Character Driven Game Design

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88 Character-Driven Game Design Let’s get back to our earlier example about Hulk and take a brief look at the character dimensions of Bruce Banner and Hulk. Bruce Banner is an intelligent and well-educated scientist. He is not particularly strong or athletic. If Banner gets angry he changes into Hulk. Hulk is extremely strong, resilient and he is notably bigger than normal humans (and Bruce Banner) and very muscular. When Hulk gets angrier he also gets stronger. He is not very clever and most skills Banner has Hulk does not have. Hulk’s most prominent skill is that he is able to break almost anything. To be interpreted in the game, these qualities must be implemented in game mechanics. As we argued earlier, this can be done in many ways. However, it is best done by designing and implementing what actions are possible and impossible and on what terms. Other ways of expressing these aspects of characters will be only cosmetic and have no impact on the game experience itself. E.g. implicitly telling the player that Hulk actually is incredibly strong (through cut-scenes or character dialogue) but not making him that in the game will only contradict the way the player interprets the character. Hulk in the game will be interpreted as weak and puny, if he acts that way. Next we will inspect closer, how character design translates into specific game mechanics. The following presents some requirements that differentiate between Hulk and Bruce Banner. Hulk: —— Is able to break or damage everything with pure force. —— Is not able to use equipment (except as a weapon and hit somebody with it or throw it at them). —— Gets stronger when enemies hit him. Bruce Banner: —— Is not able to break or damage most things with pure force. —— Is able to use equipment. —— Is able to move unnoticed easily. These features are then implemented in the game structure: Hulk’s attacks make N amounts of damage—enough to damage or destroy most things. Bruce Banner’s attacks are only half that efficient and usually not enough to break or damage things. Bruce Banner can interact with or manipulate objects in the game word, whereas pressing the same buttons on the control makes Hulk attack the object. The player will have more powerful attacks available for a while after Hulk has received damage. Most other characters (the game engine/AI) won’t pay attention to Bruce Banner when he walks in the city and Banner has the ability to hide and sneak. Hulk cannot go unnoticed if there are other characters nearby. Of course these mechanics are emphasized and brought forth to the player by the physical appearance and mannerisms of Hulk and Bruce
Article 1 89 Banner. Obviously, it is important that the visuals and their prescribed actions present two different characters instead of one. The beautiful design would get totally lost without the visual change between characters. Additionally it is important that the change of mental state within a character is transmitted to the player e.g. Hulks facial expressions will show more anger when he receives damage (and imply that he consequently is getting stronger). Characterization is discussed in more detail elsewhere [12]. Conclusions Designing protagonist characters for computer games is a difficult task, but necessary. Although it is true that the player controls the character in the final game, game designers have no reason to give up on the construction of character. Even if the player is the one who holds the joystick, the game designer still controls the character. A perceived character will direct a player’s decisions to act. Character interpretation can be involuntary, even subconscious, but still affect a player’s attitude towards a game. Therefore, if a game has a protagonist character, designing with its needs in mind should be a fruitful approach. In this paper, we have pointed out explicit ways of affecting the perception of characters. The design section exemplifies how character aspects can be translated into game mechanics. The needs of the protagonist define the needs of the player and will guide them towards the goals of the game. We propose the use of a three-dimensional approach of aspects to build rich and well-founded protagonist characters. By then fine-tuning the game mechanics accordingly, the game will reflect and support the solid nature of the character. Making actions and goals natural for the character doesn’t mean that the solutions will be trivial or easy to achieve. On the contrary, natural-seeming goals provide a good background upon which to build intricate and demanding conflicts—the basis for an enjoyable game. References 1. Aristotle, Poetics, London: Penguin Books, 1996. 2. Berman, R.A. Fade in: The Screenwriting Process, Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions, 1997. 3. Blache, F.I. and Fielder L., History of Tomb Raider. GameSpot Available: http://www.gamespot.com/features/tombraider_hist/ 4. Caillois, R. Man, Play and Games, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001 (1961). 5. Costikyan, G. “I Have No Words & I Must Design: Toward a Critical Vocabulary for Computer Games,” in CDGC Conference Pro-
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Aalto University Publication Series
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Contents List of Publications 9 Ack
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List of Publications This thesis co
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Introduction To explain my interest
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1. Introduction 13 Game designers h
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1. Introduction 15 tertainment. Whi
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1. Introduction 17 and involuntary
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1. Introduction 19 dition, the game
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Game Characters Characters are an i
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2. Game Characters 23 can fly, and
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2. Game Characters 25 Figure 2.1: H
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2. Game Characters 27 David Houghto
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Game and Gameplay Design First, I l
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3. Game and Gameplay Design 31 Figu
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3. Game and Gameplay Design 33 what
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Character Engagement and Game Desig
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Page 41 and 42: Conclusions My study has two primar
Page 43 and 44: 5. Conclusions 43 Factor Perceivabl
Page 45 and 46: 5. Conclusions 45 PC that lead to s
Page 47 and 48: References AARSETH, E., 2004. Genre
Page 49 and 50: References 49 Behavioral Neuroscien
Page 51 and 52: References 51 New York: John Wiley
Page 53 and 54: References 53 NICHOLS, S., 2004. Im
Page 55 and 56: References 55 K., C-64 version. Mas
Page 57 and 58: Research Material Assassin’s Cree
Page 59 and 60: Appendix 1 59 Quick Start Cthulhu.
Page 61 and 62: Gameplay Design Patterns In this Ap
Page 63 and 64: Appendix 2 63 Detective Structure I
Page 65 and 66: Appendix 2 65 accepted and disallow
Page 67 and 68: Appendix 2 67 References —— art
Page 69 and 70: Appendix 2 69 sibility of Surprises
Page 71 and 72: Appendix 2 71 —— Modulates: Cha
Page 73 and 74: Appendix 2 73 (Egri, 1960) of a cha
Page 75 and 76: Lies and Seductions Credits CREATIV
Page 77 and 78: Article 1 77 Characters in Computer
Page 79 and 80: Article 1 79 It is important to not
Page 81 and 82: Article 1 81 attacks, which are all
Page 83 and 84: Article 1 83 almost anything in the
Page 85 and 86: Article 1 85 situation(s) —— Ch
Page 87: Article 1 87 its physiological, soc
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Page 93 and 94: Article 2 93 Player Character Engag
Page 95 and 96: Article 2 95 elaborately simulated
Page 97 and 98: Article 2 97 affects and performing
Page 99 and 100: Article 2 99 (Björk and Holopainen
Page 101 and 102: Article 2 101 player would fear the
Page 103 and 104: Article 2 103 available and what po
Page 105 and 106: Article 2 105 Many games also use c
Page 107 and 108: Article 2 107 petty criminal, Tommy
Page 109 and 110: Article 2 109 site for empathetic e
Page 111 and 112: Article 2 111 Grodal, T. (1999). Mo
Page 113 and 114: Article 2 113 emotion. Personality
Page 117 and 118: Article 3 117 Gameplay Design Patte
Page 119 and 120: Article 3 119 are constructed predo
Page 121 and 122: Article 3 121 ter, especially in ga
Page 123 and 124: Article 3 123 General overview Clau
Page 125 and 126: Article 3 125 similar goods. This i
Page 127 and 128: Article 3 127 Conversational Respon
Page 129 and 130: Article 3 129 is very strict one an
Page 133 and 134: Article 4 133 Gameplay Design Patte
Page 135 and 136: Article 4 135 described in this pap
Page 137 and 138: Article 4 137 the ANT, is seeing a
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Article 4 139 Egri’s Premise rela
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Article 4 141 Reactions as they do
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Article 4 143 this can be seen as a
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Article 4 145 heathens as part of o
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Article 4 147 Faction member will h
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Article 4 149 Discussions In this s
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Article 4 151 than character relati
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Article 4 153 Conference, 2007. 30.
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Article 4 155 Name Information Pass
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Article 5 157 Lies and Seduction Pe
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Article 5 159 Figure 2. A gameplay
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Article 5 161
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Article 6 163 Character-Driven Game
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Article 6 165 and physique); ——
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Article 6 167 —— providing goal
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Article 6 169 Part of a character d
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Article 6 171 Character Defining Ac
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Article 6 173 given that the traits
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Article 6 175 and want to be in goo
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Article 6 177 rectly available to a
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Article 6 179 4th ed. Steve Jackson
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Article 6 181
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Petri Lankoski MA, Lecturer, Game D
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Character Driven Game Design

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