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Marsh兄弟谈游戏开发生涯及创业历程

发布时间:2013-10-30 15:19:12 Tags:,,,

作者:Jon Jordan

Marsh兄弟(或者叫作美国开发工作室NimbleBit)很早就进入App Store,且很早就察觉到免费游戏的潜力。

从2010年9月起,NimbleBit陆续发布了《Pocket Frogs》、《Tiny Tower》、《Pocket Planes》以及最近的《Nimble Quest》和《Pocket Trains》。这一连串叫好又叫座的作品表明,David和Ian在独特的象素美术风格和独立设计感觉之间仍然保持平衡。

david & ian marsh(from pocketgamer)

david & ian marsh(from pocketgamer)

Pocket Gamer(以下简称PG):你们小时候最喜欢的游戏是什么?

David Marsh(以下简称D):有好几个夏天都在玩《马里奥赛车》和《黄金眼007》中度过。至于PC游戏,我记得玩了很久的《辐射》、《模拟城市2000》、《帝国时代2》、《命令与征服:红色警戒》和《半条命》及它的多个MOD。

Ian Marsh(以下简称I):我小时候最喜欢的游戏包括《马里奥赛车》(SNES和N64)、《黄金眼007》和《半条命》。

你们什么时候发现自己想做游戏开发的工作?

D:我一直对关卡编辑器很感兴趣,也玩了不少。我花了很多时间在《帝国时代》和《命令与征服》的贴图编辑器上。我记得我用《毁灭公爵》的引擎编辑器做了一些基本的关卡。

有一天,我在CompUSA(游戏邦注:这是一家消费性电子产品,技术产品和计算机服务的零售经销公司)里找PC游戏,发现《雷神之锤》的特别版是与关卡编辑器捆绑销售的。我把它买回家,开始用这个具有多种功能的编辑器做实验。我几乎着迷了。

不久之后,《半条命》发布了,它使用的是相同的关卡编辑器——当我发现有一个制作这款游戏的关卡和地图的社区网站时,我完全着迷了。

I:当我还在上中学时,我就学会Flash编程了。在我写了几个互动玩具后,我着迷了,我意识到这就是我喜欢做的事。

你在游戏行业的第一份工作是什么?

D:我第一次尝试游戏开发是,给《半条命》制作了几张自定义地图并且被Valve购买了。那时我还在上中学,我做的东西居然能跟其他游戏出现同一个货架上,这太让我兴奋了。

中学毕业后,我在Troika Games工作,给《Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines》制作关卡。那是一段令人难忘的学习经历,我学到许多关于游戏开发的知识,对游戏行业也有了更全面的了解。

I:大学毕业后,我在一家小工作室工作,做改编的非智能手机游戏开发。iPhone诞生以前的手机开发特别痛苦,因为硬件差,而且得与运营商和版权持有者打交道。

几年以后,那家工作室难以为继,连薪水都发不出来了,我就去了其他公司。那家工作室先后被EA和Zynga收购。

你们品尝到的第一颗胜利果实是什么?

D:我想我第一次尝到甜头应该是我做的《半条命》自定义关卡被Valve买走做成真实的零售产品。正是在那个时候,我觉得自己应该可以把游戏开发当作职业。

你们什么时候意识到手机游戏大有潜力?

D:直到苹果开放App Store,开发者们带着各种不同的内容涌入应用商店时,我才看清手机游戏的潜力所在。事实上,很多独立开发者现在都有渠道发布自己的作品了,这是游戏行业的一次巨变。

I:我第一次见识到手机游戏的潜力是,当苹果发布了一些iPod的游戏模型。我很快购买了,发现比那时一般的手机游戏好太多了。

我努力说服办公室的人一起做iPod游戏,说“想想有多少人随身携带iPod的人会玩这类游戏!”

你们认为什么事件对手机游戏领域意义最大?

D:我认为到目前为止,对手机游戏领域影响最大的就是App Store的出现。

I:我想是iPhone的诞生以及后来的App Store出现。如果App Store一直不开放,这个平台就是封闭的,那么我们现在的处境就相当不同了。

有没有什么事让你们特别能我们骄傲或后悔的?

D:我最骄傲的事就是能够花那么多时间玩和做手机游戏,以及吸引了那么多人来享受我们的劳动果实(游戏)。

I:我最骄傲的是我们制作每一款游戏都投入了自己的感情,所以积累了这么多粉丝。知道有那么多人期待我们的下一个作品,真是让人难为情啊。目前还没遇到后悔的事!

你们最近在玩什么游戏?

D:老实说,我没怎么玩其他手机游戏。当我用自己的手机玩游戏时,通常是测试我们自己的游戏。

I:我最近大部分时间都在玩3DS游戏《Animal Crossing: New Leaf》,是任天堂的游戏,没有手机版的。不过如果能做成手机游戏,应该非常棒吧!

你们认为手机游戏的前景是怎么样的?

I:我想,成功的游戏应该适用于大部分主要平台,因为越来越多开发者使用跨平台引擎制作游戏了。另外,我们会重新认识到发行商和品牌的力量,毕竟高品质的游戏也越来越多了。

你们希望在这个行业的哪个领域能有所作为?

D:我希望能影响其他平台所有者,让他们开放自己的平台,给所有小开发者一个表现的舞台。(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

Hall of Fame: David and Ian Marsh

by Jon Jordan

Defining the very essence of indie mobile gaming success, the Marsh brothers (better known as US developer NimbleBit) were early onto the App Store and early to embrace the potential of free games.

The release of Pocket Frogs in September 2010 has been followed by signature titles such as Tiny Tower, Pocket Planes and most recently Nimble Quest and Pocket Trains, demonstrating that David and Ian still balance their characteristic pixel art style and indie design sensibilities, with critical acclaim and commercial success.

David (left) and Ian (right) Marsh

Pocket Gamer: What were your favourite games as a kid?

David Marsh: Definitely a lot of summers spent playing Mario Kart and GoldenEye 007. On the PC I remember playing a lot of Fallout, SimCity 2000, Age of Empires II, Command & Conquer: Red Alert and Half-Life and its many mods.

Ian Marsh: The fondest gaming memories I have during childhood consist of playing Mario Kart (SNES and N64), GoldenEye 007 and Half-Life.

When did you realise you wanted to make games as a career?

David: I always was interested in messing around with the level editors that came with games. I spent a lot of time in the tile editors that came with Age of Empires and Command & Conquer. I remember making some basic levels in the Build engine editor for Duke Nukem.

One day I remember sorting through the PC games at CompUSA and finding a special copy of Quake that came bundled with the level editor called Worldcraft. I took it home and started experimenting with the editor which was had so many features and capabilities I was completely engrossed.

Soon after, Half-Life came out which used the same level editor – and once I discovered the community built around creating levels and mods for the game – I was totally hooked.

Ian: When I was in High School I learned how to program in Flash. After I coded my first few interactive toys I was hooked and knew this was something I enjoyed doing.

What was your first role in the industry?

David: My first taste of the industry was when I made some custom maps for the Half-Life mods Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat that got purchased by Valve when they spun off the mods and retail games. As someone still in high school, the idea of having something I made be a part of something that was on the same shelf as all the other games was amazing.

After high school, I got a job at Troika Games making levels for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. It was an incredible learning experience that taught me a lot about how game development works, as well as the game industry in general.

Ian: Out of college I got a job at a small studio doing licensed non-smartphone game development. Mobile development pre-iPhone was especially painful due to poor hardware and having to work with carriers and license owners.

The studio fell on hard times after a few years and we left for greener pastures after a few missed paychecks. The studio went on to eventually be absorbed by EA and then Zynga.

What do you consider your first significant success?

David: I think my first taste of success was when some of my custom levels for the Half-Life mod Counter-Strike got bought by Valve and made it into an actual retail product. That was when I thought I actually might be able to turn game development into a career.

Ian: Out of college I got a job at a small studio doing licensed non-smartphone game development. Mobile development pre-iPhone was especially painful due to poor hardware and having to work with carriers and license owners.

The studio fell on hard times after a few years and we left for greener pastures after a few missed paychecks. The studio went on to eventually be absorbed by EA and then Zynga.

When did the potential for mobile games become apparent to you?

David: The potential for mobile games didn’t really become apparent to me until Apple opened up the App Store and developers started flooding it with all sorts of different content. The fact that thousands of bedroom developers now had an outlet for their creations that could be in everyone’s pocket was a pretty big shift in the industry.

Ian: The first time the light really clicked for me was when Apple released a handful of games for some model of the iPod. I quickly bought them all and was impressed at how much better the experiences seemed than the average cell phone games of the day.

I tried to convince everyone in the office that we should pursue making iPod games, exclaiming “Just think of how many people are walking around with iPods in their pockets that can play these types of games!”

What do you think is the most significant event in mobile gaming?

David: I think the opening of the App Store has been the biggest event in mobile gaming so far.

Ian: I think it has to be the introduction of the iPhone followed by the release of the App Store in 2008. If the App Store was never released and the platform had stayed closed, we would be living in quite a different reality today.

What are you most proud of? Any regrets?

David: I’m most proud of the fact that we have been able to spend our days playing and experimenting with mobile game development, and that we have built an audience of people who enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Ian: I’m most proud of the personality we’ve been able to put into each game and the resulting fan base we’ve created. It is pretty humbling knowing people are looking forward to what you create next. No regrets yet!

Which mobile games have you most enjoyed recently?

David: To be honest, I don’t play many other mobile games. When I am playing something on my phone, I’m usually testing our own games.

Ian: Lately I’ve been spending most of my free time playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf on 3DS, which being a Nintendo game isn’t available on mobile platforms. It should would make an amazing mobile game though!

What are your predictions for the future of mobile games?

Ian: I think most big games will be available on most major platforms as more and more developers adopt cross-platform engines. I think we’ll also see a resurgence in the importance of publishers and brands as the supply of quality games becomes overwhelming.

In which area of the industry do you hope to make a difference in future?

David: I hope that we can help influence other platform holders to be more liberal with opening up their platforms and letting all the little developers out there have a stage.(source:pocketgamer)


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