作者：John Polson

本次话题主要探索我们希望看到独立开发者创造何种类型的游戏。

Mike Rose：我非常喜欢最近的7DFPS挑战（游戏邦注：一场网络game jam活动，主旨是要在限定的7天之内制作出一款FPS游戏），这也是许多参与者所追求的最佳方向。FPS是一种非常古怪的游戏类型，因为我们很少能够在此感受到新意，只能看到同一个理念被反复使用，而这种情况之所以会持续这么久，也是因为我们不再纠结于反复玩相同的游戏这一问题了。我们应该推动现有类型的不断发展并从中挖掘新的角度，而独立开发者便是承担这一任务的不二人选。

除此之外我还希望独立开发者能够创造出更多体育类或管理类游戏。老实说这两种游戏都不是我所感兴趣的，但是我却认为不管是从概念还是创新角度来看它们都存在着巨大的扩展空间。Kairosoft游戏便是一些非常出色的管理类游戏，它们将玩家带进了那些他们原本不愿轻易碰触的游戏。我们需要的便是这类型游戏。《新星足球》便是一款非常出色的管理/体育类游戏，它也是一款简单且具有很大吸引力的游戏。

新星足球(from nidokidos.org)

Konstantinos Dimopoulos：我并不介意玩更多平台游戏和竞技类射击游戏，尽管我也不得不承认市面上这类型游戏确实有够多的。似乎大多数独立开发者至少都创造过一款这类型游戏。

除此之外，独立游戏领域最吸引我的一点便是这里能够容纳所有类型的游戏（尽管这只是一个小规模的细分市场）。例如太空模拟游戏和指向点击冒险游戏，尽管它们已经不算是主流游戏，但却仍拥有不错的成绩，并持续提供着一些稳定的后续作品和优秀的内容。

而我又希望看到其它哪些游戏的出现呢？如Jonas Kyratzes所创造的《The Sea Will Claim Everything》这类型游戏。也就是那些不拘泥于某些类型常规但又保存其重要理念的游戏。以及那些经由设计师精心编写并能够吸引非玩家注意力的游戏。

另外，我也希望看到更深层次且更复杂的角色扮演游戏，当然了，我也知道创造这类型游戏对于小团队来说太过苛求。如果还能诞生一些回合制策略游戏便更好了，因为游戏领域也欠缺这类型的作品。对了，还有带有未来主义色彩的体育类游戏！

《Legend of Grimrock》的巨大成功向我们证明，那些被认为已经没有发展前景的游戏也能够继续闪耀光芒，并且我也认为寻找这些光芒的重任落在独立开发团队身上。

Danny Cowan：我个人希望看到更多经典的射击游戏。许多独立射击游戏更倾向于弹幕式类型，但是在此之外还有许多值得我们扩展的空间。

例如《遗弃的行星》便是一款基于Gradius模式，并根据关卡设计和敌人布局而提供各种挑战的游戏，而不只是依靠枪林弹雨来呈现游戏难度。来自Locomalito的《Verminest》以及Namco的《Galaga》更是采用了不同的设计。《Starwish》则同时扮演着射击游戏，角色扮演游戏以及恋爱模拟游戏的角色。所以说这里存在着无限的可能！

starwish(from nightmaremode.net)

虽然我现在喜欢弹幕射击游戏，但同时我也很欣赏《19XX》，《雷电II》以及《Truxton》等经典游戏。由于零售模式的盛行，不少传统射击游戏玩法已被开发商所抛弃，是时候由独立开发者来重拾局面了。

Cassandra Khaw：除了像《愤怒的小鸟》这类型游戏外。尽管我期待着将来有一天我们将能够看到指向点击游戏/第一人称射击游戏或潜行类游戏，但同时我也会很高兴看到开发者们不再盲目跟风，并开始在一些早期游戏题材中寻求突破。

就像我便很喜欢Robert Yang所创造的第一人称射击游戏类型。《雷电》便是我非常喜欢的独立游戏系列。因为它使用了我们所熟悉的游戏机制——我们已经厌倦了那些意想不到的新方式了。我认为这也是我们最需要重视的内容。让我们在现有的产品上尽情地发挥创造性吧。我希望开发者能够用自己的创造性设计去吸引玩家，而不是盲目涉猎多种游戏类型。

John Polson：我希望能够看到更多游戏类型获得更广泛的关注，并希望更多知名开发者致力于开发这类游戏。而如果做不到这些，我也希望开发者们能够在驾驶类游戏和第一人称射击游戏中寻找突破和创新。

现在我希望出现更多像《Space Harrier》这类型的游戏。任何铁路游戏（游戏邦注：传统的或新型混合体）都可以非常有趣，特别是那些带有二元视觉效果的游戏。我希望在游戏中感受到更快速且更疯狂的行动。

shodown_1(from junglekey.com)

除此之外还有两种以上我所中意的类型。第一种便是《Actraiser 2》这类型的游戏，开发者将《Actraiser 1》中的城市建造游戏玩法再次整合进这款新游戏中。而实际上也很少有游戏能够与《Actraiser》相匹敌了。另一种便是类似于《侍魂1》或《侍魂2》这种风格的2D打斗游戏。《侍魂》向我们证明创造一款吸引人的打斗游戏不一定需要繁琐的组合技能。这同时也是少数能够传达个性（游戏邦注：具有吸引人且新颖的角色，场景和音乐），并带有独特且刺激的打斗引擎的游戏。《月华剑士》华丽的视觉效果也值得独立开发者去借鉴。（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）

Ask IndieGames: Which genres do you want to see indie developers tackle?

John Polson

This month’s Ask IndieGames explores the genres and games we want to see indie developers tackle. Our blog is full of great platformers and twin-stick shooters, so we wonder what other genres merit exploration within the indie space.

Mike Rose: I really enjoyed the recent 7DFPS challenge, and the great angles that some of the participants went for. The FPS genre is pretty weird in that it barely ever goes anywhere new, with the same ideas used over and over again, yet it’s been going on for so long now that we’ve just stopped caring whether we’re playing the very same games over and over again. We should definitely be looking to push the genre forward and explore new angles with it, and I think indie devs are in the best position to experiment with it.

Other than that, I’d love to see more sport or management games from indie devs. These are two genres that I’m not even that interested in to be perfectly honest, but I think there is a huge amount of scope for expansion on concepts and innovation. The Kairosoft games, for example, are utterly fantastic management titles that have brought a lot of people into a genre they perhaps wouldn’t normally touch. We need more like that. New Star Soccer is also a great management/sports game, so simple yet so addictive. More of that kind of thing would be perfectly fine with me.

Konstantinos Dimopoulos:(Gnome) Let me just say that I really don’t mind playing through more platformers and arena-shooters, even though one would have to admit they are being overrepresented. It does at times seem most indie developers have at least produced one…

Then again, if there is one thing I love the most in the indie gaming scene is the fact that all genres, no matter how niche, are represented; even if it is up to some point. Space sims and point-and-click adventures for example, despite being dead for the mainstream for quite some time now, are doing fine and have both a steady (if not growing) following and some excellent genre offerings.

But what would I like to see more of? Well, games like The Sea Will Claim Everything by Jonas Kyratzes for one. That is to say games that do not stick to a genre’s conventions and games that touch upon important ideas. Also, games that are brilliantly written and can actually interest non-gamers.

On the other hand, I would love to see some deep and complicated RPGs too, even though I’m pretty much aware of the fact that they can be too demanding for small teams. And some proper turn-based strategy offerings would be nice; there certainly aren’t enough of those. Oh, and futuristic sports games!

Also, and as Legend of Grimrock brilliantly and above all successfully demonstrated, the revival of genres considered long dead and buried could work very well, but I do suspect that finding out which these are is the work of the indie development teams themselves.

Danny Cowan: I’d personally like to see more classic-styled shoot-’em-ups. Many indie shooters lean toward the bullet-hell subgenre, but there’s plenty of room to explore outside of that space as well.

Satazius, for instance, is a solid take on the Gradius formula, offering varied challenges in terms of level design and enemy placement, rather than relying on curtains of bullets to provide difficulty. Locomalito’s Verminest takes a different approach, and riffs on Namco’s Galaga series. Starwish is simultaneously a shooter, an RPG, and a dating sim. There are so many possibilities!

Now, I love bullet hell shooters, but I also enjoy classics like 19XX, Raiden II, and Truxton (just to name a few). Traditional shoot-’em-up gameplay has been practically abandoned in terms of retail releases (Raiden IV and Otomedius Excellent are the only recent examples that come to mind, and those games are…not great), so maybe it’s time for indie developers to pick up the slack.

(Alternate answer: Pinball. I love pinball. I want to see more pinball games. OK, I’m done.)

Cassandra Khaw: Everything. Everything except more Angry Birds-like games, of course. While I think it’d be totally kick ass to see a point & click/FPS or a stealth-IF one day, I’ll be happy if people stopped following trends and started making advances within tired old genres.

For example, I love the stuff that Robert Yang has done in the First-Person Shooter genre. Radiator is easily one of my favorite indie series. Why? Because it uses the mechanics we all know and have gotten bored of in a new, unexpected way. I think that’s what we need more than anything else. Screw weird hybrids, let’s innovate within what we already have. Blow me away with the creativity of your design, not the wildness of your genre choices.

John Polson: I’ve already expressed my desire to see a couple genres get more attention and sought input from many well-known devs on the subjects. For those who missed these, we discussed innovation in driving games and FPS games.

This week I wished out loud for more Space Harrier-type games. Any on-rails games (traditional or new hybrids) could also be really fun, especially with some Dyad-like visuals. I want more fast, frantic action that I can’t slow down on my own.

I’d also like to ask for two more things. The first is a hack of Actraiser 2, where someone injects the city-building gameplay from the first Actraiser. Are there any games as good as that half of Actraiser? The other is a 2D fighting game with style and substance like Samurai Shodown 1 or 2. Shodown proved to me that heavy combos aren’t necessary to create an engaging fighter. This was also one of the few fighters that bled personality (captivating and original characters, stages, and music) and had a unique, suspenseful fighting engine with the perfect splash of gore. The Last Blade is also worth examining for its aesthetics.(source:indiegames)