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Don Bluth重返游戏业 与他人合作重制经典街机游戏

发布时间:2011-03-22 18:10:44 Tags:,

Don Bluth是电影制片人,而并非职业游戏设计师。尽管至今只设计过两个游戏,这位好莱坞大腕仍有能力在视频游戏领域掀起热潮。

从某种方面来说,《龙穴历险记》是现代游戏图像的先驱者。虽然主角只是手工绘制而成,但这部作品让玩家和开发者了解到游戏也可以如同大屏幕上的电影般令人瞠目结舌。时隔28年,Bluth及其富有艺术感的搭档Gary Goldma正同华纳兄弟公司和Square One Studios合作研发《Tapper World Tour》,这款适用于iPhone或iPad的应用结合了传统街机游戏《Tapper》和Bluth独特的动画风格。

Bluth表示他会留心游戏的设计,而且他选择了自己在好莱坞时的老路子,游戏风格类似于电影《美国鼠谭》、《史前大陆》和《古惑狗天师》。依Bluth所述,他还从未如此深入思考过游戏。那么为何这次他决定重回游戏业呢?

Don Bluth

他半开玩笑地说道:“我认为是电影制作的失败让自己考虑到游戏业,当年《鼠谭秘奇》并非想象的那样成功,它的票房不太好。正是制作游戏《龙穴历险记》让我们走出困境。完成《冰冻星球》后,福克斯公司决定进军CGI动画。于是我认为自己无需再处理图片,该是转战游戏的时候了。”

在今春即将发布的《Tapper World Tour》中,所有的角色均由Bluth设计,他还负责手工绘制游戏中出现的各种场景。他表示,这是他数年来首次制作动画。新游戏将设置100个关卡,游戏目标仍与原作相同——在口渴的顾客离开酒吧前递送饮料。当然,即便这些年传统动画的需求量大减,好莱坞元老Bluth也无需为此重回游戏行业。游戏邦获悉,某些因素吸引他做出这项决定。

首先是团队的多样性,依其所述,游戏运营团队中人才的多样性以及开发者和艺术家协作的方式令他十分好奇。自去年6月起,华纳和Square One便有50人专注于应用程序开发,远非那些快速转变为开发iOS系统程序的团队所能比拟。

而诱发其转变的主要原因在于,Bluth有机会关注游戏的角色。他表示,现在很少游戏会如此关注角色的设计,开发团队的注意力全集中在角色的动作上。他说道:“游戏间相似度很高,而且充满暴力,玩家使用剑、球棒或榔头进行攻击。游戏真正有趣之处在于对主角的深入挖掘,正是这个让我乐在其中。”许多玩家很可能不会赞同他的想法,这里游戏邦有必要重申下,已是73岁高龄的Bluth并非游戏玩家。

《Tapper World Tour》的原作是街机游戏,但开发者称游戏中的角色会有独特的外观和性格。Bluth说道:“我感兴趣的是游戏的角色和娱乐性。对我而言这就是娱乐,也是这些促使我积极参与整个项目。”(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)

Interview: Don Bluth’s Return To Games With Tapper World Tour

Don Bluth will be the first to tell you he’s a filmmaker, not a game maker. But despite the fact that he has just two titles to his credit, the Hollywood veteran has still managed to make a lasting impression on the video game industry.

Dragon’s Lair, in some ways, was the front runner for the modern graphics era. While Dirk the Daring & Co. were hand-animated, the title let players and developers know that games could be just as eye-popping as works on the big screen. Now, 28 years after that arcade classic, Bluth and his artistic partner Gary Goldman are working on another title, teaming with Warner Bros. and Square One Studios for Tapper World Tour, an iPhone/iPad app that updates the classic Tapper arcade quarter-gobbler from Bally Midway and blends it with Bluth’s distinctive animation style.

While Bluth says he always kept an eye on gaming, he chose to stick with the Hollywood path, directing features like “An American Tail,” “The Land Before Time” and “All Dogs Go to Heaven.” He never really gave a lot of thought about exploring games further, he says. So what drove him back this time?

“I think failure at making movies,” he half-jokes. “When we did ‘The Secret of NIMH,’ it didn’t do what we thought it would. It did not do well financially. The thing that bailed us out was making Dragon’s Lair, the game. So when we made [our] last picture with Fox – ‘Titan AE ‘- and Fox decided to go into CGI animation, I said ‘well I guess we’re not making pictures any more. Let’s look at games.’”

For Tapper World Tour, (due out later this spring) Bluth designed each of the game’s characters and hand animated various segments that appear throughout the game. It’s the first time he has done animation in years, he says. The game will also feature 100 levels centering around the same basic gameplay of the original game – firing drinks down to thirsty patrons before they reach the end of the bar. Bluth, of course, has had a long career in Hollywood and didn’t need to return to games, despite the lack of demand for traditionally animated films these days. There were a few things that intrigued him, however.

The first was the diversity of the team. The wide range of talent in today’s game business and the way those developers and artists work together, he says, was intriguing to him. Warner and Square One have had 50 people working on the app since last June – far from the quick turnaround and nimble teams that typically work on iOS apps.

Primarily, though, it was the chance to focus on characters. Few games today focus on the characters, he says. Rather, the attention is entirely on action. “With games, it seems there’s a great similarity in all of them,” he says. “They are violent. I have a sword or I have a bat or I have a hammer and I can hit you with it. The interesting thing about a game is when you can go deeper into [the lead character] and he has a [purpose or driving desire]. That pulls me in.” (Several gamers will likely take issue with his thoughts. It’s worth reiterating that at age 73, Bluth is not a player.)

Tapper World Tour is a remake of an arcade game, but its creators say the game will try to distinguish its characters though their unique look and characteristics. “The character side of [the game], and the entertainment side of it – that’s the stuff that gets me interested,” says Bluth. “To me, that is entertainment and it’s more like the movie business. That’s the thing that pulled me into this whole project.” (Source: Game Set Watch)


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