November Reference List

Reading:

• Freeman, D. 2004. Creating emotion in games: the craft and art of emotioneering. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders.
• Gray, C. and Malins, J. 2004. Visualizing research: a guide to the research process in art and design. Aldershot: Ashgate.
• Hartas, L. 2005.  The art of game characters. Lewes: ILEX.
• Laughey, D. 2007. Key themes in media theory. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Watching:

• FZD School. 2011. Episode 43 video game characters. [online]. Youtube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xldrl3kl-aw. [Accessed 16 November 2013].

Listening:

• Sanderson, B., Tayler, H. and Wells, D. 2008. Episode 2: blending the familiar and the original. [podcast]. Writing Excuses. Available from: http://www.writingexcuses.com/2008/02/17/writing-excuses-episode-2-blending-the-familiar-and-the-original/. [Accessed 16 November 2013].

Games:

• Brothers: a tale of two sons. 2013. [digital]. Microsoft Xbox 360. Starbreeze Studios.
• Prince of Persia. 2008. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. Ubisoft Montreal.
• Ratchet & Clank. 2002. [disk]. Sony Playstation 2. Insomniac Games.

To Investigate:

• Kennedy, S. R. 2013. How to become a video game artist: the insider's guide to landing a job in the gaming world. New York: Watson-Guptill.

Emerging Patterns 2

Like the previous post of this name, this covers a number of patterns concerning design theories and elements I've noticed throughout my research.

The Balance of Narrative & Mechanics
Duos often fail because they do not really aid game progression. Their presence should provide a level of physical or narrative contribution. A highly practical way to justify using duos is to base mechanics off the requirement of teamwork to get through the level. In Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Monkey is the fighting force who's athletic manoeuvrability finds and clears the way for Trip, but sometimes he has to rely on her tech skills to see hidden land mines, open locked doors, or provide a holographic distraction so he can reach his goal unhindered. I believe this game has a near perfect balance of narrative and mechanics, which justifies the use of both characters.

Prince of Persia is heavily designed around the gameplay element, and uses teamwork effectively. Some reviews though felt that Elika was a bit tagged on for these elements, as she was a more of a cheat for not dying. Beyond the cutscenes that convey the major plot points, narrative was also lacking. To really get to know each character and the world, the player had to activate conversations with Elika, and depending on where the player was, this sometimes resulted in her not having anything to say, so the Prince made comments to himself. This left me feeling a bit unsatisfied as so much more could have been done. I believe narrative must at least reach a certain acceptance level if such development is attempted, and while gameplay will always be a stronger element here, there needs to be a better ratio.

Balancing Originality & Familiarity

Before designing a character, there are pivotal elements to consider first. In a world full of entertainment media, an immense range of characters already exists. So how is it possible to create an original character that stands out? Without going into gameplay or story, it is vital that the visual elements are grounded by originality balancing with a touch of familiarity. Antony Christoulakis, lead artist of Neon Studios, claims a character “should have something human in its nature - something that people know and understand from our real world. If you just design the most weird alien creature you can think of, people will find it hard to create an emotional connection. But he also has to have something new to stand out from the crowd.” (Hartas 2005, p.20). There should always be some aspect people recognise to relate to.

As an interactive medium, how a character will be used in a game impacts their design. Likely, if a character is bulky and slow, they will not be springing over platforms like a squirrel. The character has to aesthetically fit the role they were designed for. If a character's design does not match the intention for gameplay, this will disrupt the player's immersion.

Reoccurring Archetypes
Throughout my research of duos I've come to find there are reoccurring archetypes for the pairing and their relationship. Although some may start of differently, as the characters develop they can come to be known for what they finish as, such as strangers to friends, or friends to romance. There's a mix of a friendship and leader-sidekick type in Ratchet & Clank. There are family-based relationships like siblings in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and although unrelated, a father-daughter bond forms in The Last of Us. While starting as strangers, friendship and even hints of romance develops in Prince of Persia and Ico, while in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, they first form more like enemies before developing. From my case studies and previous research I've identified these popular archetypes, and will use them for my own designs.

• Leader-Follower
• Friends
• Enemies
• Romance
• Parent-Child
• Sibling
• Playable Character-Pet
• Frenemies

Media Test: Shape-Based Silhouette Design

Again going back to shape theory, but I know I need to improve my skills at using a digital pipeline, so this is a good exercise for that. I am determined to stick to this to adapt closer to that of the industry, despite my computers slowness. I started designing these creatures based on circles, squares, and triangles, keeping them relatively basic in form as if they were of the same art style. I think the designs are quite varied and unique, but I suppose they could easily be mistaken for Pokemon. Some designs look to be inspired from my memory, and I need to keep this in mind as usually the first iterations are never accepted because of similar reasons. I did enjoy doing this though, and it was done much quicker than I thought I could do which surprised me. Hopefully I can keep up the pace.

Character Development Techniques

David Freeman has explored emotions in games extensively, and has 32 categories his Emotioneering techniques can fall into. These techniques can then be applied to strengthen the bond between each character and towards the player.

The Character Diamond is used to design the personalities of dynamic and interesting characters. The Diamond's four corners each represent a Trait, which dictates how the character sees, thinks, and acts. Major NPCs should have at least three corners, but can have up to five, with the risk of too little making the character boring or cliché, and too many making it hard to read the character. This technique can be applied overall to a group, while the characters still retain their individual Diamonds. Using this helps identify a collection of characters working as a single entity, and could aid in portraying a duo's compatibility and relationship. The use of this technique can aid me in keeping a character distinct, individually and when with others. It will firmly keep in mind how the character thinks and acts, which is not to be confused with quirks like being clumsy, or situationally appropriate emotional outbursts.

The Character Arc is the development process characters should go through, as people never stay exactly the same when they have an emotional experience. When a character faces an emotional struggle and they overcome it and grow, it makes for a gripping story. To be able to develop, the character's personality and context must be understood early on. They should be designed with their history in mind, as you cannot give a character a strong personality if they have no roots. This evolution can cause a change in their Diamond.

Media Test: Colour Relationships

Colour is used as a means to convey certain qualities, and applying this to character design can aid interpretation of behaviour traits. Complimentary colour schemes suggest harmony, while contrasting schemes cause dissonance. Warm colours attract and stimulate the eye, while cool colours tend to recede and have a calming effect. In The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, Spyro is a rare purple dragon who is prophesied to lead the fate of his time. Purple is seen as noble, symbolising ambition, extravagance, and magic, which suits the character.

Colour is used in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons to contrast the characters from the environment and each other. I experimented with changing the complementary colours, and also desaturating them for a more natural feel. The last design is my preference in that the designs aren't over saturated like the original, but still have highlights of identifying colour. The younger brother's personality is shown through the warmer, more active oranges and browns, while the older brother, who is calmer and more responsible, is mostly blues.

In Prince of Persia, there was a drastic change from the earlier designs of both characters, especially in the colours. The original iteration of Elika had much of her ratio being taken up by the bold red, which was a bit aggressive for her personality and the rest of the environment. The Prince's blue scarf suggested he was the calmer of the two in comparison, and the change to the current colours suits both much better. The glowing white of Elika's shirt give her a more mystical atmosphere, and the Prince is clearer on screen with the red and blue scarf instead, and the wider spectrum of other colours doesn't make him as bland as he did in the earlier design.

Project Presentation 2

We had our first progress presentation today at 9:30am, where we showed our projects development. The media tests mentioned in my presentation aren't completely finished, such as the silhouettes and archetype switch, as I want to do examples from more games, so I won't post a more detailed version until they're all finished. I have found I have a bad habit of not posting about my thoughts very well. As you'll see in the presentation, I've made some observations about duo archetypes which I haven't brought up strongly before. I need to work on my blogging skills.

Slide 1
Hello and welcome. I'm Katrina, and this is my first progress presentation for my honours project.

Slide 2
To recap my project: My initial research aim was - "To investigate the effective use of companion characters in games, and to research what influences their design."Based on this, the research I've compiled so far explores aspects of duo companions characters in games, such as the typical archetype pairings and their hierarchy, as well as this effect on expected genre and art style in relation to the target audience.

Slide 3
While investigating these topics in general, more questions have come to mind which I can focus on:

• Are duo characters restricted to a particular genre? Do they simply work well for some and not others, or is it just a trend?
• How do character archetypes effect art style and genre?
• Is there a difference in production process for single main characters against duos, or duos and teams? Can they be done the same way, or is there more to consider? The image here is a flow chart of my own pipeline process when creating characters, and I plan to compare it to industry standard, and to duo character pipelines in particular.
• What's more memorable visually, the character's face and body, or the fashion? Outside of the character's personality and player experience, how can they impact the audience equally?
• How can you ensure the player has a connection to both characters? How can you ensure the character's are compatible with each other? Are they still considered successful if one is a favourite?

Slide 4
With my research expanding, I was inspired by a class lecture to create a basis for an action plan and a critical framework for which I can judge existing work on and compare my own to. Combined with character design theory and case studies into selected suitable games, I would then conduct practice based media tests to evaluate the effectiveness of the relevant element I'm looking into.

My framework developed into four main aspects of duo character design which I think effectively appraise the success of that pair. There's the visual component of the character's design, the relationship they have with each other, the teamwork gameplay mechanics, and their compatibility with each other and the player. Using this framework I will begin to apply the criteria to the games I've selected for case studies.

Slide 5
What I keep coming back to in this project is the duo's archetype hierarchy. I've observed a pattern forming throughout my research: there tends to be human or humanoid characters in the more realistic art styles with the grittier genres, usually aimed at adults; and then there's creature based characters with more cartoony styles and lighter genres aimed at younger audiences. Is this a trend because it works, or can it be broken?

Another observation I've made concerning hierarchy is that when dealing with a male and female pairing, the male is almost always the lead playable character, and in that games cover art, the male is always in the forefront of the image. This typically uses the male as the brute force in gameplay, with the thinking left to the female.

Interestingly, some games break this pattern in different ways. In The Last of Us, for the majority of the game you play Joel, but the narrative is for the most part telling Ellie's story through Joel's reactions, and in cover art it's the female taking the foreground. In Ico, you play the male character who again does the fighting, but the character is smaller than his female counterpart, who stands out a little more with their glowing design. A bigger body usually means they'll take the parts with the heavy lifting, like when dealing with Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.

Slide 6
When it comes to creature character duos, the pattern tends to follow size based archetypes. There's the main playable character, and then there's the sidekick, who is almost always considerably smaller in stature. Gameplay has less teamwork mechanics and more just an NPC helping out. Again, a break in this trend is in Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, where while Spyro is bigger than Sparxs, his companion Cynder is of equal size.So what decides which character is the lead? Should this be purposely conveyed through design such as size? Or should there be a more equal footing? Why in an archetype pairing like brains and brawn, brawn is the playable one?

Slide 7
So how dependant is a character's design on their archetype? The balance of form and function is important here: they must be fit for their role. So how different would an existing character's design be if their archetype changed? Ratchet is the hero, the adventurer. He's agile and impulsive. So what if he were more naïve and innocent? Or a more heavy hitter? Or more sly and cunning? These in-progress designs try to explore these changes, looking how much the silhouettes and individual shapes are effected.

Slide 8
In my research, shape and silhouette are an important part of character design. The character's silhouette must read clearly on screen so they're always easy to find against the backdrop. When dealing with creature pairings, a number of them have the smaller character being carried in some way, like Clank fitting onto Ratchet's back, and this changes normal gameplay silhouette.

Shape theory tells us that defined elements of a character's body can hint at their type of personality: generally, circles are friendly, squares are reliable, and triangles are evil. Ratchet mostly has a balance of squares and circles, but he does have some triangles, although this doesn't make him come across as aggressive, but rather more dynamic and possibly impulsive. Clank has the majority of squares, with a round head that helps balance him from a bulky character to one more suited for his size.

Slide 9
I have found, however, that shape theory starts to loose its effectiveness the more realistic an art style is. Exaggerated proportions are less frequent, so well-defined shapes are harder to see, especially in humanoid characters. Both Monkey and Trip are mostly squares, but have hints of circles in different areas of their bodies. It is harder to guess at their personality from both their silhouette and shapes.

Slide 10
Using the theories I have researched, I've begun to create my own media tests. These basic figures explore how effective body language is before elements like fashion are added. This test was also to practice for drawing using my tablet and painting digitally, which is commonly industry standard, which I am unused to.

Slide 11
Unused to speed painting digitally, I decided to go traditional to get me started designing, which also helped not being able to erase mistakes. I used two washes of ink to cover the white blankness and get a general shape. I then took a watercolour pencil to sketch line and detail. A final shadow wash helped bring these figures to definition. I think doing this type of exercise really helped just loosen up and not think too much about what I'm doing. I did find though that creatures were much easier to create rather than humanoids.

Slide 12
From here, I plan to do silhouette and shape studies of all the duo characters I've chosen from a range of suitable games, and to evaluate how much of their personality and archetype is told through them. I also want to continue exploring changing an existing character's archetype and seeing the effect it has on their design. I've developed an idea for my final product, where I create a duo set and a base design for each. I would then apply different archetypes to each, and see how that effects the personality portrayed.

Slide 13
Thank you for listening. Any questions?

---

Feedback
Again, the presentation had a positive response. I wasn't half as nervous as I was last time, although the early start and bigger group made me a bit tired of waiting. Lynn began with saying the presentation was well structured and the project was much more manageable now. She said I had put together a solid plan to go forward, and that it was good to see me taking control of what I'm trying to achieve.

When I mentioned my critical framework included the teamwork mechanics, Lynn questioned how much mechanics then inform how we design characters, and is this because it's in an interactive form that we can't get around, because of immediate connotations? The example I had in my presentation was the bigger character doing all the heavy work.

I said I wanted to get a full idea of how duo companions work in games, not just visually, and as such mechanics are important. I define duos as two characters who work together and are both there for a purpose, not just by having two characters on screen. I understand I can't test mechanics as that isn't what I want to go into, but that they do effect the character's design.

Lynn agreed with this, saying it could just be a case of saying I'm aware of game mechanics and to keep that in mind, but it's outside the scope of my project. She continued saying that sometimes we need a character to achieve something, so they need to be designed to be able to achieve that. I don't need to go into depth with mechanics, but to convey form and function, address that the role of the character can be portrayed through associations of their design. I just need to make this clear and clarify it in my proposal; what's in the scope of the project and what I recognise is too big to go into.

She said overall, I'm making really good observations, and that she was interested in the goals I'm identifying. Again, she said it feels much more manageable, and that it's really nice to see the practical work I'm doing. When I commented I feel there's not much there, she said it's fine, and that I have a solid process for exploring, and that I'm identifying really interesting things.

Lynn was concerned I was attempting too many case studies, that I have a huge list. She said six games is okay, but that I need to find balance between digging down and really getting to know how duos are applied in fewer games, or use a lighter touch and skim over a bunch of games instead. She said I've done the skim, and to move forward I should decide to continue skimming or if it's worthwhile to dig, but not to dig down on all in my list as that's a crazy amount of work; six games is really healthy. She thinks I'm at a good point, and is really pleased with my progress.

Brian reiterated that I have a thorough approach, that I've looked at a wide range of characters, and is glad I'm not just looking at the visual aspects. He thinks interesting things might come from going deeper into the different types of archetypes and relationships between the characters, and would like to hear about the more subtle aspects involved.

He liked the idea of game compatibility with relationships, and commented that the idea of genre specific archetypes is interesting for him with the different kind of stories that could be told, and how given the experience nature of games, of the immersion of playing a character, could make it difficult to tell some stories. He went on to say that I've made close observations and deconstructed the different kinds of relationships, and that it's interesting I'm trying to take it beyond the stereotypical and why that deepens the performance. Lynn then mentioned Shadow of the Colossus, where the character has a companion in his horse, and that it's the only thing he has, so this has a different type of relationship that is dealt with differently mechanically as well.

I asked Brain after the presentation on feedback for my actual presentation skills, as I have a great amount of trouble speaking without a script. He said I have good structure, and to practice that in terms of telling a story with a set beginning, middle and end. I just need to move towards the point that I feel comfortable in my performance using cues, to show what I'm going to say and then say it. He said to think of it as stating a problem, set my major questions and aims, and then answer it through showing my work. Summarising is a good way to go, and that the audience can fill in the gaps if done right. I also asked if he had any recommendations about more duo or companion character based books, as most so far have been about general character design. He mentioned Screenplay: the foundations of screenwriting by Syd Field, and Story: substance, structure, style, and the principles of screenwriting by Robert McKee, while not directly dealing with games, are more about designing characters from the inside out and not visual dependant.

Link to Honours Project Presentation 2.
Link to Honours Project Presentation 2 Script.


Action Points

• Finish all examples of current media tests from selected games and make a post of them.
• Get first draft of proposal finished for feedback by lecturers.
• Work on blogging skills. Get out of the habit of thinking things are only worthwhile if perfected and finished.
• Investigate into the books recommended by Brian.
• Look at Creative Character Design by Bryan Tillman.

Media Test: Shape-Based Character Design

Following my previous research on shape theory, I decided to develop this in practice a little further from the silhouettes I've already done. This time, I've produced full sketches of the two characters from Ratchet & Clank, where I've evaluated their existing form and changed the alignment of their basic shape. Originally, Ratchet is the hero type, who is adventurous, agile, and impulsive, and Clank is the calm, logical mind that aids him.

I applied a strong square, triangle, then circle to both characters to see how this effected their overall design. As you can see, the instinctive changes I've made have had an impact, where the new designs at least to me portray different base personalities. With Ratchet, the square makes him look more tough and serious, the triangle makes him look more cunning, maybe a little evil, and the circle has made him cute and innocent. With Clank, the square makes him also look more combat orientated, the triangle makes him look a little blank or precarious, and the circle makes him look jolly and friendly. Again, I believe based on the art style used, the shape theory effect differs, but I should still keep this in mind as a building or evaluating tool for the future.

Emerging Patterns 1

Throughout my research so far, there are a number of patterns concerning design theories and elements I've begun to notice. The following are brief examinations of these.

The Relationship of Art Style, Genre & Target Market
Art style can aid a games mood and atmosphere, and support story and connectivity to the player. It can relay emotional expectations, such as the colourful, clean, cartoon-based visuals of Ratchet & Clank, in which the characters go on adventures, have fun, and overcome difficult situations, but stays relatively light. On the opposite scale, The Last of Us features a realistic gritty style that reflects the serious subject matter and emotional development of the characters. There is an emerging correlation in art style and genre, which can affect the target market. Ratchet & Clank can appeal to all, although leaning towards younger generations, but the maturity of The Last of Us reserves the game for adults. Additionally, cartoon-based styles feature more exaggerated proportions and are often creature-based, while realistic styles tend to use more human and humanoid designs. As such, visual style should fit the role of the story, and be sensitive to the subject matter and genre.

Character Hierarchy & POV

Within the popular archetypes there is a pattern of hierarchy. Primarily, the second you step into the game, the character the player is controlling is generally higher up in the hierarchy. This is often the leader character, rather than the sidekick, or the older, bigger character that directs the story and has more influence on events. Another pattern is that bigger characters are often the brawn, and smaller companions are the brains. In a male-female duo, it's often the male being controlled and in the lead.

There are occasions when this pattern is broken, and going against conventions makes for more interesting characters and story. For instance, in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, you control both characters at once with each joystick, which makes them more equal in stature, and really brings out their teamwork element. In The Last of Us, you eventually switch to play Ellie, the younger, less experienced character, and in Ratchet & Clank you can play at certain points as Clank too. I believe design and roles affect character hierarchy, and it could make more interesting characters if these conventions are broken, such as playing the game from the point of view of the character lower on the hierarchy.