译者卷首语:大家都明白的一个道理,成功不可复制。也许你的经历要比这些不痛不痒的内容更鲜血淋漓;也许你是江湖中一位低调的大侠对此不屑一顾。对于这十条,个人有个人的解读,不笑人无,不嫉人有,不褒不贬。
Gamasutra的编辑们从诸多开发者的文章中总结摘录了他们认为值得每个游戏开发者借鉴的十条引言。我没有把原文全部翻译过来,只有核心的十条摘录。出处和作者请详见原文。
No.1 关于设计游戏中的挑战
"We've been learning that players in general want a game that rewards them for thinking, and doesn't penalise them with meaningless randomness. ... We've been learning that players embrace a challenge and don't mind failing as long as the failure seems fair."
我们认识到大多数玩家需要游戏能够让他们思考,而不是用没有意义的随意性来惩罚他们。... 我们认识到玩家欢迎挑战,即便是失败了,只要是公平的都可以接受。
No.2 为什么设计文档有时是废纸
“We find you need to make a game wrong at least two or three times before you find the right path. ... We took a lot of opportunity to design and explore, knowing that a lot of it would be thrown away.”
我们发现在找到正确方法之前,你至少需要两到三次把游戏做错。... 我们花了很多机会去设计和拓展,最后明白了它们中的很多都将被丢弃。
No.3 为什么做一周的游戏会做了一年
"If you don't finish your game one week, THAT'S OKAY."
"Give yourself a break and jump right back onto the project next week."
如果你不能在一周内完成游戏,没什么的。
让自己休息一下,下周再精神饱满地回到项目上。
No4. 游戏公司运营最重要的是什么
"You don't make money by working on things; you make money by shipping things."
你不是通过做东西挣钱,卖出去才能挣钱。
No5. 赞扬你的团队
"Whenever your teammates send you any notable work, have a look and tell them what you like about it before anything else. Be specific and genuine - as genuine as you can. (People can see through fake compliments in a heartbeat.)"
无论你的伙伴在什么时候发给你工作纪要,首先要做的就是看一遍然后告诉他们哪些地方是你喜欢的。很具体地,很真诚地。(人们的内心是可以感觉出你的赞扬是否真实。)
No6. DOOM21周年
"The game designer shouldn't be making a world in which the player is just a small part. The player's the boss; it's your duty to entertain him or her."
游戏设计人员不应该只把玩家当作游戏世界中一个很小的部分。玩家才是老板,你的职责就是取悦他或者她。
No7. 简洁的美术设计有优势
"To evoke emotions through art, in games or anything else, you have to break down your medium. What's the minimum amount of information we can use to tell you what you need to know about an object?"
"Use that, and no more."
让游戏中的美术唤起情感,你需要把手上的媒介进行分解。可以帮助你了解一个物体的,我们能用到的最少的信息量是多少?
就用那些,不要再多了。
No.8 Mario and Zelda的配乐给游戏配乐的意见
"The important thing is just to use whatever is at your disposal to create new ideas and come up with stuff that's fresh and new. That's just the important thing. Rather than trying to recreate something, or go over the same old ground, create new things."
很重要的一件事是,使用一切你可以用到的信息去创造新想法,做出不同的内容来。这比试图重新创作,或者在原有基础上做新东西,要重要。
No.9 分享在开发Dying Light时创造现实角色的教训
"Here's the thing: crafting female characters in laze, sexist, one-dimensional ways isn't just doing them a disservice and insulting the female gamers out there (one of whom is my 22-year-old niece)." It's also, put very simply, bad writing."
创造一个只有懒惰,性感,�单调的女性角色,不仅仅是对女性形象的损害,也是对女性玩家的侮辱(我22岁的侄女就是一名玩家)。这同样也是糟糕的故事写作。
No.10 资深BioWare的写作建议
"The Player should feel like the NPC serves to further her story. The Player should feel like she has the best lines and coolest moments (Players aren't fond of being upstaged). Picturing a version of the scene without the Player character should be virtually impossible."
应该让玩家感觉,NPC是服务于她的故事发展的。要让玩家觉得,她在经历最棒的故事线和最酷的瞬间(玩家不喜欢被抢镜头)。构思一个没有玩家角色存在的场景,实际上是不可能的。