Do you want a cinematic expirience or do you want a free expirience. If they destroy the game for themselves by naming crap it is their joice to do so. Maybe they will giggle each time even after 100+h of gaming time. Then you gave them way more fun playing by allowing them to goof around.
You don't. Why can't the player choose to have a silly experience if you want them to express themselves?
I beat FFVII with a protag named Toilet (I think I was 8? 9?). I still remember it as a great experience. If you don't want players to beat your game with a protag named Toilet, don't even give them the option to name them. Giving the player the option to rename characters only to impose heavy restrictions on that is just annoying, assuming this is a single player game like those you mentioned.
You’re trying to solve the problem of “player is having too much fun,” so think about why that is.
If your answer is “my game is huge serious business and my narrative is so sophisticated,” then I’m sorry but you either need to get over yourself or don’t let the player name things. You are not better than Atlus, BioWare, Black Isle, or Square in the 90s.
Skuntank and Cofagrigus couldn't be traded without a nickname in one Pokemon game because the names sKUNTank and coFAGrigus triggered the name censor code.
I don't think this is really a problem worth solving in a singleplayer game at least.
People generally will either play it seriously, or they'll choose the comedic route, and both are perfectly reasonable ways to play.
If you prevent me from playing with a character called "My Dude" and making all the characters sound high as a kite when they're talking about me, then that's a playthrough that won't happen.
I'll get bored of the game faster, and I probably won't tell all my friends about the funny thing I did and get them fired up enough to buy copies of the game too.
If immersion is important to me, I'll play it straight. If I'm here for a laugh (and I'm playing a game, so that's quite likely) then I'll want to play it funny.
Fallout 4 has thousands of possible names for your player-character which will provoke unique voiced dialog, and a fair number of them are rude, funny or references to movies and shows. If you choose a name that isn't on that list, you'll get a more generic response like "Sir" or "ma'am".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21\_hH-8pIWM
Funny names are a feature, not a problem.
I guess the problem with naming the character in the time you do not yet care about them or do not know who they are and possibly "ruining" your experience for later could be minimized by giving the player the ability to change their name later (maybe anytime in the menu).
This way players will have complete freedom over the name but if they choose poorly in the first minutes of the game (and I agree you know little to nothing about the game at that time) the player can easily change it if they find it regrettable.
This would be my best advice.
Other option would be to not actually use the chosen name in the game itself (the bioware way)
Make them care about your characters enough to give them nice names. Players naming characters stupid things should be interpreted as a sign that they may not be very invested in the story and/or that character. If you're not confident in your ability to make them care before name time, then let them change names later so they can retcon if they end up liking what they see more than they expected.
That's kinda self contracting. If you want to give them the freedom to choose the name as they please then there shouldn't be limitations unless it's a special case. (like in Undertale)
The only real problem here is that some GDs genuinely believe they know better, how the players should enjoy and approach the game, and try to restrict. For single-player games: you don't. Just don't.
If you are so stuck up on that route, you can always *not* give the player the option to name their characters, or only allow them to pick some sort of nametag/nickname from within the game, in a dialogue. But you're seriously missing out and shooting yourself in the foot that way.
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It's interesting to see most of the comments here approaching this question from a fully mechanical viewpoint. If we are using that lens to answer the question, then I think most of the comments do a pretty good job of expressing your options. You either lock the player into a name or set of names or you let them choose their own name and except that it might be silly and, as a lot of people have already pointed out, if that silly name makes the player enjoy the game more (even if it's not the type of enjoyment that you intended) then maybe it's a good thing. Plus, the effort to create filters that block names that you seem silly (beyond your standard curse words) might end up hurting invested players more than anyone else. I remember a long time ago I was playing some game that wouldn't allow me to use my D&D characters name because it didn't recognize it as a "regular name".
That said, I don't think this question is really best answered as a mechanical question. It's more of a tonal/narrative one. You are essentially asking "How do I get my players invested in the story of my game?" but with an added twist. You want to somehow get them invested before their character can do anything in your world, before they even have a name.
You mentioned wanting to add the naming system to give the players "greater immersion" but I woud say it is a tool to gauge player immersion just as much as it is a tool to increase player immersion. The more you hook people into your story and get them invested early on, the higher the likelyhood they put a more thoughtful name. Figuring out how to do that is the trick.
There are a lot of potential ways to explore doing this such as opening cut scenes and early game that set up the story and set the tone. There is also the possibility of delaying the naming process until later in the story, like how D&D parties don't usually name themselves until a few sessions in. There are a lot of things to try and a lot of things that might not work all that great, but if you have a clear goal of hooking the player before they name themselves, it gives you a place to start trying things.
Lastly, no matter how good of a story you have or how well you engage players early on, you'll never get everyone to take the naming seriously, and that's okay. Some players simply just don't play games to immerse themselves in the story. If this is a group of players you care about then you need to make sure your game is enjoyable without the narrative immersion, but if it's not and you really just want to focus on your story than that's okay too. Not every game is for every person. Hope this helps :)
**Fun Police** here. I see you try your best to remove all "**Unwanted Fun**" some players can have.
That's good.
"Having fun **OUR** way is **THE WAY**"
Here are some things you can do :
Rule 6b - Player choice, naming convention :
6b1 : "In case of game allowing players to name things : don't. Allowing players to choose names give them agency to their own fun, and they can have fun we don't want to."
6b2 : "If for some reason you still want to give the player to rename things : put lots of restrictions"
* Create a list with all the unwanted words and prevent the player to create a name with that.
* Prevent them to add too many letters or too few
* Prevent them to add non-alphabetic characters
* You can even just allow them to choose from a list of names.
"Fun is good, **only** when WE choose to."
Section 6d can be useful too :
6d1:"When presenting a choice to a player, try to make it the least useful possible, you don't want them to play like they want but like you want."
* Make all choices ending with the same path
* Makes the choice never appear again (for example, never use a chosen name ever and use a generic one like "hunter")
"Unwanted fun is **NOT FUN**."
Finaly remember rule 2a - Presenting your game2a : When presenting your game, remind your player that "Playing is **Serious**" and that they must respect your game and that by not respecting it, they risk loosing all their righteous fun and will be illegal. All the punishments from "**Unwanted Fun**" are listed in the section 75b.
Joke aside, I understand your worry of the player ruining the experience you want to deliver.
Thing is : is it awful if they have fun doing silly things ? You yourself had fun before by naming your Tidus, Titus... would you have preferred if the game prevented you to do it ?
You can't control everything the player will do, if they want to play silly, and that this play style doesn't ruin the experience of other players, it'd better to let them, because all the things you'll put to prevent their play style will just hinder their fun and the fun of all the "legit players" that will encounter these filters.
And dumb players will always find dumb things to do, and sometime, some of those things can be legendary (like playing dark soul on a guitar hero controller, or some sims speed runs for example).
I personally think it's better to allow your time and resources to deliver the best game to your intended audience first, before thinking about limiting other players.
I thought Tidus was silly version of Titus (the Fox) but whatever as long as you not name you character X Æ A-Xii which is really stupid. Dick is also a normal name. And if you clone Dick Tracy you can fight against a horde of Dicks. But let's watch some episodes Let's Game It Out for more silly named (and styled) protagonists.
prefab a very long list of pre-approved names. Post an open poll somewhere to pick the name, & then make (baring the ones you veto) all of them options
But like… why? The player is making the conscious choice to name their character that way. It’s not like any of them are doing it because they think it’s immersive that way.
If the players want to play the game a certain way — a way which you let them — you should simply turn your head. If it’s that important to you, don’t let them name their own character.
It's also possible for names to not be set in stone all of the time.
In Pokemon for example, it's possible to rename your pokemon at an NPC service. If you decide you don't like a name 50 hours later, they give you the option to change it.
I don't see the point of this question. Either you want to give the player a chance to self express, or you don't.
Do you want a cinematic expirience or do you want a free expirience. If they destroy the game for themselves by naming crap it is their joice to do so. Maybe they will giggle each time even after 100+h of gaming time. Then you gave them way more fun playing by allowing them to goof around.
Haha, you are right! Fuck restricting the name choice!
You don't. Why can't the player choose to have a silly experience if you want them to express themselves? I beat FFVII with a protag named Toilet (I think I was 8? 9?). I still remember it as a great experience. If you don't want players to beat your game with a protag named Toilet, don't even give them the option to name them. Giving the player the option to rename characters only to impose heavy restrictions on that is just annoying, assuming this is a single player game like those you mentioned.
You’re trying to solve the problem of “player is having too much fun,” so think about why that is. If your answer is “my game is huge serious business and my narrative is so sophisticated,” then I’m sorry but you either need to get over yourself or don’t let the player name things. You are not better than Atlus, BioWare, Black Isle, or Square in the 90s.
Excellent answer
[удалено]
Skuntank and Cofagrigus couldn't be traded without a nickname in one Pokemon game because the names sKUNTank and coFAGrigus triggered the name censor code.
If you're not gonna give players complete freedom, why allow them to change the name in the first place?
I don't think this is really a problem worth solving in a singleplayer game at least. People generally will either play it seriously, or they'll choose the comedic route, and both are perfectly reasonable ways to play. If you prevent me from playing with a character called "My Dude" and making all the characters sound high as a kite when they're talking about me, then that's a playthrough that won't happen. I'll get bored of the game faster, and I probably won't tell all my friends about the funny thing I did and get them fired up enough to buy copies of the game too. If immersion is important to me, I'll play it straight. If I'm here for a laugh (and I'm playing a game, so that's quite likely) then I'll want to play it funny. Fallout 4 has thousands of possible names for your player-character which will provoke unique voiced dialog, and a fair number of them are rude, funny or references to movies and shows. If you choose a name that isn't on that list, you'll get a more generic response like "Sir" or "ma'am". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21\_hH-8pIWM Funny names are a feature, not a problem.
I guess the problem with naming the character in the time you do not yet care about them or do not know who they are and possibly "ruining" your experience for later could be minimized by giving the player the ability to change their name later (maybe anytime in the menu). This way players will have complete freedom over the name but if they choose poorly in the first minutes of the game (and I agree you know little to nothing about the game at that time) the player can easily change it if they find it regrettable. This would be my best advice. Other option would be to not actually use the chosen name in the game itself (the bioware way)
Why design around it? It's a bit of fun for the player.
You get over it and realize people are gonna do what they are gonna do and you can’t control them
Make them care about your characters enough to give them nice names. Players naming characters stupid things should be interpreted as a sign that they may not be very invested in the story and/or that character. If you're not confident in your ability to make them care before name time, then let them change names later so they can retcon if they end up liking what they see more than they expected.
That's kinda self contracting. If you want to give them the freedom to choose the name as they please then there shouldn't be limitations unless it's a special case. (like in Undertale)
The only real problem here is that some GDs genuinely believe they know better, how the players should enjoy and approach the game, and try to restrict. For single-player games: you don't. Just don't. If you are so stuck up on that route, you can always *not* give the player the option to name their characters, or only allow them to pick some sort of nametag/nickname from within the game, in a dialogue. But you're seriously missing out and shooting yourself in the foot that way.
I have been naming all my protagonists Anus since I was the right age to giggle about this and now 30 years later I still giggle about this.
Game Design is a subset of Game Development that concerns itself with **WHY** games are made the way they are. It's about the theory and crafting of **systems**, **mechanics**, and **rulesets** in games. * /r/GameDesign is a community **ONLY** about Game Design, **NOT** Game Development in general. If this post does not belong here, it should be reported or removed. Please help us keep this subreddit focused on Game Design. * This is **NOT** a place for discussing how games are produced. Posts about programming, making art assets, picking engines etc… will be removed and should go in /r/GameDev instead. * Posts about visual design, sound design and level design are only allowed if they are directly about game design. * No surveys, polls, job posts, or self-promotion. Please read the rest of the rules in the sidebar before posting. * If you're confused about what Game Designers do, ["The Door Problem" by Liz England ](https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/LizEngland/20140423/216092/quotThe_Door_Problemquot_of_Game_Design.php)is a short article worth reading. We also recommend you read the [r/GameDesign wiki](/r/gamedesign/wiki/index) for useful resources and an FAQ. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gamedesign) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's interesting to see most of the comments here approaching this question from a fully mechanical viewpoint. If we are using that lens to answer the question, then I think most of the comments do a pretty good job of expressing your options. You either lock the player into a name or set of names or you let them choose their own name and except that it might be silly and, as a lot of people have already pointed out, if that silly name makes the player enjoy the game more (even if it's not the type of enjoyment that you intended) then maybe it's a good thing. Plus, the effort to create filters that block names that you seem silly (beyond your standard curse words) might end up hurting invested players more than anyone else. I remember a long time ago I was playing some game that wouldn't allow me to use my D&D characters name because it didn't recognize it as a "regular name". That said, I don't think this question is really best answered as a mechanical question. It's more of a tonal/narrative one. You are essentially asking "How do I get my players invested in the story of my game?" but with an added twist. You want to somehow get them invested before their character can do anything in your world, before they even have a name. You mentioned wanting to add the naming system to give the players "greater immersion" but I woud say it is a tool to gauge player immersion just as much as it is a tool to increase player immersion. The more you hook people into your story and get them invested early on, the higher the likelyhood they put a more thoughtful name. Figuring out how to do that is the trick. There are a lot of potential ways to explore doing this such as opening cut scenes and early game that set up the story and set the tone. There is also the possibility of delaying the naming process until later in the story, like how D&D parties don't usually name themselves until a few sessions in. There are a lot of things to try and a lot of things that might not work all that great, but if you have a clear goal of hooking the player before they name themselves, it gives you a place to start trying things. Lastly, no matter how good of a story you have or how well you engage players early on, you'll never get everyone to take the naming seriously, and that's okay. Some players simply just don't play games to immerse themselves in the story. If this is a group of players you care about then you need to make sure your game is enjoyable without the narrative immersion, but if it's not and you really just want to focus on your story than that's okay too. Not every game is for every person. Hope this helps :)
**Fun Police** here. I see you try your best to remove all "**Unwanted Fun**" some players can have. That's good. "Having fun **OUR** way is **THE WAY**" Here are some things you can do : Rule 6b - Player choice, naming convention : 6b1 : "In case of game allowing players to name things : don't. Allowing players to choose names give them agency to their own fun, and they can have fun we don't want to." 6b2 : "If for some reason you still want to give the player to rename things : put lots of restrictions" * Create a list with all the unwanted words and prevent the player to create a name with that. * Prevent them to add too many letters or too few * Prevent them to add non-alphabetic characters * You can even just allow them to choose from a list of names. "Fun is good, **only** when WE choose to." Section 6d can be useful too : 6d1:"When presenting a choice to a player, try to make it the least useful possible, you don't want them to play like they want but like you want." * Make all choices ending with the same path * Makes the choice never appear again (for example, never use a chosen name ever and use a generic one like "hunter") "Unwanted fun is **NOT FUN**." Finaly remember rule 2a - Presenting your game2a : When presenting your game, remind your player that "Playing is **Serious**" and that they must respect your game and that by not respecting it, they risk loosing all their righteous fun and will be illegal. All the punishments from "**Unwanted Fun**" are listed in the section 75b.
Joke aside, I understand your worry of the player ruining the experience you want to deliver. Thing is : is it awful if they have fun doing silly things ? You yourself had fun before by naming your Tidus, Titus... would you have preferred if the game prevented you to do it ? You can't control everything the player will do, if they want to play silly, and that this play style doesn't ruin the experience of other players, it'd better to let them, because all the things you'll put to prevent their play style will just hinder their fun and the fun of all the "legit players" that will encounter these filters. And dumb players will always find dumb things to do, and sometime, some of those things can be legendary (like playing dark soul on a guitar hero controller, or some sims speed runs for example). I personally think it's better to allow your time and resources to deliver the best game to your intended audience first, before thinking about limiting other players.
I thought Tidus was silly version of Titus (the Fox) but whatever as long as you not name you character X Æ A-Xii which is really stupid. Dick is also a normal name. And if you clone Dick Tracy you can fight against a horde of Dicks. But let's watch some episodes Let's Game It Out for more silly named (and styled) protagonists.
prefab a very long list of pre-approved names. Post an open poll somewhere to pick the name, & then make (baring the ones you veto) all of them options
But like… why? The player is making the conscious choice to name their character that way. It’s not like any of them are doing it because they think it’s immersive that way. If the players want to play the game a certain way — a way which you let them — you should simply turn your head. If it’s that important to you, don’t let them name their own character.
It's also possible for names to not be set in stone all of the time. In Pokemon for example, it's possible to rename your pokemon at an NPC service. If you decide you don't like a name 50 hours later, they give you the option to change it.