A Quick Note on a Video Game Technical Writer

by Bradley Nice, Content Manager at ClickHelp — all-in-one help authoring tool

Technical writers are amazing people whose work is to make field-specific information easy to grasp for any person. This is slightly different in the gaming industry. Technical communication and games overlap in interface design, information management, and systems development. A video game technical writer creates clear technical documentation for lead management and key personnel, i.e., for the professionals in the industry, so that these people understand how each gaming feature will work and how to use them throughout the game development process.

SMEs help game technical writers contribute to the game’s storyline, script, characters, visualization, quality assurance, and so on. Moreover, game tech writers keep all relevant documentation up to date, making it easier for developers and designers to organize, analyze, and manage gaming components. They also make sure the existing documents accurately reflect the functionality and meet the goal of developing the video as a whole.

The whole technical documentation for a game creation can be divided into two parts: Technical Design Documents (TDD) and Game Design Documents (GDD). The former is created for the software engineers to implement and code the features of a game.

A TDD generally defines the process of a game and contains the following information:

• List of all features.
• Choice of a game engine
• High-level diagrams
• Details about the 3D objects, terrain, and scenes.
• Use of physics engine
• Game logic and artificial intelligence
• Audio and Visual details and specifications
• Networking
• Delivery platform and hardware/software requirements for running the game on a system.

Game Design Documents (GDD) outline, describes, and organize every aspect of a video game to ensure it is completed as planned. Here is the basic rundown of what a GDD should include:

• Game concept/theme or storyline
• Characterization
• Script: Dialogue and other in-game text
• Visualization
• Music Production
• Prototyping
• Development cost
• Marketing strategies
• Scheduling
• Testing

Additional documents include instructions, user guides, manuals, tutorials, API documentation, and more.

As you can see, writing in the gaming industry is not limited to technical documentation. While some gaming organizations may focus solely on the technical side, some organizations want writers to produce a wide range of content. This may include blog posts covering the latest industry trends, gaming platforms, gameplay reviews, and other topics. In addition, computer games are symbolically communicative, relying on written, verbal, visual, algorithmic, audio, and kinesthetic information to convey it. The technical writer unites all that information in the technical content.

Have a nice day!

Bradley Nice, Content Manager at ClickHelp.com — best online documentation tool for SaaS vendors