Welcome back at the second episode of the Lunch time blog. This time I'm going to talk about character customization in point and click adventure games.

Character customization helps the player to build an avatar the way he or she sees it fit in the game world. This works just like you create an image of the protagonist of your favorite book all in your mind. In a computer game however it is necessary for the developer to give the player something to let him or her shape the main character.

Character customization is a common feature founded in many role playing games. In these games you can shape the visual appearance of your character and sometimes there are some basis options like gender, class and race or origin. Sometimes these visual options are also related to player statistics like strength or lifepoints. Player statistics are also something that could help you as a player shape the protagonist the way you want and also have impact on the playstyle. If you can choose between having more wisdom or more strength as a 2-handed sword fighter you problably choose strength to deal more damage.

In MMORPGs it is common that visuals and statistics are blended to a certain degree. In these games it is common that the uber looking helmet contains more statistic improvements then an avarage looking helmet.

This way you can make the player show to others that he or she dedicated much time or other effort (money for example) to the game and by doing this he or she is rewarded with a great looking protagonist. This system is very popular because it gives the player a reason to continue the game to compete to his (online) friends. And a larger playerbase usually means more turnover.

I cannot see any other reason for this system to exist other then marketing reasons. I can image that a bigger and heavier armor gives the player more defence stats, but strength or agility? How would that ever be possible. Ok, It could be that the heavier armor does have this added weight because of all the motor controls that enhance the stats, but in a medieval/fantasy style game it would make no sense at all.

In single player games it isn't necessary to use this feature to show off to your friends (unless the game is integrated with social media. I will talk more about this subject in a later episode).

I think it's easy to imagine that character customization could be a nice addition to a point and click adventure game if performed right. The visual aspects would help the player to shape his or her ideal protagonist. There are many possibilities for the use of player statistics in a point and click adventure game in a refreshing way.

Wouldn't it be nice that you can choose between strength or wisdom to complete a quest? If you build a strong character it would be possible to climb a drainpipe to jump in an open window and if you choose to have lots of wisdom you could talk to a NPC to get the frontdoor key.

It would even be possible that these statistics present a certain difficulty level to the game. If your character needs to take part of a run competition and he doesn't have any endurance he or she would never be able to win the race. The outcome of this race could be used to let the player select different dialogue options while talking to a NPC.

How would you see character customization in a point and click adventure game?

In the next lunch time blog episode I'm going to talk about multiple storypaths and outcomes in point and click adventure games. Take care...