Fundamentals of

Game Design, 2 Edition

nd

by Ernest Adams

Chapter 6: Character Development

Objectives

Know the basic goals of character design in

games
Recognize the difference between a
player-defined avatar and a specific or
nonspecific avatar
Know the issues involved in making non-
gender-specific characters

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Objectives (Cont.)

Know the visual and behavioral attributes

used to help create characters in games
Use the techniques of either art-driven or
story-driven character design to create your
own game characters

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The Goals of Character Design

Games in many genres structure gameplay

around characters
Characters should be distinctive and credible
The ultimate goal of character design is to
create characters that
People find appealing
People can believe in
The player can identify with

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The Relationship Between Player
and Avatar
Relationship varies from game to game
Factors that affect the relationship
Did the player design the avatar?
Is the avatar visible?
How is the avatar controlled?

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Player-Designed Avatar Characters

Player creates the physical attributes

Player creates the personality

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Specific and Nonspecific Avatars

Nonspecific avatars
Avatar is assumed to be the player, so
appearance, personality, etc., are undefined
Very limiting to the designer
Common in early text-based games
Specific avatars
Detailed characters with histories and
personalities
Used in games with graphics and strong storylines

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The Effects of Different Control
Mechanisms
Indirect control
Player clicks where the avatar should go
Player is a guide to the avatar
Direct control
Player steers the avatar
Player is the avatar

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Male and Female Players and
Characters
Male players do not identify strongly with their
avatars
Men tend to treat avatars as puppets and often
use default avatar without customizing
Women identify with their avatars
Women tend to treat avatars as extensions of
themselves and an opportunity for self-expression
To make a game more attractive to women, allow
them to customize avatar

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Designing Your Avatar Character

How do you want the player to relate to the

avatar?
Select the control method
Select the appearance and personality
(unless the player designs the avatar)
More details create more independence
Select qualities the player will find appealing

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Visual Appearances

Art-driven character design

Best method for simple characters who dont
change during the game
Story-driven character design
Best method for complex characters or characters
who change during the game

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Character Physical Types

Characters fall into three general categories:

Humanoidsphysical features like a humans
Nonhumanoidsshaped like vehicles or
machines, animals, or monsters
Hybridsbeings such as mermaids or
human/machine combinations
Art-driven characters are usually stereotypes:
Most common character stereotypes are cool,
tough, cute, and goofy

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Character Physical Types (Cont.)

Hypersexualization is exaggerating sexual

attributes of characters
Avoid hypersexualized characters because:
They are clichs
They appeal only to a puerile audience
They may turn off part of your target audience

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Clothing, Weapons, Symbolic
Objects, and Names
Accessories reveal personal style
Choice of weapons can also be revealing
Transferring an object can symbolically
transfer a power or reward
Names can reveal a characters personality
or ethnic background
If you overuse this technique it will feel cartoony

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Color Palette and Sidekicks

Use a signature color for the main character

Choose a color palette to reflect characters
attitudes and emotional temperament
Sidekicks offer several benefits:
They allow you to give the player additional
moves and actions
They extend the emotional range
They can be used to give the player information
he wouldnt get any other way

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Creating Character Depth

You can convey a lot about a character

through appearance, but not everything
If you begin character design with the
characters role, personality, and behavior,
you are doing story-driven character design
You decide these things first and then let
artists develop a visual appearance

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Role, Attitude, and Values

Every character in a game plays a role

To design characters, you have to envision
them and answer many questions about them
Create a backgrounder, or character
background paper, for major characters
Show character personality through
appearance, language, and behavior

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Attributes

Attributes are the data values that show a

characters location, health, property, etc.
Attributes can be divided into:
Status attributes that change frequently
Characterization attributes that change
infrequently
Attributes a character needs depend on the
genre and nature of the gameplay

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Character Dimensionality

Characters can be classified into four groups:

Zero-dimensional characters display only discrete
emotional states
One-dimensional characters have only a single
variable to characterize a changing attitude
Two-dimensional characters are described by
multiple variables that express their impulses, but
those impulses dont conflict
Three-dimensional characters have multiple
emotional states that can produce conflicts
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Character Growth

A game that aspires to be more than a simple

adventure must include character growth
To build character growth into a game, decide
which characters will grow and how
Games often use physical growth because it is
easy to show and implement
Show personality growth through changes in
language and behavior

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Character Archetypes

Many stories that follow the Heros Journey

pattern include archetypal characters
Characters fundamental to storytelling
Found in stories from all cultures
May be fundamental to the human psyche
Read the works of Joseph Campbell and Carl
Jung for more ideas
Dont implement them slavishly

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Audio Design

Sounds reveal the character

Sound effects
Musical theme
Vocabulary
Grammar and sentence construction
Accent
Delivery
Vocal quirks

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Summary

You should now understand

How to design a character
How to distinguish among a player-defined,
specific, and nonspecific avatar
How to make non-gender-specific characters
How to use visual and behavioral attributes to
create a character
How to create art-driven or story-driven characters
How to use sound to define characters

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