Character Development In Games

Gamasutra has a piece up examining techniques for character development in games. The article describes these techniques using the movie standards of dialogue and relationships. From the article: "Character development in and of itself isn't going to make your gameplay any better, but it will create a more satisfying experience because you're furnishing a more well-developed context, a more immersive world for the player to explore. You can't read a review of an adventure game or shooter without seeing some kind of reference to the storytelling, the dialogue, the characters. Can you relate to the characters? Are they well-developed? Are they interesting? It's become an expectation, an industry norm. Cliches and stereotypes are unacceptable."

Comments

Fair shake.

[Seumas]

I'm less interested in "character development" than I am in making sure that every ethnicity, race, socio-economic, religious and political group is properly and fairly represented in each game. Nothing detracts from my enjoyment of Tetris more than seeing more blue blocks than red. It just seems like such a horrid injustice and rips me from the enthralling gameplay.

Re:Fair shake.

[FidelCatsro]

Your missing out on a whole story angle behind Tetris , The repressed blue blocks have for a long time been fighting for civil rights against the elite Red and their yellow cohorts . At the dawning of tetris the repressed masses had been fighting in a civil uprising to take back power and create equal rights.

Its your job as the outsider to aid the blocks to come to a peaceful resolution , What the creation lines symbolises is the unity between the blocks and them forgetting their problems and linking arms as brothers.

  Tetris is a game of skill and diplomacy , if you don't link enough arms and the Blocks bloody struggle reaches the top then they are all doomed , Seeing their chance the Red blocks (now rather weakened and on the verge of extinction ) unleash a nuclear weapon and kill all the Tertris blocks as a bitter revenge and one last stab from hells heart , Thus Game over (Game meaning life)

So remember this , loosing at tetris will cause blood shed

Old Ultima Online memory

[Sierpinski]

This article made me think back to the days where I played Ultima Online, and had a rather hilarious (at least I thought it was) meeting with a NPC.

There I was, riding my trusty steed through the wilderness, when I encountered a wandering healer by the name of Stella. (Her name was 'Stella the Wandering Healer') So naturally I dismounted, walked up to her, and I said:

"Stella!!!"

Her response:

"Ooooh, Colors!"

I played that game for over five years, and for some reason its one of the most prominent memories I have of the game. Offtopic or not, I wanted to share, because I still think its funny. :)