Storytelling in Games

For this week`s assignment we were required to create a character from the ground up who either lived in the past or present. Now many game characters like Ezio Auditore from Assassin`s Creed, Link from Legend of Zelda,  Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid and Mario from well Mario are memorable video game characters who are bigger than the games they are in. Our task was to create a memorable character from the ground up. I began thinking up my character after our lecture on storytelling in games, which helped me to begin think and planning out my character. 

Link - Legend of Zelda                          Mario - Mario

  Ezio Auditore - Assassin`s Creed 2

 

Now I talked with a lot of people in my class about what some of their ideas where, some people decided to create a historical figure that lived in the past and while those are interesting enough I wanted to make my character someone people could easily relate to. Now I think it might have had something to do with the fact that I spent about half of last Thursday at work sitting through those educational seminars about Bullying (which was basically a really, really sad video about families who have lost members who committed suicide because of bullying and kids who are currently being bullied) and a little bit of family`s own experience with the issue which greatly influenced my decisions when creating my Character. 

Here is a description of my character, I will upload a picture of him later after I get my drawing program working (now I could draw him on paper but I don`t feel like it):

Character Name: Alex Colt

 Age: 12

Place of Origin: London, England

Nationality: British

Date of Birth: January 20th, 2000

Current Year: 2012

Physical Description:

Alex is small for his age standing at 3.5 ft and weighs 75 pounds, making him one of the shortest kids in his class. He inherited his mother’s bright blue eyes and his father’s shaggy brown hair which he keeps at medium length. His body is very lanky and his skin is extremely pale. He is always seen in his red hoodie which he uses to make his body seem more filled out but unfortunately gives the opposite effect considering he appears to be drowning in his sweater. He pairs this sweater with a pair of ripped blue jeans and a pair of worn out black converse. Due to his up bring in England he has a strong thick accent.

Past:

He was born on January 20^th in the year 2000 at South London Hospital in London, England a month premature and with a weak heart. While it was predicted that he may not last the year he was able to grow stronger and survive past his first year. He was very close with his mother and was devastated when she died just after his second birthday. In order to try and build a connection between his son and wife, one which they were unable to properly develop, Alex’s father signed his son up for dance since his mother was a dancer and he wanted his son to have at least one thing in common with his mother. Alex continued with dance as he got older because like his father shared the desire to have something in common with his mother. At the end of Alex’s 6^th year of Elementary school his father got a job transfer to Lima, Ohio. After the move he starts dance up again at a studio near his new home and begins grade 7 at a school called Pine Valley Heights where many of the faculty including the Principal have anti-British sentiments. At the beginning of the year Alex is able to make a few friends however he is quickly abandoned when he started being harassed by his teachers and the principal, which led to numerous students to start harassing him. One day he needed to head to his dance class earlier for extra practice and other students discovered Alex dances which worsened the bullying. Alex was viciously bullied physically, mentally and emotionally for 3 months before one incident puts him in the hospital. After the hospital incident Alex and his father begin a personal mission to help stop bullying once and for all to prevent others from suffering the way he did.

Disgaea Character Description Example: 

 

 Interview Time:

After creating our character we were required to conduct an interview with our character and answer the questions as if the character himself was answering. We were given some general questions to ask some of with I utilized, I later added some of my own that fit and were relevant to my specific character. Below you can find my questions and the answers:

Interview with a Character:

Name: Alex Colt

Gender: Male

Race: Caucasian

Religion: Protestant

Age: 12

Where were you born?

I was born in London, England but now currently live in Lima, Ohio with my Dad.

Where were your parents born, where are they and are they still alive?

My Dad was born and raised in New Jersey, New York in The United States but moved to London, England for work where he met my Mom; He now currently lives in Ohio with me. My Mom was born and raised in London, England; she died 10 years ago when I was two because she got really sick with a rare disease and the doctors couldn’t help her.

When you were growing up, did you struggle, and if so, in what way?

When living in England the only real struggle was growing up without a mom. My dad was always busy with work and dealing with losing my mom that he wasn’t always around when I really needed him. He did his best but sometimes it just wasn’t enough. There are things that a mom can do that a dad cannot.

After moving to Ohio growing up without a mom was the least of my struggles, I then had to deal with bullying from the students, the teachers and the principal at my new school. They harassed me emotionally, mentally and physically every day without remorse.

What year is it now?

2012

How would someone stereotype you at a glance?

Most of my classmates and teachers stereotype me a weakling, a sissy who is too weak to do anything because of my size.  That isn’t true at all since I have built up a lot of strength from dance.

Why do you dance? Do you like it?

Originally my dad put me in dance classes so I could build some sort of connection to my mom, who was a dancer for English National Ballet, a ballet company. Slowly I began to enjoy dance and understood why my mom loved it so much. It allows me to express myself in a way words cannot. Dance also helped my work out my anger and frustration at what was happening at school.

How were you bullied? If it is too hard to talk about, that`s fine.

The bullying was a horrible experience that I don’t think I will ever be able to forget. It showed me just how ugly humans can be at such a young age, I’m sure that I will never be the same. My classmates and teachers did everything from excluding me, to harassing me, verbally and physically, to physically abusing me, at one point bad enough to put me in the hospital. I don’t want to get into exactly what happened because it’s too hard for me to relive that experience.

How badly do you think the bullying affected you?

Pretty badly I would say, I think more than my mother dying did. It’s hard going to a place where it’s clear people hate you and want to hurt you. I don’t think I will ever fully be able to trust someone other than my dad fully ever again because of this experience. I’ve seen just how cruel people can be and I’m afraid to see any more of their cruelty.

Do you have a romantic partner or a crush? If so, whom?

I did have a crush on someone during my first week of school at Pine Valley Heights her name was Emily Johnson, however she has never once looked at me since the teachers and the other kids started bullying me. The sad thing is she dances at the same studio as me and before this whole mess started she wanted to be friends and dance partners.

Who is your best friend and what is he/she/it like?

I had a best friend in London, England whose name was Sebastian Winderman. Sebastian was one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He and his parents were kind to everyone one they meet and were essential in my upbringing helping my dad as much as they could after my mom died. We still talk over skype and the phone at least every other week.

How would your friend descried you?

He would probably describe me as the quietest, most passive aggressive dancer you would ever meet. He would also probably describe me as a bit of a shut in and rather shy.

What is your economic situation? What have you done for work, rather what does your Dad do?

My dad and I are pretty well off I suppose, I’m not really sure since it is not something we talk about. My dad is some engineer; I’m not sure what exactly he does since he never talks about his work and when my mom was alive my dad says she was a great dancer.

What do you want to do in the future?

I’m not sure at the moment but I do know I want to make bullying a thing of the past. I’m not sure how I will do that but I never want anyone to ever suffer like I have ever again.

Are you still being bullied?

Yes but not for long. This is because after the incident that put me in the hospital my dad decided that my school wasn’t going to do anything about the bullying so he is having me change schools to a school that one of his friend’s from work’s son, Joshua, goes to. Which I’m not upset about since it’s not like I had any friends I’m leaving behind and Joshua and I are friends.

Do you hate the fact that you were basically run out of your own school?

Yes because if the students there had just given me a chance I know we could have been great friends, and it makes me sad to know that I will never have that opportunity.

What makes you happy? What makes you sad?

Dancing, spending time with my dad and my friend, Joshua, are some of the things that make me happy because it helps me forget about all the things I have to go through at school. The only things that upset me are that I never met my mom and that the girl I like will never like me back because of the bullying. I’m not even upset anymore about the bullying, I was at first but slowly I stopped caring about what they did anymore a while ago.

What is the one secret that no one must know about you?

One secret that no one must know about me is that I sometimes when I`m trying to sleep at night I break down and cry because of everything I have had to go through, but the other kids must never know, I will never hear the end of it if they did.

Are you afraid to die?

A little, I`m afraid to leave my dad behind mostly I`m all he has left but what I`m really afraid of is that if I do die I won`t be able to go to the same place my mom is and that’s what scares me the most.

Do you have any phobias/ fears?

I am now very afraid of people and what they are capable of doing to another person, how they can hurt one another. I use to be afraid of normal things like spiders or the dark but not since moving to Ohio.

Are you quick tempered or patient?

I think I am pretty patient, especially when dealing with the kids and adults who torture me. Joshua and Sebastian seem to think I have the patience of a saint for never once blowing up or attacking the bullies back. 

 MY THOUGHTS:

Now I personally feel that this assignment was one of the most important ones since it helps to teach us about creating memorable characters for our games. While some games can get away with not having any memorable characters because they are heavily dependent on game play, many games today are incorporating strong and memorable characters and strong storyline along with the strong game play to make their games more enjoyable. I think this is extremely important for game development especially for some of the games that are being released now like The Assassin`s Creed Series, The Uncharted Series and the Halo Series are all examples of games that contain memorable characters and developed storyline. These games wouldn't be as fun, entreating or as successful (well at least my opinion. I’m not so sure about Halo because I don't play it but I`m currently writing this while my friend is playing the new Halo game and it seems to incorporate a lot of story with its game play and Master Chief seems like a pretty memorable character) with a solid storyline to move the game along and memorable characters that players can get invested in.