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阐述游戏设计元素之角色与场景(下)

发布时间:2013-06-26 17:48:24 Tags:,,,,

作者:Natasha Clarke

我们有许多方式可以塑造出令人难忘、栩栩如生,或者完全失真的游戏、书籍和电影角色。我曾在之前的评论中提到《Dishonoured》主角Corvo,尽管他在整个游戏中完全没有现出真容,也没有任何一句台词,却仍可成为令人难忘的角色。其中原因之一就是你对他的控制感,就好像你对当今所有游戏的控制感一样。除此之外,还因为你一直追随他实现自己目标的冒险历程,并逐渐了解他的追求并没有错。(请点击此处阅读本文上篇内容

有许多令人难忘的角色名字都很简单,独特而琅琅上口,例如哈里波特、康纳肯威、谢泼德指挥官等。而让角色更为真实饱满的却是他们的缺点,缺点会让我们觉得他们更容易亲近,毕竟凡人怎么会没有缺点?

Corvo(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

Corvo(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

ac3-connor-kenway(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

ac3-connor-kenway(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

我发现另一种让角色令人难忘的原因是出色的配音。我无法解释这一原因,但那些拥有相称的配音,或者出众配音的角色,一直盘踞在我的脑海里。例如《Dishonoured》中由April Stewart配音的The Heart,虽然它并非一个真实的角色,只是一个禁锢着一颗灵魂的魔法物,但我和其他玩过这款游戏的熟人还是认为,这个“角色”实在令人印象深刻。我认为这一角色之所以难忘,其中一个因素就是我此前并没有想到物品也可以有声音,直到摁下一个按钮,它开口说话时才发现。它的声音令人毛骨悚然,或许这也是它令人无法忘怀的原因之一。

The_Heart(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

The_Heart(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

这些角色的外形必须具有标志性。第一印象最重要。多数令人印象深刻的坏人都会有一个“华丽”的出场,这样才会让玩家初见坏人就会心生胆寒。

Glados(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

Glados(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

我还发现这些角色的另一个特点就是智慧。我首先想到的是《传送门》中的GLDOS,虽然她的声音在整个游戏过程中都毫无感情,但她坏坏的幽默感却足以令其成为一个有趣的角色。她会使用自己的智慧和幽默来证明她比你的角色更聪明。但正如所有人一样,尽管是个机器人,她也难免犯错的时候。

Link(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

Link(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

另一个典型角色代表是《塞尔达传说》中的Link。对我而言,他令人难忘的原因之一就是,该游戏起源于宫本茂小时候探索日本京都周围的森林和山洞这种经历,并在游戏中重现了这种恐惧感和成就感。Link在游戏的冒险旅程中从一个不说话,在经历、自信和勇气中成长的孩子,长成一名可以应对生活挑战的成熟青年男子。Link是游戏史上最为顽强的英雄之一,他推动了全球近5000万份销量。

万事都有源头,都要以一个理念为始。挑选一个理念时需要考虑以下因素:

*你想创造的场景有多令人兴奋?

*你是否受启发而创造这一理念,并将其视为一个游戏场景?

灵感和热情会推动项目的发展势头。对项目来说,意图很重要。为何你要创造这个地图?你的意图可能多种多样:

*获得某家工作室的工作;

*为自己的履历增色;

*掌握一些UDK的新工具;

*掌握新编辑器用法;

*优化特定的工作流,例如模拟植物或纹理;

*为好友正在创造的模组创造地图。

无论是什么原因,意图就是你完成一个项目的强大动力。你需要考虑的另一个问题是,如何让你的场景脱颖而出?哪些元素让你的场景更为独特?

我尤其喜欢《刺客信条3》地图中的场景。

刺客信条3(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

刺客信条3(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

它是一个巨大的地图,你在游戏中穿行的过程中,场景会随着四季变化而变化。我特别喜欢的是它在原作基础上的提升。在原版游戏中,攀爬的网眼是方形和不自然的,在《刺客信条3》中该元素则更为自然,甚至添加了爬树的功能。

刺客信条2(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

刺客信条2(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

爬树(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

爬树(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

在Animus,Desmond进入了其祖先的记忆,探索18世纪祖先在美洲殖民地美国独立战争期间的生活:这是一位名为Ratonhnhaké:ton又被称为Connor的年轻男子,他的故事贯穿了自己过去四十年的生活,从1760年的孩提时代到1783年。一些可探索的城高是波士顿和纽约,以及列克星敦市、康科德和查尔斯顿。

ac3_climbing(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

ac3_climbing(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

assassins-creed-3-world-environment(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

assassins-creed-3-world-environment(from imoustacheyousomequestions)

据《刺客信条3》设计师所称,他们找来了历史学家,帮助他们尽量准确地还原和创造波士顿和纽约当时的地图,试图重现更多场景细节。另一个是天气功能。你可以看到每个城市在不同季节中的面貌,这是我之前在其他游戏中从未见过的情况。你还可以体验到前线战士经受风霜日晒的苦楚。我认为这里的雪景极具现实感,因为它不但减缓了敌人的速度,也增加了你的障碍。

尽管这款游戏的故事颇令人失望,但其中场景仍然很棒。(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

Elements of game design – Part 3; Character

Character

There are multiple ways that a character is made memorable and like-able  or even unlike-able, in games, books and films. Like I’ve mentioned before in my review about Dishonoured, the protagonist, Corvo is distant to begin with but despite this fact and him being faceless and voiceless throughout the whole game he become memorable. One of the ways is the sense of control that you have over him, just like the sense of control in practically all the games that are created these days. But also because you follow him in his adventure in trying to achieve his goal, something which you grow to see that he actually believes that his goal is not wrong.

Most names of memorable characters are simple, easy to pronounce and are unique such as, Harry Potter, Connor Kenway, and Commander Shepard. Something that makes a character 3 dimensional is their flaws. Flaws make us feel that we can relate to them, as everyone has flaws.

Another thing I find makes a character memorable is by great voice acting. I do not know why but a character with a voice that suits them, or stands out, sticks in my mind. Such as The heart in Dishonoured voiced by April Stewart, despite not actually being a real character but a magical object with a soul trapped inside, I and a few others who I know have played the game find this “Character” memorable. I think the thing that made this character memorable for me was I didn’t realize this object had a voice, until I pressed a button and it spoke. Its voice was spooky, which probably another reason that it was memorable.

Appearance in a character has to be iconic. First impressions are always pivotal. Most memorable villains have an epic entrance to which makes the gamer’s internal red alert flash when they first see the villain.

Another thing I find memorable in a character is intelligence. The character that comes to mind when I think of intelligence is GLaDOS from Portal. Even though her voice is the same deadpan tone throughout the game, her bad humor is what makes her an interesting character. She uses her wit and humor to try to prove how she is more intelligent than your character. But just like everyone she has to make mistakes, even if she is a robot.

Another character that is memorable it Link from The Legend of Zelda. One of the few reasons why he is memorable to me is that the game was inspired by Miyamoto’s childhood memories of exploring the forests and caves that surround the Japanese city of Kyoto, recreating the feeling of awe, fear and accomplishment he experiences as a child. So Link is a non-speaking child who grew in experience, confidence and strength as he goes through his adventure, ending as a mature young man who can tackle challenges life throws at him. Link is one of gaming’s most enduring heroes, with almost 50 million worldwide sales behind him.(source:imoustacheyousomequestions

Elements of game design – Part 4; Environment

Everything starts with an idea. Thing to consider when choosing an idea;

- How excited about the environment you want to create?

- Are you inspired to create this idea and see it as a game environment?

Inspiration and enthusiasm will allow momentum going for the project.

Purpose is important for projects. Why do you want to create this map?

Your purpose could be a variation of things;

- To get a job at a specific studio

- To create a portfolio piece

- To learn some new tools inside UDK

- To learn new editor

- Improve a specific workflow such as modelling foliage or textures from scratch

- To create a map for a mod your friends are working on

Whatever it is, purpose is a strong drive to get a project to the finish line.

Another thing you have to think about is how will you make you environment stand out? What elements will make your environment unique?

An environment that I particularly like is the Assassin’s Creed 3 map.

It’s a large map which changes with the seasons as you progress through the game. One thing that I particularly like is something they’ve improved on from the original previous games.

Where in the original games the climbing mesh was square and un-natural, they made it more natural in the 3rd one and even added the ability to climb trees.

This is a video of how smooth and natural the climbing is on the trees within this game.

Within the Animus, Desmond accesses his ancestor’s memories to explore the life of 18th century ancestor in Colonial America during the American Revolution; a young man names

Ratonhnhaké:ton, also known as Connor. His story spans over two decades of his life, from his childhood in 1760 to 1783. Some of the cities that can be explored are Boston and New York, as
well as the American Colonial Frontier, and the settlements of Lexington, Concord and Charleston.

According to the designers of Assassin’s Creed 3 they got historians to find them maps of Boston and New York that was as accurate as possible and create the map so it as a replica to the maps, trying to keep as much detail as possible within this environment to keep it accurate. Another feature is the weather feature. You get to see each city in the different seasons, something that I haven’t really seen in a game before. You also get to experience the difficulty that the soldiers had to endure in the Frontier, with not only the bad winters with lots of snow, but also the heat and you see the transformation on the land that the heat does. The snow I think is a great feature as it’s practically realistic, as it not only slows your enemies down but also yourself.

Despite the story being a let-down in the game, I feel the environment was brilliant.(source:imoustacheyousomequestions


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