Design
in games is something I love, when a game delivers design work that is both
visually stunning but technically intuitive always impresses me. The area of design
I like the most is the character design, don’t get me wrong I find vehicle,
environment and weapon/prop design brilliant as well but something about that
interaction with characters is important. Characters in any book, game or film
are the faces we grow accustomed to or despise, we form emotional attachments
and that can only happen if they are believable.
Now
I am a sucker for sci-fi, I was raised on Star Wars and love future tech,
design and concepts. I’m going to explain the importance of characters in game
by breaking down the elements of one of the coolest sci-fi characters to be
created.
Thane
Krios.
 |
| The last face some will ever see. |
Thane
is a drell assassin in Mass Effect 2. Being an assassin instantly brings the
idea of cool to people’s minds. But why? Well I think that it’s because assassins
have long held the mantle as death dealers from the shadows, individuals to be
feared and respected. That’s not how it
is officially known but I think that’s a good summary. This kind of association
like does not necessarily happen overnight. Semantics is the study of cognitive
responses humans give when shown signifiers such as words or signs, it’s like
word association, when a person see’s said thing the associate things with it.
Ice is associated with cold, fire with heat etc. etc. my point is for any
character design an element of semantics must be conducted. For thane to be the
cool assassin that he is the designers needed he to portray the traits that
most people think of as cool.
He appears in the light from the shadow, it adds drama and mood to this scene
In
an assassin’s case they are seen as cool because they do things that the
average human cannot, they are illusive, shrouded in mystery and skilled in the
art of killing. That’s not to say Assassins are not mindless killing machines
they are surgeons with a precise craft. The reason I say this is because to
kill a man in the minimum amount of moves, raising the minimum amount of
awareness, in the minimum amount of time requires intelligence. Like a
mathematical equation of death squared.
To
show this element of civility amongst chaos I like how Bioware
portray Thane as a spiritual man, routinely saying prayers for those he killed.
I think this is a nice way to add depth to a character, it give him a
personality and shows that he isn’t proud about bringing death, but it is the
fate they have been dealt for their transgressions. His personality goes beyond
saying prayers because a personality in itself is not a one dimensional aspect
one does not simply have a personality, it is a collection of traits habits and
characteristics that make up a person’s personality. This turns him from a
bunch of polygons to an individual being.
Something
games or film directors do to create involvement with their product is to
create emotional attachment. I have mentioned this earlier in the blog but I
didn’t say how. Script writers have the important job of creating believable
stories but the best ones are the ones which engage the audience with what they
are seeing. In the case of Thane there are two distinct relationships you can
have with him, each with emotional repercussions.
One
of those relationships, the one I had when playing, is the friendship
relationship. You meet thane in mass effect 2 he is introduced with a slick
scene of martial arts combat and you are immediately impressed and intrigued.
You slowly grow comfortable with his presence but it is revealed that he is
actually dying of an incurable disease. Now for me this experience was like
just getting to know a good friend only to have them tell you that they are
dying, immediately I want to help them in any way possible. That is the
response the script writers want, they want the action to evoke a response and
it did. The fact that he is infected with a disease makes you a concerned
friend, but to know that the disease it both fatal and incurable changes him to
a valued friend, you only have a limited time with him so you add value to it.
"I love you bro!" , "I love you too man"
Contrast
this to the romantic relationship you can pursue with him and things are much
different. This relationship option is only available if you play as female
commander Shepard and as with any romantic venture love is the key element. The
emotion love is a complicated one. I know that is an age old statement but the
reason for that is because there are multiple ways of loving someone. You can
love them as a friend, a family member and of course a romantic partner. When I
played the game I saw thane as a friend but let’s imagine he was a woman for a
second and I had feeling for him, they are very different. If she told me she
was dying and there is nothing you can do about it makes you heartbroken. This
isn’t to say you aren’t upset as a friend but what it does to you, your
perception of things changes when in love. To reflect this dialog options you
can have with thane change, your character takes an active interest in thanes
past, you get to know him as a person. You learn that his wife was murdered as
a result of his profession and that he has a son, the player feels his pain and
the emotional attachment is far greater. You have this option as a friend but
the way it is scripted the emotion in the voices changes.
N'aaaww
This
nicely brings me on to the voice acting and animation. Seeing as how the actors
aren’t actually in the game, unless we are talking mo cap, they have to reflect
the movement and emotion of their digital counterpart through their voice. This
is important because no matter how badass thane was and how well he was
animated, if his voice is ten octaves high no one would take him seriously.
That is not to say voice acting is the most important, creating a believable
character in a believable scene is all about balance, everything must fit well
together.
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