作者：Brett Johnson

作为设计师，我们提供一系列有趣和令人激动的事件让玩家沉浸在游戏世界中。为有效实现这个目标，发现和理解玩家的期望值很有帮助。

在游戏设计之初，我们可以对玩家已掌握的内容进行假设。这些假设可以基于所有东西，包括电影、书籍、其他游戏或者现实中事物运行的情况。当玩家按动按钮调动电梯时，他们期望电梯能够来到他们面前以便搭乘。如果他们从高层建筑跳下，可能伤残或死亡。如果他们在水下待的时间过长，可能会窒息。前来体验游戏的玩家已经具备大量的常识和本能的心理反应，这些都可以为你所用。

玩家期望

game tutorial(from indiegamepod.com)

设计师想要利用玩家的期望，重点在于在游戏设计之初设立某些核心游戏机制。玩家应该知道他们能与何种类型的目标互动，如何实现这个目标。打开门需要“使用按键”还是门会自动打开？是否需要使用非玩家角色？如果需要，要如何使用，以何种方式使用？可能让玩家受伤的东西，如坠落、火山、毒药和高温都是玩家应该知道的重要规则。这些例子可能听起来很简单，但如果你计划往后能够控制玩家的行为，这些东西在确认玩家期望时都是必要的。

通常，设计师建立核心游戏机制的方法有好多种。从某种程度上说，设计师可以在他们玩游戏过程中向玩家传授这些机制。这样做的优点在于，让玩家恰当融入游戏，边玩边学。另一种选择是创造独立的教程，玩家可以学习基础机制，教程中不设置真实游戏中的危险事物。这种方法可以确保玩家准备充分，在为真实游戏做好准备后真正享受游戏中的体验。如果设计师引进玩家可能不甚熟悉的新游戏机制，教程可能也是较好的选择。

作为设计师，我们可以小心翼翼地构建游戏机制，决定玩家对环境了解多少以及他们将在何时了解这些信息。比如，当玩家按动按钮呼叫电梯时，他们简单地认为电梯会来到他们面前以便乘坐（游戏邦注：这属于正常想法）。但是，你可以想象当他们看到电梯陡然坠落，其中夹杂着乘坐人的惊叫及那种惊讶的表情。我们用这种带有些许幽默的惊讶为玩家营造印象深刻的体验。更为重要的是，我们让玩家理解到这种环境中还会发生的其他事情。

一旦玩家都世界的运行方式有个基本的理解，设计师可以进一步扩大玩家的期望，以塑造新颖有趣的场景。比如，玩家走过地板上一些格子，刚开始会低头观望，并没有什么异常之处。一段时间后，他们认为格子在这个世界中并没有什么特殊之处。设计师便可以利用玩家忽略格子的这种想法。在前面的某个格子中，有怪物从格中跳出来攻击玩家。

设计师可以用多种不同方法来加强此类场景。可能会有可怕的声音从格中传出，让玩家低头注意每个格子。可能他们会发现有个NPC藏在格子之下，玩家会尝试寻找更多NPC。当他们面临突然出现的怪物后，可能会更小心查看每个格子。可能他们在走过格子时随时准备展开战斗。我们通过格子在游戏世界中的作用来丰富玩家的体验。玩家可能对环境中看似“平凡”的事物更为小心谨慎。仅仅是简单的格子，我们就可以让它发挥这么大的价值！设计师可以利用这种受加强的危机意识让最简单的事物变得更为有趣，比如半开着的门、错位的屋顶瓦片等。

考虑下以下这个小方案：在游戏中某部分，我们简单地向玩家呈现一条过道。在过道后的场景中，我们设置怪物从屋顶某块瓦片中跳下。随后，我们让怪物从关闭着的门中冲出。现在，你能否想象出当玩家走在长长的过道时心中泛起的感觉？（游戏邦注：这条过道与上文一样有相同格子般的地板，怪物有可能落下的相同屋瓦，和怪物随时可能冲出的相同的门。）想想这些设计可能让玩家迈出的每一步都心惊胆战。对设计师来说，这种管理和控制玩家期待的做法是强有力的工具。

如果环境较为寂静，恰到好处的音效便足以让玩家受惊。设计师可以将这些事件任意进行结合，或依层次设置。可能某些设计师会选择只用格子和屋瓦，让玩家选择贴墙行走以保障安全。而此刻，便是设计让怪物从门中冲出的好时机！可能上述情况均没有发生，而是有个全新的怪物狂奔而至，冲开所有其他的怪物。最后，如何设置取决于设计师个人所要达到的目标和他们要如何让剧情发展。

脚本事件

脚本事件是让玩家明白世界可能如何发挥作用的绝佳方法，使游戏的整体体验有所提高。使用NPC来展示如果玩家跳跃失败后会发生什么事是个很有趣的事情。这可以让玩家快速学会游戏世界的运转方法。NPC也能成为游戏中的重要内容，他们可能对玩家体验很重要。NPC通常可以用来为玩家提供方向和目标，给玩家开门、提供线索、发展故事、治愈玩家、充当受保护者或护卫者以及帮助玩家战斗，甚至在某些时候还会带有某种喜剧效果。上述例子中每个都可以单独使用，也可以和其他功能结合以创造有趣的游戏剧情。

脚本世界事件也可以用来引进新游戏机制，从而增加玩家对游戏的认识。比如，我们可以向玩家呈现普通的油桶，只用金属或木头制成。随后，我们可以引进形状类似的油桶，但看起来和其他油桶不同（游戏邦注：比如可以变成红色的油桶或贴上某些警告性标签）。这类“与众不同”的油桶可能在被摧毁时发生爆炸。我们甚至可以在脚本事件中引进此类油桶。可能在编制的战斗中，敌军向这些油桶投掷炸药。剧情也可以设置成某个怪物或某群怪物在油桶前逼近以攻击玩家。玩家任何误击都可能引爆油桶。就像上文所说的那样，你可以用各种方式向游戏中引进爆炸性油桶。一旦这些出现在游戏中，我们就可以向玩家展示如何利用这些爆炸性油桶。玩家可以学习向这些油桶开火，通过爆炸来杀死怪物（游戏邦注：这种方式在《毁灭战士》游戏中成功运用）。通过更多脚本事件，我们可以让附近的管子爆炸或游戏世界中其他事物因异常事件而摧毁。

比如，油桶爆炸，管子爆裂，房屋摇动，部分天花板坠落。可能设计师在管子爆裂后向玩家呈现某个私密性区域。这样玩家可能就会更倾向于对所有爆炸性油桶射击，希望能够看到另一个私密性区域，或者可能单纯为了看到油桶爆炸觉得好玩而已。设计师还可以利用这些事物来营造对怪物有利的局面。比如，玩家从天花板上坠落掉进某个黑屋子中。他瞬间发现整个屋子放满爆炸性物质。引爆任何东西都意味着死亡。如果这时加入某个小怪物又能如何呢？玩家必须异常小心，确保不会误打或使用大火力武器，否则他们就会引爆整间屋子。如果玩家刚刚在大型战斗中使用非常强力的武器，这种设置便显得格外有效，他们很可能此刻手中仍拿着大型武器。

完结

在游戏中设置各种形式的完结也很有价值。完结可提供结局式的感觉，让玩家明白已做好继续前进的准备或者他们何时完成某种目标。

如果我们在某个关卡或游戏的每个场景中设置某种物品的完整形态（游戏邦注：比如一套完整的盔甲），当他们找到每个部分时玩家会觉得他们已经完成某种目标。这不仅可以用来奖励玩家彻底探索各个区域，还暗示他们可以继续进展下去。玩家会知道如果没有拼凑齐全，这个世界中某些地方他们可能没有探索完全。我们可以让玩家的期待有所进展，比如搜集完整物品后可以获得额外的奖励。这个奖励可以是好东西或坏东西，甚至也可能是有趣的东西。如何选择取决于设计师，你应该细致勾画用户的体验。

如果足够细心，设计师可以在纸上对玩家的期待进行分块，然后在游戏和关卡中设计相应的完结事物。这种方法可以让游戏的进展变得更为简单，让设计师调整以深化体验。这也让设计师更容易发现可能存在问题的区域，需要在游戏中增加兴奋点、兴趣点和目标。

理解玩家的期待是设计师手上最强力的武器，认真构建游戏机制，我们就可以追踪用户掌握的内容和时间。一旦我们理解玩家对游戏环境运转的期待，我们便可以用此来制作有趣且富有吸引力的剧情，提供令人印象深刻的游戏体验。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Great Expectations: Building a Player Vocabulary

Brett Johnson

As designers, we strive to immerse the player in our world by providing a series of interesting and exciting events. In order to do this effectively, it can be very helpful to understand and develop the expectations of the player.

At the start of a game, we can make some basic assumptions about what the player knows. These assumptions can be based on everything from movies, books, and other games, to the way things work in reality. When a player hits a button to call an elevator, they expect the elevator to come to them so they can get on. If they jump off a high building they may take damage or die. If they stay underwater too long they may drown. The player comes to your game with a vast amount of knowledge that you can use.

Expectations

In order for the designer to use the player’s expectations to his advantage, it is important to establish some core game mechanics at the beginning of the game. The player should know what types of objects they can interact with and how they do so. Does opening a door require a “use button” or do they open automatically? Can you use non-player characters? If so, how and in what ways? Things that can hurt the player, like falling, lava, poison, and heat are important rules for the player to know about. These examples may sound simple enough, but it’s essential to confirm the players expectations if you plan to manipulate them later.

There are a couple of ways that designers commonly use to establish the core game mechanics. In some cases, the designer can teach the player these mechanics as they play through the game. This has the advantage of allowing the player to jump right in and learn as they play. Another option is to create a separate tutorial where the player can learn the basic mechanics without the danger or distraction of the being in the actual game. This has the advantage of making sure the player is prepared enough to really enjoy the experience when they’re ready to start the actual game. A tutorial may also be a good idea if the designer is introducing new game mechanics that player may not be familiar with.

As designers, we can carefully build a vocabulary of game mechanics and shape what the player knows about the environment, and when they know it. For example, when the player pushes a button to call an elevator, they simply expect the elevator to come to them so they can get on. This would be normal. However, you could imagine their surprise when the elevator suddenly comes crashing down with a group of screaming scientists on board. We get the element of surprise mixed in with a bit of humor creating a memorable experience for the player. More importantly, we’ve expanded the player’s understanding of what can happen in this environment.

Once there is a basic understanding of how the world works, the designer can further expand on the player’s vocabulary and expectations to create new and interesting scenarios. An example: The player walks by a few large grates in a floor, looking down in the first few and seeing nothing of interests. After a while, they come to believe that the grates are a static part of the world. The designers use this opportunity to take advantage of the player’s disregard for the grates. At a grate just a bit further along, a monster comes crashing up through the grate to attack the player.

The designer might enhance this scene in a number of different ways. Perhaps there was an eerie sound coming from the grates that drew the player to look below under every grate. Perhaps they found an NPC hiding under a grate and chose to look for more. After we take the player by surprise, they may now choose to be more cautious about grates. Maybe they’ll be ready for combat whenever they walk by a grate. We’ve expanded the player’s vocabulary with regard to how grates work in the world. Players may become more aware and alert about things that may seem “normal” in the environment. Think about the tremendous value we’ve just given to a simple grate! Designers can use this heightened sense of awareness to make even the simplest things more interesting; a door that is slightly ajar, a ceiling tile that is out of place.

Think of this little scenario: In one part of the game we introduce a simple hallway. In a section just after the hallway, we introduce monsters that drop down from certain types of ceiling tiles. Later, we introduce monsters that can break through closed doors. Now, can you imagine the feeling the player will have when they arrive at a long hallway that has the same grates on the floor, the same ceiling tiles that monsters have been known to drop from, and some doors where monster may be waiting to bash through? Think of the suspense that can be created in the player’s every step. This ability to manage and manipulate the player’s expectations is a powerful tool for a designer.

If it is quiet, even a well-placed sound effect can be startling to the player. The designer could use any combination of these events or they could choose to layer them. Perhaps the designer chooses to only introduce the grates and the ceiling tiles forcing the player to walk along the walls for safety. This would be a good time to introduce the monster crashing through a door across the hall! Perhaps none of the above happen and a completely new monster runs down the hallway, stirring up all of the other monsters. Ultimately, it comes down to the designer’s personal goals and preferences how they want to develop the scenario.

Scripted Events

Scripted events are a great way to teach the player about how the world may function and add to the overall experience. It can be quite amusing to use a NPC to demonstrate what happens if the player misses a jump, carelessly runs out into a wide-open area, or stumbles across a trip-wire. All of these examples quickly teach the player something about how the world functions. NPCs can also be established an important part of the game and their functionality can become an important part of the player’s vocabulary. NPCs can commonly be used to provide player direction/goals, open doors, provide clues, develop the story, heal the player, serve as a hostage or an escort, join the player in combat, and even, at times, provide a good bit of comic relief. Each of these examples can be used on its own or in combination with other functionality to create interesting game scenarios.

Scripted world events can also be used to introduce new game mechanics and thereby further expand on the player’s vocabulary. For example, we can introduce regular barrels to the player that look fairly normal with a basic metal or wood texture. Later, we can introduce a similar shaped barrel that is visually different from the others. It could be painted red or have some warning labels on it. This “different” barrel could be explosive when destroyed. We can even introduce this type of barrel in a scripted event. Perhaps a battle is scripted where an enemy throws an explosive toward the barrels. Maybe the scenario is setup so a monster or group of monsters runs out in front of the barrels to attack the player. Any missing shots fired by the player could detonate the barrels. As you can see, there are a number of ways to introduce the exploding barrels. Once we’ve established that the barrels are explosive we can show the player how to use this to their advantage. Player’s can be taught to shoot at barrels to kill monsters with the radius damage, (which worked quite well in Doom). Through a bit more scripting we could make nearby pipes explode or have other parts of the world take damage from the blasts.

For example: The barrel explodes, the pipes burst, the room shakes, and parts of the ceiling come crashing down. Maybe the designer would want to expose a secret area where the pipes had once been. The player may now be inclined to shoot at all of the explosive barrels in hopes of finding another secret area — or simply because blowing things up can be fun. The designer can also use this to his advantage. For example, let’s have the player drop from a vent in the ceiling into a dark room. He soon notices that the room is full of explosives. Detonating anything in this area would mean certain death. How about we send in one tiny little monster to further cmplicate the situation. The player must be careful to not miss or use an overpowering weapon or they’ll detonate the room! This can be particularly effective if the player has just gone through a large battle with a very powerful, explosive weapon; they’ll likely still have a large weapon still in hand.

Resolution

Establishing numerous forms of resolution can also be a valuable part of the player’s vocabulary. Resolution can provide a sense of closure that can be used to let the player know when they are ready to move forward or when they’ve accomplished a certain goal.

If we place a complete set of objects (let’s use a set of armor as an example) in each thematic region of a level or game, the player will feel as though they have achieved a certain sense of resolution when they find each part of the set. Not only can this be used as a way of rewarding the player for exploring the areas thoroughly, but it also implies that they are ready to progress forward. The player has been taught that if they are missing a certain part of a set, there may be other parts of the world that they have not explored. We can further elaborate on the player’s expectations by providing some extra bonus that comes with having a complete set. It could be a good thing, a bad thing, or perhaps even a humorous thing. It’s up to the designer to make the choice and carefully craft the experience.

When done with care, the designer can literally plot the expectations of the player on paper and clearly identify each point of resolution in the game/level. This tends to make it easier to actually see how the game will progress and allows the designer/s to make adjustments to refine the pacing of the experience. This also makes it easy to identify possible problem areas that may need some excitement, point of interest, or purpose in the game.

Understanding the player’s expectations can prove to be the most powerful tool a designer could have. By carefully building a vocabulary of game mechanics we can keep track of what a player knows and when. Once we understand the player’s expectations of how the game environment works, we can use this to our advantage to create interesting and exciting scenarios and provide a memorable game experience. (Source: Gamasutra)