Character Design - leemet16/game-design-toolkit GitHub Wiki

Characters can be used both in games that have stories and games that don't have stories; however, they are especially useful tools for storytelling. Characters' dialogue and actions (including interactions amongst characters) can provide detail to your story and drive it forward. Even something as simple as how your characters look can contribute to the overall story being told (e.g. a character’s evil nature could be communicated through all black clothing).

Characters Image Source: Seth Byrd

In order to define and flesh out the characters in your game, answer the following questions:

  • Who is the main character(s)?
  • Are there secondary characters? Who are they?
  • Who are the good guys and bad guys?
  • What do your characters look like?
  • What are your characters' short and long term goals?
  • How will these characters help tell your game’s story?

Keep in mind that the appearance, actions, and goals of your characters should not be random. These aspects should make sense in relation to one another and in relation to the intended purpose of the characters in the game. If you are trying to tell a story, they should coincide with the overall story you are trying to tell (Charles, Mead, & Cavazza, 2002).

Bad Guys Image Source: Seth Byrd

You may find that you do not need to answer all of the above questions. Depending on the capabilities of the the game development tool you are using, you may have very little control over how you design your characters. Alternatively, you may prefer to have very simple characters. This is fine as long as your characters make sense and are generally fun to look at and play. Players will still be engaged if you characters accomplish these things (2018, The Ultimate Guide).

For more in depth information about video character design, refer to the following pages:

References

(2018) The Ultimate Guide to Character Design. Game Designing. Retrieved from https://www.gamedesigning.org/learn/character-design/

Charles, F., Mead, S. J., & Cavazza, M. (2002). From computer games to interactive stories: Interactive storytelling. The Electronic Library, 20(2), 103-112. 10.1108/02640470210424428