Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
realm of fantasy, you'll have to adjust the list of considerations as necessary. But in
all cases, your goal is to become the world expert on this character, to know every-
thing worth knowing about him. Try to imagine how he will behave in a variety of
situations.
Once you know the answers to these questions, you can begin to think about how
they will manifest themselves in your game's story. If your character is slightly dis-
honest, say—a small-time crook but not a villain—how will you make this clear to
the player? One of the cardinal rules of fiction writing is that you should show—
rather than tell—things about the characters to the reader. This goes double for
video games, in which players expect to be interacting most of the time and show
little tolerance for expository material. How, then, will you show your characters'
personalities? Consider these three factors:
appearance
,
language
, and
behavior
. The
earlier section “Visual Appearances” deals with the first of these; the later section
“Aud io D e sig n” add r e s s e s la ng u age. App e a r a nc e a nd la ng u age qu ic k ly a nd d i r e c t ly
establish character but may produce stereotypes if you're not careful. The third
factor, behavior, is the most subtle way of conveying character to the audience.
Appearances can be deceiving, and deeds matter more than words. But establishing
character through behavior takes longer; you must give the player the opportunity
to observe a character's actions. What will your character do, what events might he
get caught up in that will cause him to display his true nature?
Attributes
Chapter 5, “Creative and Expressive Play,” first introduced attributes, and this sec-
tion discusses attributes of characters. Attributes are the data values that describe a
character in some way: her location, state of health, property, emotional condition,
relationships with others, and so on. Attributes are symbolic or numerical variables
that can change as the player plays the game. Functional attributes form part of the
game's core mechanics, but deciding on appropriate values is also a part of charac-
ter design.
Attributes can be divided into those that change frequently and by large amounts,
and those that change infrequently and by only small amounts or not at all. The
former are called
status attributes
because they give the current status of the charac-
ter, which can change often. The latter are called
characterization attributes
because
they define the bedrock details of a character's personality, which—unless the
character is mentally ill—shouldn't change much. These are not industry standard
terms (the industry has not yet settled on a standard), but you should find them
useful. In the
Dungeons & Dragons
universe,
hit points
(or health) is a status attri-
bute; it changes moment by moment during a fight.
Constitution
is a characterization
attribute referring to the character's overall degree of hardiness and resistance to
injury or poison; it changes rarely or not at all.
In the past, most video games limited characters' attributes to physical details such
as their health and inventory. In recent years, more games have made an effort to
