Character Design
Based on notes from the authors and Wiley publishing.
pages 9497, 148159
These slides accompany the Instructors Manual, Chapter 2: Design Process, Part 9: Character Design
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Character Design
The character is the means through which the player experiences the game.
!The visual style and mannerisms of the character will help shape the players perception of the game.
Character Design
slide 1 Characters are important Player sees the game through the eyes of the main character, and can have much rich interaction with NPCs
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Character Design
To be successful the character design needs not only to look interesting but also convey the other personality traits that lead the player to relate to the character.
More than a pretty face?
slide 2 Characters need to be more than 2-dimensional, want the player to be able to relate to the character. Much design knowledge in stage / cinemaindustry has been depicting characters for millennia. How does cinema depict characters? 1. Visually 2. Through conversation, spoken words. Different from books, where a characters thoughts can be discussed. Length of Shakespeares soliloquies reveals characters inner lives. !Designer should seek as much inspiration as possible; collect reference material; consider a broad range of ideas before settling on a particular character.
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Character Design
Childhood to present
Successes and failures
Friends and enemies
Skill and inadequacies
Strength and weaknesses
Knowledge and ignorance
Back Story
slide 3 Back story is the events in a characters life before we meet them. Common to character development. Used by book authors, film script writers too. Consider Batmans back story: Bruce Waynes parents are murdered; this (a) leaves him a fortune (independently wealthy), and (b) causes him to become a ruthless persecutor of criminals. Seen photos of authors desks; full of sticky notes and other background information on their characters (as well as settings, timelines, etc.)
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Character Design
Do not have to be incredibly long to be effective
Events in the characters history do not always have to be traumatic
Should be concise and easily understood
Back Stories
slide 4 Back story explains why character is doing what they are doing today. Common for heroes to have tragic back stories: this ones wife was killed and they are out for revenge, etc.
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Character Design
Good
Heroes
Helpers
Princes/Princesses (love objects)
Magicians (good magic)
Donors of magic objects
Dispatchers of heroes
Seekers
Seeming villains who are good
Character ArchetypesBad
Villains
Henchmen
Incubi/Sirens (sexual objects)
Sorcerers (evil magic)
Hinderers of donors
Captors of heroes
Avoiders
False heroes/heroines who are evil
slide 5 Some of these go back to the ideas of Joseph Campbell; the archetypal hero. List proposed by John Berger, a British critic and novelist. Binary oppositions that cover many obvious character archetypes.
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Character Design
What is the physical appearance of the character?
What are the characters clothes like?
Does the character have any significant possessions?
Does the character have a distinctive appearance?
Character Appearance
slide 6 As character is developed, must determine a physical form. Lots of sketching and drawing is appropriate at this stage.
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Character Design
What mannerisms do they display?
What are they doing within the game and why?
What is their current motivation?
How do they behave to others?
Brought to Life
slide 7 Final design questions that can help with character development.
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Character Design
Require the same treatment as player characters
The amount of detail in their development is dependent upon how much they feature in a game
A memorable opponent can be just as effective as an impressive hero
Non Player Characters
slide 8 Opponents and other NPCs can also have compelling back stories. Of course, not everyone has / needs a long back story; e.g. playing beer trek; drink a beer whenever one of the blue-shirted guys dies during an episode; when McCoy goes Hes dead, Jim!
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Character Design
In First Person Games we generally only see the hands and equipment
In Third person games we generally see more of the back of the character
These limited views must still convey the nature and distinctiveness of the character
In Game Considerations
slide 9 1
st or 3
rd person games will in part determine the characters appearance.
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Character Design
Games can be defined by the memorable characters within them
Memorable characters usually have one main iconic feature to their appearance
More often than not these characters are crucial to marketing a game successfully
Iconic Characters
slide 10 Consider some memorable game charactersget them to list a few
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Character Design
Lots of sources for characters
TV
Movies
Graphic Novels/Comic Books
History
Getting Material
Character Design
Getting Material
TVTropes is a great source of character archetypes... and time wasting.
Character Design
Lets Make a Character
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Character Design
Appearance
Personality
Quirks
Quotes
Background
Lets Make a Character
Character Design
Trooper: Character Example
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Character Design- Student Example 1- Trooper by Shaun Mooney
Trooper by Shaun Mooney Design via sketch, digital painting, final game models of futuristic trooper Part of honors degree !Initial sketches developing trooper and gun
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Early concept sketches
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Design of characters gun; a main feature within the game concept
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Digital modeling of concepts; built using 3D Studio Max or some similar system (3D Studio Max is most commonly used digital modeling program industrially)
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Digital modeling and post-processing in Photoshop
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Rigged model posed and post-processed in Photoshop
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Digital modeling process (looks like 3D Studio Max)
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Here is the model, built up from the control skeleton
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Note that the textures are all stored in a single square, 2D map. This way only one texture map has to be loaded into memory; more efficient. If making an animation, each of these would likely be modeled separately.
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Character Design- Student Example 1- Trooper by Shaun Mooney
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Character Design- Student Example 1- Trooper by Shaun Mooney
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
Game concept is a 19th century Victorian werewolf scenario. !
Hero concept: a common man capable of protecting himself.
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
Hero is physically capable; retains sense of fair play and nobility. Tendency is to box rather than brawl. Square jaw and rugged looks mark him as hero. Actually: here is eyes look spookykind of evil
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
Concept sketches for werewolf; main antagonist. Fearsome foe; formidable and dangerousbut trapped within normal people.
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
Non-player characters. People who inhabit the game world. Should be familiar figures in Victorian London. !Are they friend, foe, or simply potential victims?
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill
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Character Design- Student Example 2- Victorian Werewolf by Tim Hill