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分析游戏难度中的挑战与挫折的区别

发布时间:2014-01-10 16:11:16 Tags:,,,

今天我们要讨论的是一个对于所有类型的游戏设计来说都甚为重要的话题:难度。你有多种方法让游戏变得困难,但不幸的是,多数方法都只能算是取巧的捷径,却不会产生引人入胜的玩法。

许多游戏开发者会觉得有必要将游戏变得更困难,所以他们就添加了各种最终只会令游戏更令人受挫的“功能”。他们说,“但玩家确实比之前更常挂掉,这是一个挑战。”但,这真是的一种挑战吗?或者只是一种无缘无故的困难玩法?

今天,我们就来讨论挑战与挫折之间的区别,以及如何在避免令玩家产生糟糕情绪的情况下添加游戏难度曲线。

难度曲线

difficulty_curve(from gamasutra)

difficulty_curve(from gamasutra)

人们经常忽视难度曲线的重要性。当然,多数人理解其基本理念:游戏刚开始时很简单,之后越来越困难。不幸的是,难度曲线的概念并不仅限于此。它并不只是游戏变得多困难,还涉及游戏以哪种方式给玩家带来更多挑战性。

关于难度曲线以及训练玩家的话题已经够我再另起一文了,但现在我只讨论一些关于如何确定难度曲线,并且不惹恼玩家的重要理念。

我见过许多游戏一开始很顺畅和容易,但你过了“开始”这个节点之后,你拐了一个弯或者进入一个新区域时,游戏就变得巨难无比。它的难度曲线究竟出了什么问题?最好要让难度曲线自然和逐渐上升,并且将玩家置于检验其能力水平的情形。

在创造游戏难度曲线时,这是开发者需要铭记在心的最重要原则:游戏的挑战性在于其检验玩家技能的方式。简单地制造拥有高HP的敌人并不是最佳方法,游戏应该令玩家觉得自己正在攻克障碍,他在游戏中越来越棒。一款难度平衡感良好的游戏应该考验玩家的能力,而非耐心。

随着游戏不断发展,开发者很容易陷入通过给予敌人大量HP,或者令其一招制服玩家等方式人为地提升难度。有时候这些做法是合理的,但如果除了让游戏“更困难”之外,你就找不到解决这一做法的理由,那就要想想其他增加挑战性的难度了。要在之前的玩法上创造挑战性,并令玩家面临新情况。给予玩家使用自己新技能的理由。

多数玩家更喜欢鼓励在战斗中以策略取胜而非刷任务的RPG是有原因的,那就是他们喜欢优秀的挑战而非挫折。

挫折

那么什么是挫折?它是什么原因造成的?玩家为什么会想关掉游戏并永远不再回头?

当玩家觉得自己的时间被浪费时就会产生受挫感,这就是游戏的错了。

这个说法中有两个要点,让我们分析一下。第一个与玩家时间的价值有关,这在现代游戏中是一个重要的概念。二三十年前,玩家对时间价值的看法与现在极为不同。当时的游戏比现在更困难也更具受挫感。但这并不是说玩家的时间就不宝贵了。当时的电子游戏易用性与现在不同,玩家也没有成百上千款游戏可供选择。而在当今世界,如果某人不喜欢你的游戏——也许他们认为你的游戏不值得投入时间,他们就会直接删除,并在片刻内找到另一款游戏。20年前,如果某款游戏令玩家受挫,玩家也无法选择,所以他们只能一直死撑到将游戏打败为止。

游戏文化也已经发生变化,游戏设计也随着游戏生活方式而变更。你无法在浪费玩家时间中侥幸成功。

那么,我们该如何定义浪费玩家时间的概念?想想你对某一电子游戏咆哮的时刻吧。这也许是你在游戏中挂掉了,并被迫重头开始;也许是你被迫一次又一次地观看冗长的过场动画。也许你已经同boss激战了一个小时,刚要对它发出最后一击时,它却一枪就结束了你,让你之前的一切努力归零并重新开始。

更进一步

我对挫折定义的另一个要点是游戏设计师理解和持续提升玩法的关键。当出现什么情况时,玩家都会怪罪游戏而不自责。

很显然,游戏故障就是一个最大的例子。如果玩家在游戏玩得正高兴时,却卡在一堵墙中,他就不会太开心了,他也确实没做错什么。这并不是故意的,究竟是哪些玩法层面令玩家在屏幕面前咆哮呢?

摄像镜头是3D游戏中的一个普遍问题。它时有发生——摄像镜头突然旋转,导致你在一次跳跃中失手,或者出现一堵墙挡住了角色的视线,或者发现有敌人在攻击自己,而你却无从知晓攻击来源。玩家会觉得自己失去了控制,而令玩家产生失控感恰恰是最不该发生的事情。

在RPG中更难发现这类问题,但这并不意味着其受挫感就更少。这里就有个经常发生的例子。想象一下经典的推积木谜题游戏,玩家的一块积木有时候会卡在角落里。他别无选择,只能离开房间,重置谜题,一切重新开始。你在设计地图时就要考虑到积木可能会卡在角落的问题,或者允许玩家将积木抽出来。要避免那些会让玩家被困的玩法。

这里还有一例,它起源于随机遭遇战的理念。例如玩家在一个困难的地下城中一路斩杀,他的团队成员HP值都相当之低。但游戏胜利在望,所以他义无反顾一路向前。但突然屏幕闪光了,而他恰好正在战斗中。他想碰碰运气,选择逃跑但却失败了。怪物杀死了玩家。这种情况可以通过一些简单的玩法调整来避免。也许怪物并没有在玩家准备逃跑的同时发出攻击。当然,这会让游戏更简单,但却可以避免令玩家受挫的情况。或者你可以一起抛入随机遭遇战。

即使没有随机遭遇战,你的玩家也会责怪游戏令其无故死亡。当制作显而易见的敌人遭遇战时,要认真考虑敌人刷出的地点以及他们的移动方式。要允许玩家躲开敌人(多数情况下),不要在玩家恐慌的时候出现杂乱无章的画面。要将你的遭遇战融入关卡设计中,而不只是随处安插这些情况。

要认真观察玩家挂掉区域中的玩法,要知道这并不是玩家的错。要努力找到给予玩家掌控自己命运的方法。

挑战

现在我们知道挫折感的来源了,它创造了糟糕的难度。而令游戏以好方法创造难度的因素又是什么呢?挑战。

挑战是对玩家技能的检验。任何失败都会让人觉得这是玩家的错。

我已经说过检验玩家技能的情况。这正是玩家希望游戏变得更困难的地方。他们并不想连续数个小时地刷同样的任务,他们希望获得通过新途径使用新技能的机会。想想你的RPG机制。RPG多数情况下是涉及思考的游戏。要鼓励玩家思考,使用战略,并最大化地利用游戏机制。不要一开始就向玩家抛出一切。要随着游戏发展,为玩家呈现那些可用现成工具解决的新问题。这在战斗,在地图谜题中的概念是一样的。随着游戏继续发展,将问题混合在一起,并引进新挑战。当然,要让敌人更难对付,让谜题更复杂,但要记住一定要以挑战促使玩家思考。

当敌人获得更高的HP时,RPG并不会更困难。它有可能更难,但其难度却减少了。如果玩家所要做的一切就只是刷任务,那么他很快就会生厌。要挑战玩家的头脑。

我这个定义的第二部分与指责有关。当玩家在优秀的挑战中陷入困境时,他只能怪自己。

grand master galaxy11(from finalbossblues)

grand master galaxy11(from finalbossblues)

(《超级马里奥银河2》的最后一个关卡很困难,但极具回报性——你每次挂,都会觉得自己犯错了,并在下一次尝试中吸取教训。)

我并不是说玩家应该对自己咆哮——而是说每次死亡对玩家来说都是一次学习经验。他应该能够指出自己所犯的错误,以便下一次再改进。如果玩家死了,就应该给他一次改变挑战策略的机会。也许他是从错误的角度对付boss,死亡教会他尝试另一种方法。总之,死亡应该给予玩家经验。

这是一个要点:优秀的挑战应该能够被玩家顺时而变的能力所克服。优秀的挑战要鼓励玩家发挥自己的最大能力。优秀的挑战要让玩家产生继续游戏的念头。

而挫折只会让他想放弃。(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

Difficulty: Challenge vs Frustration

04/10/2013 Despain Game Design 7 comments

Today’s topic is one that is important for all sorts of game design: difficulty. There’s lots of ways to make your game difficult, but unfortunately most of those ways are shortcuts that don’t lead to appealing gameplay.

Lots of game developers will feel the need to make their game more difficult, so they add all sorts of “features” that only end up making the game more frustrating. “But the player is dying more often,” they say, “it’s a challenge.” Well, kind sir—is it really a challenge? Or is your gameplay just hard for no real reason?

Today we’re going to look at the difference between challenge and frustration, and how to add to your game’s difficulty curve while avoiding making your players feel bad about it.

Difficulty Curve

People overlook the importance of a difficulty curve. Sure, most people understand the basic idea: the game starts easy, and it gets harder as it goes. Unfortunately, there’s more to the idea than that. It’s not just about how hard the game gets, but in which ways it becomes more challenging to the player.

I could easily write an entire article about difficulty curves and training the player (and maybe I will!), but for now, I want to cover some important ideas about how to establish a difficulty curve that makes sense for your game, and won’t annoy your players.

I’ve seen a lot of games that start out smoothly and easily, but then you get past that “beginning”—and wham!, the game becomes incredibly difficult as soon as your turn that corner or enter a new area. What happened to the idea of curve? Keep it natural and gradual, and do so by putting the player in situations where his ability is tested.

That’s the most important thing to keep in mind when trying to create a difficulty curve for your game: a game’s challenge lies in the way it tests the player’s skill at that game. Simply making enemies have tremendous amounts of HP usually isn’t the best way to do that. The player should feel like he is overcoming obstacles, that he is getting better at the game the further into it he goes. A good difficulty balance is one that tests the player’s ability, not his patience.

As the game progresses, it’s easier to feel the need to artificially ramp up the difficulty, by doing things like giving enemies ridiculous amounts of HP, or giving them moves that kill player characters in a single hit. Sometimes these things make sense—but if you don’t have a reason for them other than to make things “hard”, then think about other ways to add to the challenge.

Build on the gameplay that has come before, and throw new situations at the player. Give him a reason to use the skills that he has developed in new ways.

There’s a reason that most players prefer RPGs that encourage strategy in battles over level grinding, and that reason is because they like a good challenge, not frustration.

Frustration

So what exactly is frustration? What causes it? What makes a player want to turn off the game and never play it again?

Frustration occurs when the player feels as if his time has been wasted, and that the game is at fault.

There are two important parts to that statement, so let’s break it down. The first part has to do with the value of a player’s time, which is an important concept to understand in modern gaming.

Thirty years ago—or twenty—or hell, ten—players valued their time differently. Games back then were a lot harder (and a lot more frustrating) than they are today. This isn’t to say that players’ time was less valuable. Accessibility to videogames was different, and gamers didn’t have the luxury of thousands of games available to them at a moment’s notice. In today’s world, if someone doesn’t like your game—maybe because they feel that it’s not worth their time—they can just delete it and find another one within moments. Twenty years ago, if a game frustrated a player, they didn’t really have that option, so they kept pushing through until the game was beaten.

Gaming culture has changed, and game design changes to accommodate the lifestyles of games. You can’t get away with wasting your player’s time.

So what is a waste of the player’s time? Think about the times that you have gotten mad at a videogame. Maybe you died and were forced to replay a huge area—maybe you were forced to sit through that long cutscene again and again. Maybe you were just about to land the final blow on a boss that you’ve been fighting for an hour, and he hits you with a cheap shot, leaving you to do it all over again. Or maybe you find yourself in a random battle every other goddamn step you take.

ONE MORE STEP

No Zubat… no Zubat… please no Zubat…

The second part of my definition of frustration is key for a game designer to understand and constantly work into his gameplay. When something goes wrong, the player blames the game, not himself.

Obviously, the biggest example of this is a glitch. If the player’s going along, having a good time, and gets stuck in a wall, he isn’t very happy, and he did nothing wrong. Those aren’t intentional, though. What about aspects of gameplay that leave the player howling at their monitor?

Camera problems are a common cause of this in 3D games. It happens all the time—you miss a jump when the camera suddenly rotates, or a wall is blocking your view of your character, or enemies are attacking you and you don’t know where they are coming from. The player feels like he has no control, and the last thing you want your player to feel is that he isn’t in control.

In RPGs, these kinds of problems are harder to pinpoint, but no less frustrating. Here’s an example that seems to come up a lot. Picture the classic block pushing puzzle, and the player somehow gets a block stuck in a corner. Uh-oh. He has no choice but to leave the room, reset the puzzle, and start all over again. “B-b-but the player shouldn’t have done that”, you say. I counter with “he shouldn’t have been able to.” Design your maps in such a way where blocks can’t get stuck in corners, or (preferably) allow the player to pull them as well as push them. Avoid situations where your gameplay allows your player to get trapped.

Here’s another example, going back to the idea of random encounters. Say that your player has fought his way through a tough dungeon, and his party are all sitting at a dangerously low HP. The end is in sight, so he goes for it. But nope! The screen flashes, and he’s in a battle. He tries his luck, chooses to flee, and fails. The monsters kill the player. These kinds of things can be avoided with some simple gameplay tweaks. For one, maybe monsters don’t attack on the same turn when a player tries to flee. Sure, it makes the game easier, but it prevents situations that cause frustration. Or maybe you could just drop random encounters altogether.

Even without random encounters, your player can find himself blaming the game for out-of-nowhere deaths. When working with visible enemy encounters, think hard about where the enemies spawn and how they move. You want to allow the player to dodge them (most of the time), and you don’t want to clutter the screen to the point where he panics. Incorporate your encounters into your level design, rather than just plopping them here and there.

Scour your gameplay for areas where the player dies and it isn’t his fault. Push yourself to find ways to give the player control of his fate.

Challenge

So we know what causes frustration. That makes for bad difficulty. What makes a game difficult in a good way? Challenge.

Challenge is a test of the player’s skill. Any failure feels like the player’s own fault.

I’ve talked about testing a player’s skill. That’s what a player wants as a game gets more difficult. They don’t want to grind their way through hours and hours of the same things. They want to be put into situations where they can use the skills that they have been developing, and often in new ways. Think about the mechanics of your RPG. RPGs are thinking games, for the most part.

Encourage your player to think, to use strategy. To make the most out of the mechanics in front of him. Don’t throw everything that you have at the player from the beginning. As the game goes on, present the player with a new type of problem that can be solved with the same tools that he’s been using. In a battle, in a map puzzle, the idea is the same. And as the game continues to go on, mix the problems together, and introduce more. Sure, make the enemies harder, make the puzzles more complicated, but remember to challenge the player to think.

An RPG doesn’t get more difficult when the enemies have higher HP. It might be harder, but the difficulty dwindles. If all the player has to do is grind and then he can just bash his way through the battles, then he’ll get bored quickly. Challenge the player’s mind.

The second part of my definition is, again, about blame. When the player messes up, in a good challenge, he has nobody to blame but himself.

The final level in Super Mario Galaxy 2 was hard, but rewarding—every time you died, you felt that you made a mistake and you learned something for your next try.

Now, I’m not saying that the player should be getting mad at himself—that’s easily frustrating. But instead, every death should be a learning experience for the player. He should be able to pinpoint the mistakes he made so he can improve on the next time. If a player dies, it should give him the chance to change his approach to the challenge. Maybe he’s tackling a boss from the wrong angle, and his death teaches him to try another strategy. Deaths should lead to learning.

That’s the important point: a good challenge can be overcome by the player’s ability to adapt to the situation. A good challenge encourages the player to do his best. A good challenge makes the player want to keep playing the game.

And frustration just makes him want to give up.(source:finalbossblues


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