dustlands title

Research

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this questionnaire.

This set of questions is targeted at game designers and the methodologies they use to see a computer game from concept to completion.

Your answers are anonymous and will be used solely for research purposes during the development of the dustlands project.

Please answer as many questions as possible / relevant to you and submit your responses via the "submit" button at the end of the form.
  1. How much time is dedicated to preliminary documentation (i.e. game design processes undertaken before programming etc. begins)?
    1-2 months 2-4 months 4-6 months 6 months +

  2. Please provide a general break-down of how this time is spent (eg: 2 page game abstract - 1 week, 40 page high-level design document - 2 months, etc)?

  3. What documentation does your organisation usually prepare for in-house use during the development of a game (eg: abstract/concept, feasibility study, requirements study, detailed game specification)?

  4. How much time is dedicated to ongoing maintenance and updates of the above documentation while a game is being developed?
    None 1-5 hours / week 5-10 hours / week 10 hours + / week

  5. Many believe that game design documents should be thought of as "living, breathing". Is this the case in your organisation?
    Yes No

    How do you handle the continued revision and distribution of these documents (eg: wiki/cvs/blogs/meetings)?

  6. How much weight is given to the design documents/specifications when factors such as artistic interpretation/license, game engine limitations, feature creep, and programming/engineering best-practices begin to interfere with the designer's vision (i.e. how closely is the game's design followed when obstacles present themselves)?

  7. How active is the game designer throughout the production process (eg: attends weekly meetings, is available 9-5/M-F for consultation with artists/programmers/testers/etc)?

  8. What are the most valuable skills you, as a game designer, possess and utilise?

Thank you once again for your time. Please feel free to investigate the rest of this site and provide any feedback via the feedback form. Alternatively, you may wish to contact Paul Cameron directly for further discussion relating to this work.