I've recently got into the nuts and bolts of interactive storytelling and I'm interested in your views on what makes a truly memorable NPC.
Personally I find characters that express themselves well without dialog more appealing than those that just hammer out a load of script. Dog in Half-Life 2, the horse in Shadow of the Colossus, and the sims in Sims 3 are all examples of this. It seems that I don't get as irritated by repeating actions as I do with repetetive dialog, and maybe the lack of exposition makes it easier for me to invest a little of my own imagination in the character and create a bond that way.
Have you any examples of NPCs that are more than your average quest giver or item vendor, and can you define what made them seem more lifelike than the others?
What makes a memorable game character?
Crazy, that's what makes a memorable game character for me. The Preacher in Half-life 2, Gary in Bully, Mostly everyone you encounter in a GTA game. They are all unhinged to some extent and that makes them all more instantly memorable.
Yeah the characters in GTA4 were pretty much all struggling with some personal demons, be they drugs, narcissism, bigotry, adultery and that gives Liberty City a vibe of hopelessness which is very affecting.
I'm not sure about Gary in Bully because I didn't play much of that, but the Preacher in HL2 is certainly affected by something in his past that he's not letting on, and maybe that's what all these characters have in common - what made them the way they are is left up to you to work out?
@PureRok: Sure, but only after completing the game. I hated the fucker all the way through because he'd scare so easily and kept running into walls. I was surprised that I cared so much about events later in the game. I guess you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
Memorable can be a lot of things to a lot of different people. They can invoke specific emotions, commonly awe or annoyance. They don't necessarily have to speak, but it helps, as the right voice is what makes some characters memorable. Some characters are memorable simply because they are just really, really annoying. Some characters are memorable because of the part they play in the story of the game, not really because of their characteristics.
I think that creative dialog that is both familiar and unexpected do well to shape a memorable character. I suggest KOTOR's HK-47 as an example. This droid's dialog fit being both a robot and an assassin, but the delivery was hilarious just the same. If HK-47 had been just another human, then he wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining. It was the combination of his robotness and his violent tendencies that made him stand out. I think that humor goes a long way to making a character memorable, as well, partly because humor is so hard to achieve in video games. Another example of this is GLaDOS from Portal. Like HK-47, her delivery is unexpected but not jarringly so. At no point during the game does the player think, "well that was out of character."
Brucie from GTA4, everyone wanted more of him.
Final Fantasy have a habit of producing some good memorable characters (except for FF12.)
Aigis from Persona 3 always stands out to me. An android that becomes more human as the game progresses, it's really engaging.
" I think that creative dialog that is both familiar and unexpected do well to shape a memorable character. I suggest KOTOR's HK-47 as an example. This droid's dialog fit being both a robot and an assassin, but the delivery was hilarious just the same. If HK-47 had been just another human, then he wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining. It was the combination of his robotness and his violent tendencies that made him stand out. I think that humor goes a long way to making a character memorable, as well, partly because humor is so hard to achieve in video games. Another example of this is GLaDOS from Portal. Like HK-47, her delivery is unexpected but not jarringly so. At no point during the game does the player think, "well that was out of character." "So does a robot NPC avoid a lot of the problems with realism that human NPCs have? If you're interacting with a robot are you more forgiving that he repeats dialog lines and acts woodenly or lacks emotion? With GLaDOS her emotional detachment was kind of core to her character.
I think that a robot's lack of emotion is actually another form of personality. If a droid expressed the entire range of human emotion then their unique roboticism would be lost. From Aigis of Persona 3 to any of the other various robots in fiction seeking to become human or understand humanity, their separation from being human provides a tested basis for character development. Like a child, they grow and offer the player a chance to use them as a mirror to question larger human issues. Because they are child-like in these circumstances, we, as players, are more forgiving of their blankness. However, repeating lines of dialog over and over is not afforded a pass for them any more than it would be for any other character. That's either a limitation of the game's budget or technical specs.
As far wooden animation applied to the presentation of a robot in games, I think we give that pass to all non-familiar creatures. If a human's represention on screen seems wrong, it's because we know how a person should move. The same is true of dogs, cats, horses, and a multitude of other real life animals. But, on the other hand, how a Snorlax or Jabberwocky moves is not known, so anything somewhat related to a known animal is accepted. I think it's easier for us to accept Godzilla moving around in a particular manner than King Kong because we know how gorillas (giant or not) move.
We're focusing pretty heavily on core NPCs that drive story here, but what about the lesser NPCs that flesh out the world and do not play a huge part in the overall plot of the game? What makes these guys more than just window dressing? Are there any examples of games where the general population of NPCs stands out as being more lifelike, and what about the things that they do makes them more credible?
I already mentioned Oblivion for having non-quest-giving NPCs that followed routines, had goals and worked out their own way to meet those goals. This is probably the best example I can come up with of a world made more organic by smart NPCs. GTA4 is also pretty good at this, the game is smart enough to change up the NPCs depending on time of day and location, and throw in a few random voice samples, but follow someone around in the game for a bit and you soon realise its shortcomings.
" Crazy, that's what makes a memorable game character for me. The Preacher in Half-life 2, Gary in Bully, Mostly everyone you encounter in a GTA game. They are all unhinged to some extent and that makes them all more instantly memorable. "GTA IV is really the first game I played that had great characterization for all of it's characters.
Yeah I found that although the characters were pretty well fleshed out (most of them) and I hated some (but I gather I was supposed to) I just found myself completely and utterly dumbfounded by every word coming out of little jacobs mouth. Didn't understand one single word of it, I just followed the map markers for his missions.
" @Wolverine: Yeah I found that although the characters were pretty well fleshed out (most of them) and I hated some (but I gather I was supposed to) I just found myself completely and utterly dumbfounded by every word coming out of little jacobs mouth. Didn't understand one single word of it, I just followed the map markers for his missions. "Agreed, I had know clue what the hell Jacob was saying the whole game.
I've just done a google (gotta love google) and apparently bumbaclot (which he says a lot) means "arsewipe" ... Apparently jamaicen cursing is based in nastyness, not blasphemy or sexual connotation, so a lot of what he says apparently translates to calling people asswipes and used tampons.
Now I don't even like him as a novelty.
" @Insectecutor:Robo has heaps of personality. So do the robots in Fallout 3.
I think that a robot's lack of emotion is actually another form of personality. If a droid expressed the entire range of human emotion then their unique roboticism would be lost. From Aigis of Persona 3 to any of the other various robots in fiction seeking to become human or understand humanity, their separation from being human provides a tested basis for character development. Like a child, they grow and offer the player a chance to use them as a mirror to question larger human issues. Because they are child-like in these circumstances, we, as players, are more forgiving of their blankness. However, repeating lines of dialog over and over is not afforded a pass for them any more than it would be for any other character. That's either a limitation of the game's budget or technical specs.
As far wooden animation applied to the presentation of a robot in games, I think we give that pass to all non-familiar creatures. If a human's represention on screen seems wrong, it's because we know how a person should move. The same is true of dogs, cats, horses, and a multitude of other real life animals. But, on the other hand, how a Snorlax or Jabberwocky moves is not known, so anything somewhat related to a known animal is accepted. I think it's easier for us to accept Godzilla moving around in a particular manner than King Kong because we know how gorillas (giant or not) move. "
Well, for background NPC characters, I think what is most important is reacting to situations in a realistic manner. If a player character appears on the street with a weapon, any type of weapon from a handgun to a bazooka, people are going to run and scream. If they see the character as a threat, some may even attempt to intercede to protect others. Most of the time, NPCs wander around games only to shriek and scurry when the shooting begins. But, in real life the threshold for danger is much smaller. Additionally, after the destruction has concluded, the neighborhood can't return to business-as-usual. I don't know how many games I've played where there is a massive shootout in the streets which send everyone running only to come back five minutes later and it's as if nothing ever happened. This is a limitation on the technology, I expect because it seems to be near impossible to maintain damage over time in a game as well as a change to the crowd action. People are individuals, and while they sometimes move as a group, depicting that group action with the same predictability as the movement of a school of fish feels false. A game would have to create a variety of A.I.s for each NPC to properly illustrate realism in a game setting.
@Linkyshinks said:
" A mustache. It worked wonders for Mario and Price "I ignored this at first because I thought it was facetious, but for a character with so little expression Mario is perhaps the most recognisable and well loved video game character of all time. It seems the more articulate Sonic becomes the more people hate him, so maybe some characters (at least the ones in more unlikely environments) are better off just keeping quiet.
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