Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
tal and fearless, and definitely not cute. A bunch of good examples is included in the
game
Gears of War
from
Epic Game s
. The members of
Delta Squad
are canonically
brutal and tough guys.
Such type of characters generally are used in action games such as shooters. Fig-
uratively speaking, they are mix made of a human and an armed vehicle, since they
hold heavy weapons and armor. The following are the basic visual properties of such
a hero (it is important to note that the brutality is gender independent, and although
many such characters are men, nobody has forbidden you from creating a strong
woman protagonist):
• Figures with no acute angles or rounded corners, but ones that are roughed
down
• Strong legs
• Heavy feet to lean on the ground reliably
• Big hands with tenacious fingers to hold weapons and other objects
• Wide chest with ram-like powerful shoulders that are bigger than the legs
• Normal head with mid-sized forehead and a big low jaw
• Naked big eyes
It is pretty apparent that the extreme position on the scale is too categorical a bench-
mark to follow, whereas in most cases, nobody needs super cute or extremely scary
characters. Something more universal is a mix of different properties, which is far
more expressive. It is interesting that, as a rule, designs of a protagonist are situated
between cuteness and brutality, so the character is anatomically adapted to make
complex actions: move fast, climb ladders, fight, among others, and at the same time
being pretty attractive.
Avoiding the uncanny valley
Did you note that, on the scale, there is a mark named
Human likeness
, which is
placed after the brutality? What is surprising is that it is closer to the scary section
than the pleasant cute one. Why does the realistic look of a human being have scary
connotations? The answer is interesting. We, as humans, are very familiar with the
visual appearance of people around us. Our vision knows everything about natural
proportions and other graphic features. All these properties are thoroughly learned
through everyday experiences of communication with real people. Since it is very
