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Video Game Design Composition
Define the Characters
With a central premise established, the story needs to be filled with
characters. Well-developed characters are very important to the story. Examine
the central premise. Think about what type of characters might work best in
that situation. You will have to decide if the characters will be round or flat
characters.
Round characters
develop and change throughout the story. These are the
most interesting characters. The main characters of a story are almost always
round characters. If the protagonist and antagonist are round characters, the
player can have an emotional connection to them. The player wants good to
happen to the protagonist and the antagonist to be defeated.
Flat characters
do not develop or change throughout the story. These are
typically stock or stereotyped characters. The player is not expected to make
a connection with a flat character. The character is just in the game to fulfill a
function.
Stock characters
have standard traits and perform a standard
role. This might be an infantry soldier, police officer, medic, or other
character that performs a standard game role and looks like every other
character of the same type in the game. Likewise,
stereotyped characters
perform a standard game role, but have very general characteristics that
provide some variation among the same type of characters in the game.
A stereotyped character might be, for example, a member of the pirate
crew. Each crewmember looks different from the others, so they are not
stock characters. But, each crewmember has general characteristics that
immediately identify the character as a pirate. This may include a hook
hand, wooden peg leg, black eye patch, or head bandana. Regardless of the
physical differences, a pirate is just a pirate. Each pirate crew is expected to
act in the same manner.
In addition to choosing between round and flat characters, a designer must
also decide how to motivate the character. What rewards will the game present
to increase the status of the character? What status attributes will be important
to this type of character? The answers to these questions can help write good
characters for the game story.
Ethical Gamer
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as a way to describe others is unethical and
sometimes illegal. Use bias-free language in all of
your communication, whether verbal or printed,
to show respect for those with whom you come
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