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Ian Marsh谈《Pocket Planes》开发始末

发布时间:2012-07-18 15:17:54 Tags:,,,

作者:Lee Bradley

继《迷你大楼》大获成功之后,旧金山工作室通过推出《Pocket Planes》重返社交管理模拟游戏,该作品引起热烈反响,包括口碑和商业成绩两方面。

但该项目原本预计呈现截然不同的内容。

日前我们有幸同工作室联合创始人Ian Marsh谈论《Pocket Planes》的起源,如何平衡休闲和硬核玩家的需求,以及和双胞胎兄弟共事的感觉。

你们对《Pocket Planes》寄予什么希望?

我们打算通过《Pocket Planes》制作包含更多策略元素和更深玩法(游戏邦注:相比《迷你大楼》而言)的作品,同时保持内容的休闲风格和通俗性。

你们在此借鉴哪些先前的经验?

在我看来,最重要的是,创造栩栩如生的游戏空间。我们保留BitBook,同时添加其他空间活动,旨在让玩家觉得游戏空间在有他们或没有他们的情况依然持续前进。

能否谈谈你们如何确定游戏的像素艺术风格?

在《迷你大楼》之前,我们主要着眼于制作餐厅管理游戏,Dave已着手模拟游戏的像素艺术风格。

我们非常满意最终成果,因此决定制作融入更多环境元素而非仅是单个餐厅的游戏。

未来所有NimbleBit游戏是否都会继续采用这一方式?

我觉得可能性很大,只要这适合游戏。但我们不会让艺术风格主导游戏类型。

游戏原本主要围绕火车,而非飞机元素。你们为何做出这一改变?

在火车主题的游戏制作到一定程度后我们突然意识到,停留在轨道上非常局限,而且相比乘坐火车,大众更容易理解空中旅行。

pocket trains ios from pocketgamer.biz

pocket trains ios from pocketgamer.biz

幸运的是,我们当时制作的多数机制依然能够运用至《Pocket Planes》。

你们是否遇到什么重大挑战?

目前我们遇到的最大挑战是,确保模拟情景足够有深度能够吸引“硬核”型玩家,同时又要不失简单性,能够迎合休闲玩家。

你和自己的双胞胎兄弟共同创建了NimbleBit。和家庭成员共事是什么感觉?

和自己的双胞胎兄弟共事非常奇妙。我们从小到大玩相同的游戏、阅读相同的著作及观看相同的电影,因此当我们提及某内容时,对方总是能够很快理解。

nimblebit from pocketgamer.biz

nimblebit from pocketgamer.biz

我们还对于彼此的工作坦诚相待,因为我们已互相“打斗”近30年。

《Pocket Planes》非常通俗易懂,这促进扩展玩法,但在玩法难度上依然保持简单。这是否就是你们所追求的东西?

我觉得,真的问题是深度相当不显著,除非你仔细进行寻找。游戏的复杂程度由玩家自己设定。

我们在基本进展中融入较少计划元素,旨在迎合休闲玩法风格,但仔细规划对于解锁飞机的实际潜力来说又非常必要。

为融入更多深度,你们在游戏中引入什么元素?

我们在测试阶段改变的一个游戏内容是,阻止玩家升级城市。这意味着,玩家不得不进行规划,找到运用最佳飞机的最佳路线,而非在旅途过程中升级各城市。

ios nimblebit pocket planes map from pocketgamer.biz

ios nimblebit pocket planes map from pocketgamer.biz

植入中途停留机制也给游戏带来更多深度,让玩家能够跳脱简单的点到点飞行模式。

开发过程历经多长时间,你们采用什么工具?

我预估我们大概是投入7-8个月专职开发内容,所采用的工具有Photoshop、Xcode和Cocos2d架构。

《迷你大楼》和《Pocket Planes》包含类似玩法、IAP整合、美术元素及社交网络功能。二者在用户或用户互动方式上是否存在差异?

《Pocket Planes》的用户规模相对更小,这多半是因为相比《迷你大楼》,这款游戏的吸引力更加有限,虽然《Pocket Planes》玩家每天体验更多回合(游戏邦注:旨在确保自己的所有飞机都处于空中)。

为什么说《Pocket Planes》的吸引力更加有限?

《迷你大楼》的目标更加明显——创建更高的大楼。

而在《Pocket Planes》,游戏目标则比较模糊,取决于玩家自己。在我看来,《Pocket Planes》主要吸引喜欢让自己迷失在这类鲜有明确目标的沙盒类游戏中的有限用户。

游戏社交功能的重要性何在?

我认为这能够促进口碑传播,且查看他人在游戏中的操作也非常有趣。

ios nimblebit pocket planes from pocketgamer.biz

ios nimblebit pocket planes from pocketgamer.biz

许多行业人士将焦点放在参数和分析数据上。你们是否密切追踪这些数据,更广泛来说,在用户反应中,最让你们吃惊的是什么?

出于多种原因,相比《迷你大楼》,《Pocket Planes》融入较少分析数据。这些数据并未给我们带来显著价值,因为我们不是基于参数来开发游戏。

最让我们吃惊的是参加Flight Crew竞赛的玩家数量。

你们一直主打iOS平台,但也有在Android平台发行内容。你们是否会在其他平台发行《Pocket Planes》。

和《迷你大楼》类似,未来几个月《Pocket Planes》将通过DeNA的Mobage网络入驻Android平台。

能否谈谈,你们将如何更新这款游戏?

目前我们正在积极处理早期玩家所遇到的问题,通过明确特定元素及添加帮助机制完善游戏体验。

玩家在游戏中遇到什么问题?

有少部分的数据丢失情况及若干iCloud同步问题——所有这些问题将在更新内容中得到修复。

有多少玩家受到影响?

数量不多,幸运的是,我们很快就做出修复,在48小时里左右。游戏上线之后总有这样那样的原因需要我们忙乎一阵子。

NimbleBit的下步发展计划是什么?

这也是我们目前正在思考的问题!我们通常不会进行过于长远的规划,所以我们将着手构思新游戏,同时制作《Pocket Planes》和《迷你大楼》的更新内容。(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

Fasten your seatbelts: The making of Pocket Planes

by Lee Bradley

Following the success of Tiny Tower, San Diego-based NimbleBit returned to the social management sim with the release of Pocket Planes, securing another strong reception, both critically and commercially.

Yet the project could have been very different.

We talk to co-founder Ian Marsh about the Pocket Planes’ origins, balancing the needs of casual and core players, and what it’s like working with your twin brother.

Pocket Gamer: What were your aspirations for Pocket Planes?

Ian Marsh: With Pocket Planes we set out to make a game with much more strategy and deeper gameplay than Tiny Tower while still keeping it relatively casual and approachable.

What lessons did you carried over?

I think the most important thing was the sense of a living breathing world that you’re playing in. We kept the BitBook and added other world events to give a sense of the world carrying on with or without you.

Can you tell us a little about how you settled on your pixel art style?

Before Tiny Tower, we were playing around with the idea of making a restaurant management game and Dave had started mocking it up in a pixel art style.

We ended up loving it so much that we decided we should make a game with many more environments than a single restaurant.

Will all NimbleBit games take this approach going forward?

I think there is a good chance we’ll continue using it as long as it suits the game. I don’t think we’ll let the art style dictate the types of games we make though.

The game was originally about trains not planes. Why did you make that change?

We had developed the train game to a certain point when we realised that staying on tracks was limiting in a few different ways, and also the average person can relate to air travel much more easily than rail travel.

Luckily most of the systems we’d developed up to that point were still able to be utilised in Pocket Planes.

Were there any other significant challenges you had to overcome?

I’d say the biggest challenge by far was making the simulation deep enough to be enjoyable to more ‘core’ gamers while still keeping it simple enough for casual gamers.

You founded NimbleBit with your twin brother. What’s it like working with a family member?

Working with my twin brother is pretty amazing. We have this shared knowledge of all the games we played, books we read, and movies we saw growing up so we can always reference something and know exactly what the other one is talking about.

We’re also able to be brutally honest with each other about our work since we’ve been beating up on each other for almost 30 years now!

Pocket Planes is very accessible, which encourages extended play, but remains fairly untaxing in terms of gameplay difficulty. Was this something you specifically aimed for?

I think the real problem is that the depth is relatively hidden unless you’re looking for it. The game is only as complex as the player makes it for themselves.

We did intend for basic advancement to take little planning for casual play, but for careful planning to be necessary to unlock your airlines true potential.

What elements did you introduce to the game in order to add more depth?

One aspect we changed during beta was preventing the player from upgrading cities to any class. This meant that the player was forced to plan and find the best routes using the best planes rather then upgrading every city on a path to anywhere.

Adding layovers also gave the game much more depth and allowed players to think outside of simple point to point flights.

How long did the development process take and what tools did you use?

I’d estimate around 7-8 months of full-time development, using Photoshop, Xcode, and the Cocos2d framework.

Tiny Tower and Pocket Planes have comparable gameplay, IAP integration, art and social networking features. Are there any differences in terms of the audience, or how players interact with the games?

The audience for Pocket Planes looks to be a bit smaller, which probably boils down to it having slightly narrower appeal than Tiny Tower, although it does seem that Pocket Planes players play more sessions a day, probably to ensure that all their planes are always in the air.

Why do you think Pocket Planes has a narrower appeal?

The goal in Tiny Tower is much more obvious – build higher.

In Pocket Planes, the goals are a bit more nebulous and can be dependent on the player themselves. I think Pocket Planes’ appeals to a narrower audience that likes to lose themselves in these sandbox type games with a little less direction.

How important are the game’s social features?

I think it’s been great for word of mouth, and especially fun for us to see what people are doing with the game.

There’s lots of focus in the industry about metrics and analytics. How closely do you measure these and, more generally, what’s been the most surprising aspect of the audience reaction?

For various reasons, Pocket Planes includes even less analytics than Tiny Tower. We don’t get that much value out of them since our development isn’t metrics-driven.

I think the biggest surprise has been the amount of players taking part in Flight Crew competitions.

You’ve always led on iOS, but have released games on Android. Will you be releasing Pocket Planes on other platforms?

Pocket Planes will be coming to Android in the coming months through DeNA’s Mobage network, similar to Tiny Tower.

Can you reveal how you’ll be updating the game?

Right now we’re working hardest on addressing issues early players are having and improving the experience by clarifying certain aspects and adding a help system to the game.

What issues have players encountered?

There were some rare cases of data loss, and some iCloud syncing issues – all of which where remedied in the following updates.

How many players were affected?

We didn’t see more than a few handfuls of people get affected, and luckily we were able to get a fix out quickly, something like 48 hours I think. It is always a scramble after a launch for one reason or another!

What’s next for NimbleBit?

That’s what we’re trying to figure out now! We never roadmap too far ahead so we’re exploring some ideas for new games while we spend some time working on updates for Pocket Planes and Tiny Tower.(Source:pocketgamer


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