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Dan Taylor分享优秀关卡设计的十项原则(1)

发布时间:2013-10-07 08:56:24 Tags:,,,,,,

作者:Dan Taylor

在过去数年我有幸在许多出色的游戏工作室就职。令我惊讶的是每个工作室都采用了完全不同的关卡设计方法,即使其基本内容极为相似。有些工作室采用了逻辑化,近乎机械拟的方法构建关卡,而有些公司则是一骨脑地抛出多个理念,寄希望于某些理念可行。虽然每种方法都有其优势,但我发现要创造兼具逻辑性和创新性的关卡,还是需要一种规范关卡设计核心元素的方法。我从自己的设计背景中寻找灵感,想起了Dieter Rams的《优秀设计十大原则》中的内容。虽然这些原则是产品设计的极佳指导,并且加上一点创造性的诠释,将其直接运用于关卡(和任务)设计确实需要一些魄力。但在此我要将其作为一个宽松的模版,以便创造设计出色电子游戏关卡的十大原则(游戏邦注:有些原则还适用于系统和叙事设计),并列举一些出色的游戏案例,说明这些原则的可行性。(请点击此处阅读本文第二部分

优秀的关卡设计应该富有趣味

多数情况下,玩家与关卡的核心交互方式就是导航——即其穿越整个关卡的过程。所以关卡的布局、照明、标识和其他视觉提示元素都应该创造一种玩家凭直接而自然导航的“流程”。从美学角度来看,游戏关卡应该整合起来创造一致的视觉语言,通过使用玩家可以认知的颜色和形状,直观地穿过整个关卡,如图1:

镜之边缘(from gamasutra)

镜之边缘(from gamasutra)

(图1:《镜之边缘》——其整体美术风格意在引导玩家安然穿过关卡。即使是游戏中的办公电脑屏保程序,也在引导玩家走向正确的方向。)

这看起来像是一个相当明确的引导……但重要的是要理解“直觉”与“趣味”间的区别。尽管游戏应该让玩家在穿过关卡的基本过程中毫不费力,但导航式的玩法也可用来创造趣味。可以将特定区域隐藏起来,增加关卡深度,以及玩家探索游戏时的重玩性(只要你提供了必要的视觉或叙事线索),或者创造一些让玩家迷路或困惑的区域,以便制造一种剧烈的紧张感,如图2:

现代战争2(from gamasutra)

现代战争2(from gamasutra)

(图2:《现代战争2》——这款游戏中的Favella关卡是一个疯狂建筑的迷宫,其中的敌人会从四面八方向你涌来。玩家很难在此找到出口。这种设计是不是很紧张和令人兴奋?当然!《现代战争》中的Favella关卡还是一个垂直性关卡设计的绝佳典型,这是令关卡导航富有趣味性的重要方面。)

在设计有趣的导航流程时要注意,不可让你的其他游戏玩法元素为此妥协。想象一下《现代战争2》中紧张的战斗场景切换到《镜之边缘》中的跑酷关卡……其关卡中的导航和武术元素将完全彼此冲突。这也正是DICE保持《镜之边缘》轻松战斗元素的一个重要原因。

另外还要注意确保设计关卡的时候要考虑三个围度人,使用垂直性保持空间导航的趣味性。

优秀关卡设计并不需要依赖故事元素

我有个导师曾经告诉我,优秀的交流碎片好比是一个被破坏的圈圈。作者创造了这个圈圈,但却给读者留下一些由他们自己去填补的空隙。但要谨慎处理这个空隙!如果它太渺小了,读者就不会注意到;太大了,你就可能失去读者,因为他们无法连上这个圈圈。那么我们该如何创造这个圈圈和游戏关卡中的空隙?首先要认识到关卡中的三个关键叙事方面:

*显性:文本或对话所传递的信息,例如任务目标或过场动画。

*隐性:这是通过环境提示所传递的故事(见图3)。

*突发性:这是由玩家穿越关卡时所创造的故事。

生化奇兵(from gamasutra)

生化奇兵(from gamasutra)

(图3:《生化奇兵》——Rapture之城及其沦陷的故事,是由玩家根据墙上的贴画、涂鸦、破坏的环境等叙事道具所想象出来的。)

关卡设计师应小心创造显性叙事内容,因为这正是组成我们“圈圈”的要素,而隐性、突发性内容才是创造“空隙”,令关卡与众不同的最重要元素。使用“环境提示”将故事融入游戏世界,并以“隐性”故事激发玩家的想象,让玩家通过玩法选择(游戏邦注:包括使用哪种武器、走哪条路,用什么方法解决问题等选择)来创造“突发性故事”(如图4)。这些元素允许玩家以自己的行动和想象来填补“空隙”,这总比将一切东西都端到你面前更有益处。

Hitman 2(from gamasutra)

Hitman 2(from gamasutra)

(图4:《Hitman 2》——玩家自己决定要讲述什么故事:用枪开火扫清一切障碍,还是悄悄潜入,偷死鱼之后再溜之大吉。)

优秀关卡设计会告诉玩家该做什么,而不是如何去做

通过选择机制赋予玩家自述故事的权力,玩家就不会对自己的目标茫然不知。开发者可以通过简单、显性、文本式的目标,正确使用路标以及其他助航设备来明确游戏目标;你的关卡目标要具有视觉上的独特性,可以使用地理位置、形式、照明和动画令其区别于周围环境。

有了导航性玩法,以及更开放性的目标,关卡就会更有趣味。可以通过迷惑玩家完成一个目标来创造富有吸引力的挑战——只要实际目标足够明显。这是另一种“破坏的圈圈”,例如图5所示,关卡目标一目了然,但我们无从知晚如何实现。

针对“如何实现”这个方面,不应该强迫玩家使用单一的技能来解决一个目标,他们要如何完成挑战应该取决于其自身想法,也不应该惩罚玩家即兴发挥,使用不同于设计师精心创造的解决方案。这是优秀的突发性叙事所需具备的另一要素。

天际(from gamasutra)

天际(from gamasutra)

(图5:《天际》——该游戏中的Dark Brotherhood任务并没有指明你如何杀死目标人物,只是告诉你必须杀死他们。游戏还提供额外的奖励目标(例如杀死目标之后隐藏尸首),允许玩家设置自己的挑战难度)

游戏设计元老Mark Cerny曾告诉我们,要为玩家呈现一系列并列的目标,允许他们自主选择完成顺序,每完成一个目标就提供对之后目标有益的奖励。这种方法可以让玩家获得一种控制感,Cerny的作品《Ratchet & Clank》系列就体现了这一点(见图6)。

ratchet & Clank(from gamasutra)

ratchet & Clank(from gamasutra)

(图6:《Ratchet & Clank》——在原版游戏中,玩家会面临一系列可任意选择探索的星球。每探索完一个星球,就可以收集到一个有利于探索下一个星球的道具,其关卡设计包含了一些首次玩游戏时无法解琐的机制)

优秀关卡设计总会让玩家获得新知识

Raph Koster在其《趣味理论》一书中说明了人类大脑如何根据周围环境来处理信息,并将其转化成之后更易于处理信息的模式。从玩游戏角度来看,这说明我们很大一部分乐趣来自学习知识,连续掌握不同的机制。Koster提醒我们,如果玩家理解了这种模式,很容易就掌握了游戏机制,他们很快就会厌烦并退出游戏。只有优秀的关卡设计才可能避免这种情况。

塞尔达传说(from gamasutra)

塞尔达传说(from gamasutra)

(图7:《塞尔达传说》——该系列每款游戏中的地下城都是一个新装备的教程……游戏的最后一个boss战役会要求玩家用上他的每个装备来制服敌人。)

优秀的关卡应该引进新游戏机制,或者调整旧机制令玩家重新评估自己已经掌握的技能。游戏应该让玩家在整个游戏中持续评估自己所学到的技能,确保每个关卡都能呈现新鲜玩法。Bethesda的Todd Howard在DICE 2012 Keynote Address演讲中就以学习 – > 玩 -> 挑战 -> 意外这一循环来衡量《天际》关卡设计。这不但是本原则的延伸,还引出了下一个设计要点……

优秀关卡设计应该令人意外

已有许多文章探讨过如何使用经典的Aristotelian技巧来衡量游戏。标准的高vs低强度,探索vs战斗,休息vs行动等“过山车”曲线是一种评估关卡设计的优秀基准,也是保持玩家粘性的重要工具,但其持续重复性会迅速成为一种例行公事。对于交互式媒体来说,我们还有更合适的衡量技巧,但即使是设计很到位的关卡,如果没有一些意外的起伏,也难以给人留下深刻的印象。

这里的意外不一定是很大的震撼或情节转折……其核心在于急剧上升的不确定性,用游戏设计大师Alex Mandryka的话来说,它就是趣味的根本。从关卡设计上来说,意外可以是独特的环境,可以是传授玩家新机制的时刻,将山穷水尽转变为柳暗花明,或者难度曲线中的急剧变化。(见图8)

死亡空间2(from gamasutra)

死亡空间2(from gamasutra)

(图8:《死亡空间2》——当Isaac返回在《死亡空间2》中的Ishimura时,他在15分钟内不会碰到另一个丧尸。这种节奏变化创造了一种极端紧张感……令人意外的是,这种设计产生了一个开心的结果:这个关卡中的怪物太大了,无法置于原版游戏Ishimura布局中的任何地方,所以关卡设计师只能将其置到玩家到达转输中心时……而此时玩家才走完了一半的关卡!)

关卡设计师不应该畏惧自己的设计风险!不要复制自己最喜欢的游戏中的关卡……只有尝试非常规的东西(见图9)才能创造真正出人意料的体验。这其中的决窍就在于如何管理这些风险——在纸上设计,在脑中想象最终成品……并尽早创造可玩原型。尽早检验自己想法的可行性,否则就只能在测试阶段眼睁睁地看着它们被淘汰。

Urban Chaos(from gamasutra)

Urban Chaos(from gamasutra)

(图9:《Urban Chaos》——在你完成游戏之后观看谢幕画面时,游戏突然又重启了,你发现自己在游戏中干掉的恶棍复活了,他们知道你住在哪里,并决定执行报复计划,令沉浸在其中的玩家战栗不已,这种落幕方式真是太棒了,这也难怪其开发商Rocksteady能够如此成功。(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

Ten Principles of Good Level Design (Part 1)

by Dan Taylor

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.

The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Over the years I’ve had the privilege of creating levels at many great game studios.  One thing that surprised me was that each of these studios had a totally different approach to level design, even though the basic content was extremely similar.  Some had a logical, almost robotic approach to constructing levels, whereas others just threw as many ideas at the wall as possible, in the hope that something would stick.  Whilst each approach had its advantages, it occurred to me that there must be a way of formalising the core elements of good level design in order to create levels that are both logical and innovative.  I looked to my classic design background for inspiration, and was reminded of Dieter Rams’ Ten Principles for Good Design.  Whilst these principles serve as a fantastic guide for product design, and, with a bit of creative interpretation, high-level game design, applying them directly to level (and mission) design required slightly too much force.

Instead, I’ve used them as a loose template, to create ten Ramsian principles for designing compelling videogame levels (with the occasional detour into the realms of systems and narrative design) supported by some examples of great games in which you can observe these principles at work…

Good level design is fun to navigate

In most cases, the player’s core method of interaction with your level will be navigation – the process of actually traversing the level.  Careful layout, lighting, signage and other visual cues should create a natural “flow” to the level that guides the player instinctively through it.  From an aesthetic aspect, a game’s levels should all work together to create a consistent visual language, through the use of colour and form, that the player can learn, to progress intuitively through the level (Fig. 1).

Figure 1:  Mirror’s Edge – in DICE’s seminal 1st person parkour game, the entire art style is geared to guide the player elegantly through the level. Even the screensavers on office computers help to point the player in the right direction.

This may seem like a fairly obvious guideline… but here it is important to understand the difference between “intuitive” and “fun”.  Whilst basic progress through the level should be effortless, navigational gameplay can also be used to create fun.  It is entirely appropriate to hide areas from the player, to add depth and replayability through exploration (as long as you provide the necessary visual or narrative clues), or to create areas where the player feels lost or confused, to create a sense of dramatic tension (Fig. 2).

Figure 2: Modern Warfare 2 – the Favella level in MW2 is a maze of crazy buildings, with enemies coming at you from all sides. Is it easy to find your way out? No. Is it tense and exciting?

Absolutely! Modern Warfare’s Favella level is also an excellent example of verticality in level design, which can be an important aspect in making a level fun to navigate.

The main caveat while designing fun navigability is that it should not come at the expense of your other gameplay elements.  Imagine the intense combat of Modern Warfare 2 in the crazy parkour levels of Mirror’s Edge…  the navigational and martial elements of the level would be completely at odds with each other.  There’s a good reason why DICE kept the combat in Mirror’s Edge nice and light.

And be careful not to fall into the same trap as Khan… always be sure to think in three dimensions when designing your level, and use verticality to keep the space interesting and fun to navigate!

Good level design does not rely on words to tell the story

A mentor of mine once told me that a good piece of communication is like a broken circle. The author creates this circle, but leaves a small gap for the readers to fill in themselves. But care has to be taken with this gap! If it is too small, the reader won’t notice it; too big and you risk losing the reader, who won’t be able to connect the circle.  So how do we create the circle and the gap in a game level?  First it is necessary to understand the three key narrative aspects at work in a level…

Explicit – this is anything that is called out by text or speech, e.g:  a mission objective or cut-scene

Implicit – this is the story told by the environment through mise en scène (Fig.3).

Emergent – this is the story told by the player as he goes through your level

Figure 3: Bioshock – the city of Rapture, and the story of its demise, is brought to life in the player’s imagination through careful use of narrative props (posters, graffiti, corpses, environmental damage, picture walls, etc…)

Whilst the level designer should take care in crafting the explicit narrative, as it is this that forms our “circle”, it is the latter two elements that create the all-important “gap” and really make a level stand-out.  The use of mise en scène physically integrates the story into the game world and stimulates the player’s imagination with implicit narrative, while emergent story is written by the player through the medium of gameplay choice: which weapons to use, which route to take, which style to solve a problem with, etc…  (Fig.4).  These elements allow players to fill in the “gap” with their own actions and imagination, which is much more rewarding than having everything handed to you on a plate.

Figure 4: Hitman 2 – the player decides which story to tell: go in guns blazing and wipe everyone out… or sneak in, poison the fish and get out before anyone even notices you’re there.

Good level design tells the player what to do, but not how to do it

Having been given the power to tell his own story though choice of mechanics, the player must never be in any doubt as to what their objective is.  This clarity is typically created by simple, explicit, text-based objectives, proper use of waypoint markers, and any other navigational aids you may have; your level’s objectives should be visually distinct, using location, form, lighting and animation to make them clearly stand out from their surroundings.

Having said that, as with navigational gameplay, there is some fun to be had with more open-ended objectives. Compelling challenge can be created through obfuscation of the means to completing an objective… as long as the actual objective is clear.  This is another example of the “broken circle”.  E.g:  “Assassinate Vittoria Vici” (Fig.5)… the what of this objective is crystal clear… the how is not.

And on the subject of “how”, players should never be forced to use a singular technique to solve an objective; how they complete the challenges laid-out should be up to them, and players should never be punished for improvising a solution to the designer’s meticulously thought-through scenario. This is another requisite for good emergent narrative.

Figure 5: Skyrim – the Dark Brotherhood missions in Skyrim don’t specify how you kill your marks, just that you kill them. They also give additional, bonus objectives (like hiding the body afterwards), empowering players to set their own level of challenge.

Veteran game designer Mark Cerny tells us that the player should be presented with a number of concurrent objectives, which can be completed in any order, with the reward for each one providing an advantage for subsequent objectives.  This approach gives players power over the order in which they complete their tasks, creating the feeling of control (albeit an illusory one). You can see this approach in his work on the Ratchet & Clank series (Fig.  6).

Figure 6:  Ratchet & Clank – in the original Ratchet & Clank, the player was presented with a number of planets to explore in any order they choose.  The completion of each planet resulted in the collection of a gadget (e.g. magnetic boots) that allowed subsequent planets to be played (or re-played) differently, through level design that included unlockable mechanics not necessarily available on the first play-through.

Good level design constantly teaches the player something new

In his book “A Theory of Fun”, Raph Koster explains how the human mind enjoys processing information from the world around it into patterns for easier processing later.  In gameplay terms this implies that a large part of the fun is generated by the learning, and subsequent mastery, of your various mechanics.  Koster cautions that if players understand the pattern and master the mechanics too easily, they’ll quickly become bored and stop playing. This risk of boredom can only be avoided with good level design.

Figure 7. The Legend of Zelda – every dungeon in every Zelda game is a tutorial for the new piece of equipment you find in it… with the dungeon’s boss being the final test (always with a clever little twist). The game’s final boss battle usually requires the player to use every single piece of his equipment to win.

A good level should either introduce a new game mechanic, or put a spin on an old one to make the player re-evaluate his or her established paradigm.  On a larger scale, this constant learning should be measured out across the entire game, to make sure that each level delivers fresh gameplay.  Bethesda’s Todd Howard outlines the Learn – > Play -> Challenge -> Surprise loop used to pace Skyrim in his DICE 2012 Keynote Address, which is not only a great extension of this principle, but leads nicely into the next one, which is…

Good level design is surprising

There have been many articles on how to use classic Aristotelian techniques to pace your game, and this approach has served books and movies well for aeons.  Whilst the standard “roller-coaster” curve of high vs. low intensity, exploration vs. combat, rest vs. action, etc… serves as a good base-line for level design, and is important for maintaining player engagement, its constant repetition can quickly become de rigueur.  There are pacing techniques that are more appropriate for an interactive medium, but even with great pacing levels will have trouble being memorable without the sudden spike in intensity that comes from surprise.

Surprise does not necessarily have to be a big shock or a plot twist…  at its core, surprise could be considered as a rapid surge in uncertainty which, according to game design visionary Alex Mandryka, is the very essence of fun. In terms of level design, surprise could take the form of a unique setting, a moment that teaches the player something new about a mechanic they’ve already been using for a while, turning the corner to see a beautiful vista, or a radical change in pacing (Fig. 8).

Figure 8: Dead Space 2 – when Isaac returns to the Ishimura in Dead Space 2, he doesn’t encounter another necromorph for about fifteen minutes. This change in pace creates extreme tension…

Surprisingly, this excellent design came about as a happy coincidence: the monster this level was designed to showcase was too big to fit anywhere in the original Ishimura layout, and so the level designers couldn’t use it until the player reached the central transport core… which was half-way through the level!

Level designers should not be afraid to take risks with their design! Don’t just replicate a level from your favourite game… take an existing trope and turn it on its head! It’s only through trying something unusual (Fig. 9) that a truly innovative and surprising experience can be created.  The trick is knowing how to manage these risks – design on paper… picture the final product in your mind’s eye… and create a playable prototype (A.K.A. grey-box) as early as you can.  Show that your crazy ideas will work as soon as possible… or watch them get cut as your Alpha Milestone catches up with you!

Figure 9: Urban Chaos – after you complete the game, and sit through the credits, the game suddenly starts back up, and you find yourself getting some much needed  R ‘n’ R at home.

Unfortunately, all the gangs you busted in the game know where you live and decide to exact their revenge! The player has to scramble through his home, grab his trusty sidearm from under the sink, and finish off the criminal scum once and for all! This post-credit surprise was beautifully executed… it’s no wonder that the developers, Rocksteady, went on to bigger things.(source:gamasutra


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