The pitch document from Chris Sawyer for the “The Transport Game”, which later became Transport Tycoon, can be found on the official website. Also a snippet of the source code can be viewed there.
Pitch
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
Game design documents from designer Richard Hill-Whittall
On his personal website the game development entrepreneur Richard Hill-Whittall uploaded many game design documents. Some of the games are released some of them were not. He shared the documents for the following games:
- Build’n Race
- Build’n Race Extreme (renamed to VTrax)
- Combat Tanks
- City Defender
- Monsters
- Pool Hall Pro
- Vertigo
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.
The Monster Island Pitch from Irrational Games
Irrational Games has a web page devoted to the unfinished The Monster Island game. A pitch document for this game was written by Ken Levine and it can be seen in the “From the Vaults” section.
Shred Nebula Pitch and Gameplay Documents
A couple of years ago CrunchTime Games Inc shared the Pitch Document and 60 Seconds Of Gameplay Document for their XBLA game Shred Nebula. These documents can still be found on their website.
According to the author James Goddard: “What makes these documents special is the way they are created, using a technique I call “Visual Game Design” that I was fortunate enough to adapt over the years, reflecting on experiences of working with the Japanese early in my career.”
Grim Fandango Puzzle Document
The Grim Fandango Puzzle Document is the game’s initial pitch document written by Tim Schafer. The manual and original music score are also available.
Classic LucasArts Game Design Documents
Aric Wilmunder has released many of the original LucasArts Game Design Documents on his personal website. He is still busy adding new documents, but the following files can be seen on his website at this moment:
- Monkey Island
- Day of the Tentacle
- Maniac Mansion
- Star Wars Rebel Assault
- Shadows of the Empire
- Defenders of Dynamo City
- The Telecommuter
- Labyrinth
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Sam & Max
- The Dig
- Curse of Monkey Island.
EDIT: Aric Wilmunder’s website seems to be offline, luckily the Internet Archive made a snapshot of the page with the game design documents
Bioshock Pitch document by Irrational Games
Diablo 1 pitch
David Brevik was one of the original members of Blizzard North. He has released the pitch document for the original Diablo on his website.