作者：Daniel Cook

最近我与一些好友谈论起主题在游戏设计中所扮演的角色。主题，也就是游戏背景，可以是奇幻的，科幻的或者是战争的等。

乍看之下，传统的游戏设计师对于主题的使用并没有太大的讲究。

首先，比起拥有更广泛主题的电影或书籍，游戏的主题可以说较为局限。游戏设计师总是会重复利用一些主题，尽管有些情况下他们也会创造一些超现实主义的主题——但是如果搁置在游戏以外的环境，这些主题就不再有意义。

其次，主题的使用较为粗糙。尽管大量游戏在一开始都使用了主题，但是这些主题却永远只能屈居于游戏机制之下。就像Goomba（游戏邦注：《超级玛丽兄弟》中的一个反派角色）是一种毒蘑菇，但是如果他们不能蹲下并被马里奥压扁，这种设定也不再有意义。

mario-Goomba(from wired.com)

而如果小说家按照游戏开发者那样，只是将一个角色整合到自己故事的主题中去，那么肯定没有出版社会愿意为他出书。

开发并转变

所以主题经常被视为一种可互换的“外皮”，并且只能在开发者设定了一系列游戏机制后才能发挥作用。通常情况下市场营销者都需要去争取一个最流行的授权项目，从而将其主题应用到一系列热门游戏机制的集合体中。而对于主题的这种态度将进一步影响游戏开发。

但是我们却发现在这一过程中，很少有授权游戏能够获得长期的发展。因为人们总是会觉得这些游戏不够完整，或者游戏元素之间相互矛盾。相反地，那些完全基于原创性而开发的游戏，如《宝石迷阵》，《超级玛丽兄弟》，《雷神之锤》，《侠盗猎车手》以及《模拟人生》等却取得了很好的成绩。

尽管这些游戏具有超现实主义且脱节的主题，但是它们却真的都非常有趣。在这些游戏中，不管是围绕游戏机制的主题还是不断演变的主题，当它们彼此真正融合在一起并成为热作前都需要经历重要的转变。

《模拟人生》最初是关于建筑的游戏，后来转变成像过家家类型的游戏。《侠盗猎车手》一开始只是警察抓小偷类类型的游戏（玩家将在游戏中扮演警察的角色），后来演变为关于较为自由的犯罪类游戏。《雷神之锤》最初是建立在类似于阿兹特克（游戏邦注：一个在14世纪－16世纪的墨西哥古文明）般的世界，玩家可以在此挥舞着巨大的铁锤，后来转变成玩家需要扮演一名匿名士兵的角色，并在一连串地牢中与变种人相抗衡。而《生化奇兵》最初也只是关于纳粹党在某个岛屿上的故事。

当你开始挖掘游戏中的“趣味”元素时，你便会发觉游戏中的这些主题转换是再平常不过的事了。如此也就证明绝大多数游戏设计师并不愚蠢，特别是涉及将主题或设定整合到游戏设计中时。设计师并未忽视主题，他们只是在采取一种更适合游戏媒介的方法去整合主题。

“愚蠢”行为背后的逻辑

如果你将游戏作为一种探索性学习过程，它便能够教授给玩家一系列的技能。首先，玩家需要学习一些最基本的技能（如应该按压哪些按钮），随后玩家需要将所学到的技能结合在一起而接触一些更复杂的场景，如“拯救公主”。每个学习过程都能带给玩家喜悦感。

玩家需要在游戏中反复使用到这些基本的技能。如果他们不能掌握这些技能，那么也就不能够继续接下来的游戏。游戏中设有奖励机制，但是前提是玩家必须在最初掌握所需要的技能才有机会争取奖励。

从这个角度来看，“主题”也就意味着既存的心理工具，技能以及心理模式的结合体。我将其称为一个装有各种行为的工具箱，能够帮助设计师解决游戏最初所存在的学习曲线问题。

你所选择的技能将直接影响着你如何将游戏的初始技能呈现给玩家。比如我想传达的是“海盗”，我就会在玩家的脑海中形成一个特殊的图式，并通过维系起任何可能的行为，而创造出任何可能的结果。就像如果玩家看到一名配备着大刀并与一些士兵对峙的海盗，他们便立刻知道自己在游戏中的目标是对抗敌人。也就是我会利用一些视觉暗示去替换一开始枯燥无味的学习模式。

玩家在探索性学习过程中总会经历一次激动人心的时刻，也就是当他们对自己说“哦！我已经掌握并精通如何度过这一情境，让我来证实自己的能力吧！”受到主题的触发，玩家即使是在面对挑战时也会觉得这是可以完成的目标。

相反地，如果我用灰色斑点A和橙色斑点B去替换海盗这一角色，玩家可能就会感到疑惑，甚至都不敢拿起控制器了。

为何主题这么少？

如果从这一角度去看待游戏，也就能够解释为何主题在游戏中的运用的远远不及书籍或电影。书籍将主题作为一种“诱饵”，以吸引读者能够对故事情节或角色感兴趣。这里存在着各种各样的潜在“诱饵”，并且越独特的诱饵越能够吸引读者进行深入探索，如此也将进一步推动设计师创造出更多丰富多彩的主题。

另一方面，优秀的主题能够在游戏玩家心中形成一些清晰的心理模式，并帮助他们理解所遇到的各种游戏机制。但是如果你所提供的内容大大超越了潜在玩家应该体验的范围，他们也会因此感到不适。

这同样也暗示着有时候游戏并不需要文本主题暗示。尽管有时候只提供给玩家一些文本指示会更好，如“嘿，这只是一款游戏并且与你玩过的游戏一样，我们将一步一步教你如何玩游戏。”但是同样的内容通过图式表现出来会更加生动。如果我们能够地让玩家学会如何玩游戏，我们作为游戏设计师的任务也就算顺利完成了。

“包装”游戏机制是一种错误做法

当你开始从“游戏是一种学习方法”这一角度去看待游戏设计时，之前用“外皮”来包装游戏机制的理念就行不通了。

在最优秀的游戏中，机制和主题都会随着多次的游戏迭代而不断改变。如果一个游戏机制不再有效，你还有其它选择；如你可以调整游戏规则或给予玩家的反馈。而这两种选择都与为玩家创造学习体验的行动相一致。

通常情况下如果能够调整游戏给予玩家的反馈也是非常有效的。如果玩家并不理解海盗就是自己在游戏中将扮演的角色要怎么办？也许我们可以让海盗穿上红色的衣服，或者将敌人的外表设置得更加险恶一些。当你这么做时，游戏的主题只会发生轻微的变化。但是当你做出了上百次（游戏邦注：甚至是上千次）的调整，游戏主题将大大不同于你之前所设定的主题。不过通常情况下最优秀的游戏也都需要经历这种变化。

实际上，如果你对最后的游戏主题进行分析你将会发现这里存在一些不连贯因素。但是这并不碍事，因为这只是一种即时方法以帮助玩家快速地学习游戏。只要游戏足够有趣并且能够传达游戏价值，我们便不会在乎主题是否符合基本的文字定义。

事实上，当你对游戏主题做出严格的定义并且你不能根据特殊的游戏机制对游戏规则做出适当调整时，你便开始陷入真正的麻烦。如果授权项目不允许海盗穿红色衣服时情况又会怎样？也就是说我们原本可以利用的设计选择将不再有效。

所以我们并不能只是一味地“包装”游戏机制。如果你坚持这么做，那么在经历一次次游戏设计迭代过程后你的游戏将完全背离你最初的设定。甚至糟糕的执行过程也将彻底破坏游戏的乐趣。

结论

以下我总结了一些经验教训。首先，最有效的游戏主题应该能够帮助玩家学习游戏。这可以是指传统的叙述主题，但是却不一定局限于此。

其次，主题的演变必须始终遵循游戏的各个迭代过程所确立的游戏规则。你需要尽早明确游戏的垂直层面，如此你便能够尽可能有效地将游戏主题和规则结合在一起，并最终将其用于整体游戏的迭代上。

最后，你不能过早或牢牢地将自己禁锢在原先所设定的主题中，如此将阻碍你去探索更有成效的反馈系统。灵活性才能帮助你创造出更有趣的游戏玩法。

游戏邦注：原文发表于2008年11月4日，所涉事件和数据均以当时为准。（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）

Analysis: On Theme And Game Design

by Daniel Cook

Recently, I was chatting with some friends about the role of “theme” in game design. Theme, in this discussion, was the setting of the game, be it fantasy, sci-fi, military, and so on.

At first blush, the typical game designer’s use of theme appears a bit primitive.

First, there is a limited range in games compared to the wide variety of themes in movies or books. Games recycle a half dozen major themes, or in some cases, invent their own surrealist themes that make little sense outside the context of the game.

Books, despite being grouped into narrow genres, have explored many thousands of powerful, evocative settings. You have books about bored European manuscript editors exploring the bizarre world of the pseudo occult, and you have books set inside the mind of a quadriplegic. The disparity in variety is intriguing.

Secondly, it is often crudely applied. Theme is applied in broad strokes at the beginning of many games, but almost always plays second fiddle to interesting game mechanics. Goombas are mushrooms, but this matters little beyond the fact that they are squat, match the scale of the world, and can be squashed.

If a novelist lazily integrated a character into their book’s theme the way that game developer do on a regular basis, he would never be published.

Develop-And-Switch

The result is that theme is often seen as an interchangeable “skin” that can be applied after the fact to a set of working game mechanics. The task is typically left to marketers to round up a popular license so that it can be painted onto the latest hot collection of game mechanics. This attitude towards theme affects the very fabric of game development.

And yet, something interesting occurs when we work this way. Very few licensed games turn into major long-term franchises. They often feel incomplete and the pieces ill-matched. On the other hand, seminal “grown from scratch” games like Bejeweled, Mario, Quake, Grand Theft Auto, and The Sims end up doing amazingly well.

Despite their surreal and often disjointed themes, they are surprisingly fun. In these titles, the theme of the game mechanics and the theme evolved hand-in-hand, often undergoing major switches halfway through before settling into a successful partnership.

The Sims was a game about architecture that morphed into a game about playing dollhouse. Grand Theft Auto was a cops and robbers chase game where you were the cop that evolved into a game about being a free roaming criminal. Quake was an Aztec-style world where you tossed about a giant Thor-like hammer that evolved into the story of a nameless soldier battling against the mutants in a series of brown dungeons. And BioShock was originally about Nazis on an island.

If you start to dig into how games generate “fun,” many of these thematic transformations are, if not inevitable, certainly commonplace. It turns out that most game designers are not complete idiots when it comes to integrating theme and setting into their game designs. Designers aren’t ignoring theme, they are simply using theme in a manner appropriate to the medium in which they work.

Some Logic Behind The Madness

If you look at games as being about exploratory learning, they tend to teach the player a series of skills. First, the player learns basic skills (such as how to press a button) and, over time, assembles a scaffold of skills that lets him engage in more complex scenarios like “save the princess.” Each moment of learning gives a burst of pleasure.

These basic skills are utilized over and over again. If the player fails to learn them, the rest of the game is lost on them. Games reward involvement, yet there is a high cost the player must pay in terms of initial learning necessary to become involved.

“Theme,” from this perspective, is shorthand for a collection of preexisting mental tools, skills and mental models. I think of it as a tool chest of chunked behaviors that the designer can rely upon to smooth out the initial learning curve.

The theme you select directly influences how you present your initial skills to the user. By saying “pirates,” I turn on a particular schema in the player’s brain and a network of possible behaviors and likely outcomes instantaneously lights up. If they see a pirate with an impressive sword facing a small soldier, the goal of fighting the enemy is self evident. With a small visual cue, I’ve eliminated minutes of painful initial learning.

There is a fascinating moment in the sequence of exploratory learning where players say to themselves “Oh, I recognize and have mastered this situation already, so let me demonstrate my excellence.” Because of the triggering of the theme, the challenge appears possible and attainable.

If, on the other hand, I had substituted the pirates with gray blob A and orange blob B, the player might be quite confused, not even bothering to pick up the controller.

Why So Few Themes?

To a certain degree, this perspective on games explains the limited number of themes used in games compared to books or movies. A book uses theme as a hook to get people interested in plot and character dynamics. There are lots of potential hooks, and the more unique they are, the more intrigued the reader is to find out more. This encourages a proliferation of fascinating settings.

On the other hand, a good theme in a game is one that triggers a number of clear mental models that are applicable to the game mechanics at hand. If you push too far outside the experience zone of potential players, you make them feel inadequate.

It also suggests that occasionally a literary theme simply is not needed. Sometimes it is better to just tell the player, “Hey, it is a game and like any game you’ve played, we’ll educate you as you go.” The same triggering of appropriate schema occurs. If it is enough to grease the wheels of learning, then our mission as a game designer is accomplished.

“Skinning” Is A Bad Practice

When you look at game design from the “games as learning” perspective, the idea of creating a slap-on aesthetic skin for a set of game mechanics starts to break down.

In the best games, mechanics and theme evolve in lockstep over the course of the many iterations. If a mechanic isn’t working, you have a couple choices. You can adjust the rules or you can adjust the feedback that the player receives. The two act in concert to produce the player’s learning experience.

Often it makes sense to adjust the feedback side of the equation. What if people don’t understand that the pirate is their character? Maybe it makes sense to make the pirate wear a right red outfit, and make the enemy a bit more evil-looking. When you do so, the theme of the game shifts ever so slightly. Over hundreds (or thousands) of tweaks, a theme for the game might emerge that is quite different than what you originally envisioned. This is often the case for the best game in the history of our industry.

In fact, the final theme may be semi-incoherent if you attempt to analyze it as a literary work. However, that doesn’t matter, because it provides the moment-by-moment scaffolding of feedback that helps the player learn their way through the game. As long as the game is fun and delivers value to the customer, we can often toss the literary definition of theme out the window.

In fact, you start getting into trouble when you make the theme so rigidly defined that you can’t adjust the feedback for specific game mechanics. What if you are dealing with a license where the pirate isn’t allowed to wear a red outfit? That design option, which may have been the best one available, is taken off the table. The hundreds of little trade-offs that occur when theme coherence wins and gameplay loses diminishes the effectiveness of the game.

So you can’t just “skin” a set of game mechanics. When you do makes the attempt, a well executed iterative process of game design will often result in a game that is quite different than its source material. A poorly-executed process results in a game that plays poorly.

Conclusion

There are a few lessons here. First, the most effective game themes exist primarily to facilitate the learning process for the player. This may be a traditional narrative theme, but it doesn’t need to be.

Next, theme evolves in lock step with the rules of the game over a process of many iterations. You might as well plan for it. Early on develop vertical slices of your game. This will help you converge on working combinations of theme and rules. As you go, allow for iteration on production assets.

Finally, note that locking in your theme too early and too rigidly can stunt the exploration of more effective feedback systems. A bit of flexibility often yields better gameplay. (source:GAMASUTRA)