Example Draft GDD With Diagrams
As an assessment, I was tasked with creating a game design document (or GDD) focused on a prominent economy (such as limited recourses) and iterating on it. I decided on the concept of a narrative rouge-like called Aniliere, where the player had to survive in a limbo of sorts by making choices that would affect their health and resources. The final draft can be found at the bottom of the page.
The Document
To start, I wanted each resource to be important and affect each other in some way. While health should be the most important, low durability increases the chances of encountering more dangerous entities during the night. These escalated night events can take a huge amount of health from the player which in turn makes them focus on durability as much as health. Materials are used to gain back durability (which is rare to gain through events) and are the most common resource NPCs want to take from the player in a trade. By laying out the game like this I hoped it would create a balancing act that would make decision-making during the event more challenging but enjoyable.
Diagrams
I make sure my diagrams/flowcharts are as simple to read as possible. I do this with large boxes and fonts, as well as colors that represent stages of the flowchart. I also do this so It’s easier to convey ideas and game flow without words, which at times I can have trouble with.
