2017年2月17日 星期五

Writing Diverse Characters: A Practical Guide by Anna Jenelius -- 寫出各式各樣的角色 : 實用指南


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Writing Diverse Characters: A Practical Guide

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.


Introduction 引言

Stop me if you’ve heard this one - a lone wolf with severe emotional issues saves the day and/or avenges a loved one by using a lot of violence.

你如果聽到這種引言,請阻止我 - 一隻孤狼,有著嚴重的情緒問題,用了許多暴力拯救了自己或是報復舊愛。
How many times since games became digital have we experienced that story? How many times have we been a brown-haired white guy with a stubble? Don’t get me wrong, there is no inherent problem with these men or their story - it’s just that we have heard it so many times before. Retelling it yet again is uninspired and thereby bad writing.

自從遊戲變成數位化,有多少次我們有體驗過其中故事?有多少次我們扮演角色是個褐髮蓄鬍的白人?別誤會,這些男子和他們的故事基本上沒甚麼問題 - 只是我們以前就聽過很多次。再重編一次同樣故事可能就不再那麼吸引人,故事就這樣寫壞了。
Our medium keeps growing, and more and more people are experiencing our games. If we want to entertain them and make sure they keep coming back, we need to give them new stories. Other people’s stories. And we need to do this for at least two reasons.

我們的媒體一直在成長,而且越來越多的人在體驗我們的遊戲。如果我們想要娛樂他們,確保他們還會回流,我們需要給他們新的故事,其他人的故事,至少有2個原因,讓我們需要這麼做。

Representation 身分

First off, more people need to be able to identify themselves with the characters they meet in our games. It is easy to dismiss representation for people who see themselves mirrored in what they play on a regular basis - but it really does mean a lot for others. If nothing else - if we can make more people feel seen and like they belong in the gaming community, we have a larger group of happy, returning customers. It is hardly rocket science.

首先,更多人需要能夠識別他們本身在我們遊戲中的角色。這對人們看到自己鏡射在一般遊玩中,很容易忽視身分 - 但這對其他人,確實有許多意義。最重要 - 如果我們可以讓更多人感覺看到和喜歡他們屬於遊戲社群,我們有很大群快樂,回流顧客。 這比火箭實驗還難。

Representation in Dungeons & Dragons
The power of representation. (It's a public post, but anonymized just in case.)
身分的力量 (這是公開貼文,但有匿名,以防萬一)
貼文寫道 : 當我打開第5版龍與地下城的玩家手冊,發現"人類"種族是一名黑人女性,我高興極了~我打賭對許多人而言這只是小事,對我卻是件大事。對身分課題,在人生已超過30年之後,我終於可以看到自己投射在我最喜歡的世界中。

Impact 衝擊

Secondly, we as an industry are still exploring what we can create when it comes to narrative. In order to keep doing so, we need to think outside the very small box we are currently using. If we look at literature for a second: there are probably several thousands of books about the Second World War, but a few stand out from the crowd and continue to be relevant more than half a century later. The reason why a book likeAnne Frank’s Diary is so important and memorable is because it tells a civilian’s - a young girl’s - story. Through it we can understand something about war, and maybe about humanity, that we cannot learn from yet another account of troop deployment in Normandy. How many games have portrayed the same or a similar landing of troops? But Anne Frank’s story has yet to be seen in a game. The closest thing we have is probably This War of Mine by 11 bit studios, and it did remarkably well on the market - possibly because it choose to portray a different aspect of war than most other games.

第二,我們身為從業人員,仍要探索我們創造出來的事物,尤其當他們從敘述中走出來。為了持續堅持,我們要想到我們目前正在使用的遊戲機以外的的事。假設我們翻一下文學 : 可能會有數千本有關二戰的書籍,但很少有出眾的作品,並持續在這半世紀中被拿來比對。這就是為什麼像安妮的日記這麼重要並難忘,因為它是講述一名平民 - 一位年輕女孩 的故事。透過它,我們可以了解一些戰爭,或一些人性,這些東西,我們無法從軍隊佈署在諾曼地的數量中學得。有多少遊戲詮釋同樣或可能類似的部隊登陸?但安妮佛蘭克的故事還沒在遊戲中看過。我們有最接近類似的,可能就是"This War of Mine"11 bit studios製作,它在市場反應非常好 -  可能因為他選了比其他遊戲更不一樣的角度描繪戰爭。 

Tools 工具

Creating a system for diversity  創造多樣性的組織

Sometimes, I don’t think we even do it on purpose - we are just so used to a white, straight cis man being the default. However, there are other paths you can tread. Let’s take a look at what Neil Druckmann has been quoted saying about Naughty Dog’s approach for Uncharted 4:

有時候,我不想我們是有意的做這件事 - 我們只是習慣用一名 白人,直順性男當作預設。然而,有另一個方法你可以參考,我們聽聽Neil Druckmann說明有關玩皮狗在秘境4的方法。
“When I’m introducing and describing a new character to our lead character concept artist, constantly she will ask, ‘What if it was a girl?’ And I’m like, Oh, I didn’t think about that. Let me think, does that affect or change anything? No? Cool, that’s different. Yeah, let’s do it.”

當我正在介紹和敘述一名新角色給我們的主角色概念設計師,她通常立刻會問,"它如果是個女孩呢?"我喜歡,喔,我沒想過這樣,讓我想想,這會影響或改變任何事嗎? 不會? 酷,這很不一樣,好,我們就這麼做!
Even if I suggest calling adults women and not girls, we need more of this - creating a system for questioning the norm. Does it actually matter which gender this character is? If your gameplay is solid, do you really think you will lose sales because your protagonist steps away from the norm? Well, you might - but you might just as well gain even more.

即使我建議決定成年女性而不是女孩,我們還是需要更多有關她的資訊 - 建立一個系統,反問規範。這個角色是何種性別很重要嗎?如果你遊戲很牢靠,你真的會覺得因為主角不是那種一般規範內的角色,而讓遊戲賣得不好嗎? 恩, 你可能會這麼想 -  但你也可能得到多。
Part of the cast of Shantee's Choices.Part of the cast of Shantee's Choices, and/or a line to an ice-cream stand.
Shantee's Choices的一部分角色,排排站在一起

Character roster checklist 角色名冊清單

With all this in mind, I would like to present a checklist to use when designing characters for your game. Of course, you don't have to make all your characters "unconventional" if you don't want to - but when looking through your roster in the end, ask yourself if you have properly and respectfully represented these different human aspects. If not, is it a conscious choice you can motivate and stand by?

這些在我心中,為你的遊戲設計角色,我比較偏向列出一個清單使用,當然,你不必讓每個角色都具"說服力" - 不過你最後在看名冊時,問自己是否適當準確呈現這些不一樣的人格要素,如果沒有,它是有意義可以激起你支持的選擇嗎?

⬜ Age 年紀
⬜ Genders 性別
⬜ Sexualities 性取向
⬜ Ethnicities 種族
⬜ Body types 身形
⬜ Physical ability 體能
⬜ Mental ability 心理
⬜ Beliefs/Religion 宗教信仰

In practice 實際操作

Now, let’s get a little more practical. For my own game Shantee’s Choices, one of the first things I did was to create a roster of all the important characters needed to tell the story. I started by googling reference images, collecting pictures of people that looked roughly like what I wanted in my game. Then I began putting similar images together to create characters, as well as contemplating who they were.

現在,我們來做些練習,在我自製的遊戲Shantee’s Choices,我第一件事就是製作所有重要角色的清冊,都必須有自己的故事。我一開始會先google資料圖片,收集一些類似且是我想要在我遊戲出現的角色。然後把類似的圖片放在一起,創造角色,並且思考他們是誰?

Character sheet 角色列表

When the above was done, I filled out a character sheet for each emerging character, which contained the following information:
上述作業完成後,我會對每個出場的角色填滿一個角色表,包含以下訊息 : 
Tagline 標語
One sentence that describes the character. Examples here are “the Broken Jester”, “the Artistic Street Rat” and “the Honorable Pirate”. If you can create a contradiction or elevator pitch with just a few words, you know that you have an interesting character.
一句話描寫角色,例如:"破碎的小丑" "街頭老鼠藝術家" "受尊敬的海盜" 如果你創造一個矛盾或可以短時間用幾個字說明,你會有個有趣的角色。
Reference Images 參考圖片
Create a rough image of what the character looks like, by adding some reference material.
用一些參考資料,粗略拼湊出角色長相。
Character Sheet                                                                                Name 名字
All characters should have at least a  given name and a family name. Nicknames, nom de plumes and so on are also a nice touch. What did their nana call them when they were growing up?

所有角色應該至少都有名字,和家族姓氏。綽號,筆名,等等都是不錯。他們的祖母怎麼在他們成長中叫他們?
Age 年紀
Make sure that you have characters along the whole scale from young to old. Especially elderly women are unrealistically rare in games - don’t be afraid to try and change that.

確定你有所有角色從年輕到衰老的準則,特別是老女人不常在遊戲出現 別害怕嘗試和改變。
Gender 性別
What do people read the character as, and how do they define themselves? Remember not to limit yourself to binary definitions. If you are not familiar or comfortable with this, consider doing some research first.

讀者閱讀角色會是甚麼樣的人,他們如何定義自己?記住不要限制自己簡化定義。如果你不熟悉或不舒服這類題材,先去找資料吧!


                                                                                                              An example of a character sheet.
Sexual/romantic preference 性向
Characters should, just like physical people, have preferences when it comes to relations. Not everyone will automatically take their clothes off just because you have been nice to them, and some might even be completely uninterested in sex and/or romance.

角色應該會像是有肉體的人,尤其是在人際關係上會有喜好。並不是你對任何人好,他們就會脫去衣服,而且有些人對性和羅曼蒂克沒有興趣。
Body type 體型
Make sure you have characters that look different physically. Games are particularly bad at creating women that do not follow conventional beauty standards, which gives a very narrow and frankly boring scope to work with when it comes to character design.

確保你的角色在外型看起來不一樣,遊戲特別不擅長創造一位不是遵循一般世俗的美麗女性,設計上給予太狹隘和無趣視野。
Family 家族
Everyone comes from somewhere. Far too often do we see characters that are completely disconnected from other people - why not create a protagonist with not only one but two living parents for once? That might even raise the stakes considerably if, say, the world needs to be saved.

任何人都來自某個地方,我們太常看見一個角色,完全與另一些人無法關聯 - 為什麼不創造一個同時父母都在的主角?如果說世界需要被拯救,這也許會提高些風險。
Disposition 性情
I chose to give all my characters a personality type based on DISC, to make sure they think and act differently. Are they extroverted or introverted, controlling or accepting? You can also use Myers-Briggs, if you like.

我會給我所有的角色作一個DISC人格測試,去確定他們不一樣的思考和行為。他們是外向或內向,控制或接受? 如果你喜歡,也可以使用Myers-Briggs性格分類法。
Fear 恐懼
What is this character’s greatest fear - what do they want to avoid more than anything else? What, if anything, could make them snap if you put them too close to it? This could be anything from a phobia, such as spiders or clowns, or something more subtle, like succumbing to a hereditary disease or their children joining a certain faction.

這名角色最大的恐懼是甚麼 - 他們千方百計最想避開的是甚麼? 不管是甚麼,任何事情,把他們放在非常靠近角色,會讓角色抓狂。這可能來自恐懼,像是蜘蛛,或小丑,或一些不明顯的事情,像是對遺傳性疾病失去希望,或他們的孩子加入某些幫派。
Goals/dreams 目標 / 夢想
What is it this character wants to achieve? What do they dream about when staring through the window on a rainy afternoon? Oh and world domination does not count. “Power because power” is not an interesting goal for a villain - power should, if anything, be viewed as a means to an end. Instead, consider what they are trying to accomplish. What is their end goal, that justifies their actions? No one is the bad guy of their own story.

這個角色想要達成甚麼?在下雨的午後,看著窗外,他們夢想些甚麼? 喔,統一世界不算,"權力因為權力"不是壞人有興趣的目標 - 權力應該是如果任何事被視為結束的手段,相反的,思考他們試著享完成的事情,甚麼是他們的最終目標,讓他們合法化自己的行為?沒有人在自己的故事裡是壞人。
Likes 喜好
Some things this character likes can be obvious and defining, such as a commanding officer enjoying order and an artist singing a lot. But I recommend also adding more personal things - stuff you would only learn if you really got to know them. Something like the smell of rain, bitter chocolate, or doodling.

有些角色喜歡的東西,是既明顯和明確,像是一位司令享受指揮和藝術家喜歡唱歌。但我也推薦增加更多個人的事情 - 一些唯一能真的認識角色的事情,像是雨的味道,苦的巧克力或塗鴉。
Dislikes 厭惡
What does this character not like? Just like above, add things all the way from the obvious to the deeply personal.

這角色真的不喜歡什麼? 就上面講的,增加來自個人,明顯和深層的要素。
Supports 支援
If there are factions of some kind in your game, note which one this character supports/is part of, and why. What, if anything, could make them change their mind? Where do they stand when it comes to politics? Anchor their ideas and beliefs in the world.

如果在你的遊戲,有某種幫派,注意在這其中的角色,並且為什麼,甚麼事讓他們改變心意? 談到政治,他們會站哪一邊?定下他們在這世界的想法和信念。         
“Us”  "我們"
Which group of people would this character go to lengths to protect? Would they do anything for one particular person, do they see themselves as the protector of a certain community, or are they the saviors of all of humanity? Basically, which omelett are they trying to make, and how many eggs are they willing to break for it?

那一群人是這角色會用盡一切去保護? 會做任何事,只為一位特別的人,視他們自己為某個群體的保護者,或人類救世主
?基本上,他們試著做出的歐姆蛋,他們願意打破多少個蛋去完成它?
Character inspiration 角色激發
If this character is inspired by another character or maybe a historical person, note that here.

如果這個角色會被其他角色或也許是歷史人物,標注在此。
Sample dialog 口頭禪
How does the character talk? Add a few lines to show how they interact with other people.

角色如何說話? 增加一些台詞,體現他們如何與其他人互動。
Other 其他
Here, you are free to add whatever you like that is unique to this character. What was their childhood like? Do they have any diagnoses or disabilities? Where and how do they live? Do they speak with an accent? This is where you can truly flesh out your character!

在此,你可以隨意增加你喜歡的,而對角色來說是獨特的。他們的童年會像甚麼?他們有任何診斷或殘疾? 他們住在哪裡,如何生活? 他們說話有口音嗎? 這部分可以確切的活化你的角色!

Penguins. Also, an iceberg.

"The Iceberg Theory" 冰山理論

When designing your characters, always keep in mind that most people will not drop their entire life history on you as soon as you meet them. Make sure that all the facts are there and that the characters reveal some when it makes sense - but never give away too much at the same time. Force the player to work a bit to get to know the inhabitants of your world.

設計你的角色,總要記住,大部分的人不會你遇見他們,就立刻把他們的生活過往全部告訴你。確定所有的要素後,合情合理,角色才會反饋 - 但絕不要在同時間給太多。強迫玩家要做了一些事情,才能知道有關你世界中的居民。
Also, make sure that the first impression the character gives the player is not always what they will find when digging deeper. Many people hide things about themselves to strangers - maybe from fear of getting bullied, shame, regret, or something else - and only once they trust you will they start revealing who they truly are. In real life, getting to know people’s little oddities and faults is part of what builds real friendships.

再者,確定角色給玩家的第一印象,不是他們深入挖掘後所找到的。許多人面對陌生人會隱藏自己 - 也許害怕霸凌,害羞,後悔 或是其他 - 只要一旦他們相信你,他們會開始透露他們真實的自己。在現實生活中,知道人們的一些怪癖和失敗,是建立真實人際關係的一部分。

Get input 投入一切

If you feel like you want to make your characters more diverse, that’s great! Just try and make sure that you get it right. If you are writing a character with experiences you have not shared, ask for help. You might find that many people are more than happy to share their stories with you - especially if that means they will see themselves represented better in a game.

你想要讓你的角色群更多樣化,這很棒!儘管嘗試,並確定你可以使他正確。用你沒有體驗過的經驗去寫角色,請求幫助吧。你也許會發現許多人,很高興與你分享故事 - 特別是意味著,他們會看到自己在遊戲中表現更好。
Also, do your homework! Read articles and books, listen to talks and panels. If you can research the hell out of WW2 tanks, you can research what it can be like to experience gender dysphoria as well.

再來,做你的功課!閱讀文章和書籍,聆聽會談和小組討論。你可以研究二次世界大戰坦克,你也可以研究體驗性別煩躁。

Conclusion 結論

If we are to tell new, interesting stories in games, we need to consider whose stories we are telling as well. Of course it’s easy for a solo indie dev to call for change and the situation may look very differently for a AAA writer -  but with conscious choices and tools like the ones offered above, I believe that we can raise the bar for storytelling in games.
我們要在遊戲中,講一個新的,有趣的故事,我們也需要思考這是誰的故事。當然,對一人獨立開發的人來說,改變是很容易。但對3A的編劇,情況會非常不一樣 - 但合理的選擇,和上面所提供的工具,我相信我們可以在遊戲中提高說故事的門檻。
Written by Anna Jenelius (@TheAnaka), Independent Game Developer at Talecore Studios.
Want to know more about Shantee’s Choices? Look no further!
Thanks to Daniel Ström for proofreading!

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