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从ExPlay 2012中吸取的5大游戏开发经验

发布时间:2012-11-10 15:52:14 Tags:,,,,

作者:James Nouch

ExPlay 2012会议就在巴斯(游戏邦注:位于英格兰埃文郡东部的小城)这座历史名城中召开,参加会议的众开发者们从相关发言人口中了解到许多游戏开发的重要内容。

以下是我们从这次会议上吸取的重要经验。

易用性非常重要,且比想象中容易达到

如今,色盲正困扰着7%的美国男性。尽管当代的游戏更具有包容性,但是大多数游戏所传达的视觉设计元素仍然将这些色盲玩家残忍地排除在外。

大多数开发者都希望越多玩家能够喜欢自己的游戏。在ExPlay 2012有关游戏易用性的座谈小组中,参加者便学会了如何让残疾人士也能够享受到他们的游戏乐趣。

就像易用性顾问Ian Hamilton所说的那样,开发者在设计游戏的过程中也需要将那些看不见,听不见,患有理解或控制障碍的玩家们列入考虑范围内。

例如你可以让玩家自己规划游戏的控制,或者让他们自行调节背景颜色和亮度。添加字幕,一键模式以及自动击发选择都是一些非常容易执行的设置,并且能够有效地帮助玩家进行游戏。

ExPlay 2012(from edge-online)

ExPlay 2012(from edge-online)

个性胜过平庸的广泛性

制作具有易用性的游戏并不等于制作乏味保守的游戏。

Mediatonic的游戏总监对ExPlay的参加者们说道,将想法大胆的角色带进游戏设计中便是“创造出具有吸引力的游戏的最划算的方法。”

随着手机游戏用户的不断发展,很明显,具有广泛吸引力的休闲游戏在这点上都能够做得很好。但是对于那些致力于硬核游戏或利基游戏的小型开发者而言,赋予游戏个性便是他们取得成功的决定性因素。

Croft(游戏邦注:开发过《疯狂的外科医生》等游戏)解释道:“个性可以让你的游戏突显于市场中。”

这同时也能帮助你无需投入过多用户获取成本而获得更多玩家。

编写游戏非常困难,但是对于小团队来说却异常简单

在编写游戏座谈小组中,四名行业作者与参加者分享了在编写电子游戏故事时的相关注意事项。

毫无疑问,编写手机游戏非常具有挑战性。Splash Damage的Edward Stern刚进入这一产业不久,他便表示这是一个“比想象中复杂得多的过程。”

Opposable Games的James Parker也表示赞同,他补充道:“在编写游戏中我们必须不断强调简洁性与表现力,特别是在手机游戏中。”

即时性也至关重要,因为手机游戏玩家不会愿意花钱去等待一则进展缓慢的游戏故事——他们不可能在手机游戏上投入60美元的高价。

并且对于作者来说,在小团队中能够更轻松地进行创作。

Mode 7的Paul Taylor(参与了热门的独立游戏《Frozen Synapse》的开发)便表示,较少的团队人员能够让自己更专注于游戏的艺术方向中,并有效地创造出能够与游戏视觉效果形成互补的优秀故事内容。

这种参与度是在大团队中不可能实现的,并且小团队所拥有的轻松的交流氛围对于游戏作者来说也是非常有帮助。

如何吸引媒体的注意力

《卫报》的Keith Stuart在游戏和媒体座谈小组中说道:“每个小型团队中都必须拥有一些与媒体打交道的成员。”

对于参加会议的开发者而言,Stuart的这一建议非常有用。他认为游戏工作室应该创造有关自己网站的高清截图,并尽可能呈现出更多细节描述。

换句话说,你需要考虑到记者在描述你的游戏时所需要的所有资产和信息,并让他们能够轻松地获得这些内容。

除此之外,如果你希望媒体能够注意到你的游戏,那就为他们呈现一些有吸引力的故事。

就像如果你的工作室中有位成员参与过《光晕3》的制作,这便是一则故事。如果你的手机游戏具有一个前所未有的新机制,这也算是一则故事。大声地告诉媒体们这些故事,他们便会有兴趣向公众们分享这些故事。

有些人总是不愿意与媒体分享自己的创意,怕别人窃取了这些灵感。游戏顾问Will Luton认为这都是无稽之谈。他说道:“理念其实非常廉价。执行力才是最重要的。”

“现在是制作游戏的绝佳时刻”

尽管大多数ExPlay发言人都在谈论着如何解决发行和用户获取问题(伴随着手机游戏发展而出现),但是Boss Alien的Alex Trowers却对此保持着非常乐观的态度。

已经进入游戏产业22年之久的Trowers说道:“一开始我们只能购买一台电脑,而当拥有了电脑后,我们便可以利用任何内容去创造一款游戏。当我们在开发游戏时,我们可以制作任何想要的内容。而今天,我们甚至可以免费使用任何工具去制作一款游戏。Unity是免费的,Gimp(游戏邦注:一款跨平台图像处理软件)是免费的,Audacity(一款跨平台的声音编辑软件)也是免费的。并且在游戏完成后你还可以按照自己的想法去销售并推广它。”

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

Five things we learned from ExPlay 2012

by James Nouch

Bath is a bloomin’ lovely place, and ExPlay 2012 made the most of its historic location.

An opening keynote, for instance, took place out in the open-air at the city’s ancient Roman Baths.

The conference itself, meanwhile, was held in Bath’s Georgian Assembly Rooms. Even the event’s raucous after-party was held slap bang in the middle of a UNESCO world heritage site.

But, between gawping at chandeliers and baulking at the high price of a pint, attendees also spent some time learning about games development from a glittering roster of industry speakers.

Here’s some of the most interesting lessons we took on board.

Accessibility is important – and easier than you think

Colour-blindness affects some seven percent of the US male population. Despite this – and despite mobile gaming’s continuing march towards inclusivity – plenty of games still ship with visual design elements that exclude colour-blind players.

Obviously, this needn’t be the case, and most developers want their games to be enjoyed by as many players as possible. At a panel on games accessibility at ExPlay 2012, attendees learned how to easily ensure their games can be enjoyed by gamers with disabilities.

As accessibility consultant Ian Hamilton explained, it’s simply a matter of designing with a consideration for players who might not be able to see, hear, understand or control things as well as others.

So, you might allow your players to fully re-map the game’s controls, for instance, or give them control over background colours and brightness levels. Subtitles, one-button modes and auto-fire options are all relatively easy-to-implement, and can make a big difference for your players.

Personality trumps bland broad appeal

Making accessible games isn’t the same as making bland, safe games, though.

Indeed, Mediatonic’s director of games Paul Croft explained to ExPlay attendees how injecting bold character into your designs is a “super cost-effective way to create games that generate attention.”

As the audience for mobile gaming has opened up, it’s become clear that casual games with broad appeal can do very well for themselves. For smaller developers, however – and those working in more hardcore or niche genres – crafting games with personality may be the way to go.

“Character can help lift you out of this sea of games,” explained Croft, who’s worked on titles such as the Amateur Surgeon series.

And it can help you gain players without a massive user acquisition budget, too.

Writing games is hard, but it’s easier for small teams

In a panel on writing for games, four industry scribes shared some dos and don’ts of video game narrative with ExPlay attendees.

Writing for mobile games is undoubtedly a challenge. Splash Damage’s Edward Stern is relatively new to the space, and he noted that the process was “very hard, much harder than I’d anticipated.”

Opposable Games’ James Parker agreed, adding, “all of the things that are true about writing in games generally – being concise, being punchy – these are even more true in mobile games.”

Immediacy is important then, and mobile gamers don’t have the same financial incentive to stick with a slow-buring story on mobile – after all, they’re unlikely to have spent $60 on the game.

All that said, however, the small team sizes associated with mobile development can be a real boon for writers.

Mode 7′s Paul Taylor – one of the men behind indie hit Frozen Synapse – explained how his studio’s low headcount allowed him to get involved in the game’s art direction before release, marrying his narrative to a complementary visual aesthetic.

That’s a level of involvement that simply wouldn’t have been possible in a larger team, and the easy communication afforded by small team sizes is good news for games writers.

How to get the press interested

“Every small studio should have someone press-facing – someone who’s prepared to talk to the press,” explained The Guardian’s Keith Stuart in an ExPlay panel on games and the media.

Indeed, Stuart was a particularly rich vein of practical advice for attending developers. He explained that studios should make high-quality screenshots easily available from their websites, for instance, and display contact details prominently.

In other words, you should consider what assets and information any journalist would need in order to write about your games, and make that information easy to obtain.

What’s more, if you’re trying to get press attention for your game, make sure to give the press a story.

If someone from your studio worked on Halo 3, then that’s a story. If your mobile game features a revolutionary mechanic that’s never been done, then that’s a story. Tell the press your story, and it it’s a good one, people will want to write about it.

Of course, if you actually do have a revolutionary idea, you may not want to share it with the press for fear that someone will copy it. This is pointless, according to games consultant Will Luton. “Ideas are cheap,” he explained. “It’s the execution that’s key.”

“There has never been an easier time to make a game than now”

While plenty of other ExPlay speakers were attempting to practically address the problems of discovery and user acquisition that the rapid growth of mobile gaming has uncovered, Boss Alien’s Alex Trowers took a more celebratory stance.

“When I started out, you could buy a computer, and when you bought a computer, it came with everything you needed to make a game,” said Trowers, an industry veteran of some 22 years, at the start of his ExPlay session.

“But once you made the game, there was bugger all you could do with it.

“Nowadays, you can get everything you need to make a game for free. Unity is free. Gimp is free. Audacity is free. And you can actually do something with that game once you’re finished.” (source:pocketgamer)


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