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开发者谈App Store游戏开发前景及挑战

发布时间:2011-07-20 14:56:29 Tags:,,,

作者:Mike Spitalieri

无论是掌上游戏机还是智能手机,从理论上讲,iPhone的弱点并不明显,而且是越来越不明显。但从规格上并不能看出iPhone作为游戏平台的快速演化。

一些游戏开发者——那些并不赞同借iPhone“大挣一笔否则就走向灭亡”的人,正从设计、营销和更新方面反思制作游戏的艺术。

我们集合了五位苹果应用商店的主流开发商代表,请他们谈谈iPhone如何改变游戏开发领域,而后者又如何改变了iPhone平台。

参与者:

Simon Oliver:开发者,公司:Hand Circus

代表作:《Rolando》

Bruce Morrison – 高级制作人,公司:Freeverse

代表作:《Moto Chaser》、《SlotZ Racer》 、《Flick Fishing》、《 Days of Thunder》

Ian Marsh – 开发者,公司: NimbleBit

代表作 :《Hanoi》、《 Textropolis》、《Scoops》

James Bossert – Fairlady Media联合创始人

代表作:《Whack ‘em All》

Ethan Nicholas -  Naughty Bits Software创始人

代表作: 《 iShoot》

Bruce Morrison是Freeverse公司的高级制作人。他首先表态:“有些游戏不该做成iPhone游戏,但也有非常多的主题应该做成iPhone游戏,通过iPhone,我们可以删繁就简,提炼出最核心的游戏玩法。”

之所以需要有所侧重,一部分是由用户使用手机玩游戏的方式引起的,用户大多是在路途中玩手机游戏。热门游戏《Rolando》的开发者Simon Oliver称:“便携式游戏最大的特点就是便利性。”

Ian Marsh这个因《Textropolis》和《Scoops》而成名业界的个人开发者解释道:“iPhone盖过其他平台的最大优势是,它只是一部手机或iPod——一种每天被成千上万人随身携带的设备。大家随时可以玩游戏,所需操作不过是滑动屏幕解锁罢了。”

iphone_ishoot(from gamasutra)

iphone_ishoot(from gamasutra)

正是iPhone的便利使之与相当简单的游戏机制配合得如此天衣无缝。Morrison阐述了这个观点,他赞扬另一名参与者Ethan Nicholas,即《iShoot》的制作人,并指出:“如果你看到排行榜前10名的游戏,会发现它们都是有一个侧重点。《iShoot》并不构建社交网络,它专注于游戏本身的核心,即射击。”

然而致力于游戏的一个特定方面,特别是没有实体触键的设备,可能让开发者非常头疼。据Morrison所称,“对iPhone游戏,你得养成不同的习惯。缺少触键算是一个大障碍。这里的每个人都克服了对实体键盘的需要,这还蛮有趣的。”

但缺少触键虽然对开发者构成重大的挑战,但同时也使这种设备更容易被接受。Oliver认为:“我太同意Bruce的看法了。实体键盘的缺失确实是一种艰难的挑战,所以需要对其进行周全的考虑。但加以留心和关注,大多类型的游戏在这个平台都能有不俗的表现。”

Simon Oliver继续表示:“加速计和触摸屏的即时性和可达性使得iPhone成为一款友好的游戏设备。”

《Rolando》是最受欢迎的iPhone游戏之一,它的游戏机制是简单的倾斜控制,搭配可爱的泡泡卡通风格画面,不过最后的操作组合和机制还是需要耗费相当大的精力。Oliver表示:“《Rolando》的第一种操作方案是指挥,很像《疯狂小旅鼠》和RTS类游戏。”

“该游戏的玩法是,摇动,选择小家伙,然后通过触摸屏幕指挥他们的活动,如滚到左边、右边,上窜下跳等等。比较麻烦的是,操作小家伙有时候也挺惊悚的,因为它们总是滚出屏幕,整点不寻常的事,就把自己搞死了。”

“操作方案改进后明显影响了游戏风格——原本很少强调平台元素,更多的关注解谜和策略。” Oliver称。

“个人认为,这是iPhone游戏开发中最令人兴奋的一方面,因为它使得开发者有机会在新画布上进行探索和创新,而不是在既定的设备上的既定风格中创新。”

这种新画布确实提供了更新、更有趣的游戏玩法,因为高度网络化的设备属性,许多玩法越来越社交化。例如,Morrison和Freeverse公司就运用了各种社交游戏设计元素。

其他社交游戏如《Mafia》和《Parallel Kingdom 》使用电子邮件、SMS和来自Google地图的本地数据来加强游戏性。Nicholas 最近为《iShoot》增加了在线多人游戏模式,但还考虑着定位游戏的运用。

“我正在思考一个‘地理定位游戏’,是《Tradewars 2002 》激发了我的灵感,这款游戏关注玩家的实际位置和与周围玩家的交易与互动。来个人牵头干吧,我想试试。”Oliver作邀请态。

社交游戏不但显示了许多新型的游戏玩法,还有助于推销和广告。Marsh表示:“如果某款游戏依靠口口相传来发展壮大,那么社交的可达性和病毒式游戏特征就非常重要了。”

对于一个依靠数字化销售而非传统零售店销售的平台,口口相传和病毒式营销就是iPhone游戏销售的重要组成部分。Morrison 和Freeverse公司采用了多尖端营销策略。

“我们很幸运,因为我们与早期的Mac公司建立了游戏发行和在线广告代理的联系。我们撰写标准的新闻通稿,并通过社交媒介进行推广。我们有一个很大的Twitter粉丝群体用来发布促销代码和折扣券。”

像Marsh 和NimbleBit这类小公司由于时间和预算限制,就只好充分利用社交媒介来推广游戏。“头几天是游戏生命的关键期。在开发期即将结束之际我才开始忙碌地在社交网站、Twitter,、iPhone论坛和YouTube展开营销活动。另外,所有游戏都已经链接到我们在App Store的其他游戏。我还试着让新游戏与我的其他游戏同步更新。”

仍然有其他“非主流”的方式可以招徕用户对游戏的关注;James Bossert和他的游戏《 Whack ‘em All》就是典型案例。“起初,我们发行付费游戏时,我们一天有10份销量,但之后游戏被盗版了,然后我们就看到每天400次的非法下载量。”

“当我们联系到盗版者,并责问他为何剽窃和发布我们的软件并把事情用搏文发表出来,我们发表在torrentfreak、Digg、Reddit和News.com等网站上的文章得到大量的免费曝光。这种出镜方式可能是使我们的游戏跻身排行榜前25位的第二大原因吧。”

“交叉推广也是不错的方法。我们每天和《Zynga Live Poke》交易1000次点击量。这可以帮助我们的游戏长踞排行榜前100名的位置。”

对于游戏的生存,冲进付费游戏榜单前列至关重要,在App Store、苹果意见书或数字销售或游戏评论门户网站获得了曝光度,就等于掌握了通向成功王国的钥匙。

很大程度上,像Bossert和Marsh这类游戏界新贵之所以对苹果的政策和开改性高唱颂歌,是因为它有助于小公司的崛起。Bossert认为“iPhone游戏,对我们来说,最大的优势在于开发门槛低。你支付苹果一定费用就能成为开发者。没有发行商、没有代理商、没有大公司的干扰。”

“在App Store登台之前,我们必须经历各个(电信)运营商的、长期的、沉闷的审批流程。”

Marsh一方面表示赞同,另一方面也表示担忧:“就像任天堂对Wii撤除概念审批,为许多开发者的原创设计和独特构想敞开大门,但也开启了盗版的方便之门。”

在这样开放变革中,成功的果实对Marsh 和Bossert这样的新开拓者来说确实丰硕,但放任主义的游戏开发也有丑陋的一面,它给App Store经济生态圈造成了消极影响。

他总结:“最简单的事实是,纵观苹果App Store发展史,你会发现,廉价简单的游戏内容才是主导。排行榜前列是《Koi Pond》、《iFart》和《iShoot 》这类游戏,史诗般的RPG或模拟游戏从来就没有这样的机会。在iPhone平台,出售一款甚至是9.99美元的游戏都很困难,这是导致盗版的原因。这对iPhone平台的应用生态系统产生了恶劣影响,90%的应用前景堪忧。”

Bossert表示同意:“确实有点让人沮丧。尽管让事情简单是不错,我认为就那方面而言,Ian的游戏做得很棒,但我真希望优秀的应用能占据榜单前列,树立好榜样。”

rolando(from ipwngames.com)

rolando(from ipwngames.com)

但也许这正是所问题所在。“《Whack ‘em All 》和《 Rolando 》互相竞争的时候,真的让我觉得欣慰。我们从来没想过能和复杂、有深度和质量的《Rolando》竞争。”

对于这场99美分价格战,《Rolando》制作人Simon Oliver却另有看法:“销量和曝光率高的主要促成因素当然是位列榜单前100,虽然人们乐于通过降价来挤入榜单的行为是可以理解的,但降价显然对应用价值产生重大影响。高预算的游戏将在这个平台上艰难求生。”

在2009年3月17日,苹果注意到了开发者对应用定价的抱怨和不满,发布了将植入iPhone 3.0软件的应用内置DLC(可下载内容,相当于资料片或补充更新内容)功能。其逻辑当然是,开发者仍然可以对简单应用征收低费用,但之后需以额外成本补充额外内容和功能,而不能采取免费升级或续篇的形式。

Marsh、Bossert和Nicholas对这个功能感到满足,称那是整体上的改观,为开发者增加收益打开了更多门路。 但Bossert也承认对苹果不希望免费游戏销量超过付费内容表示担忧。

Morrison对此则显冷淡,他认为:“这只解决了部分问题。当然,现在即使是4.99美元的售价都很难生存了。我不敢相信我所说的。”他指的是因售价以及用户寻找下载码令人抓狂的时间长度所引起的消极评价。

Nicholas表示:“我已经收到许多电子邮件,向我抱怨2.99美元的价格对一款游戏来说‘非常贵’,问我能不能给他们免费版?”

一旦游戏进入App Store,从本质上说就是把它抛在评级狂人面前。评级为用户发泄不满提供了渠道,也提供建议,有时还会落个1星评价的下场——而开发者却别无他法。

所有的开发者都因无知的或过时的评论深感受挫。苹果已经用版本标记的评论解决了这个问题,但评级删除功能的存在,仍然受到广泛的鄙视。

Morrison认为:“真这是个很差劲的设置,只会引发消级评论。”Bossert表示同感:“我认为根本就是垃圾。”Nicholas 和 Oliver 想出了一个简单的解决方法,或许可以鼓励用户在启动软件五次或十次后再给出评级,这种方法得到了其他开发者的认同。

在共识之外仍然存在一些合理的请求和周全的建议。Bossert称:“大多数来自用户的建议与游戏的宗旨是一致的。我们通常有一个计划更新和改进的列表,用户反馈可以帮助我们重新安排那份列表的优先顺序。”Marsh表示同意:“用户评价可以迅速警醒开发者去修补漏洞和缺失的设置。”

但有了放在每一个App Store的页面最前方的评价,用户反馈就可以取代设计文件或改变游戏的艺术意图吗?

Morrison 和Freeverse公司早在过去就坚定自己的立场。“我们真的只想追随满足我们所需的新设置。许多人要求在《Flick Fishing》中增加鲨鱼或鲸等受保护的鱼类,但我们不会让玩家去渔猎濒临灭绝的物种。这就是我们想要坚持的立场。”

Nicholas表示“我不是在说玩家愚昧之类的话,如果宫本茂听信我玩过20分钟《马里奥3》后的一面之辞,那游戏可能就会变得很糟糕了。”

iPhone游戏开发和App Store本身不断发展,成为最活跃的游戏平台指日可待。总地来说,开发者对苹果给予的支持还是比较满意的。

Bossert称:“许多问题都很完满地解决了。”Marsh也表示赞扬:“我认为苹果的反应很棒。他们给予的创造性开发帮助不止是工具和API。”Nicholas同意:“我不知道其他人怎么样,但通过升级更新,我得到了所有我想要的,甚至更多。”

当然,他之后在iPhone 3.0发布期间表达了他的挫败感:“我真的希望 iPhone开发者门户网站现在就切实运作起来!是的,我知道3.0很令人振奋,但服务器故障是个大问题。”

游戏邦注:原文发表于2009年4月23日,所述事件以当时为背景。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

iPhone Devs: Rethinking the Art of Making Games

by Mike Spitalieri

[In a Gamasutra special feature, we talk to five leading iPhone game developers, including the makers of hit titles Rolando, iShoot and Flick Fishing, on the state of making games for Apple's explosively popular platform.]

As both a gaming handheld and smartphone, on paper, the iPhone has very few weak spots — and fewer by the day. But what the spec sheet doesn’t convey is how quickly the iPhone as a gaming platform is evolving.

Some developers — those who don’t subscribe to the Get-Rich-or-Die-Spamming school of iPhone development — are using this opportunity to rethink the art of making games from design, promotion, and updates.

We rounded up five heroes of the App Store and got them talking about not only how the iPhone is changing development, but how development is changing the iPhone.

Participants

Simon Oliver – Developer, Hand Circus

Notable Games – Rolando

Bruce Morrison – Senior Producer, Freeverse

Notable Games – Moto Chaser, SlotZ Racer , Flick Fishing , Days of Thunder

Ian Marsh – Developer, NimbleBit

Notable Games – Hanoi, Textropolis, Scoops

James Bossert – Co-Founder Fairlady Media

Notable Games – Whack ‘em All

Ethan Nicholas – Founder, Naughty Bits Software

Notable Games – iShoot

“There are some games that should not be made for the iPhone, but there’s also a huge group that should,” begins Bruce Morrison, senior producer at Freeverse — the mobile game company responsible for such successful apps as SlotZ Racer and Flick Fishing. “With the iPhone we get to strip out all the extra crap and focus by narrowing the gameplay.”

Part of this need for focus arises from the way consumers play games on their phone, mostly in transit. As Simon Oliver, the developer of the critically acclaimed app Rolando puts it, “Portable gaming is all about convenience.”

And Ian Marsh, a one-man-development team credited such hits as Textropolis and Scoops, explains that “The biggest advantage the iPhone has over other platforms is that it is a phone or iPod — a device carried around by millions of people every day. That option to play is suddenly always there, just an unlock swipe away.”

Ethan Nicholas’ iShoot

And it’s this idea of convenience that meshes so well with relatively simple game mechanics. Morrison expounds on the point by praising another participant, Ethan Nicholas, the recently day-jobless creator of iShoot. “If you look at the top 10 games, they all have a focus. iShoot didn’t try to build a social network, it focused on what was core to the game, shooting.”

And yet focusing on one particular aspect of a game, especially on a device with no tactile buttons, can be head-spinning for a developer. “There is a different mindset you have to get into with iPhone games,” continues Morrison. “The lack of tactile buttons is a huge obstacle. And I think it’s interesting that every person here has overcome the need for physical buttons.”

But where the lack of tactile buttons represents a significant challenge to developers it also makes the device more accessible. “I definitely agree with Bruce that the absence of physical buttons does present a significant challenge and requires considerable thought to work with, but with care and attention most genres can be represented well,” says Oliver.

“The immediacy and accessibility of the accelerometers and touchscreen make it a really un-intimidating device to use,” continues the Rolando developer.

Consider then that Rolando, one of the most well received games on the platform utilizes simple tilt-based controls and an inviting, bubbly cartoon art-style. The final control scheme and mechanics took considerable effort, though. “The very first control scheme [for Rolando] was command-based, more like Lemmings or an RTS,” says Oliver.

“The idea was that you would pan around, select the little creatures and instruct them to do things by swiping on the screen — such as roll left, right, stop or jump — and they would just carry on until told to stop. The trouble is that controlling them became a bit of a nightmare as they were always rolling off the screen, doing unusual things and generally dying.”

“As the control scheme evolved, it definitely affected genre — originally there was considerably less emphasis on the platforming element, with the main focus being on puzzle and strategy,” says Oliver.

“Personally, I find this one of the most exciting aspects of iPhone development, as it offers you the chance to really explore and create on this new canvas, as opposed to creating within an established genre on an established device.”

This new canvas does indeed provide new and intriguing gameplay aspects, many of which are increasingly social due to the hyper-networked nature of the device. Morrison and Freeverse, for one, have employed various social gaming aspects.

“The iPhone gives us developers a lot of freedom to try new cool things that other consoles and handhelds restrict,” he says. “Flick Fishing has sent out over 150,000 Brag Emails since we launched the feature and SlotZ Racer lets you email tracks to friends.”

Other social games like Mafia and Parallel Kingdom use email, SMS and location data from Google Maps to enhance gameplay. Nicholas has recently added online multiplayer to iShoot, but contemplates the use of location based gaming.

“I’m thinking about [a location based game] inspired by, say, Tradewars 2002 which pays attention to your real location and has you trading and interacting with other nearby players. One of you guys go ahead and build that, because I want to play it,” he invites.

But where social gaming presents a number of avenues for new styles of gameplay it can also aid in promotion and advertising. “Access to contacts allows for social and viral game features, which are especially important when your game relies on being spread by word of mouth,” says Marsh.

For a platform that relies on digital distribution instead of traditional retail outlets, word of mouth and viral promotion are a tremendous part of selling iPhone games. Morrison and Freeverse employ a multi-pronged strategy.

“We are lucky to be and older established Mac company with existing relationships with gaming press and online ad agencies,” he says. “We do a standard press release, as well as social media. We have a large Twitter following where we frequently post promo codes and discount coupons.”

Smaller operations like Marsh and NimbleBit have taken full advantage of social media due to time and budget constraints. “The first few days your app’s life are probably the most important. Towards the end of development I start building a buzz on social websites, Twitter, iPhone forums, and YouTube. Plus, all of my games have links to the rest of my games in the App Store, and I try to coincide necessary updates to my other games with any new releases.”

Still, there are other unorthodox ways to drum up interest in your game; James Bossert and his game Whack ‘em All being the prime example. “Originally, we had 10 sales a day when we released our paid game, but then it was pirated and we saw 400 [illegal] daily downloads.”

“When we contacted the pirate and asked him why he was pirating the app and blogged about it, we got a ton of free exposure via articles on torrentfreak, Digg, Reddit, News.com, and more. The exposure we got this way was probably the second biggest reason why our game got into the top 25.”

“Cross promotions also work pretty well. We trade about a 1,000 clicks per day with Zynga Live Poker. This type of thing could help the longevity of your app in the top 100.”
Breaking into the Top Paid Apps list remains crucial to a game’s viability, and as such the App Store, Apple’s submissions/digital distribution/reviews portal ultimately holds the keys to the kingdom.

For the most part, upstarts like Bossert and Marsh laud Apple’s policy and openness as it allows small operations such as theirs to flourish. “The great thing about developing for the iPhone to us is the relatively low barrier-to-entry. You pay apple to become a developer and you’re off and running. No publishers, no agents, no big companies to mess with,” says Bossert.

“Prior to the App Store, you needed to go through a long and tedious approval process with each of the [telecom] carriers independently.”

Marsh agrees, saying, “Removing concept approval as Nintendo have done with the Wii opens the door for many serious developers with their original and unique ideas.” Although he does caution that “it also opens the shovelware floodgates.”

With such an open agora, the fruits of success are plentiful for newcomers like Marsh and Bossert, but the laissez-faire game development has an ugly side, Marsh cautions — and it appears to be shaping the economics of the App Store.

“The simple fact is that if you look at the history of the App Store, the cheap simple content rules the roost. Top spots go to stuff like Koi Pond, iFart, and iShoot rather than epic role playing or simulation games,” says Nicholas. “It’s difficult to sell even a $9.99 app on the iPhone, and the increasing perception of this has led to shovelware. This is having an unfortunate effect on the iPhone ecosystem, where 90% of the apps out there just plain suck,” he concludes.

Bossert agrees: “It’s a bit frustrating, really. Keeping things simple is good though, I think Ian does a fantastic job with his games in that respect, but hopefully the better apps will rise to the top and set an example.”

And yet that may be exactly the problem. “It’s really interesting to me that at this point in time, Whack ‘em All and Rolando are competing against each other. We never intended to compete with a game with the complexity, depth and production values of Rolando.”

To combat this race to ninety-nine cents, however, Simon Oliver, the creator of Rolando, contemplates bracketing off the Top 100s into separate dollar amounts: “The primary factor in sales and exposure is of course the top 100 list, and while the price cuts that people are willing to make to get into that list are understandable, they are definitely having a significant effect on the perceived value of Apps. High-budget games are clearly going to struggle on this platform.”

On March 17th, Apple, with an ear toward developers’ pricing gripes, unveiled an in-app DLC feature to be included with the iPhone’s 3.0 software. The logic was, of course, that developers can still charge low prices for relatively simple apps, but then build in additional content and features at additional cost without resorting to free updates or sequels.
Marsh, Bossert and Nicholas are pleased with the feature, saying that it is an improvement overall and provides more ways for developers to earn revenue. Bossert, however, admits concern that Apple does not allow free games to up-sell premium content.

Morrison remains lukewarm, however, saying, “It solves part of the problem. Of course, now it’s even harder to justify a $4.99 price tag. I can’t believe I just said that,” referring to the negative reviews based on price, and the insane lengths users will sometimes go to procure a download code.

Says Nicholas, “I’ve had a number of people email me to complain that $2.99 was, and I quote, ‘very expensive’ for a game, and could I pretty please give them a free copy of it?”

Once you’ve gotten your game onto the App Store, though, that essentially lets the ratings genie out of the bottle. Ratings represent a crystal clear channel for users to vent frustrations, offer advice and sometimes leave glowing 1-star reviews — whether developers want it or not.

All of the developers express frustration with uninformed or outdated reviews. Apple has addressed this issue with version-tagging reviews, but the Rate on Delete function remains, receiving universal disdain from the panel.

“It’s a very bad feature,” says Morrison. “It promotes negative reviews.” Bossert agrees, “I think it’s crap.” Nicholas and Oliver come back with a simple solution of perhaps prompting a user to give a rating after they’ve launched an app five or ten times, which draws approval from the other developers.

Still, out of the chorus, there are some voices with reasonable requests and thoughtful advice. “Most suggestions from customers are consistent with the aims of the game,” says Bossert. “We often have a list of potential updates and improvements, and customer feedback can help us re-prioritize that list.” Marsh agrees, saying that “User reviews can quickly alert the developer to bugs and missing features.”

But with reviews on the forefront of every App Store page, and developers that are eager to please, can user feedback drown out design docs or alter the artistic intent of a game?”
Morrison and Freeverse have taken a firm stance in the past. “We really only go after a new feature that fits in with what we want to do. Many people have asked for protected species of fish/sharks/whales in Flick Fishing, but we will not let you fish for endangered species, even virtually. It’s a stance we wanted to take.”

Nicholas too takes the hard line. “I’m not saying that players are dumb or anything like that — just, well, if Miyamoto had listened to my suggestions after playing Mario 3 for twenty minutes, it would have been a terrible game.”

iPhone development and the App Store itself remain very much a work in progress, which makes it one of the most exciting platforms to watch.
As we’ve seen through Apple’s updates, there’s constant give and take among not only developers and gamers, but also Apple itself by constantly refining the App Store. Overall, developers sound pleased with the Apple’s support.

“Many issues devs reported have been addressed nicely,” says Bossert. “I think their response has been great. They’re giving the creative devs even more tools and APIs,” says Marsh. Nicholas also agrees, saying, “I don’t know about everyone else, but I got everything I was hoping for and more with this update.”

Of course, he later Tweets his frustration during the iPhone 3.0 event, “Arg, I really need the iPhone developer portal to actually be working now! Yes, I know 3.0 is exciting, but stop killing the servers!”(source:gamasutra


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