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

阐述LucasArts设计经典冒险游戏所使用的技巧

发布时间:2013-03-26 16:44:09 Tags:,,,

作者:Frank Cifaldi

独立游戏设计师Noah Falstein一直都对受故事驱动的游戏充满兴趣。在受故事驱动的冒险游戏发展的黄金时代,他一直致力于LucasArts旗下经典冒险游戏的开发,如《夺宝奇兵》和《亚特兰蒂斯传奇》。

作为图像冒险游戏开发商,LucasArt在全盛时期所创造的一大技术便是“谜题依赖关系图表”理念。这是设计师Ron Gilbert在1987年所创造的冒险游戏《疯狂大楼》中所使用的一种技术。该技术将游戏分成一个流程图,以此将游戏故事简化成一些目标和解决方法。

Falstein在GDC大会上透露了这个技术的一大诀窍,即避免将过多故事整合到图表中,从而能够更加专注于简单的目标上。

在此,来自LucasArts的Grim Fandango向我们呈现了其中的一张谜题依赖关系图表,如下(游戏邦注:不幸的是Falstein表示像《疯狂大楼》和《猴岛的秘密》等游戏最初的图表已经丢失了):

puzzle dependency charts(from gamasutra)

puzzle dependency charts(from gamasutra)

尽管对于大多数设计师来说游戏流程图并不是什么新理念,但是在Falstein的谈话中也有一些值得我们特别注意的内容:

确保分支足够茂密

当然,对于游戏设计师来说创造一个直线型故事便是最简单的方法,但是问题就在于如果玩家受困于故事中,他便什么都做不了了。

所以你需要确保故事分支足够“茂密”,即让玩家可以同时致力于多个任务中,那么他们便不会轻易受挫了。

逆向操作

Falstein认为设计师应该从游戏故事的最顶端开始进行逆向操作,并思考如何到达那里。

他说道:“这比之前的设计方法简单多了。”

太过简单?进行分化

通过使用简单的谜题依赖关系图表,设计师能够有效调整那些对于玩家来说太过简单的环节。

Falstein列举了一个简单的例子,即玩家在游戏中获取钥匙的场景。如果该环节需要进行延伸并提高难度,我们便可以将钥匙改为3把,并让玩家必须完成一些不同的小任务才能将钥匙集齐。

太过复杂?进行扩展

设计师也可以基于相同方法去调整太过复杂的环节,如添加可替代的解决方法或额外的活动。

用游戏玩法分割故事,反之亦然

最后,Falstein提出了一点建议,即在创造一款基于故事的游戏时,设计师应该通过在游戏玩法与故事之间的灵活转化而保持游戏内容的新鲜感。

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

The technique LucasArts used to design its classic adventure games

By Frank Cifaldi

Independent game designer Noah Falstein has always had a particular interest in narrative-driven games. He was there during the golden age of story-driven adventure games, working on classic LucasArts-developed adventures like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

One of the techniques developed during LucasArts’ heyday as a graphic adventure developer is the idea of a “puzzle dependency chart.” Developed by designer Ron Gilbert for his groundbreaking 1987 adventure Maniac Mansion, the technique breaks games down into a flow chart that simplifies a game’s narrative into objectives and solutions.

One of the tricks to the technique, Falstein said at a GDC talk Monday morning, is to avoid the temptation of putting too much narrative into the chart. Instead, focus on simple goals.

“It’s all keys and locks,” Gilbert has been known to say about game design.

This is from about ten years after the original Maniac Mansion, but here is an example from LucasArts’ Grim Fandango that shows what one of its puzzle dependency charts looks like (unfortunately, Falstein says the original charts for games like Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island are probably lost forever):

While game progression flow charts aren’t a new concept to most designers, Falstein had some takeaways during his brief talk that are worth noting:

Make it bushy

Making a straight, linear narrative is of course the simplest path for a game designer, but the problem is that when a player gets stuck, she has nothing else to do.

Make your branches “bushy” by allowing players to work on simultaneous tasks, Falstein says, so that they don’t get easily frustrated.

Work backwards

Falstein says that designers should work backwards from the climax of a game’s narrative, and figure out how to get there.

“It’s actually much easier to design that way,” he says.

Too easy? Break something

By working with a simple puzzle dependency chart, designers can easily adjust sections of the game that are too easy for the player to get through.

By way of a simple example, Falstein described a scenario where a player acquires a key in the game. If that section needs to be stretched out and made more difficult, break the key in three and have the player go on a separate mini quest to reunite the pieces.

Too hard? Branch out

Alternately, using this same method, designers can adjust a section of the game that’s too difficult for players by adding alternative solutions or additional activities.

Break up story with gameplay, and vice versa

Finally, Falstein suggests that when creating a narrative game, designers should keep themselves fresh by switching to story when they’re stuck on gameplay, or switching to gameplay when they’re stuck on the story.(source:gamasutra)


上一篇:

下一篇: