作者：Corey Moore

在过去几年的游戏经历中我注意到了一些有趣的事。即在面对一些早前游戏时我总是很难打败游戏，但是当面对现代游戏我却总能轻松地赢得游戏，或者很容易就对游戏失去兴趣。当然了，我也曾花好几年时间去提高游戏技巧，使那些曾让我却步的游戏不再构成任何“威胁”。但是当我再次回首去玩一些早前的游戏时却仍旧很容易“死”在其中。比起DOS和NES盛行的时代，今天的游戏似乎更加“宽容”。也许这只是我自己的看法，但你是否注意过如今有多少人是在说自己“完成了”‘游戏而不是“打败了”’游戏？

Kids These DAys（from gamasutra)

我曾经听过许多将今天的游戏与早前游戏相比的描写。说到今天的游戏我们脑海中总会浮现出“当机”，“休闲”，“主流”以及“简单”等字眼。一款简单的游戏不一定是糟糕的游戏，但是大多数游戏都需要有一定的挑战。如果玩家不能在游戏中感到任何挑战，他们很快便会觉得游戏是无趣的，而玩家有可能选择自愿接受挑战去添加游戏乐趣。

根据不同游戏类型，玩家想要面对的挑战也有所不同。其中包括使用默认装置，完成最低可能性的任务或毫发无伤地完成游戏等。自古以来许多游戏都只意识到那些100%完成游戏或完成最高难度游戏的玩家，而忽视了玩家所追崇的挑战。《Shadow Complex》便是一个典型的例子，它有完成最低可能性任务的挑战，但玩家仍能够彻底打败游戏。

尽管创造具有一定难度的游戏就必须创造出绝佳挑战，但与此同时难度的公平性也很重要。难度从来不是来自于糟糕的游戏设计。当然了，如果游戏将主要情节设置于隐蔽的地点，并要求使用一系列不合逻辑的触发器去呈现并收集相关内容，那么这也算是一款复杂的游戏。因为游戏将让玩家漫无目的地徘徊，并玩弄每一个按钮以期望得到某些反应。让我们想象如果《神秘岛》未告知玩家该去哪里或者该做什么又会是怎样的情况？如此人们应该不会再认为它是一款经典游戏吧，反而会将其视为极端混乱的游戏。

在Gamespot对于《银河战士3》的评价中有一点非常引人注意，也就是这款游戏拥有极端出色的控制方式，好像Retro（游戏邦注：该游戏开发商）应该创造出更糟糕的控制方式以提升难度一样。但天下没有所谓的控制方式过于优秀的说法。控制方式也是区分好坏游戏的关键因素之一，而故意创造糟糕的游戏设计选项便是一种懒惰的难度设计方法。实际上我可以通过每三秒掴打玩家的脸庞去提高游戏难度。这一点也不有趣，但至少具有挑战性。

我们还需要特别避免的便是反复试错的游戏玩法。在一款优秀的游戏中，玩家将能够收集到所有信息并一次性击败游戏。而强迫玩家多次尝试游戏去找到最佳方法不仅是糟糕游戏设计的表现，同时也将导致游戏难度不断消失。也就是玩家一开始会觉得游戏很难，但是在之后的挑战中玩家可能会觉得只是小儿科。并且这与通过训练去穿越游戏中的复杂部分的做法有所不同。这看起来就像一种试验，尽管最终结果具有很高回报，但是当你完成游戏并再次打开时会发现，战胜游戏仍然不是件易事。某些意外事件虽然能够保持游戏的趣味性，但是如果玩家每次都需要反复挑战一个任务，这便是问题所在了。

Dirk the Daring-trial-and-error-gameplay（from gamasutra）

当很多人在抱怨当今的游戏越来越简单之时，我们也可以发现其实现代也存在一些极端复杂的游戏。其中一个典型就是《怕死不是好战士》，它的游戏控制方式很有趣，并且能将我们带回8位和16位盛行的时代，而游戏难度也不减当年。几乎在每个屏幕中都隐藏着一些能够将你一击毙命的敌人，并且它们都出现在你最意想不到的时刻。即使你知道陷阱在哪里以及boss是如何移动，你也需要同时掌握控制平台，射击以及闪避等技能才能通过游戏。这便不可避免地需要用到试错法，但是即使拥有了先验知识，游戏也将保持一定的难度。另外一个典型的例子便是《光晕3》。除了残忍的Legendary模式，游戏中隐藏的骷髅也添加了更多的挑战，如没有一个检查点和雷达，并且敌人能够躲过你的射击。

是不是所有游戏都应该达到“怕死不是好战士”这般难度？当然不是，因为并不是所有玩家都想要玩这种游戏。有些玩家更喜欢看到游戏中的故事，也有些玩家不想看到过于残忍的画面。这当然是合理的，尽管也会出现一些人指责你用错了方法。但是对于开发者来说，关键在于不要忘记那些打败游戏并希望迎接更大挑战，但却需要自己想法创造挑战的玩家。通过提供这种挑战，开发者不仅能够与玩家紧密联系在一起，同时也能够延长游戏寿命。（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 Difficulty

by Corey Moore

Of the games I’ve played over the years, I’ve noticed something. Very rarely did I end up beating my older games, yet with more modern games I either beat them or lose interest. Of course, I’ve had many years to improve my technique and some games where I was too scared to progress don’t scare me as much today. However, I’ve gone back and played some old games and they ended up killing me. Games today are a lot more forgiving than they were back when DOS and the NES reigned supreme. Maybe it’s just me, but have you ever noticed how many people today say they’ve finished a game rather than they say they’ve beat a game?

“That’s the way it was, and we LIKED IT!”

I’ve heard a lot of descriptions of games today compared to games of back when. “Dumbed down”, “Made for ****ing casuals”, “Mainstream” and “Simplified” all come to mind. An easy game isn’t necessarily a bad game, but many gamers demand a challenge.  Games quickly become boring if the player isn’t sufficiently challenged, and eventually, the player may elect for a self-imposed challenge just to spice things up.

There are several kinds of challenges that gamers like to perform, depending upon the game’s genre. Some of them include only using the default gear, getting the lowest completion percentage possible, or go through the game without taking any damage at all. Many games throughout the ages recognize players who complete the game 100% or complete the hardest difficulty, but only few recognize those challenges that fans come up with. One notable example is Shadow Complex, which has an achievement for getting the lowest percentage possible and still beating the game.

While creating a sufficiently difficult game is vital to creating a good challenge, the difficulty should still be fair. Difficulty must never come from bad game design. Sure, a game where the vital plot coupons are in obscure locations that require a series of illogical triggers to even make visible and several more to collect may definitely make a difficult game, but a good challenge it does not. All it does is force the player to wander around aimlessly, fidgeting every button at everything hoping for a reaction of some sort. Imagine if Myst didn’t provide any ingame clues as to where you are supposed to go and what you are supposed to do. Instead of being remembered as a classic, it would be remembered as an incoherent mess of a game.

In a Gamespot review of Metroid Prime 3, one of the things the reviewed marked the game down for was that the controls were too good, as if the Retro should have purposefully made the controls worse to up the challenge.  There is no such thing as controls that are too good. It’s one of the prime factors that separate a good game from a bad one, and purposefully making bad game design choices is a lazy way of creating difficulty.  In fact, I could easily make any game harder by smacking the player in the face every 3 seconds while yelling, “boogity-boogity-boo.” It wouldn’t be fun at all, but still challenging.

Another thing that should be avoided especially is trial-and-error game play. In a good game, the payer should be able to collect all of the knowledge needed and beat the game in one clean run. Forcing the player to play through multiple times just to find the correct path is not only an example of bad game design, but also an example of difficulty that disappears over time. Although it’s hard the first time, it becomes an absolute joke the next time. Note that this is different than simply needing practice to get through hard sections of the game. It does seem like trial and, though the end result is much more reward and even after you complete it, it still isn’t easy the next time. Some unexpectedness can keep a game interesting, but if every task is overcome by playing through over and over, there is a problem.

Dirk the Daring: Patron saint of trial-and-error gameplay and using quicktime events before it was popular.

However, for all the complaints about games becoming easier these days, there are still some modern examples of extremely hard games. One of the more famous ones is I Wanna Be the Guy. The game controls well and provides a nice throwback to the days of 8 and 16 bits, but it is also extremely difficult. On almost every screen, there is something hidden that can kill you in one hit, and it often comes from where you least expect it.  Even if you know where the traps are and how the bosses move, you will still need all of your platforming, shooting and dodging skills to make it through the game. True, it relies a lot on trial and error, but it still remains hard even with prior knowledge. Another good example is Halo 3. In additional to the brutal Legendary mode, there are also hidden skulls which add even more challenges, such as having no checkpoints, no radar and enemies being able to dodge your shots.

Should all games strive for I Wanna Be the Guy-level difficulty? Certainly not, simply because that is not what every gamer wants. Some people would rather enjoy the story and others don’t want the game to be absolutely merciless. This is all perfectly fine, despite several people who would proclaim that you are playing it wrong. The main point is not to forget about the gamers who’ve already beaten your game and want a bigger challenge, but have to create their own. By providing these challenges, not only does it show a connection to the gamers who have invented them but will also add longetivity to the game.(source:GAMASUTRA)