Character Design and Development. Patrick Prax

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Janis Tucker
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2 Character Design and Development Patrick Prax 2

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10 A Question: What game is this from and what it the name and function of the unit? 10

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13 Character Development It is our choices, Harry, that shows what we truly are, far more that our abilities. - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

14 Character design An important aspect of telling stories evoking an emotional response

15 The Goals of Character Design Gameplay is designed around characters A well designed character to identify with and care about A charismatic villain to boo

16 What is a good character? Well-drawn and well-described Harmonious body, clothing, voice, animations, facial expressions, all should express him and his role clearly to the player. Distinctive set apart from others and from stereotypes

17 What is a good character? Consistent Character holds certain core values that guide his behavior An evil demon does not care about orphans. Nether does James Bond.

18 What is a good character? A good character is the most financially valuable part of any videogame s intellectual property. Super Mario Sonic Duke Nukem Lara Croft Link

19 What is a good character? Appealing (also for villains) Believable People can identify with him (especially for Avatar characters)

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23 The relationship between the player and the avatar Avatar is Sanskrit and in the Hindu religion refers to a bodily incarnation of a god. The avatar has to survive. He or she need to have the largest number of animations. Those have to be smooth and nice to look at. The player is going to do that a lot.

24 Player Designed Avatar Characters Distributing functional and cosmetic attributes.

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28 Specific and non-specific avatars Nonspecific a means for the player to interact with the game world Gordon Freeman in Half-Life, he never speaks and there are no mirrors An empty shell to inhibit Games with a strong storyline often feature specific avatars. The player is not the avatar but she controls her and identifies with her.

29 The Effects of different control mechanisms Point- and-click adventures Indirect control The player tells the avatar where to go and what to do, but he does not do it herself. The player is more like a helping friend. The avatar can be more specific.

32 The Effects of different control mechanisms First-person or 3 rd person Direct control The player is embodying the avatar No worries about the avatars feelings The avatar is more a shell, a puppet, not a person.

35 Male and Female Players and Characters Men are seen as unwilling to play female avatars Women often just have do deal with it Men do not care to much about appearance, take default avatar, Women want to express themselves. Sadly, games with a strong story will have to go with either man or women.

36 Design Your Avatar Character What is your avatar going to be like?!? How will she be controlled? Specific or not? How does she move? How much will she talk? Draw something!

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40 Visual Appearances Art-drive design (for simpler characters) Story-driven design Characters Physical Types Humanoids (2 arms and legs, 1 head) Non-Humanoids Hybrids

41 Cartoonlike Characters Cool Tough Cute Goofy

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43 Hypersexualized Characters Exaggerating sexual attributes Male Broad chest and shoulders Huge muscles, jaws, hands and feet Female Enormous breasts, narrow waists and wide hips Not much textile

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48 Clothing, Weapon, Symbolic Objects The choice of the weapon tells something about the character. Cloth and armor have to fit the game world and character. Jewelry, Symbolic and Magical objects

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50 Color Palette Have a color palette for a character and her clothing Keep the main characters visually distinctive Reflect the mood and role of a character in the colors

51 Sidekicks Variety and comic relief Give the player additional moves and actions. Expand emotional range

52 Creating Character Depth Story-driven design You start out with the role of the character and the personality and then you create the appearance In contrast to an art-driven design Character depth makes the difference between a well-developed story and a badly-written elementary school writing assignment.

53 Roles, Attitudes and Values Where was the character born? Where there traumatic moments in her life? Is she superstitious? Does she have phobias? Tea of coffee? What else can you come up with?

54 Character Dimensionality Zero-dimensional Nameless Soldier One-dimensional Minor Characters Two-dimensional Important Characters Three-dimensional Central Characters

55 Zero-dimensional Binary emotions, one or the other. No states of mixed feelings. May be more than one feeling Orcs in LotR Hate Fear

56 One-Dimensional One single variable that may change during the game. Antipathy Neutrality Sympathy HATE LOVE

57 Two-Dimensional Multiple variables that express their attitudes, but the variables cannot conflict with each other.

58 Three-Dimensional Multiple emotional stats that can produce conflict. They can be stressed, confused, behave inconsistently.

60 Societal Pressure Girls-like-black-and-shoot-first society versus the Girls-like-pink society Linking character and game world Stressing the importance Conflict This can be done with a tiny game with a minuscule budged, but great writing 60

61 The female characters What do you have? How many dimensions? Internal conflict? 61

62 Character growth Some kind of character growth is necessary for a story. Growth can occur as: Personal and emotional growth Learning new skills Gaining higher levels Getting new weapons Changes in appearance

63 Audio Design Sound effects (gun shot, karate scream) Voice and Language Vocabulary Grammar Accent (Bronx or British? Chinese or German?) Delivery (speed and tone of speech) Vocal quirks (lisp, stutter, catchphrases)

65 Audio Design The Simpsons Homer s vocabulary is limited, he uses simple sentences and speaks slowly Marge s average sized vocabulary, middle-class association Lisa as a scholar with rich vocabulary, long and complex sentences Bart s language changes according to the situation

66 Audio Design StarCraft Uses a variety of American accents for different unit types and characters Southern Aristocrat Mengsk and western sheriff Raynor Cheerful midwestern waitress for the troop transporters and Anarchic biker for the Vultures

3D CHARACTER DESIGN. Introduction. General considerations. Character design considerations. Clothing and assets

3D CHARACTER DESIGN. Introduction. General considerations. Character design considerations. Clothing and assets Introduction 3D CHARACTER DESIGN The design of characters is key to creating a digital model - or animation - that immediately communicates to your audience what is going on in the scene. A protagonist