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A game design document (often abbreviated GDD) is a highly descriptive living design document of the game design for a video game.[1][2][3][4] A GDD is created and edited by the developer team and it is primarily used in the video game industry to organize efforts within a developer team. The document is created by the developer team as result of collaboration between their designers, artists and programmers as a guiding vision which is used throughout the game development process. When a game is commissioned by a game publisher to the developer team, the document must be created by the developer team and it is often attached to the agreement between publisher and developer; the developer has to adhere to the GDD during game development process.
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Game developers may produce the game design document in the pre-production stage of game development—prior to or after a pitch.[5] Before a pitch, the document may be conceptual and incomplete. Once the project has been approved, the document is expanded by the developer to a level where it can successfully guide the development team.[1][6] Because of the dynamic environment of game development, the document is often changed, revised and expanded as development progresses and changes in scope and direction are explored. As such, a game design document is often referred to as a living document, that is, a piece of work which is continuously improved upon throughout the implementation of the project, sometimes as often as daily.[7][2][8][9] A document may start off with only the basic concept outlines and become a complete, detailed list of every game aspect by the end of the project.
A game design document may be made of text, images, diagrams, concept art, or any applicable media to better illustrate design decisions. Some design documents may include functional prototypes or a chosen game engine for some sections of the game.
Although considered a requirement by many companies, a GDD has no set industry standard form. For example, developers may choose to keep the document as a word processed document, or as an on-line collaboration tool.
The purpose of a game design document is to unambiguously describe the game's selling points, target audience, gameplay, art, level design, story, characters, UI, assets, etc.[10][11] In short, every game part requiring development should be included by the developer in enough detail for the respective developers to implement the said part.[12] The document is purposely sectioned and divided in a way that game developers can refer to and maintain the relevant parts.
The majority of video games should require an inclusion or variation of the following sections:[13][14]
This list is by no means exhaustive or applicable to every game. Some of these sections might not appear in the GDD itself but instead would appear in supplemental documents.