#design documents

Compile Shoot-Em-ups - Design Documents and Booklet

Today Games That Weren't take a look at rare, never seen IK+ development documents from the archive of the late Archer Maclean, including ideas and graphical concepts that led to creation of the famous fighting game. #Commodore64

https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2024/12/ik-design-and-development-notes/

Alongside the IK+ development documents post on Games That Weren’t, we've also created a video with our usual socially awkward commentary, giving you a peek into the gems hidden in the scans:

Sonic Colors: Ultimate Design Documents Revealed #SonicTheHedgehog #SonicNews

(Featured Photo by 85Fifteen on Unsplash.) As much larping goes in the direction of freeforms and one-shots, design documents have become an essential part of larp design, but still aren’t things discussed much in the greater North American community. I’d argue that EVERY larp could use a well written, ten page design document which sets up the basic play style, themes, player expectations, and…

Show Notes:

On building robust software

The detail I expect to see in a design document, and thus the document's length, varies based on the scope of the project. Here's roughly the breakdown of design document length that I've seen in my career:

Scope / Design document length

Subproblem 500 words Problem 2,000 words Problem domain 8,000 words Opportunity 1,500 words Market need 1,000 words

My experience in entrepreneurial companies in order

Scope / Design document length

Market 1000 words + Opportunity 1500 words (by CEO, President)  Problem domain 8,000 words (Chief App Designer) Problem 2,000 words - often a Use Case UML document (by CTO) Subproblem 500 words - often an API definition (by lead dev).