游戏邦在:
杂志专栏:
gamerboom.com订阅到鲜果订阅到抓虾google reader订阅到有道订阅到QQ邮箱订阅到帮看

成功独立游戏项目的9大普遍元素

发布时间:2011-09-08 14:45:01 Tags:,,,,,

作者:Juuso

通过查看我自己以及出自其他开发者之手的游戏项目,我总结出了成功游戏项目所需的9个普遍要素。这9大要素只代表我的个人观点,而且不分先后顺序。如果你能够拥有其中的7到9个,我想你可以显著提高游戏获得成功的几率。

indie game-minercraft(from paper.li)

indie game-minercraft(from paper.li)

1、范围

独立游戏开发者需要考虑项目的范围。所有的游戏项目刚开始都很少,随后它们便有可能变成需要耗费数年才能够开发完成的巨型项目。关注游戏的范围非常重要。将游戏分解成各个片段,使用程序生成内容和用户产生内容,不必过于拘泥于那些美术和图像,这些都是需要考虑的内容。范围很重要,太小会让游戏显得过于简单,但是太大就会让游戏变得难以处理和完成。

2、资金

钱可以解决许多问题,但是我觉得首先要决定愿意在游戏中投入多少。预算的不同会让你大概知道哪些内容可能实现以及哪些内容不可实现,这样便可以在你需要考虑许多功能时为你节省宝贵的时间。

钱还可以用来解决你不擅长的领域,这或许也能够节省你很多时间。

旁注:即便没有预算也可以。游戏的图像质量越差,但它却成为巨作时就越容易受到人们的关注。

3、时间

时间非常重要,如果你没有时间来制作游戏的话,所有的机会都将成为泡影。

4、技能

你需要对某件事情较为擅长。我过去总是认为编程上的娴熟是最为重要的,因为我觉得编程在游戏制作中所占比例最大。现在有了新颖且容易使用的工具,我觉得在精于图像制作更有机会创造出优秀的游戏。

除此之外,如果你想要让游戏变得有趣,就必须对游戏设计有一定的理解。如果你能够理解为何游戏中有些东西有趣,这会让你在做决定时更加简单。

5、动机

如果你没有动力去创造自己的游戏,会很明显的表现出来。动力很难获得,有些人可能愿意花无数个小时的时间去做某些事情,一直工作到深夜。这便是持久力。

6、冲劲

我注意到,如果将游戏开发暂停一段时间(游戏邦注:比如停两周时间出去休假),回到工作中总是会感到很困难。而一旦继续工作,事情又变得很自然。因此,保持冲劲是很重要的。如果每几百米就停下来歇会儿,你根本无法跑完马拉松全程。你需要保持不停向前的劲头。

7、革新

我认为优秀的独立游戏也应该有某些独特的地方,某些与众不同的地方。我不知道这具体是什么,但如果游戏有些特别之处,那么就可以铸造出优秀的故事,或许还能够衍生出更有趣的体验。

8、发布

发布游戏能够让你接触到某些真正重要的东西。多次发布的计划是可行的,而且我也推荐你这么做。

发布游戏可以让你的梦想变成现实。

9、润色

或许成功独立游戏中最重要的部分是润色,这也是最为困难的部分,包括:修正漏洞、增加功能、细化功能、改变内容、解决不良问题、精致美术、改善音效等等。

经过润色之后,你就真正拥有了出众的东西,我想其他人也能够注意到你付出的努力。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

9 common elements of a successful (indie) game project

Juuso

By checking my own games projects and games created by other developers, I spotted 9 common elements that many of these projects had (or should have had…). Here’s my list of 9 items, in no particular order. If you cover 7-9 of these, I think you greatly improve your odds of a creating a fine product, in comparison to having only 5-6.

#1 – Scope

Indie game devs need to think about the scope of the project. I know all game projects start small, and they then have the danger of growing into huge gigantic several year taking projects. Watching the scope is important. Splitting the game into episodes, using procedural content, user generated content, not getting too attached to creating huge asset piles (artwise, graphicwise) all need to be considered. Scope is important. Too small, and game is too simple. Too much and it’ll becomes too big mess to handle.

#2 – Money

Money can fix many things. I wasn’t too thrilled about having budgets, but at later age I think it might be good idea to have some sense about what range you are willing to take. Is it 10 bucks, 100 bucks, 10 000 bucks or 100 000 bucks gives some rough idea what will be possible and what won’t be possible, saving you precious time when you need to consider different features.

Money can also be used to cover areas you are not good at, which in return might save you a lot of time.

As a sidenote: it’s perfectly okay to go with zero budget too. The worse the graphics, the greater the story when your game becomes the next hit…

#3 – Time

Very important. If you don’t have time to make games, then your chances of making games drop to zero. Here’s a post about 100 ways to be more productive. It’s from year 2008 and still pretty valid if I may say so.

#4 – Skill

You need to be skilled in something. I’ve always thought that being a skilled in programming is the most important part, as I believe programming is most work. With new and easier to use tools, I see that graphically talented folks have more opportunities to create fine games.

Besides these, a solid understanding of game design is a pretty good idea in case you plan to make the game any fun. Understanding some fundamentals just simply makes decision simpler, when you have some more understanding on why something is or isn’t fun. (Book of Lenses is a good starting point by the way).

#5 – Motivation

If you are not motivated to create your game, it shows. Motivation is hard thing to have. One simply gotta be willing to spend countless hours doing something, working in the dark. It’s persistance.

If the work you do is fun, no matter what is the final result, then you probably are in the right track on this.

#6 – Momentum

I’ve noticed that if I don’t work on my game for some time (let’s say 2 weeks, for example when having bit of summer holiday), it’s always harder to come back. When I eventually come back and continue, things are fine again. It’s just that keeping up the momentum is important. You don’t finish a marathon by sitting down every few hundred meters. You gotta keep pushing, keep going and keep the momentum going.

#7 – Twist

I like to believe that fine indie games also need something unique, something different. Some sort of twist that makes them different from what we’ve seen earlier. I don’t know what that might be, but if there’s something special in the game, it makes a good story. And who knows, maybe even a fun experience too.

#8 – Release

Second most important part of the puzzle (#9 being perhaps most important). By releasing your game, you’ve reached something truly important. Continuing from here gets easier. If you plan to do multiple releases, that’s fine (and recommended too).

By doing release (or releases) you make your dream come more true.

#9 – Polish

Perhaps the most important part of a successful indie game: polishing. It’s the hardest part: fixing nasty bugs, adding features, honing features, changing things, getting rid of some of the bad stuff, getting better art, getting better sounds, spending tons of hours into very many things…

… and then you really have something great in your hands. And perhaps others see it too. (Source: Game Producer Blog)


上一篇:

下一篇: