Game Character Development - Video Game: Storytelling - page 152

Each discipline involved in the realization of the character will have their
own set of questions before they get started. With Design's goals and Nar-
rative's goals aligned, the narrative expert now weaves all these traits and
abilities into one or more fully developed Character Description Docu-
ments (as mentioned on this page in chapter 7). Sometimes a single mas-
ter document will house all the pertinent information anyone might need,
while other narrative experts prefer to create different versions tailored
more specifically for various audiences.
The amount of backstory and detail that comes out of this effort will
vary depending on how prominent the character is going to be in the
game and story. But it is usually a lot more information than the audience
will ever be exposed to directly.
Generating overly detailed character descriptions is something most fic-
tion writers are used to doing, as it's information they will need anyway, in
order to write the character in a consistent manner (as covered in chapter
4 and chapter 7 ). The better and more intimately a writer knows his char-
acters, the better those characters will be written—because they are more
likely to act in a consistent manner and speak with a unique voice. This de-
tailed information will also serve downstream team members well.
Here are some details about a main or major character that should be
communicated via one or more Character Description Documents.
Basics
▪ Name
▪ Sex
▪ Race/species
▪ Age (equivalent human age as well, if applicable)
▪ Intelligence
▪ Education type and level
▪ Profession
▪ Vocabulary
▪ Backstory