作者：Nigel

如果你曾经制作过电子游戏，而这款游戏并没有如你所愿取得成功，或者你只是想要提升自己所制作的电子游戏，抑或你刚刚开始尝试游戏开发，以下内容正好为你所用。

braid(from gearcrave.com)

1、测试：首先，不可成为那些不测试自己游戏的独立开发者中的一员（游戏邦注：不仅要自己测试，也要让其他人测试游戏）。从长远看来，这会节省你许多时间，而且你的用户也会更为愉快，从理论上来说，你售出的游戏数量就会更多。

如果你很难找到人来测试游戏，就找些朋友或者到游戏论坛上找些对此感兴趣的人。如果你是个iPhone游戏开发者，你可以使用TestFlight这个iOS测试工具。

2、可玩性：你需要确保所选择的发行平台（游戏邦注：主机、PC和手机等）能够运行你的游戏。不可将需要数十个按键来控制的游戏发布到iPhone平台上，也不应将需要加速计的游戏发布到PC平台上。

3、趣味性：在游戏中投入数个月甚至数年的辛勤努力之后，你需要停下来问问你自己，我的游戏是否有趣？这个问题或许较难回答，因为你正是那个不断对编成进行测试和纠错以及不断改变游戏设计文件的人。

那么你要怎么做呢？你可以玩玩自己的游戏。不要等到游戏完成之后才采取这项措施，添加新功能或新游戏机制之后就要试验下，看看它是否与游戏其他部分保持一致。

4、控制：你的游戏或许有着人见人爱的想法，但是如果控制系统很糟糕，游戏也会失败。前3个你可以通过不断测试来改善，而这个你需要尽可能地让其完美。

如果你无法控制你正在玩的游戏或者角色的行动，那么这就变成了概率化的游戏，这只会让玩家产生挫败感。并不是说你应当去除所有的概率因素，每款游戏中都有概率元素。只是要确保，当玩家告诉角色向左移动时他们会向左移动，当他们告诉角色吃下chimichanga时角色也会依照命令行事。

5、故事：每款游戏都需要故事。即便是那些简单的街机风格游戏，也有故事潜藏其中。你需要决定的是故事采用现实化还是非现实化风格，然后在开发过程中坚持这个风格。

如果你遵从了这个简单的规则，你的游戏的故事会显得较为“可信”，有益于游戏质量的提升。你可以在故事中添加某些意外让其显得有趣，但是不要偏离主线过远。

6、新鲜的游戏玩法：你的游戏或许很棒，但是过段时间后吸引力便会消退，除非你可以创造出新颖的游戏玩法。那么你要怎么做呢？制作新的敌人、障碍和道具等等。

如果你要在游戏中添加某些玩家已经知晓的东西，就要努力削弱那些游戏中已经拥有的东西。这可能会产生新的游戏玩法。

7、主题一致性：如果你的游戏中出现日本武士，那么就不要在游戏中添加跳下飞船战斗的未来人类军队。这是毫无意义的设计，而且丝毫不具可信度。

保持游戏中的道具和物体与场景有所关联。惟一的例外就是游戏中的复活节彩蛋，但是即便如此，你也要以与游戏相符的方式来“隐藏”彩蛋。

8、简洁的美术和GUI：尽管美术的重要性比不上游戏的可玩性，但是如果出现问题会很格外显眼。

尤其是GUI，因为玩家这是玩家时刻看到的内容。如果是玩家在99%的游戏时间都会看到的东西，就应当确保其完善。

9、清晰的规则和方向：当玩家开始玩游戏时，你需要教会他们如何来玩游戏。有些游戏需要的说明要比其他游戏更多，但是每款游戏都需要进行介绍。

应当铭记的是，你已经长时间接触游戏，所以所有的控制对你来说都是很自然的。确保让玩家清楚地明白游戏规则，鲜明地分清对错。

10、语法问题：这个步骤被许多游戏开发者所忽略。确保校对游戏中的所有文字内容。我知道这看上去似乎并不是那么重要，但是电子游戏中出现的拼写错误会让人觉得开发者很不专业，这会让产品质量降低档次。

游戏邦注：本文发稿于2011年7月19日，所涉时间、事件和数据均以此为准。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Top 10 Tips for Indie Game Developers

Nigel

If you have ever made a video game and it wasn’t quite the hit you expected it to be, or if you just want to improve the video games you create, or even if you’re just getting started with game development, then this is the list for you!

Testing: First off do not become one of the many Indie Game Developers that do not test their game (not just testing it themselves, but having others test the game as well). It will save you so much time in the long run and your customers will be so much happier, and theoretically you will have more games sold.

If you’re having a hard time finding people to test your game, ask some friends or find some people interested on a gaming forum. And if you’re an iPhone developer you can use TestFlight an iOS testing tool.

Playability: You need to make sure the platform you chose to publish your game on (console, pc, mobile, etc), makes sense for your game. You shouldn’t put a game that requires dozens of buttons on an iPhone, and you shouldn’t put a game that requires an accelerometer on a pc.

Fun Factor: With months or even years of hard work put into your game you need to stop and ask yourself, is my game fun? This question may be a little hard to answer as you were the one that had countless trial and errors of coding, a constantly changing Game Design Document, and endless cans of your favorite soda.

So what do you do? You play your game. Don’t just wait to do this after your game is completed, but do it after you add a new feature or a new game mechanic, and see if it fits well with the rest of the game.

Controls: Your game might be a cool idea that everyone is going to love, but if the controls suck it’s going to sink. I know the first 3 rules pretty much say “Test, Test, TEST!”, but this is the one that you are really going to have to perfect.

If you can’t control the game you’re playing or what your character is going to do, then it becomes a game of chance, and it just frustrates the player. This isn’t to say that you should take out all factors of chance, as every game has chance in it. Just make sure that when the player tells the character to move left they move left, and when they tell the character to eat a chimichanga they eat a chimichanga.

Story: Every game needs some sort of story. Even if it’s just some simple arcade style type of game, the story is still implied. You need to decide to either make your story realistic or non-realistic and stick to it.

If you follow that simple rule your game’s story will be “believable” and it will work for your game. Now you can throw some twists into the story to make it interesting, but keep from straying from your side to a minimal.

Fresh Gameplay: Your game may be good but after a while it will start to lose its umph factor. Unless you create Fresh Gameplay. So how do you do this? By making new enemies, obstacles, items or the like.

If you’re stumped on making completely knew “things” for your game, try tweaking the ones you already have. Chances are this will definitely bring some new gameplay to the field.

Sticking to a Theme: If your game is about Samurai warriors in Japan then don’t have a Futuristic Human Army with spaceships come down and fight them. It just doesn’t make sense, and it isn’t believable.

Also keep the items and objects in the game relevant to the setting of your game. The only real exception to this is Easter Eggs in your game, but even then you can sort of “disguise” whatever the Easter Egg is to fit in with your game.

Cleanness of Art and GUI: Although art isn’t as important as the gameplay of your game, it will certainly show if your game art isn’t clean-cut. By clean-cut I mean that it’s in the same style as the other art and that the art looks finished and not just thrown together.

This especially goes for the GUI, as this is what the player will see constantly. If the player is going to see it 99% of the game, make sure it’s good.

Clear Rules and Directions: When the player starts the game you need to teach them how to play your game. Some games need a lot more explanation than others, but every game needs some sort of instructions.

Remember you have been working on the game for a long time so all the controls are natural to you. Make sure you make it clear to the player the rules of your game, and what is “good” and what is “bad”.

Grammar: This is a step many Game Developers skip. Make sure to proof-read all of your text in the game. I know this may not seem that important, but if you see a word misspelled in a video game it looks very unprofessional, and greatly degrades your product.

I hope you enjoyed the article and learned a thing or two on how to improve your video games. And I hope you imply these into your own games, and maybe even spread these tips to other game developers to increase the quality of video games. (Source: Game Nacho)