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.