How to Create Effective Game Characters

Video games have come a long way since Pong. For those of you that don’t know what Pong is, Pong was and is basically a game that has a ball that bounces between two paddles. These two paddles are controlled by either artificial intelligence (AI) or a person. Since the time of Pong, games have become a huge form of entertainment. Nowadays, games are actually being described as being competitive with books and movies. One of the reasons for this is because of the intriguing and in-depth characters that are used in those storylines. One of the greatest aspects of gaming is that the characters are interactive entities that when are combined with the rest of the video game they give the player a truly engrossing experience.

How does one accomplish the creation of such an enticing character creation? What does it take to bring forth one of the most important ingredients of game development? This is what I am going to explain to you in the following steps.

Step 1: In the beginning…

When creating a character there are many things to keep in mind. The first thing to remember is that the character will be controlled by many different players. Depending on the type of game you are making the character must be able to adapt to the storyline and the world around it. Some games even have multiple storylines, so a character created for those games must be able to be believable in any outcome. A character must have a significant background story and future, whether it’s controlled by the player or the game itself. The character must also be able to partake in the story line. Also, when you are designing a character, you will probably already have a good idea of what kind of game you want to make. Though, if you don’t have an idea of what kind of game you want to make it may make these instructions a little harder to follow. Now, with this in mind, we move on to the next step: Inspiration.

Step 2: Inspiration…

Kris Graft, of Next Generation, says that inspiration can come from anywhere whether it’s from an outside source like the media, or a personal experience like eating a pizza. Inspiration can even come from something as simple as being challenged to create a character by your boss.

When creating your character, what are some of the ways that a character can come to life? Can you discover a character hidden within the personality of a relative, friend, or even a stranger? Maybe the next time you are eating dinner, or a snack, think about how something in your food can become your character, or part of it. Another great idea for finding character inspiration is to go mall watching. Now, I don’t mean sit and stare at your local mall, I mean go inside of it and watch the people. You can find some really interesting characters in a mall. Some other ideas to help find inspiration could be movies you’ve seen, books you’ve read, or even personal experiences that you have gone through. Once you have your inspiration in mind, write it down and move on to the next step: Concept Art.

Step 3: Concept Art…

How should the character look? In this step, I want you to grab a piece of paper and a pencil and start sketching some ideas for how you want your character to look. Now, I know that a lot of the character’s look depends on the story and game that they are involved in, but there is a reason for drawing them out first. I have tried many ways of creating a character, and I have realized that if you draw your character out first that for some reason it is a lot easier to create a story for that character.

When you are sketching out your character, some of the different aspects you should think of are: How old is this character? Should the character be tall, short, fat, skinny, dark or light? Will he have dark hair, light hair, no hair? How will this character best represent the inspiration that I have for this character? Should the character be male, female, or some alien species? Is the character going to be mean, nice, or in between? Will they change their look based on how the game plays? Is the character a hero, or do they start as nobody?

One thing to keep in mind is that some games give you the ability to have a character creation option where the look of the character is up to the player. Still, it is a good idea to have an initial design of a character so that it will help you write a good story for them. Now, let’s move on to step 4: Animation and Movement.

Step 4: Animation and Movement…

Once you have designed the look of your character you now need to brainstorm some of their actions and movements. This step is a major or step that could make or break not only the character, but the game itself. The animation and movement of a character must fit into the style of the game, it must be believable, fun, and it must push the game play and story forward.

Is your game a simple side scroller so that only basic animation and movements are required? Or is your game an epic adventure that has your character changing from a simple peasant with no skills into a mighty hero with many skills?

You need to think about all these things, and then on a piece of paper start writing down ideas of different animations and movements you think your character should have. Something that might help is for you to sketch some action scenes that show your character performing these actions. Once you have finished your brainstorming here, the next step is Step 5: The Story.

Step 5: The Story…

The story of your character should be pretty easy to come up with at this point. You you’re your game world, you have the inspiration and personality of your character, and you also have the look of your character. With this in mind, all you have to do is take all of these aspects and figure out three major elements: Background Story, Present Story, and Future Story.

What kind of past has your character lived? Has their past events led them up to this point in their life or is it just simple coincidence that they ended up here? Knowing what the past has beheld, now what will one do with their life? This is the time period of your game, this is where all the action takes place, and this is where you will decide your inevitable future. Finally, what will happen because of your actions? Is this a sequel to the game the character is involved in now, or is simply just the ending to the game they are now participating in?

When you are trying to answer all these questions, all you have to do is take the aspects of your character and ask yourself what is their strengths and weaknesses? What kind of hobbies do they have? What kind of food do they like to eat and not eat? What kind of job does this character have, and what kind of challenges can they face? Because of his traits, what kind of trouble can he get in? Depending on their personality, why do you think they have the personality they do? Why do they look the way they do? And what are their dreams and aspirations? Answering these questions will give you a great outline to defining and writing the three different story elements of the character.

Finally…

Finally, if you have completed all these steps then you will end up with an exciting, believable, and effective game character that seems to have a life that is all their own.

Bibliography:

Kris Graft, Next Generation, 2008, <http://www.nextgen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9029&Itemid=2>

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