育碧2012年对于《幽灵行动》系列有着宏伟计划：基于掌机和PC平台的《Future Soldier》几周后即将问世，PC版《幽灵行动Online》下个月就会发行，Wii U版今年底会和玩家见面。介于这两款游戏之间的是《幽灵行动指导官》（Ghost Recon Commander，这是款针对Facebook和iOS平台的社交游戏，玩家能够将解锁的道具运用至PC和掌机版本中。游戏由Loot Drop（游戏邦注：这是2010年成立于加利福尼亚的开发工作室，由《毁灭战士》设计师John Romero和他的未婚妻及行业元老Brenda Brathwaite共同创建）。我们之前有幸采访了《幽灵行动指导官》主要负责人Brathwaite，主要谈论工作室如何确定首款Facebook游戏的基本构思，结合公司核心IP，及这款作品在社交游戏发展过程中的里程碑意义。

Ghost Recon Commander from edge-online.com

作为设计师，社交游戏吸引你的地方是什么？

有很多地方。首先，这是包含新互动方式的全新平台，尚存在挖掘空间。我非常希望瞄准原本不属于传统游戏玩家的庞大用户群体设计游戏，他们大多没玩过《幽灵行动》系列之类的游戏。由于这里不存在技术障碍，因此优秀设计和精致画面是关键。从某种意义上说，它让我回想起80年代的游戏作品。

宣传预告片称《指挥官》是款合理的游戏作品——是不是这一核心理念将你吸引至项目中？

我一直都是《幽灵行动》的忠实粉丝，从这一系列的第一款作品起。我在《幽灵行动》中投入数百小时。事实上，正是由于我持续发布有关体验这款游戏的微博，才促使育碧联系Loot Drop商谈合作事宜。所以对我来说，这是我梦寐以求的项目。我希望制作充分利用这一平台及好友梯子之类Facebook标准的游戏作品，去除Facebook游戏某些令人厌烦的元素。

直接基于众所周知的IP，尤其是这样一款硬核游戏作品，是否让你觉得有压力？或者这是个优势？

我觉得二者皆有。《幽灵行动》是个很棒的作品，所以没有压力是不可能的。也就是说，Facebook平台的游戏不胜枚举，基于稳固IP是个有利条件。

这和《Ravenwood Fair》截然不同。你在之前这款游戏中积累的哪些重要经验给《指挥官》的设计理念带来一定影响？

我和游戏开发团队合作制作这款游戏，他们让设计指导开发工作及游戏的迭代。在游戏行业的人士看来，这似乎是个既定原则，但在Facebook游戏领域则就不是如此。Facebook游戏存在两种不同的体验文化。这一领域早期的公司多数来自网络应用领域，他们对于游戏及其开发过程的看法和传统游戏开发者不同。开发这样的游戏着实乐趣无穷。

Brathwaite from edge-online.com

社交和“硬核”游戏开发属于截然不同的范畴。你之前的经验在此发挥多大作用？二者是否存在许多重叠之处？

我们无疑需要学习新东西，其中包含很多新东西。这是我最初想要涉猎社交游戏的部分原因所在；学习新平台和新用户是项持续性的工作，通常是由于这些元素的不一致性促使来自传统领域的游戏设计师步履维艰。他们高估用户具备的知识，过度变更界面，因为他们想要“以正确的方式”设计内容，或者是未能把握玩家能够接受、欣赏或认同的数学模式。

我所掌握的知识依然适用，但它们出现前所未有的转变。即便是回到苹果二代，在不同设备间切换依然能够带来相同的用户。但转移至Facebook则就不是如此。玩家有自己的体验风格。我认为经验带给我的最大收获是，清楚自己还有很多知识需要学习。此外，行业存在太多效仿者。只有进入营销阶段，我们才会透露游戏的具体信息。

Ghost Recon Commander 02 from edge-online.com

你们基于Facebook和iOS平台开发游戏，而且还将两款不同的作品移植至四个不同平台。这一移植工作将如何实现？

这听起来有些令人望而却步。“我要什么时候才能够完成这些工作？！”从根本来说，通过育碧的uPlay，游戏能够解锁其他游戏的道具。所以，若你正在体验《指挥官》，你可以在《Online》版本或《Future Soldier》中解锁道具（游戏邦注：这同样也适用于他们的游戏）。你甚至可以将解锁的角色运用至我们的游戏中。未来我们计划进行更有趣的设计，促使在线游戏共同合作。

相比你过去搭载过的平台，iOS和Facebook的优点是什么？

我非常欣赏iOS的整个生态系统。我们的办公室都采用Mac，所以这是我们非常适应的环境。至于Facebook，Flash的技术限制有时会显得有些局限。你在其中的操作空间非常有限，在这一项目中，我们将平台推向极限。

你们是否有从育碧及《Future Soldier》和《Online》团队那获得支持和资源，或者只是单纯依靠自己的设备？

有的。育碧是非常棒的合作伙伴。团队之间每周都会进行沟通，我定期和我们的制作人联系。这一过程最令我欣赏的地方是，通过每周保持同育碧沟通，我准确知道自己想要制作的是什么。育碧给予我尝试的机会。他们相信我们对于Facebook领域的了解，清楚我们非常喜欢这款原创作品，会竭尽全力进行设计。（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）

Loot Drop on Ghost Recon’s social debut

Brenda Brathwaite on how a quarter-century’s worth of experience translates to social game development.

Ubisoft has big plans for the Ghost Recon series in 2012: Future Soldier for consoles and PC is weeks away from release, while Ghost Recon Online launches for PC next month and Wii U later in the year. Sitting between those two games is Ghost Recon Commander, a social game for Facebook and iOS in which players can unlock items for use in its PC and console stablemates. It’s been developed by Loot Drop, the California studio set up in 2010 by Doom creator John Romero and his wife-to-be and fellow industry veteran Brenda Brathwaite. We spoke to Commander project lead Brathwaite about how the studio came to be involved in what, as the first Facebook game to be based on, and be integrated with, a core IP, could be a landmark moment in the evolution of social games.

What is it about social games that appeals to you as a designer?

Many things. First and foremost, it’s a relatively new platform with new ways to play, and it’s not been fully explored yet. I love the idea of making games for millions of people who have not traditionally played games before, especially more hardcore games like those in the Ghost Recon series. Because technology isn’t a barrier here, we’re at a stage where good design and good art stands out. In a sense, it reminds me of games in the mid to late 1980s.

The announcement trailer goes out of its way to pitch Commander as a proper gamer’s game – is it that core focus that drew you to the project?

I’ve been a long-time Ghost Recon fan, going back to the first game in the series. I’ve played literally hundreds of hours of Ghost Recon. In fact, my incessant tweeting about playing it is what made Ubisoft approach Loot Drop about the game. So, for me, this was a dream project. I wanted to create something that took advantage of the platform, and the Facebook standards like the friend ladder, without forcing people into the some of the more trying aspects of Facebook games.

Do you feel any pressure using an established IP right off the bat like this, especially a core-focused one? Or is that an advantage?

I think it’s a little of both. Ghost Recon is an excellent franchise and, of course, it’s impossible not to feel pressure. That said, with tons of games on Facebook, having a strong IP is a great advantage.

It’s certainly a departure from Ravenwood Fair. What were the most important lessons you learned when working on that game that have affected your development philosophy on Commander?

I made this game with a team of people who were game developers, and they let design direct the development and iteration of the game. To people in the game industry, this may not sound like a given, but in the Facebook game space, it’s not. There are really two different cultures at play when it comes to Facebook games. Most of the early companies in this space came from the web application world, and view games and their making differently than traditional game developers.  Making this game was an incredible joy.

Social and ‘core’ game development are two markedly different disciplines. How much of your previous experience applies to social games? Is there much overlap?

There are new things to be learned, absolutely. So many things. That was a part of what drew me to making social games in the first place; learning about the platform and the new player is an ongoing thing, and it’s often a disconnect on one or both of these things that makes game designers coming from the traditional space stumble. They overestimate the player’s knowledge, change the interface too much because they’re going to “do it right”, or fail to learn the mathematical models that players will tolerate, enjoy or celebrate.

Everything I knew still applies, but it’s shifted in a way that it’s never shifted before. Even going back to the Apple II, changing from machine to machine brought with it – more or less – the same audience. The same cannot be said of Facebook. That player has a style all his or her own. I guess the best thing that my experience has given me is the constant knowledge that I still have a lot to learn. The space is also rampant with copycats. We didn’t talk about the game until the last possible marketing minute for that precise reason.

You’re developing the game for Facebook and iOS, and on top of that you’re also working on integration with two different games on four different platforms. How will this integration work?

Hah. It sounds alarming to read it all out like that. “I have to do all that, by when?!” Basically, through Ubisoft’s uPlay, the games unlock things in the other games. So, if you’re playing Commander, you can unlock items in Online or Future Soldier. The same applies to their games. You can even unlock characters to play in our game. In the future, we’ve discussed doing some more interesting stuff in which the live games can work jointly.

And what are iOS and Facebook like to develop for, compared to the platforms you’ve worked on in the past?

I really enjoy the iOS ecosystem overall. Our office is all Mac, so it’s an environment we’re all comfortable in. With Facebook, the technical limitations of Flash can sometimes be limiting. You can only do so much in it, and we have pushed it to the absolute wall to bring this game out.

Are you getting much support and resources from Ubisoft and the Future Soldier and Online teams, or being left to your own devices?

Yes and yes. Ubi’s been great to work with so far. The teams talk every week, and I’m in regular contact with our producer. What I loved about this process was that within a week of us talking to Ubi about the game, I knew precisely what I wanted to make. Ubisoft let me do it. They trusted that we got the Facebook space and knew that we loved the franchise enough to do our best by it.（Source：edge-online）