Real Characters in Games

Ken Perlin's essay discusses the differences between characters in media such a film and in video games. He claims that in film and books, the emotions of the character are real enough that we can buy into the avatar living in the real world and thus buy his/her story better. He goes on to state that in video games, this is not the case. The computer generated avatars are too static and don't have the capabilities to act on their own in a realistic manner. Unfortunately I would have to agree with him.

This summer, I worked as a game designer on a future title scheduled to release next year. This game is a very narrative focused game and I spent hours upon hours creating characters and their backgrounds as well as their emotional state during gameplay (this was all on paper, not through code). We thought of as many different ways to make these characters compelling so that the story would feel more real, thus engaging the player and making the story more believable. However hard we tried, with the current technology, everything about the characters we created were limited by scripting, animation and a small bank of speech. These characters could be believed only in a linear narrative structure and beyond that, they cannot respond to any other action by the player. It's unfortunate, but in my mind, it is only temporary. Technology will grow and more believeable scripts will be created to lend static avatars a more realistic personality. I remember reading about creating scripts for the Battle of Helms Deep for Lord of the Rings 2. The orcs were to charge the humans and depending on numbers on each side, some would fight and some would retreat. Well, the human side was so strong in numbers, that when the first test simulation was run, the entire orc army dropped their weapons and ran for the hills. Unexpected and hilarious, and a possibly a little too real?