FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME PLAYGame Character Design Development

Instructor:Sayed AhmedB.Sc. Eng. in CSc. & Eng.M.Sc. in CSc.ConsultantJust E.T.C Tech. Inc.sayed@justEtc.net

GAME CHARACTERS

INTRODUCTION Introduction

Characters, and hence character design is an important part of telling stories or evoking an emotional response

The characters we play with and interact withmake us believe the game world

Heroes, villains, innocents in distress, and bystanders without these characters the game will be an empty shell

TOPICS How to design compelling and believable

characters Characteristics of the avatar character

Player Designed Built-in

Gender specific character design Common game stereotypes that you should

avoid Attributes associated with the character

Visual Behavioral Audible Use these attributes to design your own character

TOPICS Design Strategy

Art driven Story Driven

Importance of good audio design for your characters

GOALS OF CHARACTER DESIGN Game Play of many games center around the

characters All of the following types of games use

characters to entertain Action (fighting, platform) Adventure Games Action Adventure hybrids Role Playing

Players usually feel for well designed characters to Identify with Care about Heroes to cheer about….villains to boo

GOALS OF CHARACTER DESIGN Best games include characters that are neither

heroes nor villains Appeal of the character is important

Not necessarily have to be attractive in conventional sense

But everything should fit to define him/her, and the role Disharmonious elements can be used to introduce humor

http://www.mariowiki.com/Conker_%28series%29 Characters should have a personality and it should not

be broken An evil ghost character should not feel sorry for babies

Avatar characters have an extra burden The player should associate him with the avatar

Customers identify games with their characters

Games take their names from the characters

You can use the characters in books, movies, TV series, in toys, t-shirts

Even the Villain should be appealing

Players should believe in them – Darth Vader

DATH VADER

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darth_Vader

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PLAYER AND AVATAR The game character that acts as the protagonist

of the player Most action and action adventure games provide

only one Avatar Role playing games –

the player may be associated with multiple characters. However, if there is a key character whose death leads

to defeat then he is the Avatar Avatar may be the most displayed character May need most animation The animation should be smoothest for the

avatar don’t annoy the player (it’s him)

Movements must be attractive

TOMB RAIDER (AVATAR)

PLAYER DESIGNED AVATARS Most games predefine the Avatar In some games esp. multiplayer role playing

games the games allow the players to create their own

Avatars Define: Sex, body type, hair, eye, color, strength,

dexterity For example: Lord of the Rings

In such cases, as a designer you do not create the avatars but you give tools to create The more and better tool you can provide to define the

physical as well as personality attributes – the more players will like it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxfO9_pQhCg

SPECIFIC AND NON-SPECIFIC AVATARS Non-specific

Myst http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIRtutbSwak Not defined by the designer No visual appearance No defined personality Designers did not specify about them

Half life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKg3TUPQ8Sg

SPECIFIC AND NON-SPECIFIC AVATARS Designers found non-specific to be limiting They wanted to give some personality and

visual appearance of the Avatar Modern games use detailed characters with

Histories Personalities Of their own

Partially characterized – games with less or without stories The avatar – sort of cartoon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olug8C2-hfo Many avatars in action games

SPECIFIC AND NON-SPECIFIC AVATARS Also depends how the player controls them

As a guide Be them

But do not care about their feelings as they are partially defined

MALE AND FEMALE CHARACTERS It is believed that male players will not want

to play female characters Tomb Raider – Lara Croft:

Later found as long as the actions are men like – men don’t mind

Females are usually ok to play with male avatars However, females at one point get tired

and want to play with female avatars and with feminism activities

Females don’t like Blood Rayne:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_96uIcT34I http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BloodRayne Silent hill

MALE AND FEMALE CHARACTERS Males do not associate them with avatars Females do Women tend to see avatars as an extension

to their own personality You may want to give more options to define

and express You may have more male or female avatars

and provide different story lines Costly and complicated to implement

HOW TO DESIGN YOUR AVATAR CHARACTER Think how you want the player to relate him

to the avatar Non specific? Partially specific? Players sees but knows a little

about – no inner life Fully specified avatar

Separate from the player, an individual with a personality of his own – psychological and visual detail – how much will he talk

More talk…more intelligent (may vary culture to culture) Gordon freeman never talks (player) Mario Lara croft don’t talk much (representatives of the

player) April Ryan talks a lot (a person on his own right)

HOW TO DESIGN YOUR AVATAR CHARACTER http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://

bestgamewallpapers.com/files/dreamfall-the-longest-journey/april-ryan.jpg&imgrefurl=http://bestgamewallpapers.com/dreamfall-the-longest-journey/april-ryan&h=1024&w=1280&sz=194&tbnid=MFtAq5EYAjPi2M:&tbnh=120&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dapril%2Bryan&zoom=1&q=april+ryan&hl=en&usg=__x-WTegObe2ZM5OvnHob0GgpbA5M=&sa=X&ei=1pcmTaLGH4ymnwf37Zy_AQ&ved=0CDMQ9QEwAw

HOW TO DESIGN YOUR AVATAR CHARACTER Think how the player will control the avatar

Direct/indirect Indirect:

Is distinctly someone else with a mind of his own Direct

A puppet Find the right balance Create avatars that players like with bravery,

intelligence Worst: avatar with qualities that the players

actively dislike

HOW TO DESIGN YOUR AVATAR CHARACTER Final Fantasy Viii

Bad avatar Designers like to create semi specific

characters Zelda series

VISUAL APPEARANCES Aside from nonspecific avatar based games,

you need to display the avatar The way the characters look like has an

enormous effect on the player Art Driven

Cartoon Like. Define characters by defining the visual appearance, works well if the personality of the character is not complex, does not change much, good for other media

Story driven Visual and behavioral design techniques

CHARACTER PHYSICAL TYPES Humanoids, Non-humanoids, and Hybrids

Voice or animated objects Cartoon like Qualities

Cool Never get too upset, rebellious attitude towards authority,

wit than body force. Ratchet & clank. Game actions fast and focused

Tough Exemplify physical aggression. Usually male except Lara

croft. Exaggerated height and bulk. Large expansive gestures

Ryu from street fighter Cute

Portions with human or animal babies. Large eyes oversized head surrounded body, dress with colors. Jumping wide gaps, climbing long ropes, firing large weapons

Goofy Odd proportions and funny looking

CHARACTER PHYSICAL TYPES Cartoon characters vary across cultures Japan: large eyes tiny mouths Americans find European cartoons to be ugly Hyper sexualized Characters

Exaggerating the sexual attributes of Men and Women to make them more sexually appealing at least to the teenagers

Male: extra broad chest, and shoulders, huge muscles, prominent jaws, oversized hands and feet Kratos, God of War Games

Lara Croft, Tomb Raider hyper sexualized women

CLOTHING, WEAPONS, SYMBOLIC OBJECTS, AND NAMES

Set clothing to set him/her apart Do not add too many distinctive visual

features Two or three are enough You can give your characters distinct names

as well

COLOR PALETTE Lara Croft – tealed colored shirt Superman wears red Batman black Choose your palette to reflect your

character’s attitude and emotional temperament

SIDEKICKS A tough hero may travel with a cute sidekick

To provide some variety Also, comic relief Allow you to give the player additional moves

and actions would not fit in a single character

Extend the emotional range of the game Provide the hero with valuable information – that

he may not be able to get anyway… Jack and Daxter Ratchet and Clank Legend of Zelda, ocarina of time

Jack and Daxter

Ratchet and Clank

ADDITIONAL VISUAL DESIGN RESOURCES GIMP Inkscape – editing vector graphics Blender – 3D Modeling Tool Unreal Maya Photoshop

CHARACTER DEPTH How the characters look has a significant effect

on the player The look conveys a lot of information about him However, the look only cannot convey all information The look cannot define

how he will act in different situations, what will be her general behavior,

how will he interact with the core mechanics of the game Hence, you have to add personality to the character

Story driven character design is helpful here Here you define the personality first then you go to

design/draw the character – so the character fits well SSX Tricky – snowboarding game

Can make friends, chose friends and enemies – affect the game play a lot

CHARACTER DEPTH Interaction among players is interesting and thought to be well crafted

ROLE ATTRIBUTES AND VALUES Every character plays a role The moment a character comes into the

scene the player wants to know about him…. voice and appearance can be ok for minor

characters Major characters need richer personalities To design them

List many questions Answer them

Create character background form for each character

ROLE ATTRIBUTES AND VALUES Attributes

Where was the character born Family life as a kid His education His job His finances Favorite food Worst thing How does he treat friends Try to imagine how he will behave in a variety of

situations

ROLE ATTRIBUTES AND VALUES Then think how they will manifest themselves

into the game story Say if a character is a little dishonest but not a

villain – how will you propagate this to the players Show rather than tell But how?

Players like interaction – not to sit idle and watch the character

Appearance, language, behavior Appearance and language quickly defines a character

but can create stereotypes Establishing through behavior takes long You must give the player the opportunity to observe

the characters’ actions.

ATTRIBUTES Status Attributes

Changes Continually Hit points/health (Dungeon and Dragon)

Characterization Attributes Constitution: the character's overall degree of hardness

and resistance to change Does not change much

Recent Games Model social relationships and emotional states Sims – simulating the behavior of people living in a

suburban neighborhood Defined some characterization attributes called Sims Some status attributes like hunger, comfort hygiene Conflicting Sims won’t get along Game

Direct them to perform the activities Happiness level increase or decrease

CHARACTER DIMENSIONALITY Two dimensional characters

Movies, books Not very interesting

Does not grow or change Doesn’t feel fully human

Character Classification 0 to 3 dimensional Discussed in light of the Lord of the Ring Zero Dimensional:

Display only discrete emotional states Emotional states never moves smoothly No concept of mixed feelings Orcs : hate and fear – only two emotions Make the characters look like comics Bugs bunny, Sylvester, change instantly from one

extreme to another

ONE DIMENSIONAL Only one variable to characterize a changing

feeling Largely fixed Dwarf Gimli

Hostile and suspicious to elves Later grows respects

TWO DIMENSIONAL Are described by multiple variables that

express their impulses Those impulses do not conflict Orthogonal – no emotional ambiguity Denethor – strong emotions – pride,

contempt, despair Never faces moral dilemma Duty and tradition trump all other

considerations

THREE DIMENSIONAL Multiple emotional states that can produce

conflicting impulses Distresses and confuses them Cause them to behave inconsistently

Froodo, gollam April Ryan, longest journey Three dimensional are welcomed Makes game industry more of an art form

CHARACTER GROWTH If the game is not just about being episodes But

Aspires to be more than a simple adventure Seeks to have a meaningful story Then characters must grow

Types of Growth Action Games

New moves and new power ups Mental state does not change

Adventure Games Allow both personal and emotional growth

Role Playing Games See character growth as a major challenge Offer several dimension of growth

Personal Skill – magic weapon -

HOW TO PROVIDE CHARACTER GROWTH Decide which characters will grow How they will grow

Physically – easy – abilities power intellectually, morally, emotionally

How will you implement? Change in the numeric or symbolic attributes Change in the plot of the story

How the growth will affect the game play How will you present it to the player

OPTIONS Display numbers in the screen Change character appearance Chang the action available Change to mature language and behavior

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES Archetypes play a standard role in a story They are not necessarily individual character A single character can play multiple roles Carefully think about which ones to use in

yourgames and when to use them

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES Hero Center of the story Players avatar Has one or more outer problems Hero can also have an inner problem (flaw or dark secret) Story tells how hero overcomes these Stories are about conflict and how to resolve it Player must identify with the hero Hero’s goals must become the players goals Hero can be an anti-hero Hero can be a team of individuals E.g. in RPG games The players plays one or multiple of them

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES Mentor

Guides the hero/player Wise man, supernatural aid, inner voice, ... Sometimes the mentor can give bad advise Hero/player must decide what is the good advise

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES Higher self

The way the hero wants to be Object of the game can be to become this

(although not explicitly) Threshold guardian Prevents progress of the hero until he has proven

his worth Doubt in the hero’s mind Warnings by a mentor End of level boss

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES Allies

Those that help the hero Shadow The main enemy that must be defeated The ultimate evil Does not have to be a character Sometimes more important than the hero Can be very present or hidden until the end

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES Shape shifter

Changes form/role in the story For example, ally becomes a shadow, or mentor

becomes a shadow Often important for the plot twist

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES Trickster

Neutral character that creates mischief Can be a sidekick Adds some comic relief Can take the form of puzzles in games

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES Herald

Propels story in a different direction Can be a simple message Angle (Mother) Heals the hero Father Gives good advise and stimulates the hero

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES Within the next couple of minutes

Read the story again Find the characters that represent the following

archetypes Hero

Allies Herald Shadow Threshold Guardian Mother

AUDIO DESIGN Character design also involves

Sound effects Language

The sounds a character makes tell us something about her personality

Sound – injury death Sound design- psychological expectation Deep : slow and strong High sound: light and fast Should match with visual texture Mismatch to create funny situation

AUDIO DESIGN Music composition Keep music, sound effects, dialogs (spoken or

narration) in separate files Music and sound effect should have separate

volume control Keep them separate

VOICE AND LANGUAGE The way a character speaks conveys a lot of information

about him/her Vocabulary:

Indicates age, social class, level of education Teenage slang, don’t read much – no strong vocabulary,

Accent Place of origin Social class City people and country people talk differently Accent = intelligence Dumb redneck Dumb negro

Delivery Speed and tone Try to steer clear of stereotypes – speed and tone use them to express

anxiety, suspicion, emotional state: hostile, cynical, guarded, and so on Vocal Quirks

Define characters’ education, intelligence, and interests Star craft which draws on a variety of American Accents to

create several different types of characters

REFERENCES Fundamentals of Game Design, 2nd Edition,

Ernest Adams, Prentice Hall, 2006, ISBN-10: 0131687476. ISBN-13: 978-0131687479

http://computer.justetc.net