游戏邦在:
杂志专栏:
gamerboom.com订阅到鲜果订阅到抓虾google reader订阅到有道订阅到QQ邮箱订阅到帮看

《EVE Online》资深设计师谈对“沙盒”的定义

发布时间:2012-10-30 16:05:30 Tags:,,,,

作者:Kirs Craft

“沙盒游戏”是游戏开发中常见的模糊术语之一,但有关它的定义却十分罕见。

对于开发商CCP《EVE Online》资深设计师Matthew Woodward而言,“沙盒”是其工作室日常运作的一种思维模式。

他表示:“‘沙盒’一词确实难以定义,它与我们的工作息息相关,我们知道沙盒是什么,但却无法用语言进行表达。”

然而,Woodward却提出了关于“沙盒”一词的出色定义:“基本上,沙盒包括三个元素:社交性、目标驱动及自发性——开放游戏场景,给予玩家控制权,如果你正在制作一款多人游戏,你应在其中添加社交性,因为这是最先推动玩家体验游戏的主要原因。”

Woodward认为自发性可能是沙盒游戏中的最重要元素,而且无论你是制作单人模式或多人模式的沙盒游戏,你都应着眼于这个元素。

eve online(from gamasutra)

eve online(from gamasutra)

CCP是一家颇为了解开放性MMO游戏的工作室。目前,《EVE Online》已有将近10年的历史,它的特征显然就是Woodward用于描述沙盒游戏的三个元素。而玩家驱动型经济、专业性及其与社区关系的发展也是它不同于众多翻版《魔兽世界》,开拓属于自己的小众市场的重要因素。

《EVE》获得成功的关键在于它抓住了MMO游戏自谋生路的要领。Woodward解释了CCP的运和方式:“基本上看,你需要自发性与开放性。我们所面临的最大敌人为静止状态,即玩家会不断重复同一件事。这样会摧毁游戏的开放本质。显然,如果某个玩家可以完成游戏进程,那么该游戏并无开放性可言。”

对网络游戏而言,开放性还可以理解为长期性。Woodward表示:“游戏应持续保持它的平衡性。任何支持竞技类玩法的元素均有益于游戏的开放效果,因为你可以让玩家从中反复尝试,在失去时尽力挽回。”

叙述性 vs 沙盒

Woodward在定义“沙盒”时,或在解释自谋生路的玩法时忽略了一个元素——叙述性。实际上,《EVE》游戏中包含大量叙事元素,但它主要由玩家催生。Woodward认为游戏本身催生出的叙事元素其实可以在MMO游戏中完美实现。

他指出:“似乎,从我的《EVE》视角来看,叙述性玩法具有大量价值,MMO游戏也是如此。我并不清楚如何在游戏中整合这两个方面,从而提升它们的分量。它们似乎正朝着不同方向发展,演变为不同类型的游戏。”

“以我研究游戏的方式出发,这两种类型的游戏显然不是平行关系,并且我怀疑你试图将两者融合在一起以便达到自己想要的结果,可能需要做出一定的妥协。”

“如果你打算塑造单人游戏体验,将其嵌入一款高度社交性的多人游戏中,在我看来并没有什么创新意义。”(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

EVE Online and the meaning of ‘sandbox’

by Kris Graft

“Sandbox gameplay” is one of those ambiguous terms in game development that is used a lot, but rarely defined.

To Matthew Woodward, senior designer at EVE Online developer CCP, “sandbox” is just a mindset in which his studio operates on a daily basis.

“['Sandbox'] is really hard to define, because it’s so ingrained in what we do, that we know what it is, but it’s hard to put into words,” he tells Gamasutra.

But he offers up a pretty good definition anyhow. “Basically it’s three things: being social, goal-driven and emergent — making a game open, giving players control, essentially, and if you’re making a multiplayer game, making it as social as possible, because that’s why they’re playing the game in the first place.”

Woodward posits that emergence is likely the most important aspect, and it’s something to concentrate on whether you’re making a single-player sandbox game or a multiplayer game.

CCP is a studio that knows a thing or two about open-ended MMOs. EVE Online is nearly 10 years old now, and its trademarks are exactly the three elements that Woodward uses to describe sandbox games. EVE’s player-driven economy, professions and close ties with the community have all helped the game standout from World of Warcraft copies, and carve a successful niche of its own.

Key to EVE’s success is grasping what it means for an MMO to be self-sustaining. Woodward explains CCP’s approach. “Essentially, you need the emergence, you need the openness.

“The big enemy is rest states — a place where players keep on doing the same things over and over again. That’s the big thing that’s going to drag down your open-endedness. That and obviously if a player can finish [the game], it’s not open-ended,” he says.”

That open-endedness can translate into longevity for an online game. “[The game has to enable] an ongoing balance. Anything that supports competitive-type gameplay, trying to be the best at something, is really good for open-endedness, because you can have that back-and-forth between players, and you always try to get it back when you lose it,” says Woodward.

Narrative vs. sandbox

There’s one element that is not mentioned in Woodward’s definition of “sandbox,” or in his explanation of self-sustaining gameplay: narrative. There is in fact a lot of narrative that happens in EVE, but it’s primarily player-driven. Woodward is skeptical that game-driven narrative can really work successfully in an MMO.

“It seems to me, from my very EVE-centric perspective, that there’s a lot of value in narrative gameplay, and there’s a lot of value in MMOs,” he says. “It’s not crystal clear to me how merging those two things together is the best possible way to enhance them both. It seems like they’re pushing in different directions, and trying to be different kinds of games.

“For me, and for the way I look at games, those two types of games are not obvious bedfellows, and I wonder whether what kind of compromises you’re making when you’re trying to get those to mesh together nicely are worth what you’re trying to achieve.

“If you’re trying to achieve a single-player experience, it’s not obvious to me how that’s benefiting from a creative point of view from being embedded in a very highly-social multiplayer game.” (source:gamasutra)


上一篇:

下一篇: