Questions to explore

During the second week of Simone's lecture she mentioned that a good starting point to brainstorming ideas was to create a mind map. However, I do not like mind maps and much prefer lists, therefore I have started a list of questions that I could potentially explore. These questions are inspired by my initial reading and also my own interests and fascinations surrounding the subject:

What makes a character iconic?


What is good character design?


How does character design in games impact the player?


Exploration of the portrayal of male and female character design in games, from the old to the new, the stereotypes to the unconventional.


The importance of the character design in games.


How big of a part does the artistic design of a character play? Comparing the character design to the story or narrative given to a character.


Exploring character-driven game design.


Exploring the different types of emotional impact caused by different character designs. How much of an emotional impact do different types of character design create?


As can be seen some of these questions involve the feelings and impact on the player. I find this an interesting topic, particularly because I love to see good character development in films and TV series', as well as games, however I have found that some games lack actual character development and mostly just play to stereotypes and run with that throughout the game. Recently, I have been watching playthroughs of the game Until Dawn and this has made me start thinking about the relationship between the character and the player, as well as the development and personality of each character and how that affects the player's feelings for them. However, I feel that the emotional response to a character is mostly stirred by the narrative assigned to the character, that the way the character behaves and talks is what is most important. I feel that the artistic design plays a minor role in comparison. It is true that the clothes or the looks of a character affects the initial thoughts and feelings of the player, however that can be easily overlooked when it comes to the character actually coming to life and showing who they really are as a person. This also lends credibility and realness to the character, more so than the actual design, in my opinion.