作者：Lewis Pulsipher

列表

专注于要点

专业设计是针对于别人而不是自己

专业游戏设计是关于纪律而不是自我放纵

游戏设计并不是精神控制的产物

并不存在完美的游戏

一开始你可能并不擅长于游戏设计

游戏并不只是机制

制作一款优秀的游戏需要花费许多时间

盗版行为无处不在（关于数字产品）

你是一名娱乐人或一名老师，而非世界的礼物

“快速失败”

1.专注于要点

我的座右铭是：“设计师只有在找不到其它可添加的内容时才会觉得自己达到完美，而不是在没有内容可删除时。”（游戏邦注：这是法国飞行家兼作家Antoine de Saint-Exupery所说的）

还有另外一种说法，即关于日本的园艺，“只有当你找不到任何可移除的东西时，你的花园才算完整。”

如果你正在创造一款益智游戏，那么复杂性可能会是你的目标；如果你正在创造“一个体验”，那么简单性可能会是你的目标。对于大多数游戏来说，目标只是保持你所需要的内容。

2.专业设计是针对于别人而不是自己

你的工作是迎合或启发其他人。

你并不是典型的代表。

你所喜欢的内容可能不是大多数人所喜欢的。

不要只是依赖于自己对于游戏价值的看法。

最近我发行了一款我认为不是很棒的游戏，只是一款不错的小游戏，但似乎其他人却不这么认为。

我拥有一款自己觉得很突出的游戏，但是却并未发行它。

3.专业游戏设计是关于纪律而不是自我放纵

许多设计师都属于自我放纵型，经常认为自己是伟大的“艺术家”，能够用自己的才华带给整个世界幸福—-所以他们只会做自己想做的事。

滔滔不绝！（如果你对销售游戏不感兴趣的话你可以这么做）

执行以玩家为中心而不是以设计师未中心（或以艺术为中心）的设计。

游戏设计是一种妥协。它永远都不会达到“完美”。

4.游戏设计并不是精神控制的产物

有些设计师想要控制玩家的行动和想法。

小说就是基于这种方式。

尽管大多数小说家是倾向于影响读者，而非控制。

线性电子游戏能够靠近这一理念。

但大多数游戏玩家都希望能够控制游戏结果。

最好能够将游戏设计当成是提供给玩家机遇的内容，而非迫使他们做任何事。

5.并不存在完美的游戏

存在许多类型的游戏。

游戏玩家与音乐爱好者一样带有不同的喜好。

在专业设计中并不存在完美主义。

你需要的是完成游戏。特别是在电子游戏中。

边际收益递减规律更适合专业设计师，而不是业余设计师。

在某种情况下，你必须完成一款并不完美的游戏。

6.一开始你可能并不擅长于游戏设计

你是否会在开始做些复杂的设计（要求进行深入思考）时发现自己马上就擅于做这件事？永远都不可能出现这种事。

大多数复杂的内容都是值得你去挑战的，并且只要你花大量时间便有可能将其做好。

甚至是玩游戏也是如此，当你花更多时间于其中，你便会逐渐精通游戏。

在你擅长于某事前，你需要经历各种失败/成功。

存在“1万个小时”的概念，尽管这并不是说你一定得花1万个小时去精通某事。

7.游戏并不只是机制

真正重要的是你留给玩家的印象。

MDA：机制，动态，美学

如果游戏只是一些机制的集合体便会让人觉得它缺少灵魂。

如果你是基于模型选择机制，它们将会彼此契合；而如果它们只是一些集合体，它们便不可能相互匹配。

8.制作一款优秀的游戏需要花费许多时间

游戏设计中发生的大多数情况都会出现在设计师和玩家的脑子里。

局外人总是会最小化难度，因为他们并不想看到难度。

此外，我们很容易完成80%的游戏，而剩下的20%是留给游戏设计时间和努力。

如果你所创造的是一款桌面游戏，那么时间安排和制造可能就需要花费好几个月。

Mayfair最近便发行了一款他们花了8年时间完成的一款游戏。

我拥有一款可能会在2015年发行的游戏，但是发行商的原计划是2005年。

9.盗版

数字游戏的盗版非常猖獗。

对此你只能睁一只眼闭一只眼。

免费游戏情况好一点，但是在免费游戏中的应用内部购买却也经常出现盗版行为。

幸运的是，桌面游戏还未被盗版所侵蚀。

10.你是一名娱乐人或一名老师，而非世界的礼物

也就是，如果你想要成为一名商业游戏设计师。

发行商总是想要赚钱（特别是在电子游戏中）。

是的，你可以选择独立发行。

但是比起看到“艺术”般的游戏，更多人希望游戏能够迎合他们。

“我们想要通过带给人们惊喜去迎合他们，所以我并不认为我们是心理学家—-我们只是娱乐人。”—-宫本茂

Reiner Knizia同样也说过自己的目的是娱乐。

11.快速失败

你想要找到你的游戏会失败的所有可能性，并努力消除这些失败因素。

所以如果你能够更快速地失败，你便能够更快速地消除它们。

或者重新开始！

尽快完成一个可游戏的游戏原型—-并不存在替代品。

如果你正在创造一款电子游戏，那么尝试着先创造一个纸上原型，以此进行试验。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转功，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

11 more “need to knows” about game design

by Lewis Pulsipher

This is a followup to “10 ‘need to knows’ about game design” http://gamasutra.com/blogs/LewisPulsipher/20141020/228137/Video_screencast_10_quotNeed_to_Knowsquot_about_Game_Design.php

The text of the slides follows. Of course, there’s a lot more to the screencast than this text.

11 MORE “need to knows” about Game Design

Dr. Lewis Pulsipher

Pulsiphergames.com

“Game Design” channel on YouTube

Original 10 Wasn’t Enough

I started with 10 “ntk”

But I thought of more than 10, so here some more. Keep in mind, the first 10, taken as a whole, are the most important
But these 11 are also important

The List

Focus on the essence

Professionals design for other people, not for themselves

Professional game design is about discipline, not self-indulgence

Game Design is not Mind Control

There is no perfect game

You probably won’t be good at game design, at first

Games are not just Mechanics

Making a good game takes a LOT of time

Piracy is everywhere (for “digital” goods)

You’re an Entertainer, or a teacher, not a gift to the world

“Fail Faster”

Focus on the Essence

My motto: “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

Another form, about Japanese gardening, is “Your garden is not complete until there is nothing else that you can remove.”

If you’re making a puzzle, complexity might be a goal; If you’re making “an experience”, simplicity may not be a goal. For most games, the goal is to keep only what you absolutely need

Professionals design for other people, not for themselves

Your job is to entertain or enlighten other people

You are not typical, or you wouldn’t be designing games!

So what you like, may not be typical of what large groups like

Don’t rely solely on your own opinions about the worth of a game

I recently had a game published that I didn’t think was a Big Deal, just a nice little game – but others had different opinions

And I have had games I thought were outstanding, but have not been published

Professional game design is about discipline, not self-indulgence

Many designers are self-indulgent, often thinking of themselves as “artists” who are blessing the world with their brilliance – so they do whatever they want

POPPYCOCK! (Though you can do this if you’re not interested in selling any games . . .)

Do player-centric, not designer-centric (or art-centric) design

Game design is compromise. It’s never “perfect”

Game Design is not Mind Control

Some designers want to, in effect, control all that the player is doing and thinking

And if you think about it, a novel can be approached in this way

Though most novelists want to influence, not control

Linear video games can approach this ideal

But most game players want to have the ability to control
the outcome of the game (and want “agency” as well)

Better to think of game design as offering players opportunities, not forcing anything on the players

There is no perfect game

There are dozens of genres for a reason

Tastes of game players vary as much as tastes of music-lovers. (I dislike rap. I like classical. Some people love rap. Some hate classical. And so on.)

And there’s no room for perfectionism in professional design

You need to get games DONE. Especially in video games

The Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns sets in quickly for professionals, less so for hobbyist designers

So at some point, you have to finish even though the game isn’t perfect

You probably won’t be good at it, at first

How often do you start to do something complex, requiring a lot of critical thinking, and yet you’re immediately good at it? Never!

Most complex things worth doing, take a long time to do well

Even playing a game well can take a long time to master

Some theorize that you need a great many opportunities to fail/succeed before you can become good at something

And there’s the “10,000 hours” notion, too, though I don’t take the quantification seriously

Games are not just Mechanics

What matters is the impression you make on the player(s)

MDA: Mechanics, Dynamics, “Aesthetics” (I prefer “Impressions” for the last)

Collections of mechanics can feel soul-less

If you choose mechanics based on a model, they tend to fit together; if they’re just collections, they’ll often not fit together

Making a good game takes a LOT of time

Most of what happens in game design takes place in the mind – of the designer, and of the players

Outsiders/non-practitioners tend to minimize the difficulty because they don’t see it happening

Moreover, it’s easy to get a game to 80%, it’s the last 20% that takes most of the game design time and effort

And then, if it’s a tabletop game, scheduling and manufacturing can take many months

Mayfair recently published a game they’d had for 8 years

I have a game that may be published in 2015, publisher accepted it in 2005 [sic]

Piracy

Piracy of “digitally”-produced games is rampant

And there’s practically nothing you can do about it

Free-to-play helps (in video games), but even the in-app purchases in F2P are pirated regularly

Fortunately, not much piracy in tabletop games (unless it’s primarily a rulebook, such as RPGs)

You’re an Entertainer or a Teacher, not a “gift to the world”

That is, if you want to be a commercial game designer

Publishers are in business to make money (mostly, but especially in video games)

Yes, you can self-publish

But a lot more people want games to entertain or enlighten them, than want games to be “art”

“We want to entertain people by surprising them, so I really don’t think we are psychologists – we are nothing but entertainers.” -Shigeru Miyamoto (Zelda, Donkey Kong, Wii Fit, etc. )

Reiner Knizia (over 500 [sic] published games) also says his purpose is entertainment

“Fail Faster”

You want to find all the ways your game can fail, and eliminate or fix them

So the faster you fail, the quicker you can eliminate or fix the failures

Or start over!

Get a playable prototype done as soon as possible – there is NO Substitute

If you’re doing a video game, try to make a paper prototype first, to try things out

Until I think of more ntk, enjoy your designing(source:gamasutra)