Course 2: Writing Video Game Characters 

About the Course

You might spend two hours with a character in a movie, but you can spend hundreds of hours interacting with the player character, antagonists and all the non-player characters (NPCs) in a video game. Getting character right is a vital part of getting the game right.

This course will teach you how to create a player character who fits into the mechanics of a video game and all the limitations of the medium, as well as how to create memorable player characters and how to deepen and develop them.

We’ll discuss how characters relate to gameplay, working with existing intellectual property (I.P.) and how a great game needs a great villain. Finally we’ll dive deep into the world of NPCs, exploring the tremendous variety of characters who can populate a video game, and how to make them distinct and interesting.

Format

100% online, self-paced, and not for credit. You'll have the chance to discuss the assignments with your fellow students and will have the opportunity to attend drop-in virtual office hours to ask questions to the instructor.   

 Estimated Length:  5 weeks (self-paced)

 Instructors:  Ray Clark

 Genre: Fiction 

Audience: Open to anyone in the world - no university registration required, no experience required.  

 Prerequisite:  None

Syllabus

CWVG-2 Writing Video Game Characters - Course Syllabus (PDF)

About the Instructors

Ray Clark is an independent game developer and a graduate of Creative Writing BFA and MFA programs at the University of British Columbia. They work primarily in story-driven video games, as well as in board game development, and their work is published on Steam and itch.io.

Questions?

You can contact us at: crwr.noncredit@ubc.ca

Some frequent questions:

Do you offer any discounts?  

Yes! We offer 30% off if you sign up for all courses as a bundle. That’s $819 in savings! (regular price $2,730). All prices in Canadian dollars.

No, This Certificate is accessible to anyone, no experience is required.  

I don’t know if I want to commit to the Certificate. Can I just take the first course and go from there? 

Absolutely! You can take the courses one by one, or just one course. Keep in mind though that to obtain the certificate, you need to take all six courses. Courses 1-5 are a pre-requisite to take Course 6. This last course includes a portfolio that needs to be submitted for grading and the certificate will be issued after successfully completing this assignment. Simply completing the coursework does not meet all the requirements for certification. 

How long will I have access to the course materials? 

You will have access to each course for 365 days from the time you start. We also provide downloadable transcripts of all videos and you're free to save these for future reference. 

What is your refund policy?

We do not offer refunds due to the nature of this course (self-paced and asynchronous).