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It's the main essence of a game , if you don't have precise idea of the models you want , textures, architecture and levels, style of game , precise
gameplay etc ...
you won't go very far



I don't agree. While an Art Bible is needed during production for consistancy, I don't see the essense of a game changing whether you know that your textures will be 512 squared vs. 256 squared... it changes the Quality of the game, but not it's essense. And I also don't see the game as being IN the Art Bible anymore than it's in the Narrative Design or the Sound Effects list. The essense of the game is not in any one asset but rather in the interplay between all assets.

But then again I'm biased: I've never felt that graphics make the game. Like Doom 3 proved, good graphics do not a good game make and like Darwinia proved, poor graphics do not a bad game break!

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I've seen lot fo professionnal games doing iterations
Graphics was every time improved.

In fact they prototyped quickly a plyabale game with in progress graphics.




I've never heard of a design team iterating for the sake of the graphics. Iterative design is more to help make sure your code does what it's meant to do and is fun. Since this is something you can't get right the first time, you iterate. Graphics just aren't an area that is needed to iterate at all. I can't imagine that the skin tone of a creature or the number of limbs will be significantly modified during the production process. But the actual dynamic interaction between creature and hero; that can change and thus the need to prototype and iterate. The graphics pipeline is just too well understood for specific iteration in this field to do much good.

You have given me an idea though and that is to separate out the Art Bible from the Game Design Document. It may be usefull to present it this way so that when you iterate, you have more options and a clearer view of what will and will not change.

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I think no need to modelise, texture etc ... before a fisrt big shot
of 2D art (documentation/storyline/game mechanics/progression



Here we agree. Proper up front design, whether waterfalled or iterative, is a key to success... much like having a road map is the key to getting where you want successfully.


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