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举例阐述如何设计RPG游戏的开头

发布时间:2012-07-14 14:21:05 Tags:,,,

作者:Tom DuPont

好游戏在10分钟内就能让玩家的兴趣达到顶点。

开头部分对所有游戏的故事都至关重要。开头不仅要在短时间内就吸引住玩家,还要刺激玩家坚持看完整个叙述。如果游戏不能很快激发玩家的兴趣,玩家就会弃之而去。

说到剧情,就像其他媒体一样,游戏也必须遵守相同的戏剧结构,但还有额外的挑战,即游戏玩法。好游戏必须能够迅速将玩家引入有趣的刺激事件中,且在此过程中不牺牲玩法上的乐趣。

plot diagram(from tomdupont)

plot diagram(from tomdupont)

为了学习前人的智慧,我想了三道测试题,看看游戏是否有个好开头。然后,我们再利用这三道题回顾和评论一些过去的游戏。

游戏开始10分钟后,问自己以下道题:

1、我是谁?

2、我在做什么?

3、我为什么喜欢或不喜欢?

《最终幻想6》

我是谁?

我是一个魔女,世界上唯一的魔法使用者之一。

我在做什么?

我驾驶着一辆巨大的机械组合入侵一个城镇,我要掠夺一些魔法物品。

我为什么喜欢?

开头简要地叙述了该魔法物品可以将魔法带回世界,并且统一强大的帝国。另外,我是驾驶机械组合的魔女,很拉风啊!

《最终幻想6》的开头非常完美。游戏在大约60秒的时间内向玩家叙述了这个游戏世界的历史,虽然在此期间游戏没有透露任何专有名词如名字、时间或地点,但在背景中,玩家可以看到之后即将了解的角色。开头的结构并不明确,且节奏比较快,但很成功。叙述过后,玩家看到了机械组合向炭坑市进发的美丽场景,这很好地奠定了游戏的基调和氛围,但也是可以完全跳过的。之后玩家变成驾驶机械组合的战士展开大战,摧毁了城镇……非常有趣。

结论:完美的开头

《深渊传说》

我是谁?

一个头痛的富家子。

我在做什么?

绕着庄园散步,因与平民说话而受训斥,抱怨自己的无聊。

我为什么喜欢?

不喜欢。

《深渊传说》先出现一个刚成年的焦虑少年,这是运用了陈腐日本RPG比喻。更烂的是,主人公又有钱又受保护。半个小时后,刺激事件姗姗来迟,但毫无解释安排,所以主角的动机完全是个谜。在游戏开头的30分钟里,主角所做的就是抱怨他如何中想离开这所庄园,如何想回到家?另外,这里应该有一个真正的剧情安排隐藏在什么地方吧?

结论:无聊的开头

《超级马里奥RPG:七星传说》

我是谁?

我是马里奥。

我在做什么?

我在攻打Bowser的城堡!我在打库巴!我在跳Dry Bones!我在救公主!

我为什么喜欢?

在玩其他很多游戏以前,我就玩过《马里奥》了,但从来没玩过RPG版本的,居然真的可以在3D等距视图下痛打敌人!

这是利用已有题材制作RPG的典范。玩家对角色和游戏世界观已经很有感觉,所以可以充分利用这一点。如果过去玩家曾经花了上百个小时拯救公主,那么当他看到熟悉的开头,就会马上产生一种亲切感。等玩家的胃口被吊上来以后,穿着短裤的云朵玩偶男孩就可以登场了。

结论:成功的开头

《黄金太阳:黑暗黎明》

我是谁?

我还不知道。我可以是上一款游戏中的角色,也可以是他们的孩子,我没有扮演任何人!

我在做什么?

我在听Garret和Issac叹息着世界的变迁。我玩了第一个游戏,但不记得任何地点、事件或留名的角色。我不知道我现在在做什么,更别说接下来的10分钟。

我为什么不喜欢?

什么都还没发生;角色只是谈论当下发生的事,而且看似与剧情无关。

《黑暗黎明》犯了老套的续篇错误,即介绍游戏前作的内容太多。这种过于拖拉的叙述只会让玩家与游戏本身疏远。如果玩家“玩”了20分钟,还是没有玩进游戏,那就有问题了。

结论:糟糕的叙述

《邪神拯救世界》

我是谁?

我是邪神。

我在做什么?

我要把疯狂和破坏带到全世……喔,等等,我是来拯救世界的?这什么呀?

我为什么喜欢?

无论玩家是否知道Lovecraftian(游戏邦注:Lovecraftian是美国恐怖小说家,他创立了被称为克苏鲁神话的暗黑恐怖神话体系,其核心部分是“旧日支配者”,即邪神克鲁苏——拥有强大的力量,在太古时代曾统治地球,现在却如死亡般沉睡,一旦醒来就会给地球带来浩劫)学说已经充斥了我们的文明,但现在玩家要颠覆自己头脑中的固有观念。人类真有趣。

《邪神拯救世界》与大多数现代RPG背道而驰:本作的基调更明快更轻松。幽默是一种非常强大的工具,但似乎被游戏市场低估了,特别是RPG市场。玩家并不是总想看到世界末日,也没有必要看到主角那一伙人。有时候玩家只是想找找乐子。让我非常惊喜的是,独立小游戏公司Zeboyd Games可以想到这一点,而行业巨头Square Enix却全然忘记了。

结论:滑稽的安排

这三道题还可以测试什么游戏呢?

《圣剑传说3》?

《最终幻想战略版》?

《魔兽世界》?

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 Design: How to Begin an RPG

by Tom DuPont

Great games peak player interest in 10 minutes or less.

The opening moments are crucial to any story. Not only must an introduction immediately engage the audience, but it must also provide incentive to stick around for the entirety of the narrative. If a game does not spark interest quickly, the player will put it down and forget about it.

With regard to story, games must adhere to the same dramatic structure as any other medium, but with the additional challenge of including gameplay. A good game must be able to quickly move the player to an interesting inciting incident without sacrificing the fun of gameplay to get there.

To help us learn from our past, I have created a simple test to see if a game starts out well. Then, using this test, let us a review some past games to see how well they did!

10 minutes into the game, ask yourself the following questions:

Who am I?

What am I doing?

Why do I care?

Final Fantasy 6

Who am I?    I am a witch, one of the only magic users in the world.

What am I doing?    I am driving a giant mech suit as I invade a town to capture some magic artifact.

Why do I care?    As the opening narrative briefly explained, this artifact could return magic to the world and solidify the empires global consolidation of power. Also, I am a witch driving a mech, that is really cool!

Final Fantasy 6 opens perfectly. It has about 60 seconds of pitching the worlds history to you in the form of narration, during which it never drops any proper nouns such as names, dates, or locations, but in the background we are seeing characters that we will come to learn about later. It is a great setup in that it is quick and vague, yet it will pay off later. After that we have the beautiful and artistic scene of the mechs approaching Narshe, it sets the tone and atmosphere of the game well, but is literally completely skippable. After that we are dropped into combat as an overpowered group of warriors driving giant mech suites and destroying a town…ya, that is just FUN.

Verdict: Perfect Opening

Tales of the Abyss

Who am I?    Some rich kid who gets headaches.

What am I doing?    Wandering around my mansion, being scolded for talking to commoners, complaining that I am bored.

Why do I care?    I don’t.

Tales of the Abyss uses the cliche JRPG trope of an angsty teenager coming of age, only this time it is even worse because our protagonist is both rich and sheltered. When the inciting incident finally does occur a half hour into the game, it has no explanation or setup and it puts the lead characters motivations completely in question. All that the main character does for the first 30 minutes of the game is complain about how he wants to get out of the house, and then all he wants to do is go straight back home? Also, was there supposed to be a setup for an actual story hidden somewhere in there?

Verdict: Boring Introduction

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Who am I?    I am Mario!

What am I doing?    I am invading Bowser’s castle! I am punching Goombas! I am jumping on Dry Bones! I am saving the princess!

Why do I care?    I have played Mario in a dozen games before, but never in an RPG where I could actually beat up my enemies in isometric 3D!

This is the perfect example of how to leverage your existing IP when making an RPG. Players already have an emotional attachment to the characters and world that you are placing them in, so take full advantage of that. If a player has spent hundreds of hours trying to save a princess in the past, open the game up so that they are immediately feeling that reward. Then, after they are hooked, you can change to story to involve clouds that wear pants and talking dolls.

Verdict: Brilliant Opening

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

Who am I?    I don’t know yet. I could be the same characters from the first game, or I could be their kids, I have not played as anyone yet!

What am I doing?    I am listening to Garret and Issac groan on and on about how their world has changed. I played the first games and I don’t even remember any of the places, events, or characters that they are name dropping. I do not know what I am doing now, much less what I will be doing in another 10 minutes.

Why do I care?    Nothing has even happened yet; so far we have only talked about what is going on in the current scene, which seems to have nothing to do with the plot.

Dark Dawn falls into the age old sequel pitfall of trying to explain too much about the games that came before it. This exposition drags on for far too long and only serves to alienate the player from the game itself. When you can “play” a game for 20 minutes, and never actually get to play the game, something is very wrong.

Verdict: Horrendous Exposition

Cthulhu Saves the World

Who am I?    I am Cthulhu.

What am I doing?    I am going to bring insanity and destruction to the worl…oh, wait…I have to save the world? WTF?
Why do I care?    Whether we know it or not Lovecraftian lore has permeated our culture; now we are being asked to comically flip our preconceived notions on their head, and man is it funny.
Cthulhu Saves the World takes the opposite approach to most modern RPGs: it is less dark and less serious than the source material which it is based on. Humor is a very powerful and seemly underrated tool in the game market, especially among RPGs. Players do not always want to see the world end. They do not need to watch characters brood. Sometimes gamers just want to have FUN. It amazes me that a little indie company like Zeboyd Games can figure that out, while a giant like Square Enix seems to have completely forgotten it.

Verdict: Hilarious Setup

Which other games can these opening questions be applied to?

Seiken Densetsu 3?

Final Fantasy Tactics?

World of Warcraft?

Game onTom(source:tomdupont)


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