Character Design Basics

Character design is one of the most important parts of the game design process. In this post, I'm going to be talking about what makes a good character. Bearing in mind that "good" is a very subjective term, there are still many things that can be universally appreciated in character design. However, that's not to say that my examples are definitive by any means. These are just my thoughts on the subject. I'm going to be focusing mainly on the more cartoonish styles of characters, simply because character design in realistic figures is a whole 'nother can of worms. So with that out of the way, let's dive right in.

Mario as he appears on the box of the Japanese release of Super Mario Bros. 2 (known as the Lost Levels in the United States).

While you might think that the value of a well designed character does not extend far beyond narrative driven games, that is very untrue. An aesthetically appealing character can be the most important part of drawing players to your game, and the most important part of compelling them to continue playing. Let's take a look at the most recognized and long-lived video game characters of all time to start with. The face of video games himself, Mario.

What Roles Can Video Games Play?

Video games as a means of artistic expression are so incredibly flexible and capable of so many things. To many people, the many forms that video games have adopted in recent years is something kept somewhat in the dark. Hopefully this post will illuminate this for some people. As a wannabe designer, it's important to understand the different roles video games can choose to play, and to be able to identify what role (or roles) my own games should adopt. I break the modern schools of game design down into four categories.

Narrative
As technology advances, more and more becomes possible in video games. But most of all, the use of video games as a means to tell a story has become more and more common. Pick any game at random that's been released in the past decade and you can bet that there's going to be a narrative of some kind involved. Generally, your average video game nowadays is going to be a combination of narrative and skill stimulation (more on that below).

As the visuals get better and human faces become more believable (yet stylized), video game narratives become stronger and stronger. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves pictured above.

Are Video Games Art?

This is a question that has spawned many heated discussions among players of video games. It's a very broad, open-ended, and inflammatory question, but in the end of the day, the discussion always leads to the same thing: what is the definition of "art"?

To me, art is anything created for the purpose of invoking some kind of feeling from the person experiencing the art. However, I'm not going to try to make a case that my definition of art is correct, and someone else's is wrong. Really, "art" is just a word. You can put whatever label you want on video games, but for now, I'm going to touch on some things that are grounded in much more sturdy vocabulary.

Video games are designed to invoke emotion out of the player. And while it's true that many (if not most) games are produced as greedy and lazy attempts to make some quick cash off of a growing fad, even the games that are rip-offs are still trying to exploit that feeling you get when you play a GOOD game. Let's talk about some of those feelings a bit.

To people who are not intimately familiar with the video game industry, it might seem as though the breadth of emotions that video games are designed to invoke is quite narrow. Ask an average person off the street "Why do you think people play video games?" and they might say something like "For fun," or "For an adrenaline rush." What you probably won't hear them say is "For an intense interactive drama," or "For therapeutic relaxation" or "For deep philosophical contemplation." But these are all things that can also be found in video games!

In the game Flower, you play as a stream of flower petals floating on the wind. It's a very relaxing experience.

First Post

I've decided to start keeping a blog where I will write about all the things I think about concerning video games as a career, an artform, and an industry. It's my hope that I can help change what I think is a negative connotation that goes along with the term "video games," help inform people of the rich complexities of this diverse media, and even learn a little bit myself as I organize my own thoughts and do some more formal research on some of the subjects I don't know much about. Maybe you, dear reader, will find yourself interested in playing a new game, thinking about video games in a different way, or even getting excited about the art and production that goes into the creation of these "interactive audio/video experiences."

To help put some of my musings into context for you, let me tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Alek, I'm 19 years old, and I've been playing video games for as long as I can remember. The first video game I can ever recall playing is a game for DOS home computers called X-Wing, a space flight simulator set in the Star Wars universe. The game was tremendously complicated for the mind of a toddler, but I would sit on my dad's lap and pull the trigger of the joystick when he said "Shoot!" He would handle all the other complex systems involved in the game while my young mind would be satisfied with the flashing lights and iconic imagery from those beloved movies.

A screenshot from X-Wing, the first game I remember playing.

As I got older, I started playing educational games such as Reader Rabbit and various games from The Learning Company. I also had a port of a game called Sonic CD for our home computer that I would play all the time, along with my sister. This lesser known game starring Sonic the Hedgehog would be another one of those very early games I had exposure to. Beyond these games though, I didn't have many of my own. My daycare had a Super Nintendo that I could play Super Mario Bros. on, and I could play my friend's SEGA Genesis when I went to his house, but I could never really sit down and sink my teeth into any of it. But then one year, my parents bought me an Nintendo 64 for Christmas, and the rest is history. I was finally exposed to an endless list of classic video games that I'm sure I'll talk about in depth at some point in this blog.

Now, I'm going to college to get some kind of education that will help me become a video game designer myself. Part of helping myself learn more and become more knowledgeable about video games is writing in this blog, and I hope that you, the reader, can glean some knowledge from it too. Or at least some entertainment. I'll be writing about all kinds of things, and if you ever want to get into the discussion or ask a question, leave a comment and I'll surely respond to it. I think it'll be very interesting!