Creative Futures – Project B – Character Diversity

The Brief

Our brief requires us to learn about character customization and it encourages us to create multiple items that can maybe be worn by different characters or change the way in which a character may look. A quick example would be a Lego figure; a Lego figure has lots of little pieces that can all fit into other pieces to create a wide range of characters. I believe Lego is a great way to expand the imagination and creativity of any age. The brief would like us to consider elements the character may feature (think of 20-25 ideas). Using one of the game world examples from the list we are to create a character with multiple elements that relate to that scene.

Research

Lego

In 1932 Ole Kirk Christiansen founded the Lego company, when he passed away the company was then left to his sons. I found it quite interesting that the word Lego came from a Latin term (Leg Godt) meaning ‘Play Well’. He created Lego to inspire children to become more imaginative and now it has even progressed to inspire adults.

Image above: Ole Kirk Christiansen

Image above: a Lego structure in front of a Lego Store in Disney

Image above: a Lego structure in front of a Lego Store in Disney

Image above: The separate parts of a Lego Figure

Image Above: Lego Indiana Jones Game

Image Above: Lego Movie Poster

Polly Pockets

Chris Wiggs created these little dolls named Polly Pockets for little girls who wanted a doll that they could take with them everywhere (hence the name ‘Polly Pockets’). The first editions of these dolls included clothes made of a rubber meterial that would slip onto the dolls (sometimes proving difficult as the rubber would sometimes snap or putting the outfit on correctly would be quite difficult for a child). Later on the company released a character that had short hair and a body with a thin layer of clothing so that the child could pick out their own outfit or hairstyle and place them on the doll using magnets. Magnets inside the doll would hole the items of clothing and hair. I like this idea, however one problem would occur to be losing little objects as magnets are not always strong.

Image above: Magnetic Polly Pocket. (Each set of clothes feature a back and front).

Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head

The inventor of Mr Potato Head, George Lerner, first created him in 1949 and his amazing toy is still very popular today. Even though the toy now looks nothing like the very first product, George Lerners product still goes on in the Disney industry. The Mr. Potato Heads were not at first popular but then as soon as the first Toy Story film was released in 1995 Mr. Potato head was a well loved character, known for his humor and his angry ways.

Above Image: Hamm and Mr. Potato Head film reference from Toy Story

Above Image: Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head from the Toy Story Film Series

Character Customization Within Games

Fallout 4

With the recent release of Fallout 4 most people admitted to spending more than an hour just customizing their characters. Giving you the option to create both character as they both feature at the start of the game (one female and one male) the player is already spending more time as there are two characters to customize. Also the game is incredibly accurate with facial features going into details such as the length or size of eyebrows and even forehead height, chin length etc. Even once the character has been customized you can still add up more hours of customization by altering your character via surgery, getting a haircut and you can even customize your Power Armor (Powerful armor suit used within the game). You don’t have a choice in clothes at the start of the game but you find a lot of clothes throughout the game.

Clothes within the games can alter the way your character looks but also you have to consider how much damage an enemy can do when wearing those items of clothing/armor. Incredibly the game expands its character customization further as you can dress your companions and anyone that you can trade with.  An example of this would be Dogmeat; you can find special Dog clothing for him such as caged armor, Dog collars and even a stylish looking Bandanna to make him look extra tough.

Fallout 4 fans have even gone far enough to create their favourite celebrities as seen below:

 

Little Big Planet

In Little Big Planet you play as a stuffed toy called Sackboy. You don’t actual change the features of the character but you change the outfit. There is a various amount of outfits to keep the player interested. Also you can unlock some of the costumes making the player want to play the game even more.

Fable Game Series

The Fable Game Series has changed a lot over the years. The first game allowed the player to watch the character grow up from a child to an adult the more the player played the game (which also happens in Fable 2). Fable 2, however, allows the player to choose the gender and also gain weight. When your health drains you can either use potions or food; depending on how you play the game and how much food you consume can alter the weight of your character. Different foods add a different amount of weight for example cheese will add more fat compared to fruit. Last but not least in the final game Fable 3 you can choose gender, customize clothes (using dyes you can change the colour), customize hair and also add tattoos. The only things you cannot alter/adjust in a Fable game would be the looks and appearance of the face because Fable also gives you the choice throughout the game to be good or evil. The more evil you become the more of a red essence will appear in your skin with good there will be blue; the face changes slightly also as when evil you have a mischievous look whereas when good you always look happy.