作者：Ziv Kitaro

很多人认为制作诸如《愤怒的小鸟》之类的畅销作品不是难事。从表面来看，《愤怒的小鸟》略显幼稚。描述游戏内容着实有些令人为难。玩家可用弹弓弹出系列彩色小鸟，瞄准被小猪占领的建筑，将小猪置于死地。

谈及游戏成功秘诀，很多人都会想到病毒式传播和画面效果，毕竟人人都能构思类似游戏内容，是吧？完全错误。优质不仅仅体现在杰出画面效果和音效。作品要想真正具有病毒扩散性，需具有优质内容。游戏就是产品，需经历系列制作流程，先是构思，最后才是真正的交易。

参考下述步骤，你或许无法制作出轰动巨作，但游戏定是款优秀作品。

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1. 不要试图制作杀手级游戏。单压力就足以剥夺你的创造性，阻碍你踏上制作成功作品之路。目标很简单，就是给玩家创造优秀体验。这个体验包含系列元素：可玩性、可用性、故事内容、画面效果和音效。

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2. 确定构思。其源自考量某特定用户群体。这或许是映入你脑海中的简单笑话。构思听起来有点无聊（游戏邦注：就像引导飞机着陆），但一旦成功落实，就会变成有趣内容（就像《机场空管》）。模仿未尝不可，但构思需足够强大，不要制作同他人相同的游戏。

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3. 进行调查研究。设计就是艺术，但艺术家也得吃饭。把游戏打造成别具一格、错综复杂、史无前例、夸张无比的作品是个不错构想，但需确保其能够吸引用户眼球。观察App Store，阅读评论，获悉玩家偏好什么类型。

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4. 集思广益。和普遍看法不同，集体讨论会议是个持续进行的活动。不要特别安排某段时间开展此活动，你需明白这是项目进展过程的一部分。例如，集体讨论如何把构想制作成作品，然后再共同讨论游戏规则。

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5. 了解游戏法则。清晰把握游戏类型能够确保你不偏离轨道。这是款益智游戏？那么为何要设计第一人称射击游戏的关卡？这是款休闲易上手的游戏？那么为何要融入如此多控制装置？不妨参考《喷嚏泡泡》、《涂鸦跳跃》和《机场空管》：他们都是简单、休闲和特别的游戏内容。

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6. 保持灵活性。游戏独立成型需耗费一定时间。若游戏不是简单谜题关卡，那么就不要将其打造成塔防游戏。制作过程分多个阶段，因此很多元素都会发生变化（游戏邦注：从可玩性到故事情节，从规则到游戏机制）。若这些改变能够完善游戏，那么就大胆进行。

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7. 控制设置需配合iOS设备。触屏界面不同于实体控制装置。你也许会说，但很多开发商都在作品中融入虚拟按键装置。切勿这么做。你需把控制装置设置成游戏的有机组成部分，可以借助陀螺仪和指南针，就像《无尽之剑》，游戏使用手势进行攻击。

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8. 融入幽默元素。幽默有助于提高游戏流行程度。PopCap原本只消制作简单僵尸塔防游戏。但植入植物作为防御武器就增加游戏愉悦气氛，掳获大量粉丝的芳心。《植物大战僵尸》中的幽默感影响其画面效果、音效、奖励级别和机制。

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9. 把握游戏机制。这能够促使玩家反复回访游戏。不妨参考《极品飞车》。这是首款竞赛游戏，玩家在游戏中所要进行的操作就是倾斜iPhone控制汽车。玩家无需进行加速，汽车会以最快速度行驶，这是个合理设置。

game 9 from macworld.com

10. 尽早进行测试。不要待程序员完成所有工作后才进行测试。从理想角度看，编写任何代码前都应体验游戏数次。怎么操作？去除不真实的画面，在你的Mac运作框架应用，使用橡皮泥制作游戏模型。那么对于游戏你将会有更深理解。

game 10 from macworld.com

11. 把握故事情节。游戏故事无需是角色推动的叙述内容，情节无需跌宕起伏，结局无需潸然泪下。故事可以更简单，例如小鸟驱赶偷蛋小猪。故事元素能够调动玩家兴趣，提高游戏层次。

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12. 创建游戏世界。一旦获悉故事内容，你就知晓游戏世界形态（游戏邦注：《The Lord of the Rings: Middle-Earth Defense》就是个典型例子）。《LotR》世界植入丰富建筑、角色和道具，将普通塔防游戏打造成蕴含魔力的游戏内容。

game 12 from macworld.com

13. 观察GUI（图形用户界面）如何影响游戏法则。创建游戏后，反复体验数次，观察其在iPhone和iPad的运作效果，然后再步入GUI阶段。在此阶段，你需试验所有元素，直至确保内容能够流畅运作。有些元素需稍作调整，有时甚至包括游戏规则和机制。

game 13 from macworld.com

14. 关卡设计。最后就是关卡设计，这是游戏的核心内容。其名称容易令人误解，因为甚至连在线多人游戏也有关卡设计，在此游戏中，玩家不是真正从某关卡移至下个关卡。所有关卡内容需协调一致，这样玩家才不会不知所措。《愤怒的小鸟》就是优秀关卡设计的典型例子。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Create a killer app for iOS

by Ziv Kitaro

People imagine that it’s pretty easy to create a bestselling app like Angry Birds. On the surface, Angry Birds looks childish. Describing it is embarrassing. You get a few colourful birds that you slingshot at buildings occupied by pigs, with the aim of killing all the pigs.

When trying to understand its success, people think of viral marketing and graphics as the lead reasons – after all, anyone can come up with a game like that, right? Wrong. A good game has more to it than nice graphics and sound. To become truly viral your product actually has to be good. Games are products, and they have to go through a pipeline that begins with the concept and ends with the real deal.

Follow the steps below and you might not have the next bestseller, but you will have a good game.

1. Don’t try to create a killer game The stress alone will kill your creativity and prevent you from following paths that will eventually lead to a really successful game. The aim is simple – to create a good experience for the player. This experience consists of several elements: playability, usability, story, graphics, and sound.

2. Find a concept It can come from thinking about a specific audience. It can be a one-liner that pops into your head. Concepts can sound boring (directing airplanes to land), but once developed they can be amazing (like Flight Control). Copying is OK, but the idea must be strong and don’t build the same game as someone else.

3. Do your research Game design is an art, but artists need to eat. It’s great to create your special, intricate, never-before-seen, over-the-top game, but make sure you’ve got the numbers to support that. Check the App Store, read reviews and understand what types of games people pay for.

4. Keep on brainstorming Contrary to popular belief, a brainstorming session is an ongoing activity. Don’t schedule a limited time slot for this activity, you need to accept that it’s part of the process. For example, brainstorm on ideas that make the concept into a game, then brainstorm on game rules.

5. Know the game principles A clear vision of the genre will help you stay on course. Is it a puzzle game? Then why are you planning levels for a first-person shooter? Is it a casual, easy-to-learn game? Why are you adding so many controls? Look at Sneezies, Doodle Jump, Flight Control: simple, casual and specific games.

6. Be flexible There will come a time when the game takes on a life of its own. If the game would be better as a riddle-based quest, don’t force it to be a tower defence. There are many stages that will change everything from playability to story, from rules to game mechanics. If these changes serve the game, make them.

7. Match the control to the iOS Touch interface is different to physical controllers. Obviously, you might say, yet many developers add virtual push buttons to their games. Don’t do that. Make the control an organic part of the game – use the gyroscope, and compass – like Infinity Blade, which uses gestures for attacks.

8. Use humour Humour has a great effect on the popularity of a game. PopCap could have created a simple Zombie-based tower defence. Adding plants as a defence weapon makes the game lighthearted, and opens it up to millions. The humour in Plants vs. Zombies influences the graphics, sound, bonus stages and mechanics.

9. Know the game mechanics This is what makes players return to the game again and again. Look at Need for Speed Undercover. It was the first racing game in which all a player had to do was to tilt the iPhone to steer the car. There was no need to accelerate, the car moved as fast as it could and this makes sense.

10. Start testing ASAP Never wait for the programmers to finish before testing. Ideally, you should have played the game several times before any code is written. How? Cut out cardboard images, use a wireframe application on your Mac, create the game out of playdough. You will have a better understanding of it.

11. Know the story The story of the game doesn’t have to be a character-driven narrative with twists and turns and an ending that brings tears to players’ eyes. It can be far simpler – birds dispatching pigs for stealing their eggs, for example. A story creates interest for the players and kicks a game up a notch or two.

12. Build the world Once you know the story, you know what the world looks like. The Lord of the Rings: Middle-Earth Defense is a great example, as it’s still no more than a tower defence game. The LotR world gives us rich architecture, characters, and units that change the generic tower defence game into something magical.

13. See how GUI affects principles After creating the game, play it a few times and see that it works on the iPhone and iPad, before going into the GUI stage. This is where you actually move all the elements around until you’re sure that the game-flow works. Certain elements will have to change, and even rules and mechanics.

14. Reach for the skies Last comes level design – the heart of the game. The name is misleading as level design exists even in online multiplayer games, where players don’t really move from one level to the next. Each level must be balanced so that players aren’t overwhelmed. Angry Birds is a prime example of good level design.（Source：macworld）