作者：Jennie Lees

因为缺少变化，很多游戏遭到了质疑，可是最近，随着越来越多创新元素的出现，使游戏能够吸引到越来越多不同类型的玩家。这些创新元素包括能够弥补游戏的一些最小设计选择，以及能够完全改造游戏的最大决策等。前《EDGE》编辑Margaret Robertson（游戏邦注：游戏设计师，《Hide and Seek》开发主管）列举出了她认为去年或者在游戏开发者大会上最优秀的一些游戏及其值得效仿的特色之处：

1.跳过一些无聊的东西。如《花花公子拉瑞：优等生》和《鬼武者：幻梦之晓》等能让玩家在觉得游戏冗长乏味时跳过一些小游戏环节。比起让玩家花好几个小时去排队等候，这些游戏让玩家能够自己设定日程安排表，以此看来，比起迎合不同玩家的能力，游戏更注重迎合不同玩家的心情。

2.花时间不等于浪费时间。你是否曾经在角色扮演游戏中漫无目的地奔跑好几个小时却发现自己什么都没有得到？像《勇者斗恶龙8》和《宇宙巡航机5》便通过游戏时间或者游戏行程而衡量玩家在其中的成就，即玩家只需要轻松玩游戏便能获得奖励。即使在一些没有目标性的游戏环节中玩家也能有所收获。

宝石探秘(from freeworldgroup)

3.逐步的满足感。让玩家能够不时完成全局下的一些较小目标而朝着更大的目标迈进，以此对他们产生激励。《宝石探秘》中便有一个“全局布景”，玩家可以通过完成每一个关卡而不断揭开这个布景。甚至像《重装英豪》这些游戏中玩家占领了一座新的城市便能够插上旗帜这些小成就也很重要。

4.权利下放。统治权利是一个吸引人的游戏机制，它使得玩家能够对其他玩家，好友等产生影响。从《感染》中的僵尸肆虐到《动物之森》以地球为模版的设计，这些虚拟内容都让玩家能有一种握权或者高高在上的感受。

5.轻松获得英雄伟绩。有时候自己一直努力去攀登游戏级别真的很难。在《激战》中，游戏新手也能够在一开始便尝试着作为世界顶级战斗者；在《世界街头赛车3》中，比起在一开始只能操作那些慢速的赛车并慢慢获得改进，这款游戏让玩家能够马上操纵高端的汽车。如今社会中充斥着即食文化，所以游戏中这种能够马上赋予玩家权利的机制非常受欢迎，尽管像《激战》这类型的游戏仍然让玩家能够自行选择是否从第一关开始游戏并创造最引人注目的荣誉。

6.自我表现。游戏中的创造性和自我表现？这并不是白日做梦。《一笔吃豆》，《Magic Pengel》以及《御神》等都通过一种奇特且娱乐的方式吸引玩家，让他们能够在游戏中表现自己的创造性，并因此在游戏世界中有所作为而获得奖励。这种被动的整合属性（即先吸引后奖励）与其它主动鼓励玩家发挥创造性的游戏（游戏邦注：如《动物之森》和《第二人生》）形成了鲜明的对比。

7.炫耀。在游戏中截图很简单，玩家可以以此记录一些特别的成就，或者一些精彩瞬间并与其他电脑游戏玩家进行分享。但是掌机游戏玩家该怎么办呢？《乐可乐可》和《搏击玫瑰》便意识到了这一点，它们发现很多掌机玩家有时也想记录一些华丽的画面，但是却很少能够做到这一点。

8.较小的设计理念。当Margaret认为上述的七大观点只是一些较为特别的“仿效战术”，其实还有一些让游戏稍显有趣的小许变动策略。例如，在多人游戏中保持一致的“我们是红色的，他们是蓝色的”心态；在《新冰城传奇》中设置了“玩家可以在野外贩售一些无用的东西”这一功能；而在多人游戏《塞尔达》中玩家既可以与好友协作也能攻击他们等。

哪一个是最佳“仿效战术”？创造你自己的新观点，或者有针对地进行改变，尽可能地解决那些让你恼火的问题。效仿其他人的好主意确实很重要，但是如果能再添加自己的创造性就更加完美了。

Margaret强调说，有些玩家容易忽略一些游戏设计观点，但是也有其他玩家对其百般赞赏。游戏设计并不是一个完美的学科，它需要随着新游戏的出现而不断带来新的改变和完善。甚至是一些小规模的创新也是一种创新，上述所提到的一些观点都在尝试着将一些缺少可玩性的游戏变成好玩的游戏，所以千万不要忽视那些小型设计理念的威力。

游戏邦注：原文发表于2006年7月13日，所涉事件和数据均以当时为准。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Develop: Game design ideas worth stealing

by Jennie Lees

Game development gets accused of stagnation on a near-daily basis, and yet recent games have all featured innovative steps that can appeal to a variety of players. From minor design choices which somehow redeemed a title, to major decisions shaping the entire nature of a game, it’s easier than you might think to make a difference. Margaret Robertson of EDGE gave her top picks from the last year or so’s crop of games at the Develop Conference; read on for the lowdown.

Skip the boring stuff. Games such as Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude and Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams allow players to bypass minigames when they become tedious. Letting players set their own agenda rather than forcing them to line up dots for hours means that games can cater to different moods, rather than simply different abilities.

Time spent shouldn’t be wasted. Ever run around aimlessly for hours in an RPG only to realise you’ve achieved nothing? By tying in achievements to measures such as play time or distance walked, as in Dragon Quest VIII and , players become rewarded for simply playing the game. Even aimless sessions allow players to achieve something.

Gradual gratification. By constantly achieving small goals as part of a larger picture, players stay motivated. Jewel Quest has a literal ‘big picture’ — an image which is progressively revealed by completing levels — but even small things like changing the flags of a newly captured town in The Outfit can leave a mark.

Empowerment. World domination is but a step away with intriguing game mechanics that allow players to have an impact on other players — and their friends, and their friends, and… From zombie outbreaks in Infected to designs spreading around the globe in Animal Crossing: Wild World, viral content (especially easily trackable content) leads to power and greatness.

Easy heroics. Sometimes working your way up the ranks isn’t good enough. In Guild Wars, the character builds of the world’s top players are available for newbies to try out from the very start; Project Gotham Racing 3 only allows you to race top-end cars, rather than the usual racing mechanic of starting slow and working up. In today’s instant-gratification culture, the immediate power encapsulated here is seductive, although games like Guild Wars retain the option to start at level 1 and recreate the glory of the best.

Art and Me. Creativity and self-expression in games? Not just a pipe dream. Pac Pix, Magic Pengel and Okami all combine drawing with games in odd and entertaining ways — and being able to see your creations come to life and have an effect on the game world is rewarding. The passive nature of this integration (draw once, reap the rewards later) puts it in contrast with other games that actively encourage you to create within the world (such as Animal Crossing and even Second Life).

Showing off. The simple ability to take screenshots within games — maybe marking particular achievements, or cool moments — and share them with others is a PC staple, but what about consoles and handhelds?  Loco Roco  and Rumble Roses recognise that sometimes people just want to record pretty pictures, but being able to save screenshots from consoles is rare.

Smaller design ideas. While Margaret thought these seven ideas were particularly ‘stealable’, there are also a load of tiny tweaks that make games just plain fun. For example, having a consistent “we’re red, they’re blue” mentality in multiplayer games; the ‘sell useless items for cash while out in the field’ feature of A Bard’s Tale; the ability to both co-operate with your friends and smash them to a pulp in multiplayer Zelda.

The most stealable idea? Create your own new ideas, design tweaks that fix those problems that get you miffed. Copying other strokes of ingenuity is great, but originality’s even better.

Margaret highlighted a wide range of design issues that some gamers overlook and others praise; game design isn’t a perfect science, and new shortcuts, tweaks and improvements are continually introduced by new titles. Even innovation on a small scale is innovation; some of the improvements listed above managed to turn unplayable titles into playable ones, so never underestimate the power of a single small design decision. （source:joystiq）