AstraVerse

The Challenge: Inspiring Characters Without Appropriation

Mythology and culture are rich sources of inspiration for video game characters. However, the common practice of directly copying religious or mythological figures ("god transplantation") presents significant UX and ethical challenges:

• It limits the creative potential, capping the number of available characters.
• It often leads to backlash from cultural communities and players when sacred figures from active religions are misrepresented or trivialized in games.

This creates a dilemma for game designers: how can they draw inspiration from deep cultural narratives respectfully, while also creating characters that feel fresh, engaging, and appropriate for a global audience?

Our goal was to move beyond simple appropriation and explore: How can cultural spaces and elements inform a *process* for designing characters that are both novel and culturally sensitive?

Our Approach: A UX Framework for Cultural Design

We adopted a design thinking framework, combining deep user research (with cultural stakeholders, players, and designers) with systematic analysis and participatory methods. Our aim was not just to create characters, but to develop and validate a *system* or *framework* that empowers designers to generate culturally inspired characters respectfully.

The core research question guiding our process was:

Can cultural spaces inform the design of Culturally Sensitive and Novel Characters in video games?

Phase 1: Empathize - Understanding the Stakes

To grasp the complexities, we needed to understand the perspectives of those most affected: cultural guardians and the player community.

Interviews With Cultural Stakeholders

We conducted interviews with Hindu temple priests, showing them examples of gods used in existing games. We sought to understand their concerns and perspectives on cultural representation.

Digital Ethnography: Player Perceptions

We analyzed discussions on gaming-focused Reddit threads to understand player reactions to the use of religious figures in games. This provided insights into player expectations regarding authenticity, respect, and gameplay integration.

Phase 2: Define - Framing the Design Challenge

Synthesizing the research from Phase 1 led to key insights that framed our design challenge:

Key Insights:

• Directly copying gods from active religions is highly problematic for cultural stakeholders.
• Authenticity to scripture and original narratives is paramount when dealing with sacred figures.
• Stakeholders are open to *fictional* characters *inspired* by mythology, allowing creative liberty with new narratives.
• There's a vast, untapped potential in using *granular elements* (symbols, aesthetics, concepts) from mythology rather than whole figures.

Opportunities & Design Goals:

The insights pointed towards an opportunity: create a system that helps designers leverage cultural elements constructively. This led to key questions guiding our design process:

• How can we systematically identify and catalogue these "granular" cultural/mythological elements?
• How can these elements be presented to designers in an accessible and inspiring way?
• Can combining these elements lead to the creation of genuinely novel characters?
• Crucially, will characters created through such a system be perceived as culturally sensitive by stakeholders?

Phase 3: Ideate - Building a Cultural Design System

To move beyond "god transplantation," we needed a structured way to identify and organize inspirational cultural elements. We employed:

Visual Ethnography in Cultural Spaces

We visited Hindu temples, documenting architectural details, idol features, ritual objects, and symbolic representations through photography. This grounded our work in authentic cultural aesthetics.

Grounded Theory: Developing the "Syntagm & Paradigm" Framework

Using Grounded Theory, we systematically analyzed the visual data and related mythological texts to identify recurring elements (Syntagms) and group them into meaningful categories (Paradigms). This iterative coding process resulted in a structured design space:

• 141 Syntagms: Granular, remixable elements (e.g., specific ornaments, gestures, symbolic items, color palettes).
• 22 Paradigms: Thematic categories organizing the syntagms (e.g., 'Headwear', 'Handheld Objects', 'Mounts', 'Postures').
• 4 Selective Codes: High-level conceptual pillars guiding character creation (e.g., 'Physical Appearance', 'Fashion', 'Weapons', 'Game Mechanics').

This process transformed raw cultural inspiration into a structured, modular system for creative exploration.

Phase 4: Prototype - The AstraVerse Design Toolkit

The "Syntagm and Paradigm" framework was translated into a tangible design tool: a set of cards representing the identified cultural elements.

How it Works:

Designers use the cards as a toolkit:

• Paradigms (categories) help navigate the design space.
• Designers select Syntagm cards (specific elements) from various Paradigms.
• By combining selected Syntagm cards, designers can visually and conceptually construct new, unique characters rooted in cultural aesthetics but not directly copying existing figures.

This toolkit prototype aimed to provide a flexible yet structured method for culturally inspired character design.

Phase 5: Evaluate - Validating the Approach

A design system is only effective if it meets its goals. We conducted a multi-faceted evaluation focusing on three key criteria derived from our initial research questions:

1. Usability & Effectiveness: Does the system actually help designers create characters?
2. Novelty: Are the characters generated using the system distinct from existing mythological figures?
3. Cultural Sensitivity: Are the generated characters perceived as respectful by cultural stakeholders?

Evaluation 1: Participatory Design Workshop (Usability)

We invited professional game designers to use the AstraVerse card system to create two characters each. Observation and feedback confirmed:

• Designers found the system intuitive and engaging.
• The cards effectively stimulated creativity and facilitated the combination of diverse elements.
• The system successfully supported the creation of coherent character concepts.

Evaluation 2: Quantitative Analysis (Novelty)

To objectively measure novelty, we developed a quantitative framework. Each character (both participant-generated and original gods from games) was represented as a vector based on the presence/absence of the 141 Syntagms. We then compared the 'distance' between these vectors.

Key Findings (Novelty):

• Participant-generated characters are statistically novel compared to directly copied gods across the entire design space (p<0.05, large effect size d>0.8).
• They showed significant novelty in physical appearance, often blending zoomorphic and anthropomorphic traits, unlike the mostly anthropomorphic gods (p<0.05, d>0.8).
• Differences were also significant in weapon types, while fashion/jewelry showed less difference (as expected).

Evaluation 3: Stakeholder Interviews (Cultural Sensitivity)

We returned to the temple priests and presented them with both participant-generated characters and examples of directly copied gods used in games. We asked them to evaluate the characters based on cultural appropriateness and potential offensiveness.

Key Findings (Sensitivity):

• Participant-generated characters were received positively. Stakeholders reaffirmed strong objections to using original gods directly.
• They recognized mythological elements in the generated characters but confirmed they were perceived as fictional creations *inspired by*, not copies *of*, mythology.
• Crucially, stakeholders felt creative liberty *could* be taken with narratives for these fictional characters, unlike for original sacred figures.

Conclusion: A Validated Framework for Respectful Design

The AstraVerse project successfully demonstrated that it's possible to move beyond direct appropriation in culturally inspired character design. Through a rigorous UX research and design process, we developed and validated a system that:

• Provides designers with a structured yet flexible tool for creative exploration grounded in cultural aesthetics.
• Enables the generation of characters perceived as statistically novel compared to existing figures.
• Produces character concepts deemed culturally sensitive and acceptable by cultural stakeholders.

This framework offers a practical, validated alternative for game studios and designers seeking to draw inspiration from diverse cultures respectfully, fostering creativity while mitigating the risks associated with cultural misrepresentation.

Personal Learnings & Reflections

• Bridging Research & Design: Translating rigorous academic methods like Grounded Theory into a practical, usable design tool requires careful consideration of the designer's workflow and creative needs.
• The Power of Mixed Methods: Combining qualitative insights (interviews, ethnography) with quantitative validation (statistical analysis) created a much more robust and persuasive case for the solution's effectiveness.
• Navigating Sensitivity is Key: Engaging directly and respectfully with cultural stakeholders from the beginning was crucial for defining the problem accurately and ensuring the final output was appropriate.
• Systemic > Specific: Focusing on creating a reusable *system* rather than just specific character designs provides broader, more lasting value to potential users (design studios).