Design Challenge: Hero

[jillduffy]

What kind of hero would really be the next big thing for games?

Share your ideas for a new video game hero here, and discuss with others what's positive and what's detracting about their ideas.

[EvilLlama]

One thing that's annoying in a lot of games is that you're seeing the hero's back all the time. Being able to have a good camera angle that can capture the hero's face as well as the obstacles ahead would allow games to create heros with more personality without dumping on too many cutscenes...

*goes off to figure out a good camera angle first*

[toyoka]

this is an awsome challenge, going to start right away

*Thinks of Duke Nukem*

[miztef]

Wow, was not really expecting something so open-ended for my first attempt at a game design challenge here.

It's unfortunate I can't draw very well, would be such a huge bonus in this challenge. How important does everyone think the "sketch" part of this assignment is?

Good luck to all participants.

[B Luke]

Artistic ability is opinable, you can do research on art sites to find whatever 'matches' your vision; just ask for the rights...

[Mariol]

Guaranteed there will be loads of masculine, testosterone built characters. Would be interesting to see a character that looked stereotypically like a geek but could deliver some serious punches too. So instead of gamers drifting into escapism through their muscle bound character that looks nothing like them, they'd play as someone who'd much more resemble them. I think this would establish a greater emotional link between the player and the character.

[miztef]

I think an important characteristic of this challenge, as Mariol eluded to, is to look into non-stereotypical heroes. I'd actually even argue though that a geek style character is a bit too obvious as well.

Exploring gender/age/height, minorities, extreme personalities, and other features for this hero is probably a good idea.

However, making the hero so wild that it's hard to relate to them may be detrimental. So, striking a balance between interesting attributes and familiarity may be the key.

[dhunter703]

Finally, a challenge that I feel up to trying my hand at.

One bit of clarification, though. Does "At least one element of balance in abilities and weapon use" basically mean "one reason why this character won't be overpowered?"

[jillduffy]

Originally Posted by dhunter703

Finally, a challenge that I feel up to trying my hand at.

One bit of clarification, though. Does "At least one element of balance in abilities and weapon use" basically mean "one reason why this character won't be overpowered?"

Essentially, yes.

Maybe some of the other readers can discuss in more depth what is meant by "balance" in a game design sense. Anyone?

[TG1]

Phooo... this challenge came just when my employer sends me off to England with a crummy laptop...

Well, I do have 9 hours of flights/airports to think about it...