top of page

Radiance - Documentation

As we were working with a multi-disciplinary team that included artists and coders, it was essential that our game bible and documentation were kept up to date and featured all the information other disciplines would need to progress their work. We created a game bible integrated into our project management solution (Click Up), keeping as much information as possible in one place. Bible entries typically included some or all of the following, as required:

  • Description of the feature to be developed

  • Bullet points describing functionality

  • A list of exposed parameters and variables needed by the designers

  • Bullet points describing required visuals

  • A table for required VFX and SFX

  • Narrative context

  • Reference imagery and/or mock-ups


Left: Excerpt from the game bible describing how Module Slots should function.


Right: Rough sketch (included in the game bible) showing that Module Slots should have red lights/emissives when powered down, and green lights/emissives when powered up


Left: Excerpt from the game bible describing the required visual details and audio functionality of Module Slots. At this stage, specific sounds were not described, we just needed to ensure our programmers knew that audio was a requirement.


Right: A reference image from Control. Key to note is that the object picked up by the player has the same colour lights as the slot on the wall. We used the same technique to help the player draw a link between Module Slots and the Generator Modules that would fit into them.

Periodically, I went through the game bible from start to finish and edit it for accuracy and consistency. Throughout this, I not only ensured that the description of each feature worked cohesively with the descriptions of all others, but ensured that the language used throughout was consistent.


Communication is one of the biggest challenges in any multi-discipline team, so creating a consistent vocabulary to be used by all teams and documentation was extremely important to me. People often underestimate the importance of the right words.


Each game bible entry was accompanied by an icon that told the wider team what the status of the entry was.

Red – Do not use. Out of date.

Yellow – Do not use. Updated but pending approval.

Green – Ready to use. Up to date and approved.


These colours quickly communicated to the wider team which areas of the bible were ready to be worked on, and provided us designers with an at-a-glance look at which bits of the bible needed the most attention.

Comentários


bottom of page