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Original post by superpig
After all, in something like Half-Life, isn''t Gordon Freeman just a convenient name for the representation of the human player within the game world? As such, it''s not an independent entity; it can''t have it''s own thoughts. Can it?
I think it depends on how much of a personality the playable character has, and how independant that is from the players personality.(I can''t speak for Half-Life, because I''ve never played it.) In some games, the playable character is more than an extension of the player. Sometimes he he has his own goals and motivations. But sometimes the playable character is just there to represent the player, and nothing more.
You bring up a good point when you say that if the thoughts of the playable character does not match the thoughts of the player, it can be damaging. I argue that it is damaging only if the playable character is supposed to be an extension of the player - if I''m supposed to pretend that the playable character is me, he or she had better not be someone else. And if he or she has his or her own thoughts, it is a reminder that he or she is someone else.
But it doesn''t bother me if the playable character is supposed to be his or her own person. In that case, I expect his or her thoughts to be different from mine.
As to how to get the thoughts across...
If the playable character is nothing but a representation of the player, I do not think that he should have his own thoughts. Frankly, it would seem superficial to me. (He''s had no reason to think before, just been there for me to move him around, then all of a sudden a thought comes from him?) There may be games out there that prove me wrong, but I have not met them yet.
But if you did want this type of character to think, there is the problem with character identification. There is always the chance that the player will be thinking something different than the words that come up in the thought bubble. You could guess what the player would think, even try to guide him or her to think that...But that doesn''t solve this problem completely.
Here''s a question - how do we make thoughts different from words that are spoken out loud? Some games put thoughts in parentheses or brackets. If it''s clear that this means ''thoughts'' then it''s enough for me. But does anyone else have comments about this?