Word processors

A common misconception is that every GDD starts in Word, or Google Drive Documents, or another word processor. I've worked on many projects where no word processor has been used at all.

A text file is a good choice when a discursive approach is required.

Some examples would be:

• Defining the storyline of a game or describing its lore
• Describing the characters or the environments
• Defining the dialogues or the screenplay for cinematics

Here are some pros and cons in choosing word processors for your GDD.

Pros:

• Indexing is straightforward, as a particular argument or feature can easily be found by page number
• Searching for specific content or keywords is always available and easy
• Simple formatting means it is easy and fast to maintain documentation
• Minimal setup time makes this a great start for single-developer or small teams
• Using the same version control software for both documentation and code/assets means that changelogs can be directly linked from the document
• It's difficult to lose track of revisions
• It's easy to work offline and update the online version later

Cons:

• Collaborative work might be difficult; non-cloud-based word processors cannot be used by multiple users effectively
• Using multimedia links or linking other documents can become messy pretty quickly
• The page format of a word processor is not good for images, videos, or tables
• Visualizing a document made in a specific format on a different machine can create compatibility problems

Very popular word processors are Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and Google Documents