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Adding Emotional Context to a Character in a Videogame 
"Tetsuo could feel the whipping breeze against his face as he pulled the airship into a hard right turn. Quickly looking back, he could see his last lifeboat jettisoning from the hull. His allies, no...his friends were safe. He had never had true companions before, and now he realized he would never have them again. In the moment when the ship was whipped in it's own vortex of spinning air, there was no sound. Tetsuo felt as if the world was playing out in slow motion, if only for an instant. In one instant, he felt the pain, sorrow, happiness, and companionship that he had only experienced in these last two weeks. So finally, for the first time in his life he felt the courage to stand for what he believed in.
His ship made a one hundred and eighty degree turn, and now he was facing the massive Bharon armada, twelve hundred ships strong. They would completely destroy the S.S. Anderbear, surely. But they would never destroy his heart."
In an RPG, or any videogame, movie, or other interactive media, there are characters. Heroes, antiheroes, the works. But the only reason the characters are there is to tell a story. Storytelling, in my opinion, is the real oldest profession. Before language and writing, there was always the allure of a fantastic or saddening tale. But in today's society now more than ever, we as interactive storytellers must hook the 'reader', or player. And after we start with a strong beginning, we must hold them to the end by what is referred to as 'anchoring'.
The easiest way to 'anchor', or hold someone to your story and characters, is to bring them into your world, whether it be sci-fi, fantasy, or modern times. Emotional attachment is the basis for this. When your player is attached to your character, they see a reason to keep listening and playing. They feel as if that mess of pixels and code is a real, live person with problems and issues that appeal to them as they play. And that attachment, that urge to see 'what happens to _____?" is what makes or breaks characters.
Let's begin with some examples. Take the movie 'Dodgeball', for example. It seems to have the right plot for character development: Guy meets girl, wins big prize, takes a lot of risks and has a great cross country adventure. But the dialogue and most importantly, the execution, was poor. By the end of the movie, you don't care that our protagonist, played by Vince Vaughn, got what he wanted. You were just happy that the movie was over, the chick was bisexual, and that Chuck Norris was a cameo.
Now the movie 'Pirates of the Carribean', is a beautiful example of character development. Over the course of three, maybe too-long movies, the character Jack Sparrow has a noble adventure, where, (and this is the important part) you see into his soul. He is a flawed, complicated, and very funny and outgoing person. Audiences love this kind of person. They are constantly guessing his motives, his next action, and his sanity. In short, they are attached to him.
This is what we are going for in your videogames. Your protagonist, (or whoever else you are adding into your game) should be at least partially flawed. Who ever gave a crap about Superman? No one, because he's perfect. Perfection sends people away, they don't like it when others are better than them. Your characters should also have well written dialogue that gives away crucial information about their stories and what (if anything) has caused the radical changes that occur over the course of your game. And finally, make sure that when trying to develop your emotional context, don't overdo it. Forced exposition is exactly that; forced. And it is quite obvious. I don't want to find a book on a table in the first ten minutes of the game that explains the entire story, gives away every character nuance, and lets me just soak everything in from the get-go.
So (for those too lazy to read) here are some tips:
*DO add subtle, well written dialogue
*DO NOT force exposition...let us figure things out for ourselves!
*DO let the character seem more 'human'
*DO NOT muddle up the character with tons of sudden and unnecessary plot twists
*DO juxtapose the character's past to his current self
*DO NOT explain the entire game's progress in one, gigantic book, scroll, or cutscene.
~Good Luck with your games, and thank you for reading my first RPG Revolution tutorial.
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Details
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Tutorial:
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Adding Emotional Context to a Character in a Videogame |
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Date Listed:
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Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:00:04 -0700 |
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Author:
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m0nsterb0y
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Total Hits:
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3200 |
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