Week 5: Too many books spoil the broth, or my idea.

Having taken a step back from thinking about the final outcome of my project, I realised I’d managed to just throw myself into the idea so much that I lost objectivity. Simplifying it down is the way forward. Instead of pre-deciding what I want my outcome to be I need to wait and see which would be easiest and most applicable to my idea. For instance, I could talk myself in circles about how much I want to create a game, but in reality, how much do I actually know about game design? Diddly squat. Herein lies the problem.

I should probably point out before I write anymore circle-talking blog posts, that although this is to be an update for my project and report, which will be taking a deep look into proper research undertaken in this field, the mumblings on this blog are purely subjective, so if I appear to be talking in utter nonsense or personal preferences, it’s because I am. In otherwords: I’m right and you’re wrong!

Back to the point, in realising the major flaw in this project, ie; me not having certain technical skills needed to accomplish all of my initial goals, I’ve managed to narrow down what my final design will be. Instead of creating various different media outlets for my project, the main focus will instead be on creating character archetypes.

Now what does this actually mean? Well, I want to create 4 skeletons. The absolute default of a character, taking the time to flesh these skeletons out so that they may be adaptable to any environment in which they would be placed. The first semester outcome will be having these 4 characters created, ready for implementation. The challenge of this will be creating backstory, traits, personality and so many other artefacts which build a relatable, empathetic character, without making these designs so convoluted and with any luck, not generic.

This week I have been delving deep into Lee Sheldon’s: “Character Development and Storytelling for Games”. Although written for gaming character creation primarily, it’s still been incredibly useful in pointing out certain no-no’s to stay away from when trying to create an immersive design. First and foremost: Amnesia. Just stay away. STAY AWAY. (But Memento was a great movie…). Also, don’t trip yourself up. You don’t need to create an incredibly intricate character, so much so that you cannot remember all the details yourself. The thing is about characters, especially in gaming is that the character should NOT be so fleshed out in the beginning, usually the journey/adventure/story is going to take care of exposition and character growth for you, the more mystery the better. If the player/reader already knows everything about the character they are following then they’re going to get bored very, very quickly.

TL;DR: Keep your character creation simple.

I always seem to end my blog posts ad the oddest points very abruptly, for this I apolo-

-MS