Wednesday, February 24, 2010

What is a GDD?

That was the question I asked my fellow colleagues. It was for the NASSCOM Gaming Summit presentation. I wanted to tell people about the current ignorance and the actual importance of the Game Design field here in India.


This video of course was partly true and partly fake as few guys wanted to give a funny answer. But the truth is most people have no clue what it is?
Here my colleague Pradip, a tech analyst went around asking the question for me.
The results are hilarious!

The video quality is not that great. And the audio sync maybe slightly off. The embed is not all that accurate.
We shot with Pradip's N73 phone. It was a momentary and my last moment decision to get this video done. I thought it would be fun and easy to break the ice with the audience :)

Some of the conversations are in Hindi. For those who want a translation, look below the video embed :)
Please bear with the buffering speed. May vary depending on any factor in the universe :D



Translations:
(anything in square brackets, is my take on the replies)


Q. What is a GDD?
Guy1 (Programmer): GDD is a…*cleans throat* …GDD…Documentation something… documentation!
Guy 2 (Senior Game Designer): *my sparkling whites*
Guy 3 (Producer): Good Question!
Guy 4 (Tech Analyst): First, you tell me what a GDD is! *Gotcha!*
Guy 5(Lead Animator): Have to ask Purnima! I’ve heard about it! It’s something BIG! [Oh yes, its Big!]
Guy 6(Producer): GDD is a document that sometimes gets done after the game is developed! *Hahahha*
Girl 1(Asst. HR Manager): GDD? Game Design Document, right? *not sure*
Guy 4 (Again): Game Developer of Disco? Game Developer of Dance? What is it? What does GDD mean??
Girl 2 (Asst. Acct Manager - Publishing): GDD? *never heard of that term ever in my life!* [I like her reaction!]
Guy 7 (Studio Head): There is a large rotating dial with a depiction of Shiva about it! *this is more interesting, sorry I didn’t hear u!* [I wonder which game it is...]
Guy 4(Again?): *thinking…* *hints?*
Guy 8 (Programmer): Game Design Document *yay I got it right!* (Have you ever read a single GDD?) *LOL* No!!
Guy 9 (Studio Manager): Well…a GDD is what a game can be!  It’s not what a game will turn out to be, but it’s what a game can be! *Honest!*
Guy 4 (OMG!): Game Disco Developer? Game Developer Disco? Game Dance? *oh that’s only GD!* Game Dance Dance?
Guy 10 (QA Lead): Description of game which actually somehow doesn’t get implemented due to technical reasons and time du…. time constraints! [boy, u should be into management…so much diplomacy, yet the truth!]
Guy 11(Engine Lead): *Serious* Why? *Can anyone help me out here?* [he doesn’t like getting distrurbed during his tower defense or farm games]
Guy 4(It’s him again!): *thinking man… still thinking… it helps!* [yup! Go on]
Guy 12(Senior Game Designer): *ya right!* *help me out here!* What is his problem with life?
Guy 13 (Senior Programmer): I mean that’s the only thing that programmers hate! *true confession*
Guy 14 (Graphic Artist): (What is a GDD?) *err……* (GDD means what?) *still err…* (Gee Dee Dee!) *errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…..am I gonna get into trouble for this??*
Guy 4 (Enough already!): Too much options I’ve given you! You can take any of that!
Guy 15 (Senior Graphic Artist): They never follow except the producer! Because the producer truly believes that a game design document is really important for every … *nod*  [you've to complete the sentence! :P]
Guy 16 (Senior Programmer): I hate games! [Ooo boy, so much frustration but with a cheerful face..lolz]
Girl 3(Asst. HR Manager): *heeeeee heeeee heeeeeeeeeee* *trring trring*
Guy 4(Last time we hope!): Thank you, thank you guys! Meet you again! [AGAIN?? Noooo!!]

Hope you all enjoyed it!
Still no idea what a GDD is? Try searching the term "Game Design Document" on Google. Don't know how to use Google? You don't need to know what a GDD is! :D

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