确保你的游戏足够公平。确保它是有趣的。这是任何游戏都必须具备的最基本且重要的元素。有些人喜欢提升平衡感去吸引特别的关注，但这却是一种谬论。玩家期待你的游戏能够保持平衡。但带有良好的平衡性有时候也不是一种特别的功能。

但做到平衡却很困难。开发者很难去适应所有玩家的喜好。他们没有足够的时间去摸清楚玩家想要并期待看到的内容。对于资深RPG玩家来说刚刚好的标准对于新手玩家来说可能会太难。当他们受挫时可能会认为游戏是公平的。

其实存在许多方法能够帮助你将游戏机制转变成自己的优势，即不只是完善你的战斗平衡，同时去完善你的设置和角色！所以，你该如何去完善游戏机制呢？你该如何使用它们去创造出有趣的游戏？

了解你的用户

似乎你能够获得多少用户主要取决于你是面向哪些用户创造游戏。你是否只希望那些硬核RPG精英玩家去玩自己的游戏？还是创造出任何玩家都可以轻松进行尝试的休闲游戏？或者介于这两个极端之间？

这是很重要的一点。你必须了解游戏的“市场营销”对象。也许你的游戏带有一些深层次且复杂的计算等式，即你需要玩家必须通过学习并一步步解答出来。这样可能只有少部分玩家能够做到这点，而大多数玩家则永远只能盯着最基础的关卡并不可能去计算战斗算式。他们将从技能菜单中选择“Super Demon Death Ray”并期待着战场上的所有敌人都会死掉。

致力于创造具有挑战性的游戏是合理的。存在着这样的用户。但是你必须让潜在玩家知道他们所面对的是什么。知道为什么它具有挑战性很重要。请注意，设置带有90万生命值的boss并不是就等于挑战。

另一方面，有些玩家并未致力于寻找挑战。他们只想要毁灭攻击并不受任何肤浅的机制，如“按压空格键，不定期地治愈”，而完成所有战斗。

但这里存在的问题很明显。迎合其中一部分用户就意味着要冷落其它用户。解决方法并不只是将你自己和游戏放在中立位置上，确保不会太简单也不会太难，迎合所有人的欢心。要知道，只有平庸的作品才会选择中立。

是否存在什么方法能够取悦两边的人？

难度选择能够帮我们做到这点。难度选择在游戏中越来越常见了，即作为玩家针对自己的技能水平定制游戏挑战的一种方法。另外一种方法便是为那些追求挑战的玩家添加额外的调整选择内容。但这些都不是为所有人创造游戏乐趣的替代品。

比起专注于难度，你应该尝试创造出吸引人的机制。确保玩家想要进行尝试。你可以创造出一款既能让RPG精英玩家享受乐趣，同时也让所有玩家都可以轻松使用的一款游戏。

一致性

关于规则你可以做到的最重要一点是，确保它们是“公平的”。但是一个人认为是公平的情况可能会与其他人不同。但在很多情况下，这两方的看法可能都是错的，因为他们并不知道公平的规则集到底是怎样的。

存在一种概括即关于公平意味着“平衡两边，”虽然这没错，这是竞争赛中常出现的格言，但我们这里所创造的游戏并不是关于两个或多个玩家的竞赛。这里只有一个玩家，并且这是关于他与游戏间的竞赛。所以我们必须确保游戏是对于玩家足够公平，而不是对于计算机保持公平。相对于玩家来说，计算机在数字，策略以及能力上已经具有自己的优势了。所以你必须确保玩家有机会能够反击。

做到这点最重要的方法便是一致地使用规则。特别的输入应该能在基本上相同的环境下创造出同样的结果。人类大脑是其实就是追随模式的实体，并且会寻找适当的模式去使用规则。如果蓝色的敌人的软肋是火的话，那么让蓝色敌人去对抗火则是在欺骗玩家，不管你是否意识到这点。如果一个特定的能力总会创造出一个特定的效果，那么这一效果便是可信赖的。忘掉《最终幻想》所告诉你的关于boss对所有状态效果都有免疫力的说法吧。如果你的玩家将使用状态效果作为自己任务的一部分，那么创造一个对这样的效果具有免疫力的敌人也就是在剥夺玩家的工具，这一点都不公平。

可识别的

在早期的RPG中，密切关系和弱势变得受欢迎的主要原因是，它们都很容易被识别，并且玩家可以记得他们并在整个游戏中使用这些战术。玩家不需要记住全部新理念或宇宙论去理解这些效果的作用。水能灭火，所以水是对抗基于火的敌人的最有效方法。这么简单。玩家可以以此去了解敌人的优势。

有人指责这个太过简单的弱势系统过于老旧，还停留在游戏只能“在元素y上使用元素x”的时代。这可能并没有错。如今的游戏更加复杂，并能够超越这样的一维策略。但这么做可能会让人疑惑。

如果你的游戏世界带有四个元素，分别是火，冰，风和土，玩家便可以无需依靠任何信息而推断出这些元素间的潜在关系。它们之间有着与生俱来的关系，而一些悍然违背这些关系的行为（游戏邦注：如基于火的敌人去反抗水）将违背这种直觉性。这时候的玩家并不需要游戏去帮助自己进行理解。

如果你的游戏带有Spirit, Arcane, Mighty和Couscous等元素，你便会让玩家感到困惑。如果未彻底学习游戏宇宙的抽象规则，他们便不知道这些元素间是如何互动的。一个NPC将告诉他们Mighty比Couscous强大，但玩家也许并不能轻松地记住这些规则。

你可能需要写下有关游戏宇宙内容的完整说明，这是合理的，但是你不应该强求玩家在学习所有的这些说明后才能开始玩游戏。你应该让玩家可以使用现实逻辑去意识或推断出能够用于战斗的策略，即避免太过专制或神秘。

随机因素

很多人认为随机因素是公平性的最终仲裁者。即你是否成功是完全取决于随机性，而不受外界影响。这里的问题就在于，你的玩家可能希望能够把握自己的命运，而不愿受到随机元素的制裁。玩家希望是否自己的行动以及选择的结果去决定最终的胜利。

很长一段时间以来，随机因素都是许多游戏中很常见的元素。再一次地，早前的游戏缺少足够的方法让玩家与游戏世界进行互动，滚动一个内部骰子也是决定结果的少数方法之一。但游戏已经发生了进化，任何完全依赖于随机元素去影响输入内容的游戏只会让玩家受挫。

游戏正逐渐脱离这种模式。甚至是将掷骰子当成是主要机制的现代纸和笔角色扮演游戏也在寻找方法去减少随机因素对于玩家的影响。计算机角色扮演游戏正在彻底摆脱这一元素。让玩家完全控制自己的命运更能让他们兴奋。而剥夺这一控制权只会让他们受挫并感到不公平。

假设你有一个能够投掷出死亡咒语的角色，而其命中率是20%。那么这便是一个无用的咒语。因为有80%的情况该咒语是无效的，并且大多数玩家并不会使用它。所以你做出了妥协。将其改成50%的命中率。但大多数玩家仍因为击中前景不是很可观，或者他们可以使用火球等其它工具击中敌人而不愿去使用它。而一个玩家不会使用的咒语的存在就是一种浪费。

为什么不让死亡咒语具有100%的命中率呢？你会喊道：“因为这就太过强大了！”那就让它强大呀。让玩家通过消费一些不愿轻易拿出的咒语点数去实现它。并设置一定的恢复时间，从而避免玩家反复使用。比起提供一些不实用的能量规则，还存在许多方法能够限制玩家使用更强大的能力。如果玩家拥有一个杀人咒语但却从未使用过它，那就说明该咒语的执行存在问题。

我们很难摆脱这种减少随机因素的心态，因为这已根植于我们对于RPG的认识中20多年了。不管是致命一击还是逃脱，都会受到随机因素的影响。这种侥幸是你能够直接影响游戏技能的少数元素之一。你该如何在这些情况下使用随机因素呢？

以下是一些小窍门：当有些数字阻止了自己的道路时玩家很少会感到抱怨。在这种情况下合理的妥协方法便是确保随机因素不会伤害到玩家，并且只会帮到他们。如果你的玩家随机对敌人造成致命一击，那就算对他们有利的结果。如果打斗非常激烈并且每一次出击都命中要害，玩家便会非常激动。如果玩家面对的是OHKO这样的敌人并且处于同样的打斗中，最终结果便会极具破坏性。

限制帮助玩家敌人摆脱困难的随机元素。当随机因素将伤害玩家时，你应该尝试着清除它。但当它将帮助玩家摆脱困境时，你就可以保留它。

机制是你的世界的一部分

任何阅读过我其它文章的人应该都知道，我认为故事与“游戏玩法”一样重要。但这两个元素通常都是相互维系的实体。有时候它们还会是同样的内容。这也是游戏区别于一些互动性较弱的媒体的主要原因。游戏事件是单独发生在你面前，你如何对此做出反应也影响着游戏的进行。

所以你的游戏机制是如何整合到游戏世界中呢？除非你的游戏带有许多分支对话选择，否则你便会认为“这是不可能的。”你或许是对的。许多游戏将自己的游戏机制当成是对情节没有多大影响的抽象元素。但它却并不一定是这样。

Final Fantasy(from windows-8-theme)

存在许多方法能够让你的游戏抽象元素去影响情节的发展。就像《最终幻想》系列中便有许多有效的例子。在《最终幻想VI》中，魔石便是你能够学到新魔法的一种游戏机制，但它同时也是一种情节元素。许多游戏与Empire一起使用魔石魔法去破坏他们的敌人。《最终幻想VII》也以相同的方式引入了Materia。你可以使用它去学习咒语。它也会作为一个情节点而结束，并且2/3的游戏是在追求各种类型且能够拯救或摧毁世界的Materia。在《最终幻想IV》和《最终幻想IX》中，召唤师以及他们召唤出的生物都属于情节点。

统计，咒语和工具并不一定是你的角色为了变强而使用的抽象元素。它们能够成为塑造游戏叙述并完善游戏世界的一大组成部分。它们同样也能够加深玩家对于环境的理解。如果我们的主角只是使用一种道具并且只有一次机会向龙发起射击，那么通过收集Kickassium Crystals去阻止邪恶的大臣便会更有压力。

想想你的游戏抽象元素可以基于哪些方式去影响你的角色设置以及所面临的情况。不要将其当成是游戏机制，如此你的玩家也不会这么做。

（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）

MAKING MECHANICS WORK FOR YOU

Balance. Making sure your game is fair. Making sure it is enjoyable and fun. It’s one of the most fundamental and most important elements any game can have. Some people like to elevate balance as some kind of Holy Grail worthy of special attention, but this is a fallacy. Players expect your game to be balanced. Having good balance isn’t (and shouldn’t be) a special feature.

But balance can be hard. It can be difficult for developers to put themselves in the players’ shoes. They can have a hard time knowing what the player wants and expects. Veteran RPG players making an RPG might set the bar too high for a new player to grasp. They may think a game is fair when it is actually just frustrating.

There are, however, many ways you can turn game mechanics to your advantage, not just to improve your combat balance, but to improve your setting and characters as well! So, how can you improve your game mechanics? How can you use them to make your game enjoyable?

Knowing your audience

It may seem like where you go with your numbers largely depends on who you are making this game for. Is this game you are making meant to be played only by the elite hardcore RPG gamers of the ages? Is it meant to be a casual game that nearly anyone can blunder their way through without incident? Or something in between these two extremes?

This is an important point. You must know who your game is being “marketed” towards. Maybe your game is filled with deep, complex mathematical damage equations that you want your players to have to learn and pick apart. There’s definitely a small subset of players who would be into that, but most players are never going to look at their stat screen beyond a very superficial level and they’re never going to give a moment’s thought to the combat algorithms. They’re going to pick “Super Demon Death Ray” from the skill menu and expect everything on the battlefield to die.

Aiming for making a challenging game is fine. There is an audience for that. But it’s important that your potential players know what they’re in for. It’s important to know why it’s challenging. Please note that making a boss with 900,000 hp and maxed stats does not automatically equate to challenge.

On the other side of the coin, some players aren’t looking for challenge at all. They want to mash attack and just get through all the fights without rising above the superficial level of “push space bar, heal occasionally.”

But the problem here is obvious. Catering to only one of these crowds is going to be very off-putting to the other. The solution isn’t just to drag yourself and your game into the middle, not too easy, not too hard, to try to please everyone. The middle is where mediocrity flourishes.

Is there a way to please both sides?

There are ways to do this with difficulty. Difficulty options are becoming increasingly common in games as a way for players to tailor the game’s challenges to their particular level of skill. Another way is to include ultra challenging optional content for players seeking a good challenge. But these aren’t substitutes for making your game fun to play for everyone.

Instead of focusing on difficulty, you should try to make your mechanics engaging. Make the player want to experiment (and let them!). With a little work, you can make a game that lets the elite RPG maker number crunchers enjoy themselves while also making a game that can be accessible to everyone else.

Consistency

The most important thing you can do with your rules is to make sure that they are “fair.” But what one person considers fair might vary wildly from what another person thinks is fair. But in a lot of cases both of them are wrong anyway because they don’t have any idea what it actually means for a ruleset to be fair.

There’s a generalization that fair only has to mean “equal to both sides,” and that isn’t wrong, necessarily, but that is a maxim used mostly in competitive contests, and most of the games made here are not two or more players competing. There is only one player, and it is her against the game. It’s more important to make sure the game is fair to your player, as opposed to making it fair to the computer. The computer already usually has the advantage in numbers, strategy, and abilities over the player. It’s important to make sure your player has a chance to fight back.

The most important way to do this is to apply rules consistently. A specific input should always produce the same result in roughly the same circumstances. Human brains are pattern-seeking entities and will look for patterns to apply rules to. If blue enemies are often weak to fire, making a blue enemy that resists fire is tricking your player whether you realize it or not. If a specific ability always produces a certain effect, that effect should be reliable. Forget everything Final Fantasy taught you about bosses being immune to all status effects. If your player has access to status effects as part of her repertoire, making an enemy immune to them all is taking away one of your player’s tools and that’s not fair.

Identifiably

The reason elemental affinities and weaknesses became popular among early RPGs is because they were easily identifiable and the player could remember and apply these tactics throughout a game. They player didn’t have to memorize entirely new concepts or cosmology to understand how these effects worked. Water puts out fire, so water is effective against fire-based enemies. Simple. The player learns something about how enemies work that gives them an advantage.

Some decry this extremely simplistic elemental weakness system as archaic, overly-simplistic, a holdover from the days of yore when games weren’t sophisticated enough to go beyond “use element x on enemy y.” And this is probably true. Games are far more sophisticated now and can go far beyond such one-dimensional strategies. But doing so might be confusing.

If your game world has four elements of Fire, Ice, Wind, and Earth, the player can probably deduce any number of potential interrelationships between those elements without having to be told anything. There are things that will innately make sense to them, and things that fly in the face of that (fire enemies resisting water) will strike them as strange and counterintuitive. They don’t need the game’s help to work this out.

If your game has the elements Spirit, Arcane, Mighty, and Couscous, you’ve just confused your player. They have no idea how those elements interact with each other without learning the possibly completely arbitrary rules of your game’s universe. An NPC might tell them that Mighty is strong vs Couscous, but the player might not be able to remember that easily.

You might have written up a whole mythology regarding the lore of your universe, and that’s all fine, but your player shouldn’t have to learn everything about that lore to be able to play your game. The strategies your player can apply to combat should be realistic and deducible using real-world logic, and should never be completely arbitrary and arcane.

Random Chance

Many people think random chance is the ultimate arbiter of fairness. Whether you succeed or not is determined completely at random with no outside influence. The problem is, your player probably doesn’t want their fate to be taken completely out of their hands and left up to some arbitrary dice roll. The player wants their success to be determined by their own actions and the consequences of their choices.

Random chance has been a common element in many games for a long time. Once again, older games had limited ways of allowing the player to interact with the game world, and rolling an internal die was one of the few ways to arbitrate outcomes. But games have evolved past that and any game relying predominantly on completely random factors affecting their input into the game is likely to just be frustrating.

Games are increasingly moving away from this model. Even modern pen-and-paper Roleplaying games where dice rolls are the main mechanic are looking at ways to reduce the influence of random chance on their players. Computer roleplaying games are moving away from it almost entirely. Putting the player entirely in control of their own destiny is empowering and exciting. Taking it out of their hands is frustrating and unfair.

Suppose you have a character who has an ability that can cast a Death spell that works 20% of the time. This is a useless spell. There is an 80% chance the spell will be wasted and most players will still not use it. So you compromise. You make it a 50% chance. Most players still will not use it because the prospect of wasting a turn is pretty unappealing and they’d probably be better off hitting it with a fireball or something. Spells that a player won’t use are essentially a waste.

Why not just make the Death spell work 100% the time? “Because that would be too powerful!” you cry! Well, make it a powerful spell then. Make it cost a prohibitive number of spell points so that the player will be reluctant to use it except in situations where they really need it. Give it a multiple turn cooldown so that the player cannot just cast it over and over. There are many ways to limit a player’s more powerful abilities than to simply rule that their powers don’t work. If the player has an instant kill spell in their repertoire that they’re never using, there’s probably a problem with how it is implemented.

It can be hard to get away from this mindset of reducing random chance because it is so ingrained in everything we know or understand about RPGs from the last twenty years. Almost everything from critical hits to evasion is influenced by random chance. Chance is one of the few factors you can directly influence about a skill in some versions of RPG maker. How can you help but use random chance in some of these cases?

Here’s a little tip: players rarely complain when the numbers fall their way. A reasonable compromise in this case is to make sure that random chance never hurts your player, it can only help them. If your player randomly scores a critical hit on an enemy, good for them! It can be kind of exciting if the fight is intense and every point of damage counts. If your player gets OHKO’d be an enemy getting a critical in the same fight, it’s likely to be devastating.

Limit how much random chance helps out the player’s enemies. The game doesn’t care if the numbers never fall in its favor. When random chance can hurt your player, try to eliminate it. But when it can help your player out, sometimes it can make their day.

Mechanics as part of your world

Anyone who has read a single sentence in any of my other articles knows that I am someone who values story as much as the vaunted “gameplay.” But these two things aren’t always separate entities. Sometimes they’re the exact same thing. This is how games differ from less interactive media. The events of the game are happening to you personally, and how you react to them influences how the game proceeds.

So how do your game mechanics tie into the game world? Unless your game has lots of branching dialogue options, you might be thinking “it doesn’t.” And you’re probably right. Many games treat their game mechanics as an abstraction that has no bearing on the plot. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

There are many ways that your game abstractions can influence the plot. There are a variety of examples in the Final Fantasy series. In Final Fantasy VI, espers are the game mechanic by which your party learns new magic, but it is also a plot element. Much of the game is spent with the Empire seeking to use espers magicite to destroy their enemies. Final Fantasy VII introduced Materia in much the same way. You use it to learn spells. But it too ends up being a plot point and about two thirds of the game are spent pursuing various types of Materia that could save the world or destroy it. In Final Fantasy IV and IX, summoners and the creatures they summon are plot points.

Stats, spells, and gear aren’t necessarily abstractions that your party just uses to get stronger. They might be able to play a part in shaping the game’s narrative and flavoring your world. It can add to your player’s understanding if they know what is at stake. It makes it seem more pressing that we stop the evil chancellor from collecting Kickassium Crystals if our main character just used one to one-shot a dragon.

Think about ways your game abstractions can influences the setting and the circumstances of your characters. Don’t treat them like game mechanics, and your player won’t either.(source:rpgmaker)