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开发者完成首款游戏前需解答的3个问题

发布时间:2013-08-23 17:58:56 Tags:,,,

作者:Kyle Sloka-Frey

许多开发者认为自己的首款游戏最难完成。我曾为不少初创独立开发公司的“处女作”担任顾问,并从中总结了一些经验。提到每个问题时,我会以自身(或我所认识之人)经历说明其中的经验和教训。

1.我的游戏范围是什么?

我发现多数开发者极易陷入选择范围过大这个陷阱中。你有一个极妙的游戏理念,迫不及待地想立即开工,很快就发现自己需要添加的功能太多了,根本不够完成游戏主体,剩下的时间却不多了。

游戏范围很大并不一定是坏事,如果你是为了好玩而开发游戏,或者拥有一个组织严密的设计系统,那就是好事。但如果你只是一个希望从中获利以便糊口的小型团队,创造大型游戏可能会过早将自己送上绝路。

新手开发者度过这一阶段的最简便方法就是腾出点时间将自己的游戏划分层次。同开发者共事时,我通常会让他们创造一个核心游戏任务列表。这包括以一种合理状态完成游戏的一切必要步骤——但不含额外功能,未必要的支线任务等。这个列表可以作为发布游戏的最低标准,让你不至于延期但仍能完成能够引以为豪的作品。

之后,我会让他们创建一个“润色”列表。其中包括让游戏更完整所需的一切元素,但并不一定要具有可玩性或趣味性。通常来说,这些元素包括额外图像、转场动画、更多动画帧,额外或环境声效,更多音频轨道,改良的UI,粒子效果,高级照明以及更高级的AI。

最后再列一个“额外”列表,其中包括一切他们想添加,但并不是十分紧迫,如果时间不充裕也可以忽略的元素。例如可解琐内容,社交或多人模式功能(除非它们原来就是游戏的一部分),额外支线任务等等。

sub-par game(from gamedev.tutsplus)

sub-par game(from gamedev.tutsplus)

案例一:《The Fallen》

我曾参与的第一款游戏是《The Fallen》。当时我16岁,和两个朋友决定制作史上最棒的MMO游戏。

我们的想法是拥有多个持续服务器,共享角色和敌人实例(这样每个服务器都有一个完全不同,广阔的区域和大量敌人,它们可以在这些服务器间转移),用Torque引擎创造结合FPS和RPG的巨型游戏。

我们在正式放弃之前向这个项目投入了一年多时间让两个服务器正常运行,在最高峰时每天有27名玩家。

这个项目对我们三人来说实在是太大了,从而导致游戏质量受到影响。游戏中没有任何音频和对话,敌人的3D模型也非常糟糕,所有的玩家角色都是标准的Torque 3D模型。

如果我们当时能够事先制定计划,一开始就控制好游戏范围,可能就有机会完成这个项目了。但是,我们很快就被海量的文件以及糟糕的编程代码(只有青少年才会编写出这么不堪的代码)而压垮了。

2.我真的能做到吗?

第二个开发项目的普遍误区就是野心过大。

在准备开始一个项目时,要先自问:这真是我能做到的事情吗?我能不能完成大量的3D编程和碰撞检测?我是否足够了解3D建模和照明?我能否在合理的时间内完成任务?

如果你发现自己做不到,也不要太沮丧!先调查看看是不是存在有助于你完成游戏的库、API等工具。如果你找不到这些能够让游戏开发更方便的工具,那就要考虑简化或修改你的游戏设计。

我个人习惯将更复杂的游戏设计作为终极目标,先设计一些更小型的游戏,不断获取新技能和经验之后再最终完成游戏。我奉劝那些与我共事的开发者采取同样的方法。如果你想制作MMORPG,首先要制作单款RPG,然后再转向含有基本多人模式的游戏,之后再制作MMORPG。事先掌握了所需的技能,可以让你更轻松地开发游戏,同时也意味着你更有可能完成游戏。

案例二:《Tiny Hero》

Tiny Hero(from gamedev.tutsplus)

Tiny Hero(from gamedev.tutsplus)

当我最终决定通过创建一家有限责任公司进入全职游戏开发生涯时,我当时计划制作一款并不在我们条件允许范围之内的游戏。问题并不在于技术挑战性,而是它需要制作的内容实在太多了,但时间却非常有限。这最终导致我们不得不用了一周时间加紧赶工,却只制作了一款较次的游戏。

更糟糕的是,由于时间开发有限,我们不得不投入更多时间控制项目损害,以免被独立开发者社区所排斥。

complete game(from gamedev.tutsplus)

complete game(from gamedev.tutsplus)

3.我能否承担这些成本?

独立开发者在制作自己的首款游戏时,常会忽视资金问题。对于业余爱好开发者或其他已经有全职工作的开发者而言,这算不上什么大事,但对于那些直接转入全职游戏开发的独立人来说,这通常就是让他们大为头痛的事情。

假设你的首款游戏将能赚到足够你过活的钱,第二款游戏也是如此,这并不是什么安全的保障。作为独立开发者意味着你在运营一个公司,一般来说,小型公司至少要两年才能盈利。如果你足够你生活两年的积蓄,那这个问题就不大,但对于多数人而言,这就是一个巨大的障碍。如果条件允许的话,最好先做份兼职或全职工作来支撑你的游戏开发工作。

制定现实的销售目标是另一个重要的注意事项。除非你技能极为高超,并且极为幸运,否则就无法让自己的游戏销量过万。游戏销量要取决于市场形势,你的销售目标也会发生变化,但我发现多许多与我共事的开发者制定的目标是700到1000份。虽然这听起来不是很乐观,但你真正发布游戏时就会发现即使要达到这样的目标也非常困难。

如果你的游戏售价是10美元,你是通过常规的在线商店销售,你从700份销量中可创收约5600美元。我所共事的多数开发团队有两名成员,平均每两三个月会制作一款游戏,这样平均每人每月收益就是1250美元。要注意的是,这些团队通常是全职开发团队。也就相当于他们每小时赚7.8美元。并且,这还是比较乐观的情况了。

但也不要太沮丧,你还是可以通过制作独立游戏而谋生,只是不要对首款游戏抱有太大期望。一般来说,我发现多数开发者是在发布第三款游戏时才开始赚到体面一点的收入。

案例三:《Zombie MMO》

这是毁掉我们一个客户的案例。他们想制作一款僵尸主题的MMO(像《DayZ》那种游戏),他们提供的原型很棒——很有趣,技术也很过硬,但他们没法完成最终成品。

Day-Z(from gamedev.tutsplus)

Day-Z(from gamedev.tutsplus)

由于缺乏计划,他们在一个项目上投入了10个月时间仍然一无所获,当时资金已经所剩无几,却气坏了10个员工和一名投资人。他们请我去帮忙摆平这种局面,并开始转向基于需求的开发方法,该游戏项目才开始迅速走向正轨,并赚到大笔收益。

(他们之后认为是某个不相关的因素,而非开发系统的变化促进了项目开发,所以不久又返回了原来的开发方式,但很快又发现自己陷入乱局。)

永不言弃,但要现实一点

列出上述问题只是想让你在开发首款游戏时现实一点,而不是劝你放弃。我见过的许多准游戏开发者听到我说的这些事后,就认为这个过程太艰难了——事实并非如此!你只是要做好准备,提前制定计划,这样才能完成游戏。

有些人将游戏开发比作跑马拉松,这是一种恰当的比喻。跑步并非我擅长的运动,如果我试图跑完5000米,我很可能无法完成这个目标。游戏开发也同此理,如果你没有逐渐积蓄体力和技能,这就会变成一场费劲的旅程,你会发现自己很容易在半途放弃,或者很快就出离愤怒并且喘不过气。

总结

制作首款游戏是你开发生涯中里程碑式的第一步,希望你可以因此而让开发工作更轻松一点。如果你将游戏大小控制在合理范围内,不要让它的复杂性超过你的能力水平,并保持现实的资金预期,那你就没有理由无法完成首个项目。(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

3 Questions to Help You Finish Your First Game

Kyle Sloka-Frey

Many gamedevs find that their first game is the hardest one to finish. I’ve worked as a consultant on almost a dozen “first” games with budding independent development companies, and gathered all of the lessons learned from those experiences here. After going over each question, I’ll also give you a quick anecdote about how I (or someone I worked with) learned that lesson the hard way.

Preview image icon: Question by Henry Ryder, from The Noun Project.

1. What Is My Game’s Scope?

Picking too big scope is the most common pitfall that I’ve seen developers fall into. You think up this great game idea, eagerly get started, and soon find yourself with too many features left to add, not enough of the main game done, and very little time left.

Having a large game scope isn’t necessarily a bad thing; if you are developing for fun, or have a highly organized design system, it can be great. But for your typical small team that hopes to make a profit from their pursuit, trying to build a large game can be a early death sentence.

The easiest way for new developers to get past this phase is to take the time to break down their game design into layers. When working with developers, I like to have them create a to-do list of the core game. This consists of everything necessary for the game to be finished in an acceptable state – no additional features, unneeded side quests, or extras. This list serves as the absolute minimal amount that needs to be done by the release date and still allow you to feel proud of your game.

Then, I have them create a “polish” list. This includes everything needed to make the game more complete, but not required to make it playable and fun. Typically these are things such as additional graphics, transition animations, more animation frames, additional or ambient sound effects, more audio tracks, improved UI, particle effects, advanced lighting, and more advanced AI.

The final list, “extras”, consists of anything that they would like to add that can wait to be added in at the end, or skipped if there is not enough time to implement it. These items typically consist of unlockables, social or multiplayer features (unless they are an integral part of the game), additional side quests, and so on.
Lesson Learned: The Fallen

The first major game that I worked on was called The Fallen. I was 16, and two of my friends and myself decided we were going to make the best MMO ever.

Our idea was to have multiple persistent servers with shared character and enemy instances (so that each server would be a different, massive area, and herds of the enemies, called “fallen”, could migrate between them), in a giant FPS-meets-RPG built on the Torque engine.

We put a little more than a year’s worth of work into the project before giving up, managing to get two servers up and running, and having as many as 27 players per day during our fever pitch.

The project was way too large for the three of us to handle on our own, and the game’s quality suffered. There was no audio and barely any dialogue; the enemies were terribly modeled 3d atrocities; and all of the players were the standard Torque 3D model.

Questions to help you finish your first game

Every player was the standard Torque model, with different colors for different classes. (Image from Torque’s FPS tutorial.)

Had we planned things out prior to getting started, and kept the scope of our game smaller at the beginning, we might have stood a chance of finishing it. Instead, we quickly became overwhelmed by a behemoth of files and badly programmed (and terribly commented) code that only a group of teenagers can create.
2. Is This Something I Can Do?

The second most common pitfall for projects is being over-ambitious.

When preparing to start a project, ask yourself: is this something that I can do? Am I able to do tons of 3D programming and collision detection? Do I know enough about 3D modeling and lighting? Can I make this within a reasonable time frame?

If you find that you can’t, don’t be disheartened! Do your research and see if there are any libraries, APIs, tools, or anything at all that would make it possible for you to actually finish your game. If you can’t find anything to make your game’s creation easier, then consider simplifying or modifying the design so that it is.

Personally, I like to take more complicated game designs and use them as end goals, designing a few smaller games leading up to it, each allowing me to learn a new skill needed to complete the final game. I urge developers that I work with to do the same. If you want to make a MMORPG, first try making a standalone RPG, then move onto a game with basic multiplayer, and then take a stab it. Having those needed skills under your belt will make developing your game much easier, and means you’re much more likely to finish it!

Lesson Learned: Tiny Hero

Questions to help you finish your first game

EvolvingPoet’s first game, Tiny Hero.

When I finally decided to try to make game development into a full-time pursuit by starting an LLC, I planned on making a game that was not possible within our current constraints. The problem wasn’t that it was technically challenging; it was more that there was a huge amount of content that needed to be created and very little time in which to do so. This ultimately lead to a solid week of crunching and the production of a sub-par game.

Questions to help you finish your first game

It took weeks for me to try and bury this game, and I still couldn’t completely wipe it from the internet.

To make matters worse, having too little time to complete the game led to us having to spend even more time doing damage control so that we wouldn’t be hated forever in the indie dev community. (That doesn’t actually happen – most everyone involved is super nice.)

Questions to help you finish your first game

3. Can I Afford to Make This?

When making your first game as an independent developer, finances often get overlooked. For hobbyist developers or those who have another job to support themselves, this isn’t a huge deal, but developers that quickly jump into being full-time game makers often find themselves in over their heads.

Assuming that your first game is going to make enough for you to live on is not a safe bet, and the same goes for your second game as well (and maybe even a few after that). Being an indie dev means that you are running a business, and, on average, small businesses take around two years to become profitable. If you have two years’ worth of living saved up, then this isn’t too big of a problem, but for most people, this is a huge hurdle. It is a good idea to have a part-time or full-time job to supplement your gamedev income for a while, if only for the safety net it provides.

Having realistic sales targets is another important caveat. Unless you are extremely skilled and extremely lucky, you will not be selling thousands of copies of your game. Depending on the market and scope of the project your sales targets will vary, but I find that most commonly developers I work with will be aiming to get around 700 to 1,000 sales. While these may sound like low numbers, once you actually release your game you will find out just how difficult those targets are to reach.

If your game has a price point of $10 and you sell it through the typical online stores, you can expect to bring in around $5,600 from those 700 sales. Considering that most developers that I work with are two-person teams who create a game every two to three months, you can expect maybe $1,250/month per person after expenses. In that time, the teams are typically working full-time hours (most of the time, many more). That works out to around $7.80/hour, or just above minimum wage – and again, that’s if you’re lucky.

It isn’t all doom and gloom, though; you can make a living off of making independent games, just don’t expect to do so with your very first one. On average, I see that developers start to make a decent wage from their work at some point around the release of their third game.

Lesson Learned: Zombie MMO

This particular lesson ended up ruining a client of ours. They aimed to create a huge Zombie-based MMO (think DayZ), and the prototype that they had was great – fun to play, technically sound, immersive, and all that jazz – but they hadn’t done all of their financial homework.

Through a lack of planning they managed to find themselves ten months into a project with very little to show, very little money left, ten angry employees, and one irate investor. They brought me in to try to clean up the situation, and switching to a more need-based development approach, the game started to make headway very fast, and even earned a bit of money through its alpha.

(They then decided that an unrelated factor was the reason for the improvement, not the change in development systems, and upon changing back to their previous method of development, quickly found themselves out of business.)

Don’t Give Up; Just Be Realistic

These questions are here to help you be realistic in the pursuit of your first game, not to dissuade you from making it. A lot of would-be game makers whom I’ve met hear me talk about these things and decide that the whole pursuit is just too hard – but it’s not! You just need to prepare yourself and plan ahead so that you can actually finish your game.

Some relate game development to running a marathon, and that’s an apt metaphor.Running is not something that I have any experience in (most people would say that I’m phobic to most exercise in general), and if I tried to run a 5K, there is an extremely small chance that I would actually finish. Game development works the same way: if you don’t build up your endurance and skill over time, it is going to be an arduous journey, and you will find yourself either giving up part way through, or reaching the end exasperated and out of breath.
Conclusion

Making your first game is a monumental step in your development career, and hopefully getting it done will be a little easier now. If you keep the game’s size reasonable, its complexity within your ability, and your financial expectations realistic, then there is no reason that you shouldn’t be able to finish.

Now go make some games!(source:gamedev


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