ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the function, difficulties, and possible future of game design documents (GDD). It examines what GDDs are and what purpose they serve, reviewing and evaluating four GDDs of well-known commercial titles. The chapter addresses difficulties and concerns about GDDs; GDDs suffer from low return on investment since the time spent to create, review, maintain, and retain far exceeds the benefit the development team gets from having commissioned it. The chapter investigates what methods are now being used in some instances to design and develop games. It argues that there is a disconnect between what is thought to be good design practice and what currently works as best designer's practice in the industry. The chapter explores how iterative development has worked in the classroom and how design documentation impacts this activity. It uses the released game deviated from the GDD after 3D Realms took over in mid-2010 with changes to tone and plot.
