The origins of the character are sort of convoluted. Originally, my plan was to make a side-scrolling beat-em-up (think Streets of Rage, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle arcade games, or more recently, Castle Crashers) featuring my friends and acquaintances as playable characters and NPCs. The whole idea was that hopefully it would give me some solid animation experience, and be an incredibly dorky present to my game playing friends.
As I started fleshing out ideas, I started running into problems. One, I'm incredibly self conscious when it comes to portraying people I know in art, and the whole design process was getting bogged down by wondering if the people I was making caricatures of would even like them at all. Two, I really wanted to tell a unique story, and using my friends as characters really closed me off in regards to what I felt comfortable doing.
So, I saved all my resources, decided to shift gears, and start a console-RPG in the vein of some games that shaped my appreciation for the genre--namely Earthbound, Phantasy Star IV, and the earlier Final Fantasy games (namely 1 and 6).
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| An early sprite-sheet for the Protagonist |
This is a sort of polarizing concept amongst RPG nerds, so if you're not familiar, allow me to explain. The silent protagonist is an old game convention in which the character you play and are meant to identify with is completely mute throughout the game (except for perhaps specific dialogue choice options, depending on the game.) Examples of this style of player character would be Link (or whatever you chose to name him) in all of the Legend of Zelda games, Crono from Chrono Trigger, and Ness from Earthbound.
I like this kind of character because it throws back to a time where games still required a fairly healthy imagination to truly bring to them to life--Video games represent a very unique story telling medium; I feel like a lot of these older games have kept their magic because they very cleverly keep a balance between showing and telling. They managed to evoke emotion because there was a certain amount of projecting yourself into the shoes of the main character, getting to run around and explore a new world, with interesting people to interact with, and monsters and challenges to overcome. These games became very personal experiences to me, and that's the big reason I think the silent protagonist is still a viable element to immersion in a game.
I like this kind of character because it throws back to a time where games still required a fairly healthy imagination to truly bring to them to life--Video games represent a very unique story telling medium; I feel like a lot of these older games have kept their magic because they very cleverly keep a balance between showing and telling. They managed to evoke emotion because there was a certain amount of projecting yourself into the shoes of the main character, getting to run around and explore a new world, with interesting people to interact with, and monsters and challenges to overcome. These games became very personal experiences to me, and that's the big reason I think the silent protagonist is still a viable element to immersion in a game.
Unfortunately, this incarnation of the game quickly sputtered out as I ran into problems with the engine I'd chosen for it--RPG Maker VX. My inability to fine tune specific elements of the game made me ultimately abandon the engine, and start looking for a new platform.
But, I digress.
So, about the character in her current incarnation. She's gone through several revisions throughout her inception, originally starting as little more than a drawing exercise on a boring day at work...
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| kinda creepy now that I look back on it... |
..to getting some further changes, and finally ending up as one of my favorite characters I've designed in a long time.
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| A WIP loading graphic that will appear before the game launches |
Well spoken, sir! And if I do say so, I think your artistic style and temperament is one that suits itself well to video games and video game design. As you told me so humbly on FB, if I could be suited to be a journalist or writer, I think YOU are suited to work within the indie game community. I think you're practically bred for it.
ReplyDeleteThere is something about the silent protagonist that is lost to the modern audience, or more specifically the modern gamer. So often we are given a character to relate to, yet he seems wholly fabricated and predictable; we just watch what he does. Playing those characters, we're more like directors than actors.
And few games have done the silent protagonist justice. Half-life springs to mind, but even then, as an FPS, it's less cerebral. Playing through a character who you can really find your own voice for, that's special, and it does seem to be lost...
All that said, I really like your character design for Kitty Come Home. Not just the main lead (who I can't help but feel I recognize ;) but, just as likely, I am projecting my imagination), but also in the little bits of "character." Watching your video of the playtest, I was pleased by how sad those clouds look, like they were participating out of obligation; and the little cat, it seems almost ominous. All of these things come together, and this looks like it could really be something special! I am looking forward to seeing more, and maybe picking it up off xbox live one day :)
Hey man, cool to see how much thought you put into KCH's characters. And yeah, probably a good idea to leave your close friends out and work from more widely-identifiable characters. Plus I know where you're coming from with being self-conscious about it. -.-;
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you going about this so professionally. Hearkens back to the days when we toyed with the idea of making an indie game together. I think having such a huge degree of freedom can only be a good thing for you though. Expecting big things. =)