作者：jordan mechner

1996年，我曾应《Next Generation》杂志要求，罗列叙述性游戏的若干设计要诀。今天回复这些建议，发布有些内容略显陈旧，但有些则依然适用，尤其第8和第9点。

story game entry from demibooks.com

1. 故事就是玩家操作的内容，而非他们所观看的内容。

2. 罗列玩家在游戏中的实际操作内容，然后客观进行评估。听起来是否有趣？（游戏邦注：要避免陷入美化误区）

3. 唯一富有意义的操作是那些影响玩家未来操作能力的内容。其他都只是额外修饰。

4. 设计清晰而简单的界面。界面的主要功能就是向玩家呈现特定时刻的操作选择，在玩家做出选择时提供即时反馈信息。

5. 玩家一直都需要目标，即便是错误目标。若玩家缺乏特别想要实现的目标，那么他很快就会感到厌倦，即便游戏画面和音效丰富多彩。

6. 越是让玩家觉得游戏事件由其操作引起，效果就越好，即便这只是幻觉。

7. 根据玩家的目标分析游戏事件的设置。在设置每个事件时都要进行这样的思考：它会让玩家离目标更近或更远，还是给予玩家新目标？若没有，那就是无关紧要的内容。

8 玩家连续体验的时间越久，游戏空间的真实感就越强。若玩家死去或需从某保存点重新开始，此魅力就会丧失。

9. 额外选择路径、可修复错误、多种解决方案、能够随后进行弥补的错失机会都很好的设计策略。

10. 不要出于想要创造谜题而无端引进障碍。

11.让玩家在游戏过程中获得向前迈进的有趣之觉。理想结果是让玩家完成95%任务，但感觉自己仍然错过其中50%内容。

游戏邦注：原文发布于2009年11月8日，文章叙述以当时为背景。（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）

Designing story-based games

Eons ago, in 1996, Next Generation magazine asked me for a list of game design tips for narrative games. Here’s what I gave them.

Reading it today, some of it feels dated (like the way I refer to the player throughout as “he”), but a lot is as relevant as ever. I especially like #8 and #9.

1. The story is what the player does, not what he watches.

2. List the actions the player actually performs in the game and take a cold hard look at it. Does it sound like fun? (Resist the temptation to embellish. If a cinematic shows the player’s character sneak into a compound, clobber a guard and put on his uniform, the player’s action is “Watch cinematic.” Letting the player click to clobber the guard isn’t much better.)

3. The only significant actions are those that affect the player’s ability to perform future actions. Everything else is bells and whistles.

4. Design a clear and simple interface. The primary task of the interface is to present the player with a choice of the available actions at each moment and to provide instant feedback when the player makes a choice.

5. The player needs a goal at all times, even if it’s a mistaken one. If there’s nothing specific he wishes to accomplish, he will soon get bored, even if the game is rich with graphics and sound.

6. The more the player feels that the events of the game are being caused by his own actions, the better — even when this is an illusion.

7. Analyze the events of the story in terms of their effect on the player’s goals. For each event, ask: Does this move the player closer to or further away from a goal, or give him a new goal? If not, it’s irrelevant to the game.

8. The longer the player plays without a break, the more his sense of the reality of the world is built up. Any time he dies or has to restart from a saved game, the spell is broken.

9. Alternative paths, recoverable errors, multiple solutions to the same problem, missed opportunities that can be made up later, are all good.

10. Don’t introduce gratuitous obstacles just to create a puzzle.

11. As the player moves through the game, he should have the feeling that he is passing up potentially interesting avenues of exploration. The ideal outcome is for him to win the game having done 95% of what there is to do, but feeling that there might be another 50% he missed.（Source：jordanmechner）