Character Development - Fundamentals of Game Design - page 153

in recent years. Although designers did include the regrettable redneck Southerner
stereotype, they also included the southern aristocrat and western sheriff speech
patterns for Arcturus Mengsk and Jim Raynor, respectively; the laconic, monosyl-
labic diction of airline pilots for the Wraith pilots; a cheerful, competent midwestern
waitress's voice for the pilots of the troop transports; and a sort of anarchic, gonzo
biker lingo for the Vulture riders. This gave the game a great deal of character and
flavor that it would have otherwise lacked if it had used bland, undifferentiated
voices.
Summary
Character creation is an important part of computer game design. Games have
come far since the rudimentary characters of their early days, and character design
continues to become increasingly sophisticated. For many games, simple, iconic
characters will do. However, as our medium continues to mature, more games need
rich and deep characters as well. Whether a player defines the avatar she uses in the
game or a designer creates a complete character for her to use, the designer has to
make characters belong in the game world they inhabit, making them complete,
compelling, and believable.
Design Practice EXERCISES
1. Design a human, two-dimensional character for a computer game in three dif-
ferent versions: child, teenager, and adult. The design must include several distinct
attributes (visual or personal) that signify the character's age and level of maturity
at each stage. Make the character's emotional temperament different at each stage
and suggest some events that might have happened to the character that would
account for the change. Your instructor will give you the scope of the assignment;
we recommend 2-5 pages.
2. Choose a game that you've never played whose box displays a cartoonlike avatar
character. What does the character's general appearance tell you? What attributes
does the character possess that make players want to play? What kind of player is
the character designed to appeal to? Is there anything you'd like to add, and in that
case, why? Is there anything you want to remove? Why?
3. Think of someone you know: a friend, family member, or even yourself. Think
about the qualities that are the most dominant characteristics of this person's per-
sonality—his key attributes, if he were a game character—and write those down.
Then imagine the person in one of the following scenarios:
■ The person is wrongfully accused of a serious crime—murder or armed rob-
bery, for example.