I had great difficulty deciding whether I wanted to talk about story, narrative, characters, puzzles or some other segued conversation on the state of adventure games. I even started to write about narrative but quickly gave up when I ran into dependencies on character for emotion; locations have a dependency on characters e.g. Buckingham Palace means something different to a retired, British naval commander receiving an honorary award from the Queen as it would for a Chinese shepard living in the Guangdong Province of China. Characters give context.
So without further ado, I thought I'd talk about characters and characterisation. I'd rather not re-tread the beaten path so I'll point you to a lot of other articles and notes as I go. There's a nice podcast of a talk with Tim Schaefer on designing memorable characters, if you can find it good luck (it's from 2004 GDC) but here's an excerpt:
Quote"To create a truly immersive game experience with a compelling fantasy world, you have to populate that world with real characters. Not just characters that behave realistically on the screen, but characters that ARE real to you, the game's creator. The more you know your own characters, the more real they will become, and the more they will help draw the player into your game's imaginary word. It's not enough for your characters to have distinctive speech patterns and tics. They need actual histories, motives, dreams, and secrets. Then they will have real depth with which pull the player in, and your fantasy world will be come a real place that the player loves to visit, and can't wait to get back to when they leave."
There's also a nice interview here: http://generator.acmi.net.au/gallery/media/game-masters-interview-tim-schafer (http://generator.acmi.net.au/gallery/media/game-masters-interview-tim-schafer) (2m:31s)
Tim Schafer's Character Design Insight - things to think about when designing a character
Quote from: 'http://ivoryelephantenterprises.blogspot.co.uk/2007/11/notes-from-tim-schafers-2004-game.html'
- Make sure the characters are identifiable
- Blank player characters don't necessarily mean that the player will enjoy them more.
- Not everyone wants the same fantasy character.
- Give the star (Player character) the coolest dialogue
- In a game, you're asking the player to play the main role, as if you were asking an actor to star in your movie.
- Simple, deeply felt emotions allow for players to better relate to the character.
- Characters should develop and grow emotionally.
- Invest time in your characters, don't get sloppy!
- Question your characters, "Am I sure that this is right for the character?"
- Make sure that as the author of the characters, you truly care about them.
- Check to see if the player wants to impress the other characters, that means he or she is interested in your characters.
- Make sure the supporting characters react to the player's actions and choices, this creates an
additional layer of immersion making the characters that much more believable.
- Create a back-story, know more than you show the player.
- What are the character's relationships with the other characters? Remember that even characters should have relationships, even if they are fabricated.
- Don't be afraid to make a personal statement with your game. Games will never become an art
form if you refrain from putting your own emotions, thoughts, or views into the game.
Ways to create your characters/define characters:
- Borrow from real people or people from your life
- Collaboration & research
- Giving full names to your characters can help you think of who the character is
- Character Age
- What would the character say about themselves?
- What are the the characters interests, hobbies?
- What are the character's social networks, who are their friends?
- Have imaginary conversations with your characters.
- Take a previously done character and extract their abstract essence, and apply it to your own character.
It's really worth thinking about who your character is and the beginning and what they are going to become by the time you finish telling your story. They might start off as a simple farm boy on some dessert planet but they're going to end up saving the galaxy from a tyranny of a galactic empire. Whenever I have an idea for a character they're usually inspired by someone, somewhere either in a book or on TV, I'll try to look at why this person inspired me and the traits that make them loveable or not. It's also worth noting how these characters are introduced, first impressions are important because you only get to make one.
Case Study: Indiana JonesI think this is some of the greatest character design here, if you have access to a copy of the Last Crusade, watch the opening scene now and you'll see what I mean. He's a lawful good, typically macho hero. He's got the rugged good looks, quick wit and improvisational skills of MacGuyver that make him instantly loveable. His opinions and strong beliefs are his vice that lead him into conflict and that conflict leads to the development of the story and the decisions he makes throughout the game - he's not a character to choose inaction. He's made even more likeable by his humanity - he bleeds, he cries, and he has a crippling fear of snakes.
In the opening scene to Last Crusade we see him fighting for what's right despite the world against him. He adapts to his situations and stands up to fight rather than run away. But it's all well and good looking at characters in a movie where we're just some observer, but in the realm of non-linear multi-choice game where the player is donning the protagonist as an avatar we need to have the character adapt over time. What if the player had decided to run instead of pick up the whip - we'd then find a more cowardly hero. What if rather than being brash and obnoxious to the crooks he took a more diplomatic response (as opposed to spitting in their face). We have two decisions here, either make the player adopt the core beliefs of the character (Indiana Jones, Grim Fandango etc...) or have the character adopt the core beliefs of the player (Mass Effect, Fable etc...). This can usually be achieved by some sleight against the character, and transitively the player. Andail wrote a nice blog on how character decisions affect character development.
Quote from: 'http://faravidinteractive.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/a-lengthy-piece-on-characterization/'"I simply had to accept that players expect to understand computer game characters and their personalities almost immediately. I attribute this phenomenon to the fact that a player has a more direct, intimate, relationship with the protagonist than the reader of a book. While a book reader is merely an observer, a player /becomes/ the protagonist to an extent, and if their motives don't match, the player will experience disbelief and disengagement. It's not a question of sharing moral views or values â€" there are plenty of games that feature “evil†protagonists that most players will likely accept to control â€" but the player must at least feel like they're striving towards the same goal."
So, to sum up with my opinions:
- Characters need strong opinions, so much so that they won't stand by passively
- They need to be empathic to the player i.e. they need to adopt or share core beliefs with the player. In this sense you can attempt to make a character flexible to player decisions.
- The player needs to identify with them immediately. Background can come later (in Indy we didn't really find out his backstory until the third film) We need to care who the player is and what they're doing.
- They need to become someone. I don't think a character should ever finish the story as the same person. Changes can be minor but they need to be better because of the journey they've gone through.