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开发者是如何回应Fire Phone的动态角度技术

发布时间:2014-06-30 11:27:11 Tags:,,,,

作者:Jeffrey Grubb

亚马逊Fire Phone拥有名为动态角度的3D效果。它会追踪你的头部并调整屏幕上的图像让你觉得自己好像在透过窗户看东西一样。这是一种有趣的技术,但现在我们想看看开发者们对于这一技术的看法。

让我们假设头部追踪和动态角度3D效果具有100%的功效。现在只取决于开发者是否愿意利用它。这是容易执行的吗?执行起来是否昂贵?亚马逊将尝试着回答这些问题。

本周该公司公开了一个视频,在视频中有一些游戏开发者谈论了他们如何轻松地将自己的游戏运行于Fire Phone上—-他们还谈到了动态角度的有效性。

那些开始着手于针对Fire Phone的动态角度的软件开发工具的工作室表示,这是很容易执行的平台—-至少在亚马逊的推广视频中。其他开发者也自信地认为他们将能够轻松地在游戏中呈现3D般的效果,即使他们还持有一些保留意见。

Zen Studios的发行副总监Mel Kirk告诉GamesBeat:“我们没机会去完整地评估该设备,这个时候我们很难说该技术到底有没有用。然而根据我们在3D技术领域的经验,我们找不到理由去反驳它的实用性。”

Zen Studios面向多个平台创造了《Zem Pinball》和《Pinball FX》游戏系列。该团队以前也在任天堂的3DS掌上游戏机上发行了一些软件,即使用不同的技术为玩家创造3D深度之感。3DS使用了一系列窗口去引导两张图像(游戏邦注:一张是针对左眼,一张是针对右眼)到达显示前方的一个有效点。尽管这是完全不同的解决方法,但是Kirk和Zen Studios都做好了在Fire Phoone执行动态角度的准备了。

尽管该工作室可能不想快速将动态角度带进自己现有游戏的移植中,但是R.W. Baird的分析家Colin Sebastian想知道该工作是是否真的愿意为了该技术的独特作用进行开发。

Sebastian说道:“我认为这对于开发者来说是一个难分先后的问题。工作室需要将资源集中于更大规模的机遇中,从当前来看这些机遇便是iOS和Android的Google Play版本。”

Star Wars Pinball(from yingyong)

Star Wars Pinball(from yingyong)

如今,iOS和其它版本的Android并不支持头部追踪3D技术。这意味着HotGen,Zen Studios和其它开发商将花更多钱为一小部分的潜在用户而瞄准一个功能。

为了应对这一问题,Sebastian认为亚马逊需要与开发者进行交流。游戏制造者需要了解多少人在Fire Phone上下载并使用应用。分析家也同意认为亚马逊应该帮助开发者明确扩大免费游戏利益的最佳途径。

Sebastian说道:“我认为全息图效果存在许多潜能。但更重要的还是Fire Phone和平台最终能够生成多大的规模。”

Zen Studios将动态角度作为一种机遇。

Kirk说道:“我们真的很感谢亚马逊能够努力创造出这么一个基础性功能,它能够提供给像Zen这样的开发商更棒的机会去凸显自己的游戏体验。”

亚马逊的Appstore已经拥有好几千款游戏,但是大多数游戏都不适用于动态角度。较早的游戏(特别是那些表现不错的游戏)可能利用了早期采用者想要呈现其设备独特能力的想法。

除了执行动态角度的实用性外,还有一个障碍便是这是否只是一个噱头。在亚马逊的视频中,来自Hotgen(《To-Fu Fury》的开发商)的Darren Andersen明确说道:“这并不是一个噱头。”但在当前我们却很难对此进行明确的判断。

一些开发者已经决定不去执行全息图效果,尽管他们能够轻松地做到这点。

开发者Asher Vollmer说道:“我们只花了一天的时间便进入了亚马逊所提供的头部追踪API。”Vollmer致力于一款面向iOS,Android和其它平台的手机益智游戏《Threes》。尽管它能够运行头部追踪功能,但是他并未计划在最终面向Fire Phone发行的游戏中使用它。

Vollmer说道:“似乎你可以使用它做一些很酷的事。但这并不适合《Threes》。”

这是有道理的。《Threes》主要是2维的,根据头部倾斜的话可能会让玩家在行动中分散注意力。

所以并不是每一款应用发行都会使用动态角度。为了让它不只是作为其它游戏下载页面的一个项目符号,它必须对人们玩游戏以及与游戏的互动方式上创造一些实质性影响。即使不能适用于每一种体验,但是它也能够发挥自己的作用。

如果动态角度通过移动你的头部或倾斜手机而取代了3D世界中的触屏控制,更多人便能更轻松地理解3D游戏。我们不知道这种情况是否会发生,但有个开发者已经率先开始尝试了。,

那就是来自Hibernum Creations的游戏《Saber’s Edge》。它将在Fire Phone初次亮相,其工作室也表示会完全利用亚马逊设备的功能—-包括动态角度。

Hibernum Creations的制作人Louis-Rene Auclair说道:“我们正在最小化用户输入。你将能够在游戏中环顾四周并让东西移动起来。”

《Saber’s Edge》将让玩家控制一个方块。为了让方块启动,你只需要看着它并左右移动视线即可。是Fire Phone的前置摄像头和动态角度技术赋予了这一行动的可行性。

Auclair说道:“如果没有动态角度,我们便不能做到这点。那样的话我们便只能使用敲打屏幕等方法。”

这一技术到底有没有用呢?我们很快便能找到答案。如果它是有效的,它便能够比触屏控制更进一步地拓宽游戏易用性。

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 developers are responding to Amazon Fire Phone’s ‘Dynamic Perspective’ 3D

By Jeffrey Grubb

The Amazon Fire Phone is capable of a 3D-like effect called Dynamic Perspective. It tracks your head and adjusts the onscreen image to make it feel like you are looking through a window. It’s an interesting technology, but now we’re gonna find out if developers care.

Let’s assume that the head-tracking and the dynamic-perspective 3D effect work 100 percent of the time. Now, it’s up to developers to take advantage of it. Whether or not they will depend on a few things. Is it easy and inexpensive to implement? Well, Amazon is already trying to answer that.

The company released a video this week that has a number of game developers talking about how easy it is to get their games running on the Fire Phone — and that includes talk of getting the Dynamic Perspective stuff working well.

The studios that already have their hands on software-development kit for Fire Phone’s Dynamic Perspective are saying that it is easy to implement — at least in the Amazon promotional video. Other developers are also confident that they won’t have an issue getting the 3D-like effect to work with their games even if they still have reservations.

“As we haven’t had the chance to fully evaluate the device, it’s hard to say how practical the technology is at this point,” Zen Studios vice president of publishing Mel Kirk told GamesBeat. “However, with our extensive experience in 3D tech, we see no reason why it would not be practical.”

Zen Studios makes the Zen Pinball and Pinball FX series of games for a number of platforms, including mobile. The team has previously released some of its software on Nintendo’s 3DS handheld game console, which uses a different kind of technology to create a sense of three-dimensional depth for players. The 3DS uses a series of shutters to guide two images — one for the left eye and one for the right — to a sweet spot a few inches in front of the display. Despite this very different solution, Kirk and Zen Studios feel plenty prepared to implement Dynamic Perspective on the Fire Phone.

While studios may not struggle to quickly implement Dynamic Perspective into their ports of existing games, R.W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian wonders if studios will really spend money on developing for the unique uses of the technology.

“I think it’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg issue for developers,” said Sebastian. “Studios need to focus resources on the larger scale opportunities, which currently are iOS and the Google Play version of Android.”

Right now, iOS and other versions of Android don’t support this head-tracking 3D. This means that HotGen, Zen Studios, and other developers would spend money to target a feature for a fraction of a fraction of the potential audience.

To combat that, Sebastian says that Amazon needs to communicate with developers. Game makers need to know how many people are downloading and playing with apps on Fire Phone. The analyst also feels that Amazon should help developers figure out the best ways to maximize their free-to-play revenue.

“I think there is a lot of potential with the hologram effect,” said Sebastian. “But more important will be how much scale the Fire phone and platform ultimately generates.”

Zen Studios sees the Dynamic Perspective as an opportunity.

“We really appreciate Amazon trying to make this a cornerstone feature, as it gives developers like Zen the best chance to succeed with creating experiences that differentiate themselves on the platform,” said Kirk.

The Amazon Appstore already has thousands of games. The vast majority won’t work with Dynamic Perspective. Games that get in on that early — especially those that do it well — may have an advantage with the early adopters who want something to show off the unique capabilities of their shiny device.

Beyond the practicality of implementing Dynamic Perspective, another hurdle is whether or not it’s a gimmick. One of the developers in Amazon’s video, To-Fu Fury developer Darren Andersen of Hotgen, explicitly states that “it’s really not gimmicky.” But that’s pretty tough to determine at this point.

Some developers are already deciding against implementing the hologram effect despite its easy implementation.

“It only took us a day to plug into the head-tracking API that Amazon provided for us,” developer Asher Vollmer told GamesBeat. Vollmer is responsible for the beloved brain-teasing mobile puzzler Threes for iOS, Android, and other platforms. While he got head-tracking working, he doesn’t plan to actually use it in the final release for Fire Phone.

“It seems like you could potentially do some cool stuff with it,” said Vollmer. “But it wasn’t a good fit for Threes.”

That makes sense. Threes is primarily two-dimensional, and head tilting may just distract from the action.

So, not every release will use Dynamic Perspective. In order for it to transcend simply acting as a bullet point on a download page for other games, it will have to make some material impact on the way people play and interact with games. It’s possible that it could do that even if it doesn’t “fit” with every experience.

If Dynamic Perspective replaces touch controls for looking around “inside” a 3D world by moving your head or tilting the phone, it could make understanding 3D games easier for more people. We don’t know if that’ll happen yet, but one developer is already giving that a shot.

The game is Saber’s Edge from Hibernum Creations. It will debut with the Fire Phone, and the studio says it is taking full advantage of the Amazon device’s capabilities — that includes Dynamic Perspective.

“We’re building it to minimize user input,” Hibernum Creations producer Louis-Rene Auclair told GamesBeat. “You’re going to be able to look around in the game and make things move.”

Saber’s Edge will have players controlling a cube. To make that cube move, you will just have to look at it and peek left and right. This is only possible because of the Fire Phone’s front-facing cameras and the Dynamic Perspective technology.

“Without Dynamic Perspective, we wouldn’t be able to do this,” said Auclair. “You’d actually have to swipe on the screen or something like that.”

Will it work? We’ll soon find out. If it does, it could open up the accessibility of games even further than touch controls already have.(source:venturebeat)

 


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