NARRATIVE AND CHARACTERSCOMP 585/185: Serious Games

NARRATIVE

GAME RELATIONSHIPS

Player

User Interface

Storytelling Engine

Core Mechanics

Triggers

Narrative Events In-Game Events Player Events

STORY MODELS

Linear Branching Foldback Emergent

LINEAR STORIES

Aesthetically Greater emotional capability Deny dramatic freedom

Practically Require less content Engine simpler Less prone to bugs (absurdities)

BRANCHING STORIES

Aesthetically Replayable Harder to create specific emotions Event influence

Advise player of significance Deferred or cumulative

Practically Expensive and complex Merging Number of endings

FOLDBACK STORIES

Inevitable events that create the story arc Every play comes through them

Compromise between complexity and dramatic freedom

EMERGENT STORIES

No storytelling engine Story evolves strictly from player

actions

CONSIDERATIONS

Endings Dramatic and premature Multiplicity

Narrative granularity

ADVANCING THE PLOT

Mechanisms Challenges Choices Drama (time) Journey

Tools Cut scenes Dialogue

THREE ACT PLAY

Set up Confrontation Resolution

HERO’S JOURNEY (CAMPBELL 1949)

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.

Call to adventure Road of trials Boon Return to the ordinary world Application of the boon

Vogler’s version

RESOURCES

Tony Hirst’s Digital Worlds Lee Sheldon, Character Development

and Storytelling for Games (2004)

CHARACTERS

Shape shifter Form changer

Threshold guardian Progress delayer

Trickster Mischief maker

Shadow Ultimate evil

Herald Used to facilitate

change in the story

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES

Hero Outer problem is aim

of game Inner problem is flaw

or dark secret Mentor

Guide character Higher self

Hero as he aspires to be

Ally Meant to aid the hero

CHARACTER GROWTH

Must include growth to have a meaningful story

Growth varies by genre Must decide:

Which characters will grow How they will grow Implementation in game Affect on gameplay Representation to player

CHARACTER GROWTH

GOALS OF CHARACTER DESIGN

Enhance story Emotional response Characters to identify with and care

about Credible within the game style

GOALS OF CHARACTER DESIGN

Create characters that people …find intriguing (even if a villain)can believe incan identify with

Distinctive enough to be memorable

PLAYER-DESIGNED AVATARS

Flexibility differs by genre Role-playing games usually

greatest Race, sex, hair, physical

attributes, etc. Typically no personality but

what is created Goal is tools for players to

create themselves

NONSPECIFIC AVATARS

Designer doesn’t specify anything Text-based adventure games

Allows very tight connection between player and avatar Half-Life’s Gordon Freeman

Limiting for designer

SPECIFIC AVATARS

Goals Personality of their own Belong in the game

Begins with visual depiction Player’s relationship more complex

Identify with, not become In extreme, avatar can reject player’s

guidance The Longest Journey’s April Ryan

SEMI-SPECIFIC AVATARS Only partially characterized

Better to make cartoonish Common with action game

avatars Mario Lara Croft

“Beyond the bare facts of her biography, her perfect vacuity means we can make Lara Croft into whoever we want her to be.” – Steven Pool, “Lara’s Story”

CONTROLLING AVATARS

Indirect (“point and click”) Doesn’t steer avatar, points to where to

go. Player as disembodied guide friend More likely specific avatar

Direct Player steers avatar through game

world, doing a variety of actions as necessary

More likely nonspecific or semi-specific

DESIGNING THE AVATAR

Nonspecific, semi-specific or specific Visual, psychological, social

Direct or indirect control

Goal: character the player can identify with qualities can appreciate

ART-DRIVEN CHARACTER DESIGN

Creating a character by first thinking about his visual appearance

Visual design Character physical types Physical design Defining attributes Sidekicks

VISUAL DESIGN

Realism doesn’t matter, self-consistency does Pac-Man Lara Croft

Purely artistic characters tend to be more superficial and one-dimensional Lets the player impose his own

personality

CHARACTER PHYSICAL TYPES

Humanoids Non-humanoids Hybrids

PHYSICAL DESIGN

Methods to attract› Hypersexualization› Cuteness

Cartoonlike qualities› Cool, tough, cute, goofy

Culture differences in art styles› Japanese: large eyes and tiny/huge mouths

Cute faces with sexually provocative women

› European: often ugly and strange to Americans

DEFINING ATTRIBUTES

Clothing, weapons, symbolic objects, name

Color palette reflects character’s attitudes or emotional temperament Superman, upholder of “truth, justice,

and the American way”: bright/cheery, American flag

Batman, Dark Knight of Gotham City (grittier, more run-down than Metropolis): somber

SIDEKICKS

Most prominent common element in game design

Combine qualities (e.g., tough with cute) to provide variety and comic relief

Benefits Give player additional moves and actions Extend emotional range of game Can give player information they couldn’t

get otherwise

STORY-DRIVEN CHARACTER DESIGN

Starting with the story behind the character and developing his traits and personality before considering his appearance

Character dimensionality Language & accent Developing believable characters Character growth Character archetypes

CHARACTER DIMENSIONALITY

Zero-dimensional› May display only discrete emotional states

One-dimensional› Have only a single variable to characterize a

changing feeling or attitude Two-dimensional

› Have multiple non-conflicting variables that express their impulses

Three-dimensional› Have multiple emotional states that

can produce conflicting impulses

LANGUAGE & ACCENT

Key cue to character’s personality› Vocabulary – age, social class, education› Grammar and sentence construction – education

and class› Accent – place of origin and social class› Delivery (speed and tone) – excitement, boredom,

anxiety, suspicion, attitude or emotional state› Vocal quirks – distinguishing

Sound effects also tell about personality› Confirm player’s command› Signal injury, damage, death› Pitch describes

BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS

Major characters need rich personalities› Answer many questions about them

Where was he born? What is his education? What are his favorite activities? What were his biggest triumphs in life? What are his interesting or important

possessions? Etc.

› Show through appearance, language, and behavior

BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS

Attributes – location, health, relationships, etc. Can change as the player plays the

game Status attributes: change frequently and

by large amounts Characterization attributes: change

infrequently and only by small amounts or not at all

BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS

Three golden guidelines to developing effective, believable characters Needs to intrigue the player Needs to get the player to like him Needs to change and grow according to

experience