Character Development - Fundamentals of Game Design - page 142

Christianity, and the steel bracelets of the Sikhs. If you want a magical power or
status transferred to another character, you can easily do it by transferring a crown,
ring or chain of gold, or gems. You don't necessarily have to give jewelry a mean-
ing; as long as it's visually distinctive, it will help to identify the character and
define his style.
DESIGN RULE Don't Add Too Much Detail
Don't overwork a character by adding too many distinctive visual features. Two or three is
usually enough — more than that and he will start to look ridiculous.
You can also give your characters distinctive names and ethnicities if appropriate.
Consider how the men of Sergeant Rock's Easy Company in the old DC Comics
World War II series reflected the ethnic diversity of America with names such as
Dino Manelli, Izzy Cohen, and “Reb” Farmer—not to mention the square-jawed
American hero, Sgt. Frank Rock.
There is a flip side to using such obvious names. Naming your characters in such
a fashion lends them a cartoonlike style. This may be exactly what you need for
some games, but for others it is not necessarily such a good fit. If realism is your
aim, for instance, then such an unrealistic collection of names, each obviously
chosen to represent an ethnicity or a stereotypical group, cheapens the final result.
Names do not have to spell out explicitly the character's persona. The name of
Sylvester Boots, the hero of Anachronox , says little or nothing about his personality,
though his nickname, Sly , is altogether more revealing. Lara Croft's name, although
it does not immediately seem to indicate anything about the character, does (to
English sensibilities, at least) imply a degree of upper-class Englishness.
Color Palette
As you work on your character's appearance, also think about creating a color pal-
ette for him—specifically, for his clothing. People in games seldom change clothes,
which saves money on art development and helps to keep them visually distinc-
tive. In the early Tomb Raide r games, Lara Croft wore a teal-colored shirt unique
to her; no other object or character used that color. If you spotted teal, you'd
found Lara. Comic-book superheroes furnish another particularly strong example.
Superman wears a lot of red in his cape, boots, and shorts; blue in his suit; and a
small amount of yellow in his belt and S logo. Batman wears dark blue, black, and
again a small amount of yellow as the background to his logo. Characters can share
a palette if the proportions of the colors vary from individual to individual.
Choose your color palette to reflect your character's attitudes and emotional temper-
ament. As upholder of “truth, justice, and the American way,” Superman's colors are