作者：Mike Jungbluth

在文学世界中，不论是爬楼梯，往窗外眺望还是开门都不再只是一些简单的动作，它们更是作者在传达角色心理的重要方式。

当这些动作被作者巧妙地安插在故事中时，它们便有可能在潜意识中影响着读者的认知。它们可以维持或泄露角色的目的，特别是在游戏中，设计师甚至可以利用这些动作去传达自己的想法，且不会给玩家造成压迫感。

在游戏中我们会始终伴随着这些动作行为，所以我们更加应该好好利用它们去传达游戏主题。

文学作品中的象征艺术

“……一位小说家在真正创造出具有象征意义的内容之前，必须先明确‘不要故弄玄虚’。”——Nigel Watts（著名电影导演）

让我见识到象征主义之力量的学科并非视觉艺术，而是文学作品。

我们以Charlotte Perkins Gilman的《黄色壁纸》为例进行分析。在这本书中，除了黄色壁纸本身能够引起我的无尽联想之外，那个被锁在阁楼且只能透过窗户俯视花园的女人也让我充满好奇。

想象一下我们自家的阁楼；对我们来说，那里应该是最私人的空间，远离外部世界的喧嚣，能够让我们获得沉静。然后再想象将我们自己藏在这个最私密的空间里。这对于故事来说应该是最完美的情节设置，并且能够让读者真正融入到故事中。

窗户的设置和花园的景观也很重要。花园能够呈现出外面世界的欣欣向荣，而窗户则代表女主角只能透过一道狭小的空间去观察如此繁华的外部世界。

这两个元素对于传达故事主题来说都非常重要，并且能够深刻影响读者的理解，接下来我们便可以开始阐述象征主义的重要性。

象征主义就像是作者的暗示

“尽最大努力去撰写故事或小说——就像海明威所说的，全身心地投入创作中——不要担心是否能够创造出具有象征意义的内容。让所有的故事元素和角色能够顺其自然地表现出象征性即可。”——Ron Rozelle（美国作家）

我们在游戏中又该如何做到？暗示目标便是一个不错的开始。不巧的是，我最近刚开始玩《黑暗灵魂》，并且发现这款游戏就是个绝佳典例。

dark souls(from gamasutra)

在完成新手教程部分后，我们便来到了主要世界，并面临上与下两个选择，而不管是哪个选择都会让我们感到恐惧。根据直觉，我选择了先向上挑战。

当我阅读了Chris Dahlen（游戏邦注：一名狂热的游戏玩家和《edge》杂志的游戏撰稿人）关于这一游戏时刻的文章后我发现，游戏总会先让玩家进入较为简单的路径。如此，我便好奇为何我的内心会选择向上，是否设计师也早已预料到我们会这么做？也许这就是基于暗示性的象征主义？

向上，朝着天堂之光前行总比向下迎向恶魔族群更加吸引人。向上意味着选择自我，而向下则是选择挑战内心的恐惧。

当然了，悬崖和高塔的视觉效果也很重要，从上直射而下的阳光也总是能够吸引我们的注意，所以对于一款想方设法影响玩家感觉的游戏来说，玩家只要进一步深入思考，便能够很容易感受到任何具有象征性的任务。

这时候便能够最大程度地体现出象征主义的重要性。游戏并未采取任何高压手段强制地引导玩家向某个方向前行，而是通过低调的暗示提醒他们。

这便是设计师用于暗示游戏目标，方向以及情感的另一种有效的工具，并且能够帮助玩家更好地组织自己对于游戏的认知和理解。而当玩家的这种认知达到最高点时，他们便会发觉所有的内容都变成一种有形的细节，并开始回忆起自己早前的体验。但是因为这种暗示极其“低调”，所以很容易被那些不想听到或察觉到的玩家所忽视。

当你首次来到一个新的领域或看到一些新生物时，你可以透过一扇窗户或门道去发觉它们的意义。这扇窗或门是开着的，是完整的，破损的还是只是一块门板？你是从下而上还是从上而下来到这片领域？

这些元素既是空间和建筑暗示又是一种象征内容。这是重要的细节元素，如果能够在设计游戏重要事件或区域之前考虑到这一点，就能够渲染一种强烈的情感，可以省去之后大量的润色或返功。

动作中的象征主义

“……尽可能低调地呈现象征主义——模糊地展现，让玩家感到若隐若现。”——Harvey Chapman

除了游戏世界中的象征元素，我们在游戏的行动也充满各种含义。不管是爬行，奔跑还是跳跃，每一种行动都有自己的意义和情感目的，而不只是作为纯粹的动作而存在。奔跑着下楼梯与爬下楼梯为我们呈现的是完全不同的感觉。

而这些内容都是动画人员在创作时必须深刻考虑到的。通常情况下，这些看似一般的行动比起令人激动的动作序列更加有效。

而如果在设计中将下楼梯当成是角色害怕的象征性动作，那么进入，爬下，出去，甚至是滑行便都可以通过姿势和速度反应出来。甚至都不用彻底改变角色的移动速度，只要设置速度中的轻微犹豫，我们便能够知晓角色的情感。只要通过动画分层，我们无需强烈影响玩家的控制方式，就能靠一系列象征性动作呈现更多内容。

角色如何使用武器和道具也很重要。你的角色是一名冷漠且难以接近的刺客，还是一名粗暴但却足智多谋的勇士？如果是刺客，你就应该让他们始终握着自己的剑，并且总是远离人群，很少与别人进行交流。他们也不会拾起战败敌人的武器，因为对于刺客来说，这些都是过于私人化的物品。

同样地，如果被敌人所打败，他们也会牢牢握紧自己的剑，因为对于他们来说，剑就是生命中的一部分，难以分割。而对于暴躁的勇士来说，他们本身就是武器。他们不会像刺客那样重视自己所使用过的武器，或者说他们不在乎拾起敌人的武器。他们喜欢人与人之间的接触，并且当被打倒之后，他们也不需要紧握着自己的武器而强撑着再次站起来。

除了战斗，这些特征也将贯穿于他们的日常行动中。对于刺客，他们的剑既可以是能够守护着他们周游世界的长矛，也可以是阻隔他们与其他角色之间的无形之墙。

与此形成鲜明对比的勇士则会全身心地投入于周围环境中。并且这两种设置都不会影响游戏玩法，也不会夺走玩家的控制权，将只是作为角色的个性线索而进一步维系玩家与游戏世界之间的联系。

象征性姿势

“象征主义只是用于修饰并丰富内容，而不是创造一种人为的深度感。”——Stephen King

设计师可以利用象征主义巧妙地向玩家暗示游戏目标，主题或情感。而如果表现得过于明显，这种象征主义就可能不再有效甚至会影响玩家的游戏体验。游戏开发者始终掌握着象征主义的调度。如果开发者能够有序且巧妙地将其融入游戏世界中，便能够得到玩家真正的互动反应，并且让玩家一步一步从中感受到设计师的真正意图。

（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）

Opinion: The symbolism of simple actions

by Mike Jungbluth

Climbing a ladder. Looking out of a window. Opening a door. In the literary world, more than just simple actions, these are often moments that the writer uses to give insight into the psyche of a character.

These actions can be layered into a story to subtly hint at or subconsciously influence the perceptions of the reader. They can support or betray a character’s intent, and in games they can be a strong opportunity to inject some authorial notions without taking control away from the player.

We have these physical moments in games all the time, so why don’t we use them as often to reflect the theme as much as the purpose?

Getting past the pretentious

“…a novelist should make his spade a spade before he makes it a symbol.” – Nigel Watts

Few ideas are so quickly labeled as pretentious art fluff like symbolism. In fact, when I first entered college, I was always first to roll my eyes when it entered into critiques.

No matter how many portrait paintings we had to dissect in regards to the placement of objects or the environment, I refused to believe such things honestly held that much importance. In fact, it wasn’t the visual arts that swayed me towards believing in the power of symbolism. It was literature. Specifically, one piece.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Since you are already reading something, you should go ahead and read that too. If you want to deny yourself with the TL;DR version, here is the Wikipedia entry.

Beyond the fantastic and haunting imagery of the yellow wallpaper itself, what has always stuck with me was the fact that the woman is locked upstairs and the window is overlooking the garden.

Think about what it means to be upstairs in your home. It is your most personal space, furthest away from the outside world. Now imagine being locked away in your most personal and secluded space. It really is the perfect setting for the story and truly adds to the narrative.

The window and it’s garden view is as equally important. The garden illustrates the chance to flourish and grow outside of the room, and the window represents the narrow and fragile view she is afforded towards that actual growth.

Those two elements are so fundamental to the theme of the story, and felt so deeply, I couldn’t help but be converted to the importance of symbolism.

Symbolism as authorial suggestion

“Write your story or novel the best that you can – write it truly and well, as Hemingway might have said – and don’t worry about what will be symbolic and what won’t be. Let things and characters that turn out to be symbolic simply materialize.” – Ron Rozelle

So how can we approach this in games? Suggesting goals is a good place to start, and as luck would have it, I just recently started Dark Souls, which has a great example.

After you get through the tutorial section of sorts, you are dropped into the main world with the option to go either up or down, both presented as equally terrifying. I instinctively traveled up first.

It wasn’t until I read Chris Dahlen’s article about this moment that I realized it was actually the easier path which should be tackled first. So I wonder, why did I inherently choose to go up, which was essentially the designer’s intended path? Maybe it is due to a little suggestive symbolism?

Going up, towards the light of the heavens is definitely a far more appealing option than heading down, closer to the home of demons. Traveling up embodies the idea of getting closer to our self, while traveling down is a journey into our worst fears.

Certainly the visual framing of the cliff and the towers, with the bright sun reflecting down also directs our attention, but for a game so intent on occupying all the senses of the player, it is hard to not feel the symbolic quest upon further reflection. In both narrative and objective they strengthen the experience.

And that is when symbolism is most powerful. Not in the moment, but upon reflection. Not heavy handed, leading the player in a straight line by their nose, but as a faint whisper in the air.

It is just another tool of the designer to suggest goals, direction, and emotions that the player can then weave into their own narrative tapestry. It becomes a tangible detail during moments of hyper awareness, recalled as players recount their experiences. But because of its subtlety it can be as easily ignored by those not wanting to hear or look for it.

When seeing a new area or creature for the first time, think about what it means to view it through a window or through a doorway. Is the window or door open, intact, broken or boarded? Are you entering the scene from above or below?

Those are just a few of the spatial and architectural clues that can double as symbols. These can be great details that, if thought about before important moments or areas in your game, can become emotional highlights without much polish time or rework needed.

Symbolism in the actions

“… keep any symbolism subtle – present but hidden, there but not there.” – Harvey Chapman

Beyond just the symbols of the world, how we move through them can mean just as much. Crawling, running or jumping each have their own meaning and emotional purpose beyond the action itself. Running down stairs has an entirely different feeling than crawling down them.

While these are things animators often try to inject into their work, it is often these more banal movements that are tilted towards the generic in lieu of more exciting sequences.

But what if going down ladders was signified in the design as a symbolic gesture of diving into a character’s fears? Then the enter, climb down loop, exit and even slide should reflect that in the posing and pace. Not so much as to drastically change the movement speed of the character, but just a slight hesitation in the speed to suggest what lies ahead. With animation layering, the possibilities of any number of symbolic actions can take place without drastically affecting the controls of the player.

How a character uses its weapons and items can be equally important. Is your character a cold and emotionally distant assassin or a rowdy and resourceful warrior? In the case of the assassin, they will always keep hold of their blade, using it to symbolically keep everyone at a distance from them and to never feel human contact. They would also never use a fallen enemies weapon, because that is too personal an object to them.

Likewise, when knocked down, they will clutch tight to the blade because it is such an intrinsic part of them. As for the boisterous warrior, they ARE the weapon. They have no problem letting go of whatever they are using to get their hands dirty or using the weapon of an enemy against them. They relish the personal touch, and when knocked down don’t need to hold on to their weapon to get back up.

But beyond combat, this can be carried through in their general movements. With the assassin, their blade could be a spear that they actually use to navigate around the world, again keeping it as a buffer between themselves and the world.

Contrast with the warrior that rolls around or puts their entire body into contact with the environment. Neither of these have to come as a hindrance to the gameplay that takes away from the player’s control or playstyle, only as slight personality cues that can further connect them to the world.

A symbolic gesture

“Symbolism exists to adorn and enrich, not to create an artificial sense of profundity.” – Stephen King

Symbolism can be used to subtly imply goals or suggest themes and emotions. They can also be overly blunt and rip the player out of the experience when they come on too strong. They are, after all, completely authored by the developer. But when built subtly and organically into the world, they can be a true moment of interactive reflection by the player, where the designers meaning is as much felt as it is seen.(source:GAMASUTRA)