animé, Warner Bros. cel animation, neo-realism, and so forth) will be found in the bible
accompanied by sketches that communicate the game’s style better than words ever
could. It is important to keep the descriptions of the game-world’s art style in this docu-
ment instead of in the design document in order to allow each document to stand on its
own as a comprehensive reference tool. Of course, designers on a project should read
over and be familiar with the art bible, if for no other reason than to make sure it is on
track with the rest of the game. An art bible may also contain technical guidelines that
artists need to follow to create assets that will work with the game’s engine, as detailed
in the technical design document. This may include polygon limitations to be followed
or the duration and number of frames involved in different animations.
The Game Minute............................
The game minute is typically a one- to three-page document that describes in detail a
short section of gameplay. These documents are often written very early in develop-
ment, when what exactly the gameplay consists of is still fairly nebulous. These
documents can be used to communicate to the team or to upper management what
direction the game is going and to serve as a reality check to make sure everyone is
fully on board with how the game’s high concept will actually play out. For this reason,
the gameplay described in the game minute should be representative of a relatively
average gameplay experience, not a boss battle or the training mission. Since in many
ways the game minute is supposed to function as a reality check, it really needs to
describe your “meat-and-potatoes” game experience. Game minutes are written in a
prose style and go into specific detail about what exactly the player is doing from
moment to moment in the game. Some game minutes even go so far as to list each but-
ton or key press the players would make to accomplish the various objectives in the
game.
Game minutes can be very useful, but they can also be somewhat problematic
since they represent a single way of playing out a scenario. This problem can be some-
what ameliorated by writing the text in such a way that it suggests what the player
might do differently in a given situation. For example, in an action-adventure game, the
player might see: “Rounding the corner, the player sees an intimidating Blugbatter
Beast. The player contemplates charging up and attacking it with his cattle prod, but
then recalls that the Blugbatter Beasts are immune to electricity, except in a weak spot
at the base of their neck. Since the Beast has not yet seen the player, the player quickly
backs up around the corner and waits there quietly. Knowing the Beast should soon be
patrolling in this direction, the player hopes to surprise him and attack him from
behind...” In addition, a designer may want to consider writing up several different ver-
sions of a game minute to show how significantly different approaches to a given
scenario might play out. However much the designer tries to fix this problem, he is still
stuck with a narrative that only describes one particular sequence of events. Some-
times team members who do not understand what a game minute is supposed to
accomplish may even become confused when they read it, wondering, “Is that all the
player can do?” Nevertheless, if used properly and if the team is made fully aware of the
document’s function, a game minute can be a very useful tool when the game is not yet
in a playable state because the project is still very early in development.
316 Chapter 17: Game Development Documentation