4. Authoring Processes and Tools

The creation of a serious game comprises a multitude of tasks ranging from idea finding to playtesting. A crucial step is the implementation of the game design as a computer system. The quality—and to a lesser extent, cost and future adaptability—of a serious game depends heavily on the processes chosen to coordinate and to support all authors involved. This chapter aims at presenting a foundation for specifying authoring processes and selecting authoring tools for an individual serious game project. It starts with looking at the challenges authors face when trying to accomplish their tasks, and discussing approaches that support the authors. On a more general level, basic concepts are introduced with user-centered design and agile development techniques that are often reflected in successful authoring processes for serious games. Finally, software tools for supporting authors are addressed. Here, two examples are examined in more detail: a general-purpose tool for authoring digital games, and an authoring tool that specializes in creating a certain subset of serious games.