Contextual Studies - Character Design

Character Design

For the development of characters in video games, the most significant element we can use can be taken from classical art and that is the use of dynamic composition, which is composed of 4 elements: character shape, character animation, environment shapes and pathways. There can be a lot learned from classical art, and how it uses composition to help shape the narratives of painting, these concepts can be applied visually to games to improve it's design and emotion involvement. Shapes are important for use as we psychologically interpret them from our first understanding of the world. These forms can be found in certain archetypes of characters that allow us to quickly emotionally identify them.

To create a realistic and emotionally richer narrative, the use dynamic composition can be applied to other areas of games, such as the camera movement but also in the levels design and how the player advances through it. It's with the contrast between the shape of the player and the shape of the environment do the player gain a basic understanding of the narrative of the game. The animation of the character also helps this; character expressing it's thoughts and motivations instantly appear more lifelike. It's stance and posture can tell the player a lot about it's emotional state. This is helped by players can have strong emotional empathy for their on-screen avatars, which allows game designers to bring more emotional subtlety to the video game experience through the use of dynamic character shapes.