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GameStar asked some RPG devs this question: http://www.gamestar.de/artikel/der-...acher-von-the-witcher-3-und-mehr,3316440.html
Here are a few responses (via Google Translate):
Here are a few responses (via Google Translate):
He has changed the world
Chris Avellone, Narrative Designer
( Pathfinder: Kingmaker , Fallout 2 , Knights of the Old Republic 2 )
Better authors than I have found that a hero is only as good as his opponent - if the antagonist is weak, it also degrades the hero's triumph. I consciously use the word "antagonist" because a rival is sometimes more exciting than a villain.
A good opponent consists of several parts - he has a strong background story (so that he does not exist exclusively during the game, but has a past that stretches before the beginning of the game), he has already stamped the world (the player Can see in figures and environments in the game world what the villain has done - this is especially effective as a harbinger of how he will change them when he gets the chance) and, most importantly, the player can play an active role In the fate of the villain (what we tried at Pathfinder: Kingmaker with every villain in each chapter).
If the player does not just experience a fight or roll-out challenge, but can actively intervene in the course of his opponent's plans, this makes him a more important part of the story of the antagonist, thus reinforcing the bond between the two figures.
He is doing something horrible to the player
Brian Fargo, Founder of InXile Entertainment
( Wasteland Series, Fallout )
I think the most effective way to create a villain that you really want to defeat is to let the player do something negative in the course of the gameplay - or the companions who have the authors that he loves them. There must be individuals who are important to the player, not faceless masses.
An interim sequence, in which the antagonist rages under unknown characters , creates no emotional bond. In so many games, you are not even interacting with the enemy until the final, and very often no emotion is associated with it. If Darth Vader were to appear in Star Wars just before the end, the entire effect would be lost.
If, on the other hand, Vader appears in the first level, then his best game moment ever comes out
And lastly, we like to make sure that the villain follows a world vision, according to which he does the right thing, and even if only in his own distorted logic.
He is a product of his world
Josh Sawyer, Senior Designer, Obsidian
( Pillars of Eternity and Pillars 2 , Fallout: New Vegas )
Everyone expects something different from a good villain. Some people prefer their opponents to be brutal, sadistic and incomprehensible. They want the completely strange evil, perhaps because they want to hate the character without any restraint.
But I prefer rogues who may be an antagonist, but the players can understand and perhaps even like them. Because I tend to postmodern thinking, I would also like to make the player understand that even villains are a product of their world.
From the story that the player creates through his fight against the villain, a new world emerges. And this, for its part, will create a new generation of "heroes", "rogues" and all others around them.
He is the dark reflection of the hero
Colin McComb, Creative Lead, InXile Entertainment
( Planescape: Torment , Torment: Tides of Numenera )
An antagonist should be powerful, smart, and the player character must always be one or two steps ahead. It must challenge the player so that the player always dances on the edge of futility when fighting the villain - other, better heroes have already tried to conquer him and failed, and the villain has only grown stronger. Show the strength of the villain as early as possible and make him appear invincible.
Personally, I believe that a villain should be a reflection of the player's character. A dark reflection, but with recognizable and comprehensible properties. The rogue could in another time be the logical next step on the path of the hero - driven to success at any cost, without regard for the lives of others, always making sure that their own decisions are the right one for all. In other circumstances, the hero and the villain could even find some similarities. The path to the side of the antagonist should be a constant temptation.
He deserved to win
Gavin Jurgens-Fyhrie, lead author, inXile Entertainment
( Torment: Tides of Numenera , Diablo 3 )
A villain must be better than the hero. If the hero is smart, the villain must be smarter. If the hero is tough, the rogue must be almost bulletproof. After every encounter with the villain, the hero should be surprised that he has survived at all.
And yet the villain is not just for the hero. Rogues are by definition success stories. They have suffered terrible losses and have set themselves the task of putting things back in order - at any cost. They have been working on this for years, while the hero has kept sheep in his remote mountain village.
In other words, villains are characters who deserve to win. Even if their goals are terrible and the hero has only a tiny chance to stop them.