Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design

Art-Driven Character Design

Let's take a look at art-driven design in a little more detail. Historically, art-driven design was the main force behind character design. As we've said, the simpler games didn't rely so much on story, so the design emphasis tended to be visual.

Visual Design

The design of the central character in Pac-Man was purely artistic. The game designer, Toru Iwatani, was allegedly inspired by a pizza with one slice removed. Other famous game characters were also born this way: Lara Croft started life as the artist's dream girl and quickly became the “larger than life” heroine that we all know today. (This is despite the fact that somebody with those “proportions” would be unlikely to be as athletic as that—and would most likely ...