Competitive Analysis...........................
The competitive analysis is another document used in trying to sell your game. Some-
times competitive analyses are written in the early stages of a game that has already
been green-lit, in order to clearly show the marketing department how the game will
fare in the marketplace. It typically includes a shorter, more condensed version of the
pitch document, and specifically lists the unique features of the game being developed.
The competitive analysis then lists a number of other games that have shipped in the
recent past that are similar to the proposed game, provides a brief synopsis of the
fiction and gameplay of each, and then describes how each of these games performed
(via average review score, quotes from various reviews, and sales figures, if available).
For each of these previously released games, the document will go on to describe how
that game compares to the new game being developed. For example, if you were writing
a competitive analysis for a proposed real-time strategy game, you would probably
want to include the more recent games from the major RTS franchises, such as the
latest addition to theCommand & Conquerseries, theWarCraftseries, and theAge of
Empiresseries. Competitive analysis documents typically do not help very much with
development, but can provide a useful reality check to help you realize that the game
you are hoping to create really is exactly the same as another title that shipped six
months ago.
Design Document ............................
In other parts of the software development industry, the equivalent of the design docu-
ment is often called the functional specification. Indeed, some game developers refer to
the design document as the functional specification. I prefer “design document”
because it is the more widely used term and because it better represents the content of
the document. The design document’s goal is to fully describe and detail the gameplay
of the game. For large team projects, the design document serves as a vital reference
work for how the different aspects of the game need to function, with, ideally, team
Chapter 17: Game Development Documentation 309
When writing a
competitive analysis, you
will need to include a
discussion and
potentially screenshots
from the leaders in your
title’s genre. For an RTS
title, you’d almost
certainly want to discuss
WarCraft III.