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以三明治为喻分解电子游戏包含的基本要素

发布时间:2012-12-13 11:29:44 Tags:,,,,,

作者:Dylan Woodbury

有关游戏设计的比喻多种多样,但没有哪个是令我满意的。最近,我正思考以一种完美方式解释电子游戏的各个成分,此时我想到了三明治!

游戏的各个方面在三明治上都有相对应的元素。电子游戏本身是个三明治,设计师是主厨,其团队成员是身兼各职的厨师,只有大家共同合作才能完成最终产品。

分解三明治(电子游戏)

三明治(from freemages)

三明治(from freemages)

面包(技术部分)——三明治的最重要部分是面包。没有面包就无法制成三明治!游戏也是如此。所有幕后运行的代码都可以将游戏设计的各个组件整合起来,就像面包夹住所有食材。在此,我并非指代电子游戏的有趣部分微不足道,但如果没有代码,你甚至无法设计游戏。

肉类(玩法)——三明治中包含的肉类可以多种多样,基于三明治的类型,它可以是意大利香肠、火腿、鸡肉等。电子游戏的玩法(你在游戏中采取的行动)也会因游戏本身(射击方式属于射击游戏,剑术、鞠躬及射箭则存在于中世纪小说游戏中)而不同。如果玩法有趣且出色,玩家更有可能回到游戏进程,除非游戏缺少其它方面。通常,游戏定义取决于其对应玩法,如同三明治根据肉类定义类型,比如火腿三明治、鸡肉三明治、金枪鱼三明治……动作游戏、冒险游戏、角色扮演游戏(RPG)、战略游戏……它们都具有广阔玩法,且能进行亚分类。在动作或动作冒险类中,你可以体验以射击为主的射击游戏,在平台类中,你能基于奔跑与跳跃方式从一个地方到达下个地方,在战斗类型中,你可以通过按住某个按钮,完成角色的一系列打斗动作,等等。没有精品肉类,游戏会变得枯燥乏味……没有肉类,便难以成就电子游戏,也就没有所谓的三明治。

蔬菜(故事)——从工艺上看,你可以制作出没有蔬菜的三明治,但除非这是某类三明治,否则它会食之无味。同样,根据游戏题材,游戏中也可以不设置故事情节,但大部分情况下,故事占据游戏的大半部分,它可以刺激玩法,如同蔬菜调和肉味。游戏故事必须具有吸引力与趣味性,且不参杂烂掉的蔬菜味。游戏中的多个故事结合(游戏邦注:书籍、电影与电视节目也是如此),形成超级大型故事,最终为玩家所理解。游戏中的故事必须迂回曲折,时刻保持玩家/食客的劲头。随处加入辣椒,食客可能会将其当作蒜头,因此直到仔细咀嚼,他才会发现这种食材。

调料(角色/敌人)——每个三明治至少会加入一些调料,游戏也不例外。设计师应在游戏中设置共同存在,且能在整个故事中互动的有趣角色与敌人。这是相当重要的元素,因为它们能为玩法(肉类)与故事(蔬菜)润色。而且,每个人对调料的喜爱又各不相同,他们可以选择与其互动的方式。通常,玩家可以自行决定同NPC的交流次数与方式,除非设计师迫使你做某些事情来完成游戏。

外观(画面)——粗制的三明治往往会流出调料,蔬菜会松散耷拉着,给人一种极其糟糕的印象,同时会让食客忽略其味道,因为他需尽力在不弄脏衣服的情况下吃掉整个三明治。玩家会长时注视游戏画面,因此设计师应赋予它出色的品质。它不一定要具有真实视觉效果,但它应保证画面的流畅感。优美的视觉效果会极大影响游戏的整体效果,好像食客会看三明治的卖相来判断它是否美味。

食物分量(长度/重玩性)——没人想被一个小三明治欺骗。因此,设计师应制定合理的游戏长度,这样,玩家会在此投入数小时的体验时间,然而,你应确保自己不是在重复添加时间。而且,玩家喜爱支线任务、收藏品、隐蔽区域以及惊喜。如果它们是薯条与可乐,我们还能在玩家需要时添加这些物质。(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

Video Games Are Like Sandwiches

by Dylan Woodbury

The following blog was, unless otherwise noted, independently written by a member of Gamasutra’s game development community. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Gamasutra or its parent company.

There are a lot of metaphors for game design out there, but, for me, none of them quite fit the bill. I was trying to think of a good way to explain the components of a video game, but was drawing a blank…that is, until I thought of the sandwich!

Each aspect of a game has a complimentary element of the sandwich. The video game itself is the sandwich, and the designer is the chef, and under him his team of cooks with many different jobs, who work together to reach the end product.

Breakdown Of A Sandwich (Video Game)

The Bread (Techie Stuff)-The most important aspect of a sandwich is the bread. Without it, it’s not a sandwich! The same goes for games. All of the code that runs behind the scenes holds all of the other components of game design together, much like the bread holds everything else. I’m not saying that the more immaginative aspects of a video game are unimportant, but without the code, you can’t even use the design.

The Meat (Gameplay)-The meat of a sandwich can have many different types, like salami, ham, chicken, and so on, depending on the type of sandwich. In a video game, the gameplay (the actions you make in a game) varies depending on the game (shooting in shooters, sword-fighting and bow-and arrows in medieval-fiction games). If the gameplay is good and fun, the gamer will most likely want to come back for more, unless other aspects of the game are lacking. Usually, games are defined based by their gameplay, much like the sandwiches’ meat. Ham sandwich, chicken sandwich, tuna sandwich…Action game, adventure game, role-playing-game (rpg), strategy… These types of games all have broad gameplays, and can be put into sublevels. In the action or action-adventure category, you can have shooters, which revolve around shooting, platformers, which are based around running and jumping from one point to the next, brawlers, in which your character has a set list of fighting moves which you accomplish by pressing a button, and so forth. Without good meat, the game is boring… And without any meat, it’s no video game, and no sandwich either.

The Veggies (Story)-You can technically have a sandwich without veggies, but it could be rather boring unless it’s a certain type of sandwich. A game can survive without a story, depending on the game’s genre, but in most cases, the story makes up the other half of the game, and motivate the gameplay, much like how the veggies compliment the meat. The story must be engaging and interesting, without the taste of soggy and overripe veggies. Multiple plotlines combine in games (as well as books, movies, and TV shows) to make a giant super-story, which is fully understood in the end. The story must also have twists and turns, and keep the gamer/eater on his/her feet. Throw in a hot pepper here and there, mabye disguise a piece of garlic as onion, so the eater doesn’t figure it out until he’s chewing it.

The Condiments (Characters/Enemies)-Every sandwich has at least some condiments on it, and games are no exception. A game needs interesting characters and enemies to coexist and interact with throughout the story. They are very important, for they add to both the gameplay (meat) and story (veggies). Also, everyone has their own preferences of condiments, and can choose how to interact with them (include, throw out, etc.). The player can usually decide how and how much to interact with the non-playable-characters (NPC’s), unless the designer (chef) forces you to do certain things to complete the game (sandwich).

The Presentation (Graphics)-A sloppy sandwich with condiments dripping out, and veggies hanging loose gives a bad impression, and distracts the eater from the taste, due to the fact that he’s trying to eat it without staining any clothing. A gamer is going to stare at the graphics of a game for a long time, so make it look good. It doesn’t necessarily have to look real, but it has to go with the flow of the other graphics of the game. Nice visuals have a huge influence on the feel of the game, much like how a sandwich can already be judged before it is tasted.

The Portion Size (Length/Replayability)- Nobody wants to be ripped off with a small sandwich. Give your game a good-length so the player can enjoy it for hours and hours, but make sure you’re not just being repetitive to add some time onto the game. Also, players love sidequests, collectibles, hidden areas, and easter eggs. Think of these as the fries and the coke, which add some substance and stuff to do if the player desires so.

Well, those are the basics of game design and its resemblance to the sandwich. I’ll have to take a rest, and see if I can think of anything to add. Comment below, and I’ll try to modify our recipe to further this article’s accuracy. Your thoughts/feedback are welcome.(source:gamasutra)


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