Character Development - Fundamentals of Game Design - page 148

whenever they feel they outnumber their enemies, and they fear the heroes and run
away whenever they feel vulnerable or outnumbered. This minimal level of emotional
variability is typical of the enemies in a simple shooter game (see Figure 6.8 ).

FIGURE 6.8
Zero-dimensional
characters have
binary emotional
states with no mixed
feelings. They may
have more than two.

The emotional simplicity of zero-dimensional characters can make them comic.
The characters in classic Warner Brothers cartoons—Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, and so
on—change almost instantaneously from one extreme emotion to another.

One-dimensional characters have only a single variable to characterize a
changing feeling or attitude; in other respects their character is largely fixed. In
The Lord of the Rings , the dwarf Gimli is hostile and suspicious toward elves at first,
but over time his respect for the elf Legolas grows until they are boon companions.
His other attitudes don't change much. The movies make him a more one-dimen-
sional character than the topic does (see Figure 6.9 ).

HATE FEAR

antipathy neutrality sympathy FIGURE 6.9

One-dimensional
characters have a sin-
gle variable that
describes an emotion
that changes over time.

HATE LOVE

Two - dimensional characters are described by multiple variables that express their
impulses, but those impulses don't conflict. Such variables are called orthogonal; that
is, they describe completely different domains, which permits no emotional ambigu-
ity. In The Lord of the Rings , Denethor is a two-dimensional character. He has a variety
of strong emotions—pride, contempt, despair—but he never faces a moral dilemma.
His senses of duty and tradition trump all other considerations, even when they are
wildly inappropriate (see Figure 6.10 ).

DISHONEST HONEST FIGURE 6.10

Two-dimensional
characters have multi-
ple, non-conflicting
impulses.

OFFENSIVE POLITE

Three-dimensional characters have multiple emotional states that can produce
conflicting impulses. This state of affairs distresses and confuses them, sometimes
causing them to behave in inconsistent ways. Most of the major characters in The
Lord of the Rings are three-dimensional, especially those who are tempted by the
Ring. Frodo and, above all, Gollum are three-dimensional; Gollum's conflicting
desires have driven him mad (see Figure 6.11 ).