, or use sections of the document to cover all topics.  Being vague lowers the quality of your document.

Remember that it is easy to become excited and propose more than you can actually accomplish. Carefully consider what requirements you wish to propose.  We will hold you accountable to your contract! 

Component 
	Must have for functional game 
	Must have for effective game 
	Must have for an awesome game 
	1. Level authoring tool 
	


			1. Measurements of these requirements 
	


			2. First release 
	


			2. Measurements of these requirements 
	


			3. Instrumentation and logging 
	


			3. Measurements of these requirements 
	


			4. Player Retention 
	


			4. Measurements of these requirements 
	


			5. Tutorial Levels 
	


			5. Measurements of these requirements 
	


			6. Marketing 
	


			6. Measurements of these requirements 
	


			7. Visuals 
	


			7. Measurements of these requirements 
	


			8. Audio 
	


			8. Measurements of these requirements 
	


			

1. Level authoring tool. Please discuss your plan for building the level authoring tool. Describe what the interface will look like, how the user will interact with it, and how it will interface with your game.

2. First release. Discuss your plan for the first release and what it will contain.  What is the minimum set of features to consider releasing the game? 

3. Audio. Briefly discuss your plan for audio. Do you have a song or piece of music that sets the mood for your game? 

4. Visuals. Explain what your visuals will be. How will you set a consistent visual style? Are there any artists or styles from which you plan to draw insipration?  it is ok if your plan does not have strong visual goals.  howoever, if strong visuals are key to your success, make a strong argument, and we may be able to help you with dedicated artist time.

5. Tutorial levels. Please discuss your plan for guiding a complete novice from the first level to the last.  How will you teach the player how to play the game without losing their interest?

6. Marketing. Describe your plan for drawing people to start the game.  Include your game's "summary": a screenshot, title, and description.  Also discuss any other marketing, or publicity plans you have.

7. Player retention. Describe your plan for keeping the people in the game as long as possible. Discuss rewards and why they will be effective for maintaining the player's interest.  What will hook players in the first 15 seconds?  Why would players return for a second session? 

8. Instrumentation and logging. Describe how you will do instrumentation and logging.  What exactly will you be recording?  how will you analyze this data?



Milestones and Team Assignments

Describe what each team member will accomplish. Be clear and explicit - ambiguity here may cause you headaches later.  A team where every member knows explicitly their goals, and all are maximally committed scheduled is a happy team.


Describe milestones for the project, explicitly stated for each team member if possible. You should describe your plan in one-week increments. It is unlikely that you will be able to recover if you slip more than one week. 
  
Week 6:

Week 7:

Week 8:

Week 9:

Week 10:

Final: