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开发者谈如何设计一款优秀的CRPG

发布时间:2013-11-08 17:14:06 Tags:,,,,

作者:Jari Komppa.

在为一个致力于创造一款全新角色扮演游戏(RPG)的项目准备一些背景研究的同时,我也明确了有关计算机角色扮演游戏(CRPG)的构成以及优秀CRPG的组成元素等相关要点。我玩了很长一段时间的RPG和CRPG,并且也接触了计算机编程很久了。在阅读了《What is an ideal adventure game?》这篇文章后,我更是迫切地想进一步了解CRPG和冒险游戏的设计,这是两种具有许多共同点的游戏类型,但同时也具有很多差异性,所以常常会让新手玩家感受困惑。在本篇文章中我将参考包括CRPG以及其它游戏类型在内的多款游戏,从而更好地进行分析。所有的故事情节案例都将是虚构的,都只是为了更好地说明情况。

定义

CRPG可以分为两种主要类型,并且这两种类型也都包含多个子类型。有些游戏结合了这两种类型,或不属于这一定义范围内。第一种类型是第一人称视角CRPG(例如《冰城传奇》,《地下城主》,《Ultima Underworld》,《网络奇兵》)。第二种类型是更经典的第三人称视角CRPG(例如《创世纪I》到《创世纪VII》,《迷宫骇客》,《Rogue》,《辐射》,《光芒之池》)。回合制游戏玩法经常被当成是CRPG游戏类型的内在组成部分,但这既不是要求(如《辐射》)也非必要(如《Ultima Underworld》,《最终幻想VII》)。所以到底什么是CRPG?为什么《花花公子拉瑞》,《毁灭战士》和《魔域大冒险》并未被包含在CRPG范围内,而《塞尔达传奇64》却属于这类型游戏?

Fallout(from hdwpapers)

Fallout(from hdwpapers)

有些人认为这是因为CRPG包含随机性。这未必是真的,因为许多冒险游戏(如《魔域大冒险》)也包含随机元素。实际上,CRPG带有许多单一功能难以定义的变量,但也存在一个例外,即角色开发。玩家控制下的角色将随着时间的发展而成长,获得更多经验值,技能,能量,并变得更加强大。让我们比较《塞尔达传奇》和《毁灭战士》。《塞尔达传奇》中的Link通过寻找心脏的碎片而不断变强,而《毁灭战士》中的水兵则是通过收集生命值与盔甲去壮大自己。这两款游戏都带有渐进的武器部署。但是比起后者,前者更像是一款RPG。这是因为从理论上来看,你可以基于一开始的水兵角色去应对《毁灭战士》的最后关卡。而真正的差别在于,在《毁灭战士》中是玩家获得更多经验值而非角色。

记住这些介绍,现在我将把更多注意力放在经典的第三人称视角而不是第一人称视角CRPG。

人们认为现代的CRPG是受到6种不同的引擎或视图所驱动—-世界视图,战斗视图,交谈视图,商店视图,个人视图和NPC(非玩家角色)引擎。这些引擎可以被隐藏起来(玩家不需要知道骑士相比之前挥战斧水平提高了1%),可以相互结合(就像《创世纪VII》中的战斗和世界视图,《辐射》中的商店和交谈视图,以及《Fairy Tale Adventure》中的交谈,商店,战斗与世界视图),甚至可以被丢出游戏之外。

世界视图

世界视图是游戏中大多数行动发生或应该发生之处。这一视图的执行具有很多差异性。游戏可能带有多个世界视图,即缩放到一座城市(《创世纪V》)或延伸到一个开放领域(《最终幻想VII》,《辐射2》)。世界视图可能是基于屏幕(《最终幻想VII》的城市),可能是基于区块(《创世纪V》),也有可能是完全自由(《塞尔达传奇64》,《最终幻想VII》的星球)。在这些类型中,我更喜欢基于区块的引擎,因为比起完整的3D引擎它会更加简单。像灯光,能见度和天气等环境效果在执行起来也更轻松且更廉价。我认为没人能够创造出一种真正的现代区块引擎是件可耻的事,特别是当现在我们拥有比80286或c64(《创世纪V》所运行的模拟器)更多CPU之时!

战斗视图

我知道的所有CRPG都具有战斗元素。战斗是将大量内容引进CRPG中的一种简单方法,很难想象一款游戏中没有战斗元素会是怎样。战斗视图有可能与世界视图(《创世纪VIII》,《辐射2》,《Fairy Tale Adventure》),世界视图的子视图(《创世纪V》—-当战斗出现时缩放到一个比城市还小的关卡中),或完全不同的视图(《最终幻想VII》,《叛变克朗多》,《光芒之池》结合在一起。我所玩过的所有CRPG都带有回合制战斗(如果战斗视图并未与世界视图结合在一起的话)。不过即使两个视图结合在一起,战斗也经常会以回合制形式出现。从理论上来看,没有什么能够强迫CRPG具有回合制战斗。在大多数带有团队成员的游戏中,让这些成员可以在战斗过程控制团队中的其他人便是一种合理的设置。这也解释了为什么回合制设计如此普遍了。尽管《辐射2》带有独立行动的团队成员,但它也同样具有回合制战斗。

战斗视图的复杂性也是不断变化着的。常见的基于区块的战斗(AD&D《Gold Box》,《创世纪V》,《叛变克朗多》)让玩家能够控制每个团员的移动,库存,攻击,甚至是攻击类型(坎,劈,猛击)。这些引擎针对每个角色使用了移动点。在每个回合中你可以在一些区块间移动,访问库存,攻击或执行其它行动,提供这些行动所需要的总时间并确保不会超过预先确定好的限制。还有一些游戏(如《最终幻想VII》)带有较简单的战斗模式,即你可以给每个角色提出一些简单的命令,如“攻击”这个,“投出”这一咒语,或“使用”这个等等。然后你可以无需采取任何行动并观看烟火(没有额外战术定位或非军事演习)。这些简单模式并不糟糕。这只是取决于玩家的体验。有些游戏结合了世界视图和战斗视图。通常情况下这种结合仍然包含了战斗时间,尽管这并不是绝对必要。的确,不小心点击并杀死一位你正在解救的可怜少女真的再尴尬不过了。明确这样的划分也许是非常有帮助的。另一方面,实时战斗也并不总是合理的。基于回合制的战斗将给你更多时间去思考自己的策略。这是这种回合制战斗(划分了街机游戏与冒险游戏)的一大元素。尽管比起冒险游戏,CRPG对于脑力思考的要求较低,但是比起像《Quake》等游戏,CRPG还是需要玩家拥有较为清晰的思维。

交谈视图

在几乎所有的CRPG中,你都可以与不同的角色进行交谈。在某些游戏中,当你进入某些区域,你与其它角色间的对话便会自动出现。在大多数其它游戏中,你需要明确走到角色旁边并发出TALK命令才能展开交谈。CRPG拥有4种交谈引擎类型,即过场动画,单词测试,多选和点击。

过场动画很明显。你进入一个房间,游戏接过你的手,并领着你向前走(《魔眼杀机》)。这种过场动画很少是互动式的。单词测试较为少见,因为它有可能带给玩家不必要的挫败感。在一些早前的游戏,如《创世纪》便有这种机制。单词测试的乐趣在于你打出自己知道的关键词,或希望引擎能够意识到它,然后尝试着进行猜测,如果NPC碰巧知道你所调查的主题,你便会从与其它NPC的交谈中挑选出更多关键词。这是很容易创造的引擎。你只需要用关键词去标记文本章节并输出像“我不知道任何关于这一内容的情况”的短语,以判断是否能找到匹配对象。多选常出现在许多CRPG和冒险游戏中。NPC投出一些固定数量的对话,然后让玩家从一些不同的回应中做出选择。而这些选择如何出现在玩家面前则是另外一回事。实现这种交谈的一种方法便是创造一种简单的脚本语言,并将每个对话整合到脚本的所有节点中。每个节点都是一个子程序,包含文本输出组块,标志检查,标志设置,以及回应的可能性。在对话期间,玩家将获得许多标志,让对话引擎知道是否掌握了一些信息并注意推动游戏向前发展(《Outcast》,《创世纪VIII》)。《狩魔猎人》便采取了一种简单方法去执行这种交谈功能,即比起一组节点,游戏中的交谈更像是基于树视图。点击是主机CRPG中最常见的引擎(《最终幻想VII》)。你与某人遵循着一些预先设定好的对话进行交谈,并很少出现是与不是的问题。

交谈视图无需完全区别于世界视图。就像不管角色说什么都会出现在其头顶上漂浮的文本框中。有些游戏将商店视图与交谈视图结合在一起(《创世纪V》,《辐射2》),但再一次的这么做并不总是合理(AD&D 《Gold Box》)。

商店视图

大多数CRPG都带有商店。商店视图并非绝对必要。有些游戏(《地下城主》)便没有商店,即它们不指望于“复活”机制时。商店视图通常不同于其它视图,在这里你可以浏览商店库存并做出选择。在某些游戏中,医院也可以被当成商店,你可以使用与购买龙骨弩一样的方法去购买治疗道具(《神剑封魔》,《双子星奇遇记》,《塞尔达传奇》)。商店视图会以各种形式呈现出来。任何游戏都具有不同的解决方法。有些游戏将其与库存视图(《叛变克朗多》,《逃离地狱》)或世界视图(《迷宫骇客》,《双子星奇遇记》)整合在一起,还有一些游戏将其分离开来(《最终幻想VII》)。

通常情况下,商店视图都带有不同的界面,并将其整合到游戏中。也许这是因为找不到更好的执行方法了。这既是一种祝福也是一种诅咒。说是祝福是因为购物是你经常做的事,是你较常做的事,或者是你并不想要浪费时间去做的事。而说是诅咒则是因为它将打破你想要沉浸到游戏中的幻想。商店视图有时候会与交谈视图整合在一起,但我也发现一款CRPG因为一些侮辱性交谈(并未达成交易)而关闭了商店。

个人视图

在本篇文章的背景下,个人视图是指游戏角色的技术观点。角色拥有多少情报点?角色的体验水平是怎样的?这一视图也包括了库存桩与库存插槽。个人视图并不需要包含所有的这些元素。实际上,它并不需要出现在屏幕上的任何位置上,尽管它在许多CRPG中的存在为游戏添加了许多氛围。然而所有的ARPG都在追踪这些属性,特别是体验属性。一些更精致的CRPG(《地下城主》)甚至会同时追踪多种体验。

库存插槽被设置在角色能够轻松使用自己所拥有的道具的地方。在这一视图最复杂的迭代中,你可以将戒指戴在角色的每个手指上或让其穿上盔甲上衣,皮革的裹腿,以及金属头盔(《创世纪》)。也有其它游戏(《辐射》)使用了简化的库存,即你只拥有两个武器槽(在左右手)和一个盔甲槽。自然地,如果角色一次只能携带一种武器,那么这些插槽就没有意义了(《最终幻想VII》)。库存桩是库存插槽的概括。有些游戏(《Ultima Underworld》)带有许多库存插槽,即玩家可以带着一个背包并且背包上可以安置更多库存插槽。这为游戏增添了现实性,但是当玩家在面对来势汹汹的红龙的同时还要想办法在袋子里寻找通向巨魔之门的钥匙时,他们便会感到厌烦。

库存视图有时候也作为面板而包含于主要视图中,以此限制世界视图的规模(《Ultima Underworld》)。通常情况下,这是完全独立的视图(《最终幻想VII》,《辐射》)。基于游戏的复杂性,操作库存中道具的方法也会有所不同。有些游戏允许玩家执行不同的功能,如修复道具(《叛变克朗多》,《Ultima Underworld》),也有些游戏允许使用/丢下/拖拉功能(《辐射》)。

NPC引擎

NPC是一种不受玩家控制的角色。悲剧的是NPC引擎往往是人们在CRPG中最后考虑的元素。有些游戏甚至不具备这一元素,即用一些简单且能够进行交谈的静态商店取代它(在交谈视图中)。甚至连早前的《创世纪》(《创世纪IV》)也带有一个较复杂的NPC引擎,即店主晚上会待在家里,白天则会出现在商店里会其它地方。NPC也可以在快关门时或玩家做出不正当行为时请求他们离开商店。NPC甚至可能记得一个具有破坏性的玩家,并要求玩家提供更多服务或拒绝与之合作。在大多数情况下(《辐射2》),NPC的表现都类似于这样,如果出现不同也不会差太多。

NPC引擎也可以较为复杂,如包含在不同地方行走的旅行中,他们会获得各种谣言,新闻和道具。玩家会在路上碰到这些旅行者,听他们讲故事或与之一起行走。然而,一个复杂的NPC引擎也会为游戏带来不可预知的角色互动与漏洞。

故事板

为了推动CRPG继续向前发展,我们就需要一些故事板引擎。有些游戏带有较为宽松的故事板(《冰城传奇》,《创世纪》)。只有当你与某些人战斗或找到一些重要的道具时事件才会出现。许多CRPG利用了关卡(《迷宫骇客》,《地下城主》)去衡量游戏的进程。在这些游戏中,玩家始终都清楚接下来该做什么(在《创世纪》中便不是如此)。在其它游戏中,当你解决了一个较大的问题或杀死一个巨大的怪兽,预先设定好的事件便会出现去推动故事的发展(《时空英豪》,《最终幻想VII》,《光芒之池》,《辐射2》)。通过使用某些障碍去限制玩家的移动并在这些障碍发挥功效时推动故事向前发展(《最终幻想VII》,《塞尔达传奇》)。有些游戏一点都未限制玩家的移动,但是如果在未看到任何提示的情况下遭遇一个古老的UFO,那么可怜的战士将会更加困惑(《Might and Magic III》,《冰城传奇》)。

捆绑

自然地,所有的这些引擎必须捆绑在一起,越紧凑越好。该组合怎样的引擎?该忽略哪些引擎?该添加哪些引擎?

在所有的CRPG中都带有RPG数据引擎,即负责追踪并传达体验,检查标志,并估算库存。我们必须谨慎考虑的一大元素便是需要保存在游戏中的数据选择。是否需要追踪玩家在野外所掉落的每个道具?所有的NPC状态是怎样的?玩家何时可以保存内容?很少有CRPG允许玩家在战斗过程中保存游戏,有些CRPG甚至只允许玩家在某些点上才能进行保存(《最终幻想VII》)。

CRPG中的RPG

我们有必要回顾历史去检查传统RPG的哪一部分过度到了CRPG,而哪些部分则仍在向前摸索。RPG并不是掷骰子的游戏。的确,像《龙与地下城》和AD&D(游戏邦注:它是由前身《龙与地下城》的规则发展而来,这是为游戏而制定的一个规则)等早前的RPG游戏设计便更加专注于掷骰子而非角色扮演。而像之后的通用角色扮演系统等设计则开始鼓励玩家更加重视角色扮演。

在比较不同RPG的一些常见参数中,会出现现实性对游戏是否有帮助,多少现实性才适合游戏。有些RPG(《咒符探险》)为每个身体部位记录了命中点,所以如果你的左手被打伤了,你的盾牌将不再有用。角色控制系统包含数百个表格,你必须在战斗时浏览它们。尽管这比《龙与地下城》中简单的命中点系统来得现实,但却会很大程度拉慢游戏速度。不过计算机可以轻松地处理这些复杂的图表而让这样的战斗系统在CRPG中发挥功效。有些RPG(《Hero’s Quest》)使用了“通过实践而学习”的理念。如果角色玩了很多次象棋,你便能够期待角色在游戏中发挥专业技能。

设计

如何创造出一款优秀的CRPG?首先,基于GURPS的CRPG比基于AD&D来得出色。比较《光芒之池》与《辐射2》。为什么?因为AD&D是一个基本的RPG系统,比起真正的角色扮演反而更加重视掷骰子机制,并包含了许多奇怪的规则和特性,如“巫师不能穿板甲”。相反地,GURPS虽然也规定了巫师不能穿板甲,但是其原因是巫师太过脆弱了不足以支撑盔甲。

一款优秀的CRPG必须带有值得信赖且可运行的世界(《塞尔达传奇64》,《最终幻想VII》,《辐射2》)。角色必须充满生气,特别是玩家所控制的主角。角色应该伴随着自己的生活记住某些事物,不断学习并向前发展。时间应该不断发展着。天气应该发生着变化。与适当的信念相反的是,在CRPG中让玩家与角色感同身受的一种有效方法便是使用第三人称视角而非第一人称视角。就像比起对于《System Shock》中的黑客,玩家更容易对《塞尔达传奇》中的Link感到抱歉。毕竟那些突变体是向你开枪,而不是黑客。角色还需要逐渐成长,而不只是体验游戏。游戏应该让角色在面对世界的不同元素与改变时产生不同的想法。真正优秀的CRPG应该带有强大的故事和次要任务组。游戏应该从较小的范围开始,并逐渐扩展。举个例子来说,如果你是一个巫师的徒弟,那么你所面对的第一个任务也许是杀死花园里的所有老鼠。如果你尝试着离开院子,游戏便会通过角色告诉你:“我应该杀死这些老鼠。”之后,巫师将会命令你前往附近的村庄,你便会在那里遇到一些更丰富的故事。也许你收到的下一个使命是到附近的城市,而当一只龙抓着你刚刚遇到的可爱的公主出现时,你便会开始觉得这一使命并没有多重要。我们常常可以在一些很成功的游戏中看到这类型的故事情节(《辐射2》,《时空英豪》)。最终,一款优秀的CRPG应该带有基于直觉性的界面系统,即帮助玩家更轻松地进入游戏世界(《塞尔达传奇》),并且不会让他们分心(《冰河传奇》,《逃离地狱》)》

结论

总之创造一款优秀的CRPG是一个让人畏惧的项目。使用上述内容去创造一款CRPG意味着你要包含至少3至4种脚本语言,3种不同的编辑器(地图,NPC,商店),以及所有的图像,画外音和其它游戏玩法增强功能等等。换句话说,设计一款完美的CRPG并不是一项轻松的任务。

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

How to design an ideal computer role playing game?

Posted by Jari Komppa.

While doing some background research in preparation for a project to create a new role-playing game (RPG), I have compiled some points on what constitutes a computer RPG (CRPG) and what makes a great CRPG. I have a long history with playing both RPGs and CRPGs as well as a long history with computer programming. After reading the article “What is an ideal adventure game?”, I become interested in learning more about designing CRPG and adventure games, given the fact that the two genres have much in common but also many differences which are often confused by novice gamers. In this article, I shall refer to many games, both CRPGs and other genre games, to facilitate my discussion. No actual spoilers to these games are included here. All storyline examples are fictitious and are for illustrative purposes only.

Definition

CRPGs can be divided into 2 main genres, both of which contain numerous subgenres. Some games are combination of both or lie completely outside of this definition. The first genre is the first person view CRPGs (Bard’s Tale, Dungeon Master, Ultima Underworld, System Shock). The second genre is the more classic third person view CRPGs (Ultima I to VII, Nethack, Rogue, Fallout, Pool of Radiance). Turn-based gameplay has often been thought to be an integral part of the CRPG genre, but this is neither required (Fallout) nor necessary (Ultima Underworld, Final Fantasy VII). So what makes a CRPG a CRPG? Why Leisure Suit Larry, Doom, and Zork are not considered to be CRPGs whereas Zelda 64 may be considered to be one?

Some gamers argue that the answer is that CRPGs contain randomness. This is not necessarily true, since many adventure games (Zork) contain random factors. In fact, CRPGs come in so many variations that no single feature can define the genre, with one key exception—character development. The character under the player’s control grows over time, gains experience, skills, powers, and becomes stronger as a whole. Where should the exact line be drawn is a discussion that lies outside the purview of this article. Let us compare between Zelda and Doom. Whereas Link in Zelda grows stronger by finding pieces of heart, the marine in Doom collects health and armor. Both games have progressive weapon deployment. Still, the former feels more like a RPG than the latter. It is because in theory, at least, you can solve the last level of Doom with the same marine character you start with. In fact, the difference lies in the fact that in Doom it is the player who gains more experience not the character.

With this introduction in mind, I shall now focus more on the classic third person view rather than the first person view genre of CRPGs.

A modern CPRG game can be considered to be driven by 6 distinct engines or views—world view, battle view, talk view, shop view, personal view, and NPC (Non-Player Character) engine. These engines can be hidden (the player does not necessarily need to know that the knight has just learned to wield the poleaxe 1% better than before), combined (the battle and world views in Ultima VII; the shop and talk views in Fallout; the talk, shop, battle, and world views in Fairy Tale Adventure), or even dropped out completely in the game.

The world view

The world view is where most of the action takes place or should take place in the game. How this view is implemented varies greatly. A game may have multiple world views, either by zooming into a city (Ultima V) or zooming out into an open area (Final Fantasy VII, Fallout 2). The world view may be screen-based (Final Fantasy VII cities), tile-based (Ultima V), or free form (Zelda 64, Final Fantasy VII planets). Of these, I prefer a tile-based engine it is simpler to make compared to a full fledged 3D engine. Environmental effects such as light, visibility, and weather are also easier and cheaper to implement. It is a shame that nobody has made a really modern tile-based engine, especially now that we have many times more CPU power than an 80286 or a c64 that runs Ultima V!

The battle view

I do not know of any CRPG that does not have any fighting, even though one is theoretically possible. Fighting is a simple way to introduce loads of content into a CRPG such that it is rather improbable to imagine a game without it. The battle view may be combined with the world view (Ultima VIII, Fallout 2, Fairy Tale Adventure), a sub-view of the world view (Ultima V, which zooms to a level even smaller than a city when a fight occurs), or a completely different view (Final Fintasy VII, Betrayal at Krondor, Pool of Radiance). All of the CRPGs I have played have turn-based battles if the battle view is not combined with the world view. Even when the two views are combined, the battles often take place in turns. In theory, nothing forces a CRPG to have turn-based combat. In most games where party members are allowed, it is desirable to have the ability to control everyone in your party during a battle. This explains why a turn-based design is so common. Fallout 2 has independently acting party members, but it still has turn-based battles.

The complexity of battle view varies as well. Common tile-based battles (AD&D Gold Box games, Ultima V, Betrayal at Krondor) offers the ability for the player to control each party member’s movement, inventory, attack, and even attack style (slash, hack, bash). These engines employ movement points for each character. You can move across a number of tiles, access inventory, attack, or perform other actions for each turn, provided that the total time duration required for these actions does not exceed a predefined limit. Other games (Final Fantasy VII) have very light combat mode, where you can just give simple commands to each character such as “attack” this, “cast” this spell, or “use” this. You can then sit back and watch the fireworks (often quite literally) without any additional tactical positioning or other maneuvers. This light mode is not necessarily a bad thing. It just depends on the taste of the gamer. Some games combine the world view and the combat view. More often than not this combination still includes a battle mode, though it is not absolutely necessary. Indeed, it may be embarrassing to accidentally click and kill the damsel in distress to whom you are coming to rescue. Proving such division may therefore be helpful. On the other hand, real time battle is not necessarily always a good thing. A turn-based battle gives you more time to think about your strategy. It is this aspect of turn-based battles that divides arcade from adventure games. Although CRPGs generally require less brainwork than adventure games, CRPGS are still more cerebral than games such as Quake.

The talk view

You can talk to different characters in almost all CRPGs. In some games, you get to talk to another character by entering some place where the dialog automatically pops up. In most other games, you need to explicitly walk next to the character and command TALK to begin a conversation. CRPGs have generally 4 kinds of talking engines–the cut-scene, the word quiz, the multi-selection and the click-through.

Cut-scene is obvious. You walk into a room and the game takes over from you to lead you onwards (Eye of the Beholder). These cut-scenes are rarely interactive. Word quiz is somewhat of a rarity because of its tendency to generate needless player frustration. Early games in Ultima have this. The running joke of word quiz is that you type keywords you know or hope the engine recognizes (name, job) and try to guess if the NPC happens to know about the topic you are inquiring, all the while you try to pick up more keywords from listening to conversations by this and other NPCs. This kind of engine is extremely easy to make. You just need to tag text chapters with keywords and output some phrases such as “I do not know anything about that” if no match is found. Multi-selection is used in many CRPGs and adventure games. The NPC raps some fixed amount of dialog and then gives the player a handful choice of different responses. How these choices appear to the player is another matter. One way of making this sort of chat is to make a simple script language and build each chat into scripts full of nodes. Each node is a subroutine, including text output blocks, flag checks, flag sets, and response possibilities. During a conversation, the player acquires a pile of flags, letting the talk engine know if the player has gained a specific knowledge necessary to move the game forward (Outcast, Ultima VIII). A simpler way of implementing such chat function is in Gabriel Knight where the chat resembles more like a tree view than a cluster of nodes. Click-through is most commonly found in console-based CRPGs (Final Fantasy VII). You talk to someone and follow some pre-written conversations, with the rare yes/no questions in between.

The talk view does not need to be completely different from the world view. For example, whatever a character says can appear in a text box floating over the character’ head. In some games, the shop view and talk view are combined (Ultima V, Fallout 2), but again it is not always true (AD&D Gold Box games).

The shop view

Most CRPGs have shops. The shop view is not a requirement. Some games (Dungeon Master) do not have shops if you do not count the “resurrection” machines”. Shop view is often a completely different view from the others, in where you can browse through the shop inventory and make choices. In some games a hospital can be considered to be a shop, since you buy a healing item the same way you can buy the dragon-bone crossbow of death (Zeliard, Little Big Adventure, Zelda). Shop views come in all shapes and sizes. No two games have exactly the same solution. Some games tie it closely to the inventory view (Betrayal at Krondor, Escape from Hell) or the world view (Nethack, Little Big Adventure), while other games keep it completely separate (Final Fantasy VII).

Very often, shop views have such distinct interfaces that they seem to have been just plugged into the game. Perhaps this is because there does not appear to be any better way to do it otherwise. It is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because shopping is something you may do often, something you may do a lot, or something you may not want to waste too much time on. It is a curse because it naturally breaks the illusion of immersion into the game. While the shop view is sometimes combined with the talk view, I have yet to see a CRPG where the party can get kicked out of a shop due to some insulting conversation without having an opportunity to close a deal first.

The personal view

In the context of this article, the personal view refers the technical view of the game characters. How many intelligence points the character has? What is the character’s experience level? This view also includes the inventory pile and inventory slots. The personal view does not need to include all of these elements. In fact, it does not even need to be seen anywhere on screen, although its existence in many CRPGs adds a lot to the ambience of the game. All CRPGs, however, track these attributes, particularly the experience attribute. In more elaborate CRPGs (Dungeon Master), several experiences are tracked simultaneously.

Inventory slots are places where the character can wear items of possession. In the most complex iteration of this view you can put a ring in each finger of the character or dress the character up with a chainmail shirt but leather leggings and plate-mail helmet (Ultima). In other games (Fallout), a simplified inventory is used instead where you have only 2 weapon slots (left and right hand) and 1 armor slot. Naturally, these slots are not required if the character can only carry 1 weapon at a time (Final Fantasy VII). Inventory pile is a generalization of the inventory slots. Some games (Ultima Underworld) include a stack of inventory slots where you can have a backpack which itself holds more inventory slots. This adds to the realism of the game but can be tiring when the player needs to search through all the sacks and bags for a troll gate key while the angry red dragon breathes down the player’s neck!

The inventory view is sometimes included in the main view as a panel, limiting the size of the world view (Ultima Underworld). Most often, it is a completely separate view (Final Fantasy VII, Fallout). Methods to manipulate inventory items also vary depending on the complexity of the game. Some games allow the player to perform distinct functions such as repairing an item (Betrayal at Krondor, Ultima Underworld) where as other games only allow for a catchall use/drop/drag function (Fallout).

The NPC engine

NPC is a character who is not under the player’s control. The NPC engine is sadly the least thought out element in CRPGs. Some games do not even have one, replacing it with simple static shops with which you can talk (in the talk view). Even earlier Ultima games (Ultima IV) has a rather complex NPC engine, where the shopkeeper can be found at home during the night and in his shop during the day as well as can be seen walking from one place to another. A NPC can even ask people to leave the shop when it is near closing time or call for guards when the player starts to misbehave. To the extreme, the NPC can remember a disruptive player and charges the player more for the services or even refuses to cooperate. In most cases (Fallout 2), the NPCs behave in a manner similar to this but not quite this far.

The NPC engine can be even more complex, such as the inclusion of travelers who go from place to place, pick up rumors, news, and items. Player can then meet these travelers on the road and hear the news or even travel together as a party. However, a complex NPC engine may introduce unpredictable character interactions and bugs into the game.

The storyboard

For a CRPG to move along, some sort of storyboard engine is needed. Some games have very loose storylines (Bard’s Tale, Ultima). Events happen only when you fight someone or find some item of importance. Many CRPGs employ levels (Nethack, Dungeon Master) to gauge the game’s progress. In these games the player never gets the feeling of not knowing what should be done next (not so in Ultima). In other games, when you solve a large problem or kill a big beast, a pre-scripted event occurs (Outcast, Final Fantasy VII, Pool of Radiance, Fallout 2) to propel the story forward. Limiting the player’s movement by some obstacles and moving the story along whenever these obstacles are crossed works well in a CRPG (Final Fantasy VII, Zelda). Some games do not limit the player’s movement at all, and it can be rather confusing when the poor warrior stumbles upon an ancient UFO without any prior warning or hint on what to do next (Might and Magic III, Bard’s Tale).

The package

Naturally, all these engines must be bound together—the more seamlessly, the better. What engines to combine? What to leave out? What to add?

Underneath all CRPGs lies the RPG data engine that is responsible for tracking and dictating experiences, checking flags, and counting inventories. One element that must be carefully considered is the choice of data that should be saved in the saved games. Is it necessary to track every single item the player drops in the wilderness? What about all the NPC stats? When can the player save? Very few CRPGs let you save in the middle of a battle, and other CRPGs even limit saves to only certain spots (Final Fantasy VII saving posts).

The RPG in CRPG

It is worthwhile to look back in history to check which parts of traditional RPGs have already made the transition to the CRPGs and which parts may still be on the move. RPGs are not, despite popular belief, a dice-rolling game. It is true that early RPG designs such as D&D and AD&D tend to focus more on dice rolling than role-playing. Later designs such as GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System), however, encourage the players to focus more on role-playing instead.

Among the common arguments when comparing different RPGs is whether realism is good for a game how much realism is good for a game. Some RPGs (RuneQuest) record hit points for each body part, so that if your left hand is broken your shield is pretty useless as well. Rolemaster system contains hundreds of tables which you must scan through when in battle. These, while being more realistic than the simpler hit point system in D&D, slow the gameplay down enormously. Yet, a computer can easily handle these complex tables to make such a battle system work in a CRPG. Some RPGs (Hero’s Quest) employ the concept of “learning by doing”. If a character plays a lot of chess, you should expect the character to eventually develop an expertise in playing that game.

The design

So what makes a great CRPG? First of all, a CRPG based on GURPS is better than one based on AD&D. Compare Pool of Radiance with Fallout 2. Why? AD&D is a rudimentary RPG system that is more based on dice rolling than actual role-playing and contains lots of strange rules and idiosyncrasies such as “wizards cannot wear platemail”. In contrast, while GURPS may have similar rules against wizards wearing platemail, the reason may be because wizards have too fragile frames to carry the armor.

A great CRPG should have a believable and working world (Zelda 64, Final Fantasy VII, Fallout 2). Characters should feel alive, especially the main protagonist that the player represents. Characters should remember, learn, and move along with their lives. Time should flow. Weather should change. Contrary to proper belief, a good way to make the player feel for the character in a CRPG is to use a third person rather than a first person view. It is far easier to feel sorry for Link in Zelda than the hacker in System Shock. After all, those mutants shoot you, not the hacker. Characters should grow in ways other than just experience. The game should allow the characters to feel differently about different aspects and changes of the world. A great CRPG should have a strong story and truckload of subquests. The game should start with a small area but gradually expands. For example, if you are an apprentice of a wizard, your first mission may be to kill all the rats in the garden. If you try to leave the yard, the game should signal you through your character such as by saying, “I really should finish with those rats.” Following this, the wizard may send you on an errand to a nearby village where you may catch some pieces of a larger story. The next errand may be to a nearby city, and perhaps that errand starts to feel less important when a dragon comes and grabs the cute princess whom you just meet. This sort of “shopping trip turns into interplanetary politics” storyline has been used in many games with success (Fallout2, Outcast). Finally, a great CRPG should have an intuitive interface system that helps the player to get inside the game world (Zelda) and not one that detracts the player from it (Bard’s Tale, Escape from Hell).

Conclusions

All in all, programming a good CRPG is a rather daunting project. Building a CRPG using the guidelines discussed above means the inclusion of a minimum of 3-4 script languages, 3 different editors (map, NPC, shop), along with all the artworks, voiceovers, and other gameplay enhancements. In other words, designing an ideal CRPG is no easy task.(source:adventureclassicgaming)


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