This study examines shape language when used in figures representing humanoid creatures and how a viewer can be manipulated by shape language to feel a certain way about a figure. The study focuses on good versus evil expression and how one can utilise shape to knowingly give cues about a figures alignment or how to mislead the viewer if so desired. Focus is on visceral emotion connected to sharp and soft shapes and asymmetrical or symmetrical features, but it is revealed that its use in character design may be a cultural convention rather than something hard-wired in our brains from years of natural selection and experiences tied to our subconscious visceral response.

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Computer graphics is the act of bringing the imagination of creative people to life. It’s something that helps bring out what cannot be sought after in real life and realized through artistic talent and technical skills. For me, computer graphics is a way to tell the stories no one dared to look after and bring to life the characters that help tell these stories in an engaging and uplifting way. This bachelor thesis report is a project seeking the knowledge about the appeal and characterizations of inanimate objects. How to bring the lifeless to life by comparing how the established artists do, and at the end try and recreate my own characters by using the same aspects as they all work towards.

This research aimed to investigate game developers' preferences and graphical differences between Chinese and Western female game characters. Parts of the survey were conducted in China and in cooperation with Game Hub Scandinavia (2015). For this research, an image analysis and two models were made. The image analysis analyzed common elements that exist between different female characters from Chinese and Western game toplists. One model was based on a Chinese game toplist and the other model was based on a Western game toplist. The survey was conducted through Internet surveys and interviews. Results showed that there were graphical differences between games from Chinese and Western game lists, but there is not a significant difference between game developers' preferences.

The aim with this study was to further understand the art of character design, in order to get a better understanding of how visual attributes - especially shape - can be purposely used in order to communicate aspects of a character's personality. The first step was to investigate the subject of character design through relevant material and literature. From this investigation, a total of four character designs have been developed - two"good" and two "evil" - within two different game titles of different graphical styles: One that is more cartoony/stylized and one that is more realistic. Prior to the production a number of work processes - production pipelines - used by artists in the game and movie industry were investigated. From this, the pipeline for the study was compiled. To end the study a survey was conducted, in order to obtain outside feedback for the character designs regarding their style and what personality traits they were associated with. The results show that the majority of the participants perceived the characters in the way that was intended, while the perception of graphical style was a lot more varied.

The concept of style fusion for visual storytelling is introduced and applied in this research. Style fusion is the process of identifying two distinct styles as sources, which are from different artists or culture backgrounds, and applying features and visual symbols from both to develop a new style. As a proof of concept, the source performance styles selected for fusion are traditional Chinese Beijing opera and hip hop. A set of guidelines for this style fusion are developed after an analysis of the visual symbols of each source style. A character and an environment design fusion are done based on these guidelines. Finally, the style fusion is visualized using 3D models.

A pesquisa apresentada nesta dissertação teve como tema os personagens em games. Seu objetivo foi compreender a influência dos personagens sobre as emoções da experiência de jogo, levando em conta as questões relativas à carracterização, atuação e ao papel dos mesmos no encadeamento da narrativa. Para isso, foi realizada uma análise da estrutura narrativa do jogo Portal (Valve Co., 2007) e um estudo empírico qualitativo dos vínculos emocionais dos jogadores durante a experiência de jogo. Além de seu grande sucesso e popularidade, esse jogo foi escolhido devido à importância do NPC, cujas manifestações constróem a narrativa. A pesquisa verificou a coerência entre as teorias sobre a construção de personagens, bem como sobre narrativa e emoção e a experiência dos jogadores. Além disso, foi possível constatar que os vínculos emocionais dos jogadores que participaram do estudo divergiram nos momentos de maior e menor tensão e convergiram nas passagens de tensão intermediária. A visualização da estrutura narrativa do jogo Portal e sua comparação com as marcações efetuadas pelos jogadores nas várias passagens do jogo contribuem para a melhor compreensão da relação entre a variação dos vínculos emocionais e os momentos da narrativa, com destaque para a relação do jogador com os NPCs. / The research presented in this dissertation has its object the characters in games. The goal was to understand the influence of the characters on the emotions of the game experience, taking into account issues relating to carracterização, performance and the role of teachers in the thread of the narrative. For this, an analysis of the narrative structure of the game Portal (Valve Co., 2007) and a qualitative empirical study of the emotional bonds of the players during the game experience was performed. Besides its great success and popularity, this game was chosen because of the importance of the NPC, whose manifestations construct the narrative. The survey found consistency between theories about characters’development, as well as on narrative and emotion, and the experience of players. Furthermore, it was found that the emotional bonds of the players who participated in the study differed in times of high and low tensions and converged in the passages of intermediate twnsions. The visualization of the narrative structure of the game Portal and its comparison with the markings made by players in several passages of the game contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between the variation of emotional bonds and the moments of the narrative, highlighting the relationship between the player and the NPCs.

A pesquisa apresentada nesta dissertação teve como tema os personagens em games. Seu objetivo foi compreender a influência dos personagens sobre as emoções da experiência de jogo, levando em conta as questões relativas à carracterização, atuação e ao papel dos mesmos no encadeamento da narrativa. Para isso, foi realizada uma análise da estrutura narrativa do jogo Portal (Valve Co., 2007) e um estudo empírico qualitativo dos vínculos emocionais dos jogadores durante a experiência de jogo. Além de seu grande sucesso e popularidade, esse jogo foi escolhido devido à importância do NPC, cujas manifestações constróem a narrativa. A pesquisa verificou a coerência entre as teorias sobre a construção de personagens, bem como sobre narrativa e emoção e a experiência dos jogadores. Além disso, foi possível constatar que os vínculos emocionais dos jogadores que participaram do estudo divergiram nos momentos de maior e menor tensão e convergiram nas passagens de tensão intermediária. A visualização da estrutura narrativa do jogo Portal e sua comparação com as marcações efetuadas pelos jogadores nas várias passagens do jogo contribuem para a melhor compreensão da relação entre a variação dos vínculos emocionais e os momentos da narrativa, com destaque para a relação do jogador com os NPCs. / The research presented in this dissertation has its object the characters in games. The goal was to understand the influence of the characters on the emotions of the game experience, taking into account issues relating to carracterização, performance and the role of teachers in the thread of the narrative. For this, an analysis of the narrative structure of the game Portal (Valve Co., 2007) and a qualitative empirical study of the emotional bonds of the players during the game experience was performed. Besides its great success and popularity, this game was chosen because of the importance of the NPC, whose manifestations construct the narrative. The survey found consistency between theories about characters’development, as well as on narrative and emotion, and the experience of players. Furthermore, it was found that the emotional bonds of the players who participated in the study differed in times of high and low tensions and converged in the passages of intermediate twnsions. The visualization of the narrative structure of the game Portal and its comparison with the markings made by players in several passages of the game contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between the variation of emotional bonds and the moments of the narrative, highlighting the relationship between the player and the NPCs.

A pesquisa apresentada nesta dissertação teve como tema os personagens em games. Seu objetivo foi compreender a influência dos personagens sobre as emoções da experiência de jogo, levando em conta as questões relativas à carracterização, atuação e ao papel dos mesmos no encadeamento da narrativa. Para isso, foi realizada uma análise da estrutura narrativa do jogo Portal (Valve Co., 2007) e um estudo empírico qualitativo dos vínculos emocionais dos jogadores durante a experiência de jogo. Além de seu grande sucesso e popularidade, esse jogo foi escolhido devido à importância do NPC, cujas manifestações constróem a narrativa. A pesquisa verificou a coerência entre as teorias sobre a construção de personagens, bem como sobre narrativa e emoção e a experiência dos jogadores. Além disso, foi possível constatar que os vínculos emocionais dos jogadores que participaram do estudo divergiram nos momentos de maior e menor tensão e convergiram nas passagens de tensão intermediária. A visualização da estrutura narrativa do jogo Portal e sua comparação com as marcações efetuadas pelos jogadores nas várias passagens do jogo contribuem para a melhor compreensão da relação entre a variação dos vínculos emocionais e os momentos da narrativa, com destaque para a relação do jogador com os NPCs. / The research presented in this dissertation has its object the characters in games. The goal was to understand the influence of the characters on the emotions of the game experience, taking into account issues relating to carracterização, performance and the role of teachers in the thread of the narrative. For this, an analysis of the narrative structure of the game Portal (Valve Co., 2007) and a qualitative empirical study of the emotional bonds of the players during the game experience was performed. Besides its great success and popularity, this game was chosen because of the importance of the NPC, whose manifestations construct the narrative. The survey found consistency between theories about characters’development, as well as on narrative and emotion, and the experience of players. Furthermore, it was found that the emotional bonds of the players who participated in the study differed in times of high and low tensions and converged in the passages of intermediate twnsions. The visualization of the narrative structure of the game Portal and its comparison with the markings made by players in several passages of the game contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between the variation of emotional bonds and the moments of the narrative, highlighting the relationship between the player and the NPCs.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T16:25:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo1359_1.pdf: 1391977 bytes, checksum: d735ba108f48b12269a0f9f6b4f833db (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Esta pesquisa procura criar um método que oriente a comunicação entre o game designer e o character designer na criação de um personagem para um jogo digital. Tendo como contexto o arranjo produtivo local das empresas de Pernambuco. Primeiramente é apresentado o arranjo local das empresas de jogos por meio de entrevistas com os game designers. Em seguida, o estado da arte demonstra que pouco foi feito a cerca do assunto. Adotamos o design como guia de criação para uma proposta que facilite, agilize e evolua a comunicação entre idéia (game design) e a produção (character design). Por fim, apresentamos o método desenvolvido e como tal aplicação pode ajudar o futuro das empresas e da produção de jogos