Major Research Project
DM3107
Project Evaluation.
Last semester, I conducted a case study. I identified that representations within video games can alter a players’ perceptions of the groups that they are portraying. This meant that games with harmful representations of elements such as gender, race, sexuality, disability etc could influence players’ real-world perceptions of these groups. My primary research revealed that the survey participants found the Grand Theft Auto series to be the most problematic in relation to the representation of these demographics.
Sustainability Goal 4.
As discussed in my case study, studies show that more women have become interested in the games industry. My case study explored a link between the positive portrayal of female characters and minorities in modern games and more diversity in the previously very male dominated games industry. Encouraging this growing interest for the previously underrepresented groups in the games industry would align the United Nations Sustainability Goal 4.
One aspect of this goal, Target 4.5, aims to ‘eliminate all discriminate in education’. This target explores ensuring inclusivity and ‘opportunities for all’ in education (United Nations, 2023). Encouraging more women and minorities to pursue careers in gaming through academic studies would not only provide more opportunities for inclusivity in education and the workplace but would also directly impact the representation of these demographics in video games, as outlined in my case study.
Time management plan.
To ensure my survey had as many responses as possible, I kept it open for slightly over a month. Allocating the first half of my time management to collect the survey results allowed me to focus on my other submissions during this period while reaching the maximum number of respondents to inform my project. This time allocation still left me with over a month to complete the companion project to go alongside my research.
I knew that I wanted to create character designs for this project since visual appearance is a big aspect of representation and it is my preferred area of game design.
I allocated one day after collecting and visually presenting my survey data to decide on the project concept since, in my survey (click to see primary research breakdown), I asked players which game they felt included the most harmful representations.
My idea was that I would use whichever game was most commonly mentioned and create concept art for a hypothetical remake – linking nicely to my case study project ‘How do representations differ in ‘classic’ video games compared to modern video games when comparing an original to a remake?’.
However, since 44.4% of participants agreed that games in the Grand Theft Auto series had the most problematic representations, I changed my project from remaking an old title to conceptualising a new release. This is because it would be hard to remake older GTA titles with more positive portrays of women as they have no playable female characters. In my primary research, participants identified representations of women as the most problematic across gaming, so it is crucial that I tackle this specifically in my project.
Many of the tasks, I only allocated a few days for on the Gannt chart and I did not leave gaps between tasks. This put me on a tight schedule although my thorough planning of each task and following my time management plan ensured I had enough time to complete the project fully. I also allocated five days for ‘finishing up/ final touches’ in case I fell behind with the project at any stage.
To begin brainstorming project ideas, I made a mind map infographic of my survey results.
I identified the core aspects of the results – such as the fact that over 40% of participants chose GTA as the video game with the worst representations of the aspects that I outlined. Since participants were allowed to choose from any game they know of, this unified 40% stood out. (For a more detailed break down of my primary research and results, click here!)
From this brainstorm, I identified what I wanted to create for my project: a concept pitch for a new GTA title with less problematic representations, creating designs for two playable characters.
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Representation of gender in GTA:
From the survey results, most participants identified gender as having the most problematic representations in video games due to oversexualised female character designs. Srivastavaarchita (2023) highlights this issue specifically in relation to the Grand Theft Auto series. She states that the games perpetuate ‘harmful stereotypes about women’ – specifically highlighting the game’s tendency to ‘hypersexualise women.’
Some in-game examples include female lap dancers which the player can engage with. There are also prostitutes on streetcorners which the player can hire (and optionally then murder to receive a refund). There are also examples of voyeurism and too many demonstrations of sexual and domestic violence to list.
Despite GTA’s target audience being adults, it is notoriously popular among teenagers, Srivastavaarchita (2023) explains that this is harmful since younger players have more impressionable minds and may become accustomed to the negative, misogynistic portrayals of women in the game. This aligns with study Burgess et al (2011) conducted in which they discovered negative representations in video games can affect players’ real-life perceptions of marginalised groups that I explored in my case study.
Srivastavaarchita (2023) explains that GTA V is a well-received game however its misogynistic representations cannot be overlooked. She explores this in the game’s lack of meaningful representations of women, suggesting that the GTA franchise ‘missed the opportunity to explore the potential of a female lead character’ that has depth and characterisation beyond being oversexualised, inconsequential and secondary.
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Due to GTA’s prior problematic portrayals of women, I knew that to improve upon these representations, one of the characters I designed for this project would have to be female. For the second character, I wanted to improve upon the problematic representations of race, as identified in my survey results.
Representation of race in GTA:
Retana (2019) breaks down the inclusion of playable character’s ethnicities across the GTA titles. Out of 27 playable characters there were ‘five protagonists which were Black, four which were Latinx’ and ‘two were Asian’.
One of the Asian protagonists was also only available as a optional playable character in the first GTA game that featured character selection. The other was the lead character of spin off title: Chinatown Wars. However, Woodside (2009) explores the possible harmful representations in this game. He states that the narrative’s inclusion of a magic samurai sword and focus on maintaining the character’s family ‘honour’ perpetuates harmful stereotypes (Woodside, 2009).
Since Asian character’s are the most underrepresented in GTA when compared to other ethnic groups, I would make the second playable character an Asian man.
Initial Sketches.
I started by creating some loose sketches on paper with a small bullet point brainstorm of my initial narrative concepts. I wanted to set the game in New York City and focus on a mob boss family. I felt this aligned well with prior GTA titles and their focus on organised crime.
For the female character I had the idea that she should be the wife of the mob boss who, through the narrative, takes over the business.
In her article discussing the representation of women in GTA V, Srivastavaarchita (2023) explains that – aside from the strippers and prostitutes – most female characters are side lined as the extended family or acquaintances of the playable character – one example given was a male character called Michael.
Srivastavaarchita (2023) highlights Michael’s wife and daughter as being particularity irrelevant, only included in the narrative to fulfil the ‘family’ role.’ Although this does not mean they are not still sexualised. Through dialogue, it is revealed Michael’s wife is an ex-stripper and, during one mission in the game, he picks up his own daughter from a ‘film set’ and it is revealed she wants becomes an ‘adult’ performer (Srivastavaarchita, 2023).
Having my playable female character being introduced as ‘the wife of the mob boss’ and then having her break away from this secondary role to become the head of the family subverts GTA’s typical representation of women.
In my initial sketches, I created two versions of a female character. In one she is well presented and professional. In this design she has a large coat on her shoulders and is wearing a modest but chic black dress with sunglasses.
In the other, my character’s hair is messier and she is carrying a handgun – this is how she would appear during heists and other criminal activities.
For her design, creating two versions with these different styles would be important to the story.
In my initial sketch for the male character I gave him a vest top – the idea was that I could design some tattoos to cover his arms as that was an element I had not yet tackled in character design.
In the notes, I suggested that this character could be an undercover cop unbeknownst to the player to create a narrative twist. I proposed that, when playing this character in the ‘free-roam’ mode, the player cannot attack pedestrians as they could in previous GTA titles. Thus reducing the element of unnecessary and unprovoked violence.
I would weave this into the narrative by revealing that previously, a heist that he took part in had been caught on a surveillance camera and had been published on the news, listing him as a wanted suspect. In reality, he cannot injure pedestrians since, as an undercover cop, he has rules and morals which prevent him.
After solidifying the concept for the characters and their designs, I moved onto some digital experiments.
Digital Experiments:
I started with the female character, who I named Carla Cianci.
I created a digital version of my initial idea before experimenting with a few different hairstyles. I ultimately decided on the bob style as I felt shorter hair could not only look sleek but also would work better in combat situations.
Outfit design:
I began designing Carla’s default formal outfit. A black dress helps to make her look visually chic and sophisticated and it also connotes mourning in many cultures (Bain, 2018). This visually links to her narrative arc of killing and replacing her husband as the head of the crime family. With the dress designs, I created two versions, one a high neck sleeveless dress and the other a v-cut neckline. I also tried adding a large fluffy coat to her shoulders since this was present in lots of the reference images I was looking at.
Makeup Experiments:
The first digital design featured a soft red pallet for her makeup, however I felt a darker lipstick shade would match her outfit better.
I created three new versions with the darker lipstick – one with no eyeshadow, one with subtle eyeshadow and one with lots of eyeshadow. I felt the heavier eyeshadow would allow me to add more red to the design as an accent colour.
Heist outfit designs.
With lots of sketches of Carla’s casual attire completed, I moved onto her heist costume. I included a turtleneck on all the designs since I felt it would be most practical. In some versions, I made the turtleneck a sweater dress, drawing inspiration from Ada Wong’s costume design in Resident Evil 4 (2023). However, I ultimately decided against it for practicality reasons.
I created some more rough costume sketches before moving onto the final render.
Final render.
When creating the final character render, I referenced all my prior sketches for guidance.
I decided not to go with the v-cut neckline dress for the final render as, despite being common across the reference images, I felt the higher neckline dress was more practical and less revealing. This felt more in line with what I was trying to accomplish during this project.
For her casual outfit, I created two alternative versions – one with sunglasses and one without.
Glasses version:
For the glasses, I decided to go with a rounded shape. This is because, looking at shape language theory, circles in character designs convey feeling of trust and friendliness, ‘protection, and perfection’ (Shahbazi, 2023).
However, I added a slightly pointed edge to the outer corners to make the shape slightly triangular. Triangles connote cunning and mischievousness but also power and strength (Shahbazi, 2023). Having a blend of both circular and triangular elements would help to visually convey the different aspects of her character.
Tactical outfit render.
For Carla’s tactical outfit render, I coloured her outfit it lots of different shades of black and grey. Creating the bullet proof vest was interesting since I had to make the shoulder sections looks 3D. I feel the tactical render is my favourite of the two since the dress consisted of one large section – which did not allow for much variation in shading and design. If I revisited this project, I would accessorise her casual outfit more, experiment with different belts, bags, rings, or jackets to add to the design.
Then I moved onto designing the male character who I named Asher Everett.
Digital Experiments:
The main aspect of this character’s design I focused on were his tattoos. After digitalising the paper sketch and making a few tweaks, I created a mood board of tattoos for inspiration, annotating them to explain which aspects I liked for my own design.
I really liked the flow of the snake tattoos, however I felt this may make the undercover cop plot twist too obvious.
Tattoo design:
I began by sketching some ideas based on the mood board images, eventually deciding to have a dragon head tattooed on the outside of his left hand wrapping around his arm up to his shoulder.
However, once I created a mock-up of this design it was not as visually pleasing as I had hoped. The design was too big and the sections of untattooed arm looked empty and plain. I could have designed other tattoos to fill these gaps, making it into a tattoo sleeve however that would make the tattoo very busy, and the dragon design would be lost among the rest.
To combat this, I decided to make the tattoo smaller and only wrap around his forearm. I tried a few different iterations of this, eventually deciding on having the dragon start with its head on the side of his hand, wrap under his wrist like a band and continue further up his forearm.
I created sketches of his arm and the tattoo from multiple angles to show the placement as a reference.
Haircut Experiments:
I designed a few hairstyles before eventually deciding on a mullet.
I felt this hairstyle looked unique since I do not believe any prior GTA protagonists have had a mullet as their default style. I also felt it looked least professional, so hopefully players would not guess the plot twist of Asher actually being an undercover cop.
Outfit Design:
For his costume, I decided to keep my original idea of the vest top. Although his tattoo does not cover his whole arm, the vest top still appeared as causal wear.
Asher did not need a tactical outfit since, in the narrative, he would mainly be the getaway driver due to almost being caught. He would not be directly participating in big scale heists, so an alternative costume was not necessary.
Process:
Final render.
For his render I decided to give Asher denim jeans and boots to be practical. On this render, you cannot see much of his tattoo which is why I created the angled reference to go alongside it. The subtle inclusion of navy blue on his jeans also could visually connote to his connection to the force.
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Grand Theft Auto: Hell’s Kitchen.
As an additional part of this project, I created a game design document detailing the game concept and narrative. Minárik (2023) explains that game design documents are an essential part of a game designer’s portfolio so I wanted to try and make one for this project. I had not created a GDD before, so I started by looking at a few examples.
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Final thoughts.
Overall, I feel my concept pitch for Grand Theft Auto: Hell’s Kitchen greatly improves upon GTA’s prior problematic, sexist and racist representations.
I feel Asher’s and Carla’s designs complement each other with their contrasting colours and visual appearances. They both visually look like Grand Theft Auto protagonists, and I feel with the inclusivity of their designs that I have improved upon GTA’s problematic history of representation for my own hypothetical title.
The game design document also improves upon these issues with Carla and Asher being presented as equally capable in the narrative and each being involved in a meaningful intertwined storyline.
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Appendix:
Appendix 1 – Downloadable PDF of my Case Study I conducted last semester.