What makes a strong, likable character?

[Minimi]

Just make a character with a white large round head... and make him look sad... and you got STRONGSAD!! Does anyone knows anything more strong than that? I don't!

[Domino]

one character i really have to admire is Heather from Silent Hill 3. At first i was unsure of playing a female role in this game, but after completing it i have a few thoughts.

1. She is very strong willed, and determined to keep going no matter what.

2. She doesn't take crap from anybody or any monster.

3. She has a troubled past and that makes her more determined to do the right thing.

4. She has an Attitude, which was great. She doesn't let anything bother her.

5. The most important thing is she carries a whole crap-load of weapons.  Can't go wrong with a character with an arsenal.

I just have to say that she is a real Strong Likable Character, and people should take example of this when designing games. Plus a deep & involving back story also helps. Hooray for Konami.

Thank you for your time, and good day.

Shawn  

[Guest]

Oh hell, I can't stop once I started.... this gave me an idea: Let's take a girl and let her to make an adventure game, about herself to have full 'girl' effect. The game should be text-only, and let's hide every hint from player that main character is a girl. Now, let's have some men to play it. The game itself should be interesting and deep enough to make them draw lines between game character and themselves. Is connecting with female easier then? Interesting experiment or stupid idea?

I don't suppose you've ever played the original Metroid? You don't find out you've been playing as a girl until after you finish the game.

[Ali]

as for Longest Journey.... it wouldn't run on XP

Longest Journey should work on XP! It says so on the designer's site:
http://www.longestjourney.com/help/faq/technical/run_on_winxp.html
It worked for me. Read a trouble shooter for any other problems, because it's such a good game it'd be a shame to miss out on it.

Also (on topic) I don't think the gender of the character is what's important so much as the way they relate to their world and their plight. It's much harder to create a character who drives the plot rather than one who is driven by it, and perhaps this is why we're often stuck with one-dimensional individuals who simply react to whatever happens to them.