Narbacular Drop (Portal predecessor) documents


The design documents for Narbacular Drop, created by Nuclear Monkey Software, can still be found on the website of DigiPen Institute of Technology.

The original developers showed the Narbacular Drop game to Valve, which offered to let them develop it’s successor Portal at Valve. On this website several different kind of documents about the game can be found (Docs section) as well as the finished game (Downloads section).

Game design documents and pitches from designer Thomas Grové (Street Fighter IV: Flashback and more)

The designer Thomas Grové shares many really interesting game design documents, pitches and even visual prototypes on his personal website (scroll down to “Concept Documents” section). Files for the following games can be found there:

  • Street Fighter IV: Flashback
  • Tony Jaa’s Fighting Force
  • Valkyrior
  • Street Fighter: Power Battles
  • Kung Fu Dream
  • And some interesting design Tests

Planescape Torment Vision Statement


In a lengthy two part interview lead designer Chris Avellone and “second designer” Chris McComb talk about developing the game Planescape: Torment at Black Isle Studios. The interview can be found at RPGWatch

At the end of the second page Chris Avellone shares the original Vision Statement for this game. This document was used to Pitch the game to their management. With quotes like “don’t do what’s been done” and “re-examine your first instinct” it’s an interesting read.