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设定时限可避免游戏进程拖拉现象

发布时间:2011-11-23 14:07:48 Tags:,,

你是否玩过一款游戏总是拖拖拉拉地没有结尾?就像你觉得它可能快要谢幕之时,它总是一蹓弯就继续往前走了?

我们童年时期玩过的一款游戏《大富翁》中,老大总是拥有所有的钱,而游戏的结束必须是直到最后一个食客破产,而这都是取决于时间问题。这个过程甚至可以持续好几个小时,非常折磨人,特别是当你不幸进入“Free Parking”时。

《大富翁》对于游戏结局并没有任何特别规定。理论上来看,游戏甚至可以一直持续下去。《Munchkin》是另一款喜欢拖延时间的游戏。在游戏中,当玩家到达第十个关卡时就算赢得了游戏,但是因为玩家还可以在游戏中降级或升级,所以理论上来看游戏也将会一直持续下去。

monopoly(from jackpotcollege)

monopoly(from jackpotcollege)

对于我来说,一款优秀的桌面游戏从来不会消磨玩家的意志。坦白地说,虽然我如此批判《Munchkin》,但是如果它能够将游戏时间限制在10至20分钟之内,我也会非常乐意去尝试这款游戏。我甚至看到过《Munchkin》玩家花费了几个小时的时间去玩这款游戏,所以毫不夸张地说,比起再次体验这款游戏,我宁愿选择去做其它事。

所以你必须确保你的游戏结局的稳定性,并且不会拖拖拉拉。但是这要怎么做?

*为游戏设置特定回合。例如《佛罗伦萨王子》总是持续着7个回合,不会增多也不会减少。而《Agricola》也总是只有14个回合。

*为游戏设置最大数量的回合数,但同时也允许玩家可以略过一些回合。在《热那亚商人》中,每一个回合开始之前都要掷骰子,让玩家能够选择跳过此回合。而这种设置便增加了游戏的不确定性,因为玩家必须自己判断是否应该省略某些回合。

*在最后关卡不会出现任何逆转现象。在《卡坦岛》中,当玩家获得了10个VP,且没有一名玩家会再丢失VP时,游戏便结束了。在《Puerto Rico》中,当玩家完成了建筑追踪,或者已经没有更多殖民地或VP能够满足玩家的需要;建筑物不再遭到破坏,殖民地或者VP再也不能给予玩家供应之时,游戏便会结束。在《Ticket to Ride》中,如果玩家没有足够的列车供应,那么游戏就结束了。

所有的这些规则都让玩家能够拥有更加一致而有趣的游戏时间。如果游戏违反了这些规则,玩家便会很快地厌烦游戏。

让我们看看那些深受时间长度困扰的游戏。当我开始玩游戏时便遇到好几款这种类型的游戏。其中一款便是《Ninja Burger》,这是一款带有一个重要前提的游戏(游戏邦注:忍者必须在30分钟之内运输汉堡,如果他们不能完成任务便必须切腹自杀)。

不幸的是,很多掷骰游戏通常都需要花费玩家2个多小时的游戏时间。玩家必须积累到最多的“荣誉点”才有可能赢得游戏。在Steve Jackson公司旗下的游戏中,玩家可以赢取或丢失荣誉,所以没有任何因素能够强制游戏的结束。

而正是在那时候,我开始意识到我的游戏开发过程出现了一些问题。但是在那时候,我的开发团队成员都很享受制作这种类型的游戏,所以我便希望能够解决这些问题。

在《Ninja Burger》中,我想出了一个“有限的荣誉”变量,即在游戏一开始只提供给玩家一定的荣誉点,并且玩家丢失的那些荣誉点不能再次恢复。而这时候如果让我们再次开始游戏,只需要不到30分钟的时间便能够完成游戏。如此真的比掷骰子游戏设置好多了!

所以,多长的游戏才最合适?这可不一定。如果是一款打发时间的小游戏,那么少于30分钟就可以了。而如果是中级策略游戏,那么1个小时便适合,而重级策略游戏则需要2个小时,浓重的大型史诗游戏甚至需要数天时间。

如果你是一名游戏设计者,而你的游戏却蹒跚不前,那么你便需要衡量一下游戏的长度是否合适。有时候,较短的游戏设置也许更妙。

游戏邦注:原文发表于2009年1月8日,所涉事件及数据以当时为准。(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

Game design mistakes 3: End it already

08Jan09

Have you ever played a game that just won’t end? Just as you think it can’t possibly go on any longer, it does?

We’ve all played childhood games of Monopoly where your big brother has all the money, and it’s just a matter of time until the last few hangers-on go broke. It’s a process that can last hours, and it’s excruciating, especially if you made the unfortunate decision to play with Free Parking.

Monopoly has nothing forcing its endgame. It can theoretically go on forever. Munchkin, another game I always seem to bring up when I have to drag out an example of a crummy game, is also guilty of this. Recall that a player wins a game of Munchkin when he reaches Level 10. But since players can go down levels as well as up them, the game can theoretically go on forever.

To me, one sign of a well-made board game is that the game never overstays its welcome. I might give Munchkin a lot of flak, but the truth is that I might actually enjoy it if it took ten to twenty minutes to play. I’ve seen games of Munchkin drag on for hours, no exaggeration, and I’d rather have dental surgery than go through that experience again.

Making sure your game ends is a solid way to ensure that it never overstays its welcome. So how can you do this?

Set the game up to last a specific number of rounds. For example, The Princes of Florence always lasts seven rounds, never more or less. Agricola is always 14 rounds.

Set the game up to last a maximum number of rounds, but allow some rounds to be skipped. In Traders of Genoa, there’s a die roll at the beginning of each turn that could result in a round being skipped. This adds a good uncertainty to the game, because players have to weigh whether or not the game will end before they can fully execute their plans.

Base the endgame condition on something that will never reverse. Settlers of Catan ends when one player reaches 10 VP, and no player can ever lose VP. Puerto Rico ends when one player fills his building track, or when there aren’t enough colonists or VP in supply when players need them; buildings can’t be destroyed, and colonists or VP never return to supply.  Ticket to Ride ends when one player runs low on trains, and players will never get more trains into their supply.

All of these rules ensure that these games have a consistent and enjoyable play time. When a game doesn’t, it risks overstaying its welcome.

Let’s look at a game with a length problem. I played a lot of take-that games when I started seriously gaming. One of them was Ninja Burger, a game with a great premise (ninjas delivering burgers in 30 minutes or less, or they commit seppuku).

Unfortunately, this light dice-rolling game could take almost 2 excruciating hours to play. Players win by having the most Honor Points. In typical Steve Jackson fashion, players can gain or lose Honor, so nothing forces the game to end.

At that point in my gaming development, I was starting to realize that something was wrong. But my group at the time enjoyed take-that games, so I tried to fix the problem.

I came up with a “limited honor” variant for Ninja Burger, in which only a fixed amount of Honor Points are available at the start of the game, and lost Honor Points are permanently removed from the game. Once we started playing this way, games would run no longer than 30 minutes. Much better for a light dice-rolling game!

So how long should your game be? It depends. If it’s a light filler game, then less than 30 minutes. An intermediate strategy game should be 1 hour, a heavier strategy game can run 2 hours, and a dense epic can run for days, provided you don’t own cats.

If you’re a designer and your game seems to falter partway through, take a look at the game length. Sometimes shorter is better.(source:ingredientx


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