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创新设计可改变第一人称射击游戏两大弊端

发布时间:2011-09-29 15:18:29 Tags:,,,

作者:Matthew Downey

玩家行为可以让游戏变得更加有趣(游戏邦注:比如帮助队友),也可以让游戏趣味性降低(游戏邦注:比如无尽的连击)。

由无尽连击等设置而产生的优势通常会被视为不公平的举动,但是这种行为双方均可采取。这种双方均可使用不公平机制的设计是否让游戏变得公平呢?对这个问题的答案,看法各不相同。

今天,我将向你呈现某些第一人称射击游戏中的spawnkilling和camping问题的解决方案。

spawnkilling

Spawn Kill指的是在多人战斗游戏(游戏邦注:尤其是第一人称射击游戏)中,在其他玩家刚出现时将其杀死。

惯例

目前的解决惯例是玩家重新在预设的地点出现,通常与之前的动作地点相隔很远,这个新地点可能随机决定或者由玩家自行选择(游戏邦注:按照惯例,玩家可以选择的新地点总是很有限)。

范例

team fortress2-spawn-camping(from pacroid.blogspot.com)

team fortress2-spawn-camping(from pacroid.blogspot.com)

《军团要塞2》——玩家无法控制角色的出现地点。电脑将玩家安放在某个受保护的地区,敌人无法进入。有些角色出生地点有1个出口,有些含有多达4个出口。

《战地2142》——玩家拥有选择权。玩家可以出生在任何自己队伍控制的地点,比如在小队的总部或者队伍控制的塔台内。

《使命召唤4:现代战争》——玩家无法控制角色的出生。电脑根据运算法则将玩家出生地点设置在数据计算中危险性较低的区域。

惯例中的问题

如果是由电脑决定玩家重新出生的地点,那么当发生“spawnkilling”这种事情时,玩家会觉得自己完全无法控制角色的死亡。

玩家通常会重新出生在远离动作场景的地方。

固定的出生点会使得某些残酷的玩家将他们的敌人困在出生点中,突围几乎无法做到。

随机或者根据运算法则来决定出生地点,玩家可能会因为不知道自己出生在何处而最初感到晕头转向。

创新

通过引进俯视小地图,设计师可以为玩家提供足够的信息,使其对关卡的地域有充分的理解。玩家在掌握敌人位置之后,随时可以告知设计师他希望重新降生的地点,即采用skyspawn的方法。

假如玩家在死亡时能够看到游戏内的小地图(游戏邦注:上面标有队友的位置和移动方向,甚至还有敌人的信息),然后点击自己希望的降生地,情况又会如何呢?玩家会从天空中落下,在落地前的整个过程不会受到伤害。睿智的敌人可能会寻找到合适的伏击地点,而玩家也能够尽快地熟悉周围的环境。

所需的设计

要创造出skyspawn,我们需要精准的小地图。以下三个是可能需要的执行层面:

1、精确且可自定义降生的小地图

2、正交镜头

3、低视野高位置镜头

接下来,必须要让玩家能够在直接响应小地图的视口中点击。

根据视口中的鼠标点击位置,电脑计算出(游戏邦注:根据视口像素和地图的长宽比)玩家降生的地点。

最后,玩家必须被放置在地图中所选择的X和Z坐标正上方的某个高度,然后坐标Y值迅速减小但是X和Z的值保持不变。

call of duty 4(from firingsquad.com)

call of duty 4(from firingsquad.com)

Camping

Camping是指玩家隐藏在某个地点,从而长期对敌方玩家构成战术优势。

游戏

游戏规则使第一人称射击游戏中出现camping这种现象。

1、屏息瞄准(以下简称“ADS”)——需要时间才能做出的武器站姿,尽管时间通常只有0.4秒,但是仍然是影响战斗胜负的关键。在某些激烈的战斗中,屏息瞄准是完全没有必要的甚至会影响到游戏质量,但是这种设计在很多游戏中出现。camper通常都会在屏息瞄准期间卧地等待。

2、短距离疾跑——暂时增加玩家移动速度的动画效果,代价是在此动画期间不能使用枪支。现有的动画时间不足1/3秒。短距离疾跑的玩家有较少的时间对camper造成伤害。

3、缓慢的移动速度——如果玩家移动缓慢的话,那么蹲点的价值高过移动。

4、跳跃高度较低,无法在跳跃在空中时进行射击,跳跃存在障碍,快速移动到后停住的反应过慢——跳出角落和屏息瞄准可以节省大量的时间,让玩家做出较多动作。

5、快速死亡——当玩家身中数颗子弹便会死亡时,camper通常就会更容易击杀那些无意识的对手(游戏邦注:还没看到camper或者没来得及做出反应)。

6、缺乏手榴弹——当玩家知道camper的伏击地点,却对此束手无策时,camping就变成非常有效的做法。

7、复杂的地图——当地图中存在过多隐藏点时,找到camper就像是个猜测游戏,或许某个错误的转身就会身亡。复杂地图也对camper更有优势,因为最不可能的地点或许正是最佳的伏击地点。

8、光照不明——光照不明的游戏或许会有更多的camper,因为移动能够吸引其他人关注并引来火力。在光照不明的场景中,很难看到那些静止不动的玩家。

9、地图中分支路线较少或者作用不明显——camper更倾向于那些自己不会在背后受到攻击的地点来设伏,而这些地点正是其他玩家的必经之路。

10、高度优势——当使用camping是,控制至高点是绝妙的战术。

11、移动通过公开区域时缺乏掩护——设置帮助非camper玩家从一个地方转移到另一个地方的安全点,减少camper带来的危险性。

12、没有重生或者没有补血包——如果被其他人盯上之后就无法摆脱,那么玩家会在尝试从A点移动到B点的过程中遭到更大的伤害,尤其在他们较为粗心的情况下。camper会惩罚这些带有风险的行为,导致更为缓慢而且有时候更为线性的战斗。

13、没有移动的动机——如果区域控制得不到好处(游戏邦注:比如火力加强或者得到更强大的武器)的话,那么玩家就会觉得移动毫无利益,就会增加camping现象出现的概率。而且,如果奖励的活力增强或者强大武器过少的话,camper通常会蹲点在附近,等着敌人来取这些武器。

14、没有目标——如果双方没有移动的理由的话,那么他们很可能都会留在原地。

15、漫长的游戏时间——如果玩家只需要两分钟的时间就可以完成游戏的目标的话,那么给他们提供5分钟时间就意味着其余3分钟将会用于camping。

Metagame

人们普遍希望取得较高的杀戮死亡比,因而玩家更倾向于简单的杀戮行为。

对那些只是想要到处跑跑的玩家来说,camping是个罪恶的行为。

争议

尽管有些人说camping增加了游戏的战略成分,但是我并不这么认为。

赞成的理由

1、增加战略深度

2、如果战斗过于激烈时,让玩家有休整的机会

3、让玩家重新考虑他们的行动

4、在下场战斗开始前帮助玩家重生

5、在玩家给枪支重装弹药时确保玩家足够安全

6、让队伍有可能以零伤亡的成绩完成整个协作性战斗

反对的理由

1、通常被认为是无聊的举动

2、通常被认为是不公平的举动

创新

在第一人称射击中增加心率元素让设计师可以通过高低心率来呈现优势和劣势。

高心率优势

1、移动速度较快

2、跳跃高度较高

3、较小的射击后座力或较快的重新瞄准速度

低心率优势

1、较小的枪支晃动

2、较大的脚步声

3、较快的恢复速度

所需的工作

必须要制作出在游戏中可信的心率。玩家必须可以直观感觉到他们的心率正在增加,而且不会因挑衅行为或者必要行为感觉受到惩罚。而且,心跳的加速也不能过快,否则会破坏整个系统。

结论

某些玩家的行为可以很好地通过植入规则进行限制。竞争性游戏不能只依靠玩家自身的道德,必须采用特别的规则来约束玩家的行为。同样,在网络多人游戏中,metagame不应当留给玩家来执行,因为那会产生低趣味性的游戏动态和某些占主导地位的战略。

通过在游戏中添加更多的规则,你可以奖励那些让整个游戏更加“有趣”的行为。因为“有趣”是种主观想法,所以设计师应当知道玩家何时觉得快乐。第一人称射击游戏确实有很高的重复性,但是当某些重复规则被打破,玩家会因自己或敌人的行为感到惊奇时,该题材游戏也能够产生较大趣味性。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

First Person Shooter Design: Skyspawn and Heartrate

Matthew Downey

Player behavior can make a game more fun (helping teammates) or less fun (infinite combos).

The advantages reaped by infinite combos, camping, or spawnkilling are often perceived as unfair, but can be used and abused equally by both parties. Does the mutual access to these unfair mechanics make them fair? The answer is subjective.

Today, I present to you solutions to the perceived problem of spawnkilling and camping in the arena of first person shooters.

Spawnkilling

Spawn Kill: In a multiplayer combat game (particularly a First Person Shooter) to kill another player as they spawn.

Convention

The current convention is for players to respawn in preset spots, generally far from the action, which are determined randomly, algorithmically, or though player choice (by convention, limited to a few choices).

Examples of Convention

Team Fortress 2–the player has no control over spawning. The computer places the player in a protected zone that cannot be entered by enemies. Some spawns have one exit, others have up to four.

Battlefield 2142–the player has a choice. The player can spawn at any of the locations his team has control of, on a squad leader, or on a squad beacon.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare–the player has no role in spawning. The computer determines which of many spawnpoints a player will spawn in based on an algorithm that will put the player in a statistically low-danger area.

Problems with Convention

If the computer determines where the player respawns, when “spawnkilled” a player will feel that dying was outside his/her locus of control.

Players often respawn far from the action.

Fixed spawns allow ruthless players to trap enemies in their own spawns, often unable to exit.

In random or algorithmically determined spawning, the player cannot possibly know where they will spawn, resulting in initial vertigo.

Innovation

By introducing a bird’s eye view minimap, a designer can supply the player with the information to grasp level geometry, and the player, based on knowledge of enemy positions, could at any time tell the designer exactly where he wants to be by simply pointing his finger. Enter skyspawn.

What if, upon death, the player could look at an in game minimap (with the positions/directions of teammates and potentially even enemies) and click exactly where he wanted to spawn? The player then falls from the sky (in a drop pod), invulnerable to damage until the instant (s)he hits the ground. Smart enemies might look up and spot trouble, whereas the player can familiarize him/herself with his/her settings before it’s too late.

Required Programming

In order to create skyspawn, you need an accurate minimap. Three possible implementations are:

An accurate, custom-drawn minimap texture

An orthographic camera snapshot

A low field of view, high altitude camera snapshot

Next, the player must be able to click within a viewport that directly corresponds to the minimap texture/snapshot.

Logging where the mouse clicks within the viewport, the computer calculates (based on the ratio of viewport pixels to map length/width) where the player will spawn.

Last, the player must be placed a set altitude above the map at his/her desired x, z coordinates with a swift negative velocity in the y-direction and no velocity in the x or z directions.

Camping

Camping: when a player hides in a single location that serves as a tactical advantage over the opposing player(s) for long periods of time.

Game

Game rules that (arguably) contribute to camping in first-person shooters:

Aiming Down Sights (ADS)–a weapon stance that takes time to enter, almost always under four tenths of a second, but still very significant in determining the winner of a fight. In some close range fights, aiming down sights is not necessary or even detrimental, but the majority of the time it is strongly recommended. Campers often lie in wait while aiming down sights.

Sprinting–an animation that temporarily increases a player’s move speed at the cost of being unable to use one’s gun during the animation. The exit animation tends to be under a third of a second. Sprinting players have less time to deal damage to campers.

Slow move speed–if the player moves slowly, the benefits of staying put often outweigh the benefits of moving.

Short jump height, inability to shoot in midair, jump block, slow movespeed post-landing–jumping around corners and aiming down sights can save a lot of time and keep the player in motion.

Quick time to kill–when the player can take very few bullets before dying, campers will often kill unaware opponents before seen or reacted to.

Lack of grenades–when a player knows the location of a camper but can’t smoke them out, camping becomes more effective.

Convoluted map design–when there are many hiding spots dispersed across the map, finding a camper can become a guessing game, where one wrong turn could leave the player dead. Convoluted maps are also useful to campers since the most unlikely spot could be the best place to set up.

Dim lighting–games with dim lighting tend to have more campers since motion attracts the eye and thus gunfire. Players standing still in dim lighting can be very hard to see, especially since our eyes’s cones, responsible for color vision, are in the center of the eye, where attention is focused, whereas campers gravitate towards spots that are not the center of attention.

Few (useful) branched paths across the map–campers tend to find spots where they cannot be shot in the back, and where the player will likely need to pass by.

Verticality–controlling the high grounds tends to be a good tactic when camping.

Lack of cover when moving through open areas–safe spots help non-campers to get from one place to another with less risk from campers.

No regeneration/No healthpacks–if attracting attention to oneself is not recoverable, the player will suffer immensely by trying to get from point A to point B, especially if they are careless. Campers tend to punish risky behaviors, leading to slower and sometimes more linear fighting.

No incentive to move–if there is no incentive for area control (ie powerups, power weapons), the player will reap less benefit from moving, promoting camping. Furthermore if there are too few powerups or power weapons, campers will often watch one of them, forcing the enemy to come to them.

No objectives–if there is no reason for both teams to move, they will likely stay put.

Long game times–if players need two minutes to complete the objective in your average game, giving them five minutes will often result in three minutes of camping.

Metagame

High kill: death ratios are in high demand, thus players gravitate towards easy kills.

Camping is seen as a nuisance by players who just want to run around.

Controversy

While some say camping adds a layer of strategy to the game, I would argue it detracts from escapism, since an idle player is more likely to be aware of what he is doing if he isn’t preoccupied.

Camping: Pros

Adds depth to strategy

Lets the player recharge when overstimulated

Allows the player to rethink their actions

Helps the player regenerate before their next fight

Grants the player additional safety while reloading his/her gun

Provides a team with the chance to launch a coordinated rush with zero dead players

Changes the game dynamic, for instance in fencing, a common strategy is to lead your opponent to believe you are getting tired only to surprise them with a quick lunge or parry/repost.

Camping: Cons

Often perceived as boring

Often perceived as unfair

Innovation

The addition of heartrate into a first person shooter allows designers to tweak the advantages and disadvantages reaped by having a high or low heartrate.

High Heartrate Advantages

Faster move speed

High jump height

Lower gun recoil or faster recenter speed

Low Heartrate Advantages

Lower gun/idle sway

Louder footsteps

Faster regeneration

Required Task

Making a believable in-game heart is a must. Players must be able to intuitively grasp the rate at which their heartrate increases and also not feel punished for aggressive behaviors (in the case of high heartrate) or necessary behaviors (in the case of low heartrate). Furthermore, the heart must not have a fast acceleration, for that would defeat the point.

Conclusion

Some player behavior is best restricted by embedded rules. A competitive game does not rely on player morality, specific rules are put in place to restrict player actions. In the same way, in online multiplayer the metagame should not be left to the players, as that can result in less interesting game dynamics and predominant (and sometimes painstakingly repetitive) strategies.

By placing more rules in the game, you can reward the behavior that the community deems more “fun”. As subjective as “fun” is, a designer should know when a gamer is having a good time. Sure first person shooters are repetitive, but a lot of “fun” can be had when the rules of repetition are broken, and the player either surprises himself or is surprised by the enemy. (Source: Gamasutra)


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