Machine Made: Rebirth Thurs Jan.14 (How To Be Good At Character Development)

Hello ladies and gents,

Welcome one and all to the Machine Made: Rebirth blog, a place where I point out my opinions about what it takes to be a good game designer. Today I would like to talk to you particularly about something that occurs within the writing aspect of game design, and to that effect is applicable to more than just video games but to any written media… and that is the ability to interest people in a character. A character is different from a person — people exist in the context of the world that they live in, characters are only subject to the extent of their virtue or heroic characteristics. A world that is foreign to the story that surrounds a heroic character will not be able to relate to what makes that character's traits good or bad anymore than you or I could be considered good or bad in a fictional world. The context of the story, the connective tissue that explains and describes what makes a character who they are.

Is the character familiar or original? There's nothing wrong with either as long as you explain where you're going with the character and what makes them fun or interesting. People might know what to expect from a character like a wise old wizard, but if your character is more or less a citizen of the world, you are going to need some details along the way to help people piece together the puzzle. Consider the character a possession of the person you're telling the story to as much as they are yours. Think about how someone sitting down to role play in your game is going to want to have what is happening and why it matters explained to them. What is happening is going to be a matter of what the characters do when they interact with each other, what they say, how they look and essentially how they are written to represent their part in the story.

Are they good or evil? A little of both or neither? If it's too hard to tell, that might be a bad thing. I remember playing a really old indie game where there were moral decisions that had an impact on gameplay but at times the character's "inner personality" would take over the story completely and cause the character to act in rash and unexpected ways. It made the moral decisions I made feel cheap and what the developer was trying to do with the personality system the entire focus, and I felt like something important was lost.

How do we avoid taking control and enjoyment away from people playing our games, while at the same time adding in step by step character development that feels like it matters in the game world? The important thing here, is to think about what someone playing a game will be having fun with, and what they will want to see happen with their character. Video games rely on visuals and sound more than they really rely on text, so the opportunities for revealing deep and interesting facts about a character are each extremely important and must be expressed with a limited amount of information. What does that mean?

It means that using character types that we're already familiar with can save a lot of time. But that's not necessarily what's going to cause people to enjoy learning about your characters. People who are having a good time learning about your characters are going to find them interesting and are going to feel connected to the story that they are experiencing. If your characters are too one dimensional or paper thin, then no one is going to feel sad when something bad happens to them or good when something good happens to them. They will be looking to slowly build a connection with the characters, while getting the best and most entertaining and relevant information about those characters. If we know everything about the hero right away, then the story should reflect that — it should have a clear starting point that describes what's going to happen to the hero, even if there are surprises along the way that allow other characters to show their stuff. If we're intended to learn something about the hero, then what we're learning should be clear and the valuable parts of the lesson should be illustrated in the story.

If you're finding that you're just having a hard time getting started with dialogue, remember that your characters don't all have to think and act the same way — they aren't all necessarily even heroes, or virtuous for that matter. Their misunderstandings and what they leave out of the story can often be just as important as what is shown about them in the story. But people will be willing to wait for these details, as long as they are having a good time and the character means something to them.

I hope you enjoyed today's blog as always,
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Cheers,
Allsvin