This week I primarily focused on the Game Design Document for our project based on the concept document of “Suit Em Up”. Once a rough draft of the layout had been made focus shifted to defining the various aspects and components of the game while making sure the articulation remained consistent throughout the text. Many revisions were made to ensure consistency was maintained both on my own and with the help of the rest of the group. Their aid was crucial in establishing all the discussed features and mechanics of the game as it became apparent that everyone had not been on the same boat during the initial weeks, likely caused by infrequent communications regarding these subject matters which led to a consensus not being made until further on into week four. Despite these internal confusions progress was made as the group now had a more unified idea and vision on how to proceed with the project.
As for the document itself it’s only at raw information at this point with barely anything that aids the reader with understanding the document’s contents beyond walls of text. It is information well-articulated and structured I’d dare to brag but still very sterile. Beyond a boring flowchart of the various game modes there is no visual aid at this point. I requested our Lead Artist to provide some simple samples of the game’s Avatar and enemies. However he’s been too occupied with the animations to do much else.
It proved useful to have the group gather for the final stages of the design document as it was revealed that uncertainty still lingered regarding the game’s dynamics and even its mechanics. The aesthetics were at least well established by this point, as the artist department was and is still underway emulating a cartoonish look reminiscent of animated films of the early 20th century (mainly Disney).
While the aesthetical categories of the document were solid the uncertainty of the exact behaviour of certain enemies remained for several hours into the meeting until features were explained with the help of a quick mock-up of a level design provided by me. By using it my explanations of the intended dynamics were relayed with much greater clarity, thus enabling the group to come to an agreement much more quickly.
Another area in which my group proved invaluable was in fleshing out the component lists for every part of the game. Objects, graphics, code and sound was all categorised and listed thanks to the departments’ participation.
In overall, the development of the design document has gone well and reached its final draft without incident. The group has been active and more than willing to help with the fine tuning of the document’s contents. In hindsight perhaps we became a bit too dug in into our individual tasks rather than making sure we were all working with the same perspective and goal. I can honestly say that I’ve learned the importance of creating a written document first hand.
Björn Erik Berndtsson. Lead Designer. Group 8.
bjornberndtsson 
Try using two different documents when talking about MDA make sure you write it down in a primary document and a secondary document for example:
Primary (this is updated at the weeks end and get progressively more detailed):
Week 1:
Shooting; our character will use different weapons to fire and destroy enemies
This is your working document where you write down the current information on what you are doing.
Secondary:
Weapon 1: Long ranged attack: Cool-down: 0,2s damage: 20.0f, attack animation, bullet animation special: hitting enemies will split the shoot in a random direction of 90 degrees from the point of impact (see picture).
After week 1 you translate what you wrote in the secondary document to the primary and you get a great pipeline for what to do next.
Paintings doesn’t have to be elaborate, sometimes a few doddle are worth a 1000 words.
Also as you might have noticed taking notes during meetings is crucial because you forget details of what you agree on, but numbers cant be wrong. Always write it down even though you don’t agree.
The aesthetics sounds really interesting and I can’t recall that I have seen or played a game that has had that art style before and I’m looking forward to see the results in the final game.
I don´t understand the level design picture, but I guess it’s hard when it is taken out of context and is a quick mock-up. But as it helped you to convey your ideas it has served its purpose well.
Since we have the same concept in our group it would have been interesting to read more about what the game dynamics is. Too see the different design choices our groups have made so far in the project.
As you write in the conclusion I agree with you. It seems like you had some problems with the communication in your group, and maybe your priorities were wrong in the beginning of the project. One thing that you could have done to fix the problem with the graphics content for the design document is that you could have planned for the content to be made for the design document and write it down in the srcum. That´s how we solved it our group and it worked out well I suppose.
An interesting blog post keep up the good work.