Different ways to approach a character’s design through form, and function : designing characters for FPS games

Abstract

Character design has generally been taught to be about making realistic choices according to the characters’ theme. It often causes designs to be boring or stops designers from taking risks. Designs should not always be limited by rationality, especially if they do not work with the art direction. The intention of this thesis was to inspect ways of applying high form or function into a design. This meant that the designs were formed with either large amount of style but little to no realism, or with high use of practicality. The core idea was to understand how they can be applied in an effective way. For the sake of the thesis and writer’s personal interest, FPS character design was chosen as the focus subject. Three characters were developed for the production part. Each of these characters had one base design and two varying designs. One focused on maximum form and the other on maximum function. The designs were then compared in a questionnaire, where participants were able to give their opinions. Answers were then collected and structured into a SWOT-analysis board, and a comparative analysis. The results were mostly positive but also presented a lot of risks. The compiled information showcased that when using high amount of form or function in a design, it should be done with understanding why. As the approaches brought different results, they were also able to highlight specific aspects of a character’s design, theme, role and personality. In conclusion, acknowledging the contrasts they created assists in using them to their fullest potential.