As part of our hero * internal theme weeks, we talked to many developer teams about the design of their characters. Also Naughty Dog stood us speech and answer. Character Art Director Ashley Swidowski and Creative Director Shaun Escayg explained to us on which challenges Naughty Dog encourages the development of figures like Ellie and what wishes you have for upcoming games.
Note: The wishes of the developers are private nature and do not necessarily allow for conclusions on which projects and characters they are currently working on.
Diversity is a crucial factor, not just in the game itself
Already a few years ago, Creative Director Neil Stuckmann told the Frame that in addition to aspects such as Gameplay, Graphics and Story, the variety is an important pillar of game development for Naughty Dog. That the still still applies to them today, ESCAYG not only confirms us, but expanded the reference:
Diversity in games is still one of our most important pillars at Naughty Dog. It is not only important to create a work environment open to people of different origin, religion, sexes and sexual orientation, or these voices through the characters in our Play to represent, but it is also crucial that our storytellers are divers and encouraged to write from their perspectives. Our games and stories reflect ourselves and our aspirations.
This follows Naughty Dog also the design philosophy less is more when you create your characters. This is a simple idea that represents a challenge in practice, so Swidowski. To master them, therefore asks himself and the team again and again as: Brings us this idea closer to our goal? And is the design even without you even effective? But also the consideration of a figure is crucial, which is why she tries to imagine this as part of a larger and tonal complex history.
However, the creation of new characters already begins directly at the beginning of a project. First sketches, pitches or even random conversations provide ideas on which Naughty Dog builds up. Points such as weaknesses, goals and obstacles for protagonist are already put together and also antagonist * are already (conceptually) in the game. Only when that is clear and ask how what kind of person is that? And Who are we considering this role? If it is clarified, it goes on to the elaboration.
Games are different than films: However, Swidowski answers that games in contrast to films in the early development phase usually do not provide a finished script that you can work with. It can be a real challenge to visually tackle a group of characters and their respective actions without having a complete context., She adds. For this reason, make you value a lot more and again, for example, for outfits sketches, with the story team.
Do not trendy, but you have to be tangible
Probably the biggest challenge sees Swidowski but elsewhere. For them, it is not about creating characters that notice with their external. Your characters should not work trendy or cool, but feel tangible and familiar. She wants to start the characters seamlessly in history, so that the players can immerse themselves deeper in the overall experience instead of being distracted by costumes or hairstyles:
If one of these things attracts attention without reason, there is a risk that the player's focus is distracted by the general intention of the scene or history. That's the challenge.
More perspectives that connect
While working at Naughty Dog, people like EscayG decide significantly what characters will meet us in their games. Regardless, we also wanted to know what kind of character he wishes for Naughty Dog games, or in general, (more).
Escayg meant that he was less concerned with what characters he wanted to see in Naughty Dog games, but rather what stories he wants to convey, which makes him feast at the request of more perspectives:
I would like to see more different perspectives in our stories. Stories and characters that beat a bridge and connect us through these experiences. Explore our truths, including ugly truths. But ultimately it is stories and characters, empathy, hope and longing wake up.
More articles of this type as well as portraits, specials and reports can be found in the overview of our hero * internal theme weeks.
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