CSE1GDT Characters and Worlds

Paul Taylor 2009

Games Take Place in Worlds

• We have covered the Game Space

– Where the game mechanics live

Transmedia Worlds

• What is Transmedia??

Types of Media (some)

• Games – Duh!• Movies• Novels• Comics• Cartoons• Playing Cards• Board Games• ...

Case #1: Star Wars

• The Movies• The Action Figures• The Games– Some great– Some embarrasing

Case #2: Pokemon

• The Game• The Cartoon• The Collecting Cards• The Toys• The Movies• The Comics• Etc!• So far over $15Billion US in sales• Second only to ......

Successful Transmedia Worlds

This next section covers what typically makes a successful Transmedia World

Are Powerful

• The world becomes more than just a movie, or just a game to the fans.

• The media that players use becomes a simple access to the world

Are Long Lived

• This is a good indication that your world is a success!

• Superman is like over 70!• James Bond has been winning for over 55 years• Time = Money• At this rate I guess we shall see Pokemon 567 in

the movies during 2067!• Barbie is another long-lived World, just not very

successful at transcending media

Evolve Over Time

• Does anyone remember Batman when he was Black and White?

• Did you know Santa used to wear Green!– The Coca Cola company portrayed him in a red

suit.

• Sherlock Holmes didn’t have a Deerstalker Cap or a Pipe!

What is common to success?

So we know what is common to Transmedia Worlds

Now we’ll go into what is common to success!!

Rooted in a Single Medium

• Most truly successful Transmedia Worlds have their roots in a single medium

• The world is always at its strongest when accessed in this media

Intuitive

• The assumptions players make in the world hold true across mediums.

• Where do cartoon characters live?• Why do all superheroes live in the same

world?

Centred around a Creative Individual

• This is the key factor, all the really successful worlds were created by a single person

• This ties in with the vision that one person can have, without conflicts

Facilitate Many Stories

• If a world has only one real story, then its life expectancy is short

• The Halo Universe seems to be dying slowly (or quickly)– It was centred around a fight to save the Universe– The fight is over, we all know who won.

• This is where sequels become poor in comparison

They Make Sense through any of their gateways

• Barbie failed on this count!– The movies and cartoons just don’t lend the

players the freedom they have enjoyed through the toys

• The Matrix the Game, did NOT make sense unless you had seen the movies

• Super Mario did not make the leap to movies too well, and Novels???

They Fulfil the Wishes of Many Players

• This is the most important of the core values of a successful world

• People must WANT to be there.– A perfectly balanced world based in the slums of a

prison is not where players will want to live• The players MUST wish they could be there, in

that world.• Harry Potter, James Bond

Characters

Part 2

The typical nature of Characters

Book CharactersDeep mental / psychic struggles

Movie CharactersEmotional and physical struggles

Game CharactersAlmost entirely physical struggles

What is happening?

From Novels ->Movies -> GamesMental -> PhysicalReality -> Fantasy

Complex -> Simple

Representin’ Characters

• The previous slides show a tendency towards crappy characters in games

• How do you rise above?

• We will investigate how great characters are formed, and what techniques can be used to bring these methods into games

Types of Avatars

• The avatar is critical to the gaming experience

Avatar is derived from a Sanskirt word which refers to a god magically taking physical form on the earth, very fitting!

When we create an avatar we want the player to project their consciousness into the character

The Ideal Form

• This is a great way to empower the player• Let then be a great character– James Bond– Gears of War– Jedi Knight– A Poke-trainer

For the ideal form to work you MUST connect with a players appeal towards the character type

The Blank Slate

• This is the exact opposite of the Ideal Form• This is a character which is so plain they can

be whatever the players mind decides• Stick Figures• Simple Characters• Invisible characters

Blank Slate Characters

From Scott McCloud:A simple character in a highly detailed world will

make the player relate to the character more effectively.

Very detailed worlds can seem alien, as the more details that do not match your mental image, the less players connect.

Placing an low detail avatar in the game will draw players towards it as their mental image of the avatar will rarely clash with it.

Compelling Game Characters

Hopefully you’ve decided that great characters can take your game to the next level

If you haven’t go play Uncharted 2 - Now

Try Listing Character Functions

• Why is the character in your game?• What should they do?• Or what do you need to get done, and who

could you create to fill the void?

Barry’s Excursion to the Meat Factory

Meat Factory Excursion Characters

• Hero : Barry• Mentor:• Companions:• Enemies:• Bosses:

Define and Use Character Traits

• A second approach to developing great characters is to define their traits

• Barry is: Strong, Quiet, Small, Tough• What traits would a companion need to roll

with Barry on his adventure?

Exploit the Interpersonal Circumplex

• Big Words! = Characters interacting!• In the psychology world this is represented as

a two axis graph– Friendliness (Hostile <-> Friendly)– Dominance (Dominant <-> Submissive)

• It is all relative to the character in the centre• You use it by placing the other characters

around this character

The Nice Version

http://www.ieeetclt.org/issues/april2005/index_image010.jpg

The Ugly Version!

http://media.photobucket.com/image/Interpersonal%20Circumplex/SKYNET_2007/Image2-4.jpg

Make a Character Web

• This is an extension on the Interpersonal Circumplex– Basically it is writing an explanation for each of the

positions characters take in the graph.

• Barry– Barry Sidekick: Barry finds them irritating, but

comforting to have around– Darth Barry: Barry’s nemesis he stands for everything

that Barry hates (including tomatoes)

Use Status

• In any interaction people fight for status– It is a lower level than talking, but always takes

place and someone always takes the higher status• Today I’m taking the higher status as lecturing

you• In the Army the chain of command dictates

status pretty effectively, and punishments are in place to keep the status tree standing

Conflicts and Changes are Interesting

Also make sure your NPCs’ do not take status away from the player accidentally!

Signs of Status

High Status:Being Relaxed, In Control, Strong Eye Contact, Not

moving your head, etc

Low Status:Fidgeting, Avoiding Eye Contact, Touching your own face, Being Tense, stumbling words, stuttering, etc

Status is relative between characters!

Use the Power of Voice

• Great voice acting can be very powerful• In movies and theatre the actors read and

amend the script as they feel it should be.• In games we tend to write the game create the

characters, then hire the voices.• Removing the actors from their natural position

of imagining the character, we put them into a position of fulfilling an existing character.

Use the Power of the Face

• Facial Expression makes up a HUGE amount of the language we transmit. Games are becoming more and more capable of divulging facial behaviours to players. Use it!

• Imagine watching a movie where all characters had a Paper Bag on their head – Ugly Bob style

http://teamghru.110mb.com/images/thrutheghru08/ugly_bob.jpg

Powerful Stories Transform Characters

• Study great Films and Novels, and you shall see that the characters get transformed through the progression of the story.

• Meaningful changes in the key characters of the game add a lot of interest to the story

• Imagine Lord of the Rings without Frodo going hard-ass? Or with Frodo hard-ass from the start?

Avoid Uncanny Valley

• It may be a myth, but if it proves to be real, you do NOT want to visit.

• Uncanny Valley is how Masahiro Mori related human empathy to human likeness.

• The Polar Express was considered creepy by many

http://jonathanjoly.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/uncanny-valley1.jpg

The End!

Next Week

World Spaces, Player Communities, and Exam Clues