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分享游戏最大化玩家表达方式的11点建议

发布时间:2013-05-06 16:31:16 Tags:,,,

作者:Daniel Cook

作为游戏开发者,我们经常探讨如何让游戏更清楚地表达“作者”意图的话题。但如何反过来说呢?我们该如何让游戏允许“玩家”以更丰富而有意义的形式进行自我表达?

我发现游戏中的玩家表达方式具有吸引力,主要原因如下:

*它让玩家为游戏世界增添内容而是不只是像个顾客那样消费内容。

*它成倍增加了设计师(相较于玩家社区)所投入的精力。

*较不依赖小说或电影等其他媒体形式,似乎已经成为游戏的一种明显属性。

本文列出了我希望游戏系统所具备的数种玩家表达方式。它们都有设置多寡之分,都属于一种设计工具,但并非游戏设计的必要指示。你可以对照这些内容并自问“我能否在自己的设计中使用这一特定因素来优化玩家表达方式?”

1.玩家生成解决方案

玩家能否针对一个问题想出具有独特感觉的解决方法?

多:这种系统的一个例子就是《俄罗斯方块》,玩家有大量方式可铺平一条线。

少:这种系统的一个反例就是一个简单的谜题,只有一个解决方法以及一条通往答案的路径。即使是像《神秘岛》这种考虑周全的游戏也鲜有玩家生成解决方案。

tetris(from retropelit.fi)

tetris(from retropelit.fi)

2.玩家工具选择

玩家是否具有一系列独特而同样有效的工具选择?

多:在《模拟人生》中,玩家可以使用大量对象(其中多为等价物品)实现游戏目标。

少:快速反应事件(QTE),玩家只能使用预选的工具解决问题,并且这种工具也几乎没有什么变化。你可以依照指示摁压按钮或者不摁按钮。

3.体现玩家个性的玩法风格

游戏是否支持一系列独特的玩法风格,以便玩家从自己的所做所为中展示个性?

多:在象棋游戏中,通过玩家动作可以看他们是否具有侵略性,随意性,防御性或卑鄙特点。每个玩家都有体现其个性(以及他们同其他玩家关系)的风格。表达方式越丰富,玩家可做的选择就越多。

少:在《Dragon’s Lair》这种线性游戏中,不同玩家的攻略却几乎没有区别。这就无从体现玩家的个性。

4.激发玩家的个性

玩家能否在游戏内容的主题限制条件中表达他们的个性?

多:在《第二人生》这种游戏中,如果你真的想成为Marie Antoinette(法王路易十六的王后)那样的人物,你就能够如愿。性别、种族、文化、年龄、归属、头发颜色、肤色、造型、角色等方面均可体现玩家的身份。如果只有一种通用的玩法,玩家就无法尝试不同的身份。

少:在《God of War》中,你可以成为Kratos,但你所能做的就是这些。

5.玩家设置中间目标

游戏中可能有一个核心目标,但玩家是否能够设置自己的中间目标呢?

多:在《文明》这类游戏中,你清楚自己能够赢得游戏。其成功之路包括研究项目、建筑、军队部署及其他中短期目标等选择。游戏所提供的目标也可能融入玩家特定的战略目标中。

少:在《最终幻想13》中,玩家会接二连三碰上遭遇战。除了角色进步之外,游戏中鲜有目标设定。

6.建立社交关系

游戏是否允许足够的交流,持续的身份和共享空间来建立有意义的社交关系?这些工具(隐性和显性)是否有助于解决游戏中的信任、身份和群体关系等问题?

多:《无尽的任务》等MMO游戏含有持续的角色,以及大量支持同时聊天、竞争和执行的选项。

少:标准版本《宝石迷阵》通常被作为一种放松的消遣方式。对多数人来说,玩家在这种游戏中与其他玩家鲜有交集。需要指出的是,它只需进行一些相对较小的调整,切换了情境就可以拥有像《宝石迷阵闪电战》一样更具社交性的模式,这样玩家就可以与他人进行对决。

civilization(from gamebag.org)

civilization(from gamebag.org)

7.共同目标

游戏是否允许群体中的个体为同一个目标而努力?

多:在《魔兽世界》中,公会中的玩家会齐心协力打败一个大boss。这需要公会成员之间进行较为频繁的沟通和协调。

少:而像《毁灭战士》这种多人游戏的死亡模式,通常却没有什么共同目标。玩家多半关注的是自己的利益,引进部族元素可极大扭转这一局面。

8.创造不属于游戏世界、可分享的人工器具

你能否在游戏中创造源自现实世界的物品?

多:在《模拟人生》中,你可以设置模仿实际情况的家庭成员关系。然后分享该文件,或者采取这种交互行为中的故事本。这种做法有助于使游戏在玩家社区中更为深入人心,并强化玩家表达方式的社交影响力。在此可将游戏视为创造体验和故事的方式,以及分享这些体验的手段。

少:在《Zork》这类文本冒险游戏中,玩家几乎没有什么可分享的内容。在该游戏刚发布的年代,你无法轻易截屏,也不能与他人分享这些截图。你无法创造任何东西。你最多就只能在口头上告诉他人游戏中发生了什么趣事。而人们的这种行为则体现了他们欲与人分享的强烈欲望。

9.持久的玩家历史纪录

玩家能否创造关于自己过去行为的长期历史纪录?他们是否能够投入自己的独特历史?

多:一季足球赛事就像是一出正在制作中的肥皂剧。团队的站姿就可以反映其中的人员培训、损伤、运气以及表现等一系列复杂的元素。收集统计数据,撰写并分享故事,纪录视频等手段,均可作为保存数年之久的历史叙事内容。

少:《Dys4ia》等简短的游戏无法生成历史纪录。它将主题融入玩家的心理模式中。这个过程实际上是向观众传达一个指定的叙事内容,但并没有直接生成玩家表达的历史。

dys4ia(from theverge)

dys4ia(from theverge)

10.分享成就

当玩家创造了独特的个人成就之时,他们能否与他人否享?

多:与《星际争霸》这类游戏有关的铁杆粉丝和传播网络极大便利了人们分享出色的游戏表现。

少:《Puerto Rico》等许多德式桌游对许多外行人来说颇为费解。另外,由于玩家通常是在私密空间玩这类游戏,并且这一过程也缺乏游戏动态的记录或解说,因此也甚少吸引他人围观。结果这类游戏就相对缺乏病毒传播性,人们难以解释其中趣味,只能说“你自己多玩几次就知道了”。这就限制了人们对精英桌游玩家的认可和欣赏,甚至可能还阻挡了他们的桃花运。

11.Modding

玩家能否修改游戏规则和游戏数据以体现自己的个性或团队兴趣?玩家是否拥有设计所有权?

多:除了《雷神之锤》、《半条命》或《天际》等经常被提到的例子,我们还可以从广义上来理解modding的概念。玩家在匆忙中创造了诸如安全地带或替代性目标等新的限制条件。非官方规则,自订规则和作弊成了一种modding形式。这里还包括传统的角色扮演游戏或故事游戏(玩家创造游戏的叙事内容)。如果结合持续的玩家历史记录,你就有可能创造惊人的游戏世界。

少:像《Limbo》这种锁定式的主机游戏几乎没有提供任何修改设置。

总结

这里有一些普遍主题,但你无需兼顾以下所有选项:

*拥有丰富的玩家选择的深度系统。

*社区中的多人模式/社交玩法。

*分享个人游戏体验。

这三者的组合会形成有趣的游戏世界。还有一些现成的游戏类型只涉及其中的一些技巧。模拟游戏、《Minecraft》或《Dwarf Fortress》等建设型游戏,表达式的PvP游戏以及MMO都有一些表达元素。总体而言,这仍是一个有待探索的领域。对《Minecraft》游戏世界来说,这里存在大量通过线性混合谜题及叙事内容而生成价值、可消耗的单人模式游戏。

如果我们能够专注于最大化玩家表达方式,我们究竟能创造出什么令人兴奋的新游戏呢?(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

11 Tips for Maximizing Player Expression

by Daniel Cook

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.

Want to write your own blog post on Gamasutra? It’s easy! Click here to get started. Your post could be featured on Gamasutra’s home page, right alongside our award-winning articles and news stories.

As game developers, we talk quite a bit about how we can build games that allow an author to express themselves more clearly.  What about the flip side of the game equation?  How can we build games that allow the player to express themselves in a rich and meaningful fashion?

I find player expression within games fascinating for a couple reasons.

•It empowers players to add to the world instead of acting only as consumers.

•It multiplies the designer’s efforts times the efforts of the player community.

•It seems to be a strong attribute of games that is less directly supported by other forms of media like novels or movies.

Here are several types of player expression I look for in a system.  These all exist on a spectrum and each is a design tool, not a prescription for how things must be done in all situations. You can treat these as potential lens and ask yourself “Can I use this specific factor to improve player expression in my design?”

1. Player generated solutions

Can the player come up with unique feeling solutions to a problem?

Lots: An example of such a system would be Tetris in which there are a massive number of ways to complete a line.

Little: The opposite of such a system is a simple puzzle like a riddle in which there is only one solution and one path to that solution.  Even a well regarded title like Myst has little in the way player generated solutions.

2. Player tool choice

Does the player have a choice of a variety of unique, yet equally valid tools?

Lots: In the Sims, the player can satisfy the game’s goals using a huge variety of objects, most of which are roughly equivalent.

Little: Quick time event where the tools required to solve the problem are pre-selected and there is little to no possible variation allowed by the design. You can press the button as prescribed or not press the button.

3. Play styles that support player identity

Does the game support a variety of unique play styles so that a player can express who they are through how they do something?

Lots: In Chess, players can be aggressive, casual, defensive or sneaky all through their actions. Each player has a stylistic flavor that says something about them as a person (and their relationship with the other player).  As the expressive richness increases of verbs increases, play turns performance.

Little: In a linear game like Dragon’s Lair, different playthroughs by different players are nearly indistinguishable.  There is little room for player identity.

4. Evoking player identity

Can the player express their identity within the thematic constraints of the game’s content?

Lots: In a game like Second Life, if you really want to be a Marie Antoinette look alike sporting a halo, you can be.  Gender, race, culture, sex, age, affiliation, hair color, skin color, fashion, role are all areas that players associate with their identity.  These may not be realistic since one common class of play involves pushing of boundaries in order to try out various identities and see how they fit.

Little: In the game God of War, you can be Kratos.  That’s pretty much all you can be.

5. Player set intermediate goals

Though there may be an overarcing goal to the game, is it common for players to set their own intermediate goals

Lots: In a game like Civilization, you know you want to beat the game.  The path to victory involves the selection of research projects, buildings, army deployments and other short to medium goals that are all optional.  The goals that the game provides may also be remixed into player specific strategic objectives

Little: In the early stages of Final Fantasy XIII, the player goes from encounter to encounter.  There is little goal setting (apart from character advancement)

6. Build social relationships

Does the game allow enough communication, persistence of identity and share space to build meaningful social relationships? Do the tools (implicit and explicit) exist to negotiate issues of trust, status and group membership via the game?

Lots: An MMO like Everquest has persistent characters and plenty of opportunity to both chat, compete and perform together.

Little: Standard Bejeweled is often played along as a means of relaxing.  For most, there is very little interaction with other players.  Note that it only takes relatively minor changes to switch context so that you have a mode like Bejeweled Blitz which ends up being far more social as you compete with and against other players.

7. Shared goals

The game allow groups of individuals working together towards a goal?

Lots: In World of Warcraft, a guild of players works together to beat a big boss.  This requires communication and coordination at a rather intense level.

Little:  An equally multiplayer game like Doom death match can often feel like there are no shared goals.  Players are focused almost entirely on their own interests.  The introduction of clans changes the equation dramatically.

8. Crafting of share-able artifacts that represent things external to the game

Can you build something in the game that evokes the real world?

Lots: In the Sims, you can setup relationships that mimic actual families.  You then can either share the file or capture a storybook of the interactions.  This ends tying the game into out of game communities and magnifying the social impact of player expression.  Think of games as a method of generating experiences and stories as a means of sharing those experiences.

Little: In a text adventure like Zork, there was very little to share.  During the era it was released, you couldn’t capture the screen easily, nor could you share it with others.  You couldn’t creating anything.  At best you could verbally tells someone about something that existed entirely inside the game.  The fact that people did this at all demonstrates how strong the urge is to share.  A new trick is allowing creation as well.

9. Persistence of player history

Can the player(s) build up a long term history of past actions?  Can they invest in their own unique history?

Lots: A season of soccer is a soap opera months in the making.  The team’s standing reflects a complex aggregation of personal training, injuries, luck and performance. Stats are collected, tales written and shared, videos recorded.   The end result is a dense historical narrative that will be mined for years.

Little: A brief game of Dys4ia creates no history. It does however mix the theme into the player’s mental models of the world. This process is the essential heart of conveying an authored narrative to an audience but still it does not directly generate an expressive player history.  What you can hope for in this situation is that a meta-game played beyond the constraints of the work itself yields ripples of reactions.  (Arguably, the meta-game is what contains the expressive ruleset and the static work becomes a move by a player.)

10. Sharing of performances

Once players have created a unique, personal performance, can they share it with others?

Lots: The avid audience and broadcasting networks associated with a game like Starcraft greatly facilitate the sharing of great play.

Little: Many German boardgames such as Puerto Rico are impenetrable to outside viewers.  Also since they are played in private spaces with few recording opportunities or explanation of the game’s dynamics, spectating is quite rare.  The result is a game with relatively weak virality that is difficult to explain. “You really just need to play it.  A couple times” becomes the fallback.  This sadly limits the world’s appreciation of elite board game players and perhaps even hurts their dating chances.

11. Modding

Can players modify the rules and game data to reflect personal or group desires?  Can players take ownership of the design?

Lots: Though modding games like Quake, Half-Life or Skyrim are perhaps the most cited examples, consider modding in the broad sense as seen in a playground game of tag.  Players will on the fly create new constraints such as safe zones or alternate goals. Unofficial rules, house rules and cheating become a form of modding.  Also consider traditional roleplaying games or story games where the player craft the narrative of the game.  When combined with persistent player history, you end up with amazing world building opportunities.

Little: A locked down, heavily scripted console title like Limbo offers nearly zero modding capabilities.

A broad opportunity

There are some common themes here. You need not hit all of them in order to build a game that enables player expression:

•Deep systems with rich player choice

•Multiplayer / Social play within a community.

•Sharing of individual play experiences.

Together, these cover a universe of interesting games.  There are a few existing genres that tap into several of these techniques.  Simulation games, Minecraft or Dwarf Fortress inspired building games, Expressive PvP games and MMOs all share expressive elements.  Overall, it feels like a space poorly explored. For every Minecraft, there are a dozen consumable single player titles that generate value through a linear mix of puzzle and narrative.

What delightful new games could we make if we focused our minds and hearts on maximizing player expression?(source:gamasutra


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