游戏邦在:
杂志专栏:
gamerboom.com订阅到鲜果订阅到抓虾google reader订阅到有道订阅到QQ邮箱订阅到帮看

糟糕的游戏+糟糕的游戏=出色的学习经验

发布时间:2015-04-22 10:02:08 Tags:,,,,

作者:Ian Richard

对于我那“一个月一款游戏的”项目,我选择承担一个独特的挑战。每隔一个月我会选择一款“糟糕的”电子游戏并将其改造成可游戏,甚至是带有乐趣的内容。

对于5月,我决定改造NES的经典游戏《Hyldide》,并将其与官方改造游戏《Virtual Hydlide》相结合。最终它们将变成《Virtually Super Hydlide Special》。

尽管在日本,《Hydlide》是一款具有开创性的经典游戏,但是之后在美国的发行却使它成为AVGN上的笑柄。另一方面,《Virtual Hydlide》遭到了大量的抨击。充其量它只是一款带有一些不错的理念,但执行却非常糟糕的游戏。

将一款世界上有一半的人讨厌的游戏与另一款全世界都讨厌的游戏结合在一起。是不是哪里出错了?

计划

对于《Hydlide》,玩家所遇到的最大问题之一便是其战斗系统。在塞尔达进行让人兴奋的行动与探索前,《Hydlide》全是关于走向某处。

我并不是在开玩笑。

在《Hydlide》中为了攻击一个敌人,你需要走向他。每当你踏上敌人的区域时,你和对方就会大打出手,反之亦然。你能够使用的最深入的策略是按住A键以进入攻击模式。在攻击模式过程中,玩家可以创造更大的破坏力,但同时也会遭遇更大的打击。如果看起来你似乎要输掉战斗了,你便可以选择离开或等待HP的恢复。

幸运的是,你拥有一种自己喜欢的游戏类型,即使它缺少游戏玩法:MMO。

在经典的MMO格式中,玩家可以选择一个目标敌人并自动与对方进行战斗,直至其中一方死掉。这是我在进行这次改造时所使用的核心概念,因为它能够帮助我解决许多问题:

如果我创造的是第一人称游戏,我便不需要定制攻击动画,并且能够将其与《Virtual Hydlide》的游戏玩法结合在一起。

因为MMO的战斗风格与早前风格非常相似,所以我可以保持这一属性不变并努力维持最初的平衡。

我可以保持攻击模式与防御模式的区别,并且让它们具有同样的功能。

还有其它优势便是过去几个月我一直致力于一个3D精灵引擎中,这让我能在一个3D世界中使用最初的NES精灵!

注:本文中的游戏玩法图像使用的是定制精灵,如此便能够避免一些版权问题。而《irtually Super Hydlide Special》使用的是最初的NES精灵。

最后,精灵引擎让我能够直接从一个位图导入地图。为了创造我的游戏地图,我所需要做的便是追踪带有一致颜色的地图并将图像缩小为合理的尺寸。剩下的工作只要交给引擎便可。

回首看来,这真的是一个很棒的计划。但你知道他们是如何评价这个完美的计划的吗。

哪里出现了可笑的错误

我完全高估了自己的引擎

我是为老式的地下城游戏创造了引擎。我所创造的最大地图是30×30。而为了保持广阔感,我为《Hydlide》所创造的最小的世界地图都要达到83×83。

这几乎是测试尺寸的3倍,如此便导致了较长的加载序列。这是一个大问题,因为地下城并不大,所以你可以经常加载世界地图。所以我最终只能多花几天时间去执行一张流图,并在之后缩减功能,因为我意识到加载屏幕是提供给玩家他们所需要信息的有效方式。

我花费于创造地图流的时间白白浪费了。如果我能够在尝试着解决问题前先好好思考下便能够避免时间浪费与压力。

另外的问题是来自改变引擎去使用一个循环地图。我所使用的砖块非常小,所以我需要画许多砖块才能填满一个合理的距离。这便大大降低了工作速度。

我的解决方法是什么呢?我载入了更多砖块!

在加载屏幕期间,我载入了两倍的砖块去填充所绘制的距离。这意味着在你行走的过程中,地图便已经完全加载好了,而远处的砖块则会进行实时加载。

这时候,我修改了系统,即在每个架构中只加载一些砖块。对于玩家来说,这就像是一个无缝延伸的地图,但在摄像机以外的地方还存在一些正在建造的区域。

OusideTheMap(from tutplus)

OusideTheMap(from tutplus)

总之引擎是可行的,但却并不如我所预期的那般顺利。我希望在第7天的时候能够执行我的核心游戏玩法,但似乎只有在1周后我才有可能完成游戏。

我低估了向3D的转换

因为我花了许多时间去创造世界地图,所以我不能有效地预见第二大问题,直至我真正进入该项目时。

最初的《Hydlide》的地下城就是个迷宫。

在最初的游戏中这是可被饶恕的,因为俯瞰视角让你能够看清楚正确的道路。但是作为一款第一人称游戏,直接使用我所计划的地下城地图将会毁掉所有的内容。

我不能导入之前所计划好的关卡,所以我需要手动创造一些新关卡。尽管创造较短且具有功能性的地图并非主要问题,但这却是一笔未在计划内的开支。

因为过于自信而让我变得非常愚蠢

在2个月以前,我的改造项目《Ghostbusters Inc.》从作品角度看来是非常出色的。所有的一切都非常有序,我最终也完成了自己所期待的所有功能的执行,并且也遵循了一份非常合理的日程表。

我的上一个项目也进展得非常顺利。我在1周内便完成了《Tactical Strike Micro》的设计与执行。它使用了与《Hydlide》一样的引擎,并且所有的一切都有效运行着。

本月我的脑子里已经在考虑着几个很不错的项目,但是我却忽视了自己最重要的一个工具:计划。

我非常热衷于花时间去写下日程表,计划功能与相关性,并准确地排列出所有内容的先后顺序。

但是在第13天,我仍然在执行本应该完成或被删减的核心游戏玩法功能。这时候的我开始感到了深深的压力,并觉得自己就像井底之蛙一般拥有着非常狭隘的视角。我非常努力地工作着,尽管已经看不清整体情况了。

说实话我并不敢保证自己能够准时完成工作。花半个月时间于一个小型项目看似太漫长了,但的确有太多需要我完成的事,并且事情进展并不是很顺利。

我经常会告诫人们小心盲目的热情所具有的危险性,而这一项目便给了我很好的教训。

优点

我并未惊慌

当情况变得更糟糕时,我经常会进入一种纯粹的被动情感状态—-这是非常有效的,但却很容易误入歧途。不过在此我并未这么做。

在第13天的时候,我意识到自己陷入麻烦中,于是我便往回走去审视自己的创造过程。没花多长时间我便意识到自己过分专注于控制方向盘而忽视了道路。我未考虑它们该如何适应最终产品便修改了问题。

所以在第14天里,我从开发过程转向制定一个适当的计划:

每个部分都应该准备好的日期。

关于功能和漏洞修复的先后列表。

我需要思考的问题,如“我将如何在没有NPC的情况下引导玩家前进?”基于这一列表,我便知道在没有工作效率的时候该怎么做了。

当做好计划时,我便坐下休息了。我知道压力已经影响到自己的思考,所以我需要理清自己的思维。

从第15天开始,我的工作效率开始直线提升。在接下来3天里我完成的工作甚至多于之前1周的工作量。

风格

我非常惊讶于2D NES精灵在3D世界中的表现。所有的敌人,地下城城墙,地域砖块都是直接源于NES游戏,但是它们却都非常突然,并使游戏变得更加独特。

Style(from tutplus)

Style(from tutplus)

尽管在过去几年里我已经设计了一些更加出色的游戏,但是这款游戏似乎更能吸引人们的眼球。在整个创造过程中我收到许多关于游戏的积极反馈。

我的早前假设是正确的

谢天谢地,我的大多数最初假设都是可行的。战斗系统有效运行着并且处于平衡状态,还有虽然带有缺陷,但是引擎仍像我期待的那样发挥着功效。

尽管所有的一切进展并不顺利,但游戏却是有趣的。

为了让游戏更具行动性且不具有那么多刷任务,我修改了战斗系统,并且多亏了与最初游戏的联系,我拥有了一个强大的开始。

我的开发网

尽管这是我独自创造的一个项目,我却并不是独自完成所有的工作。我的许多朋友都是非常有经验的游戏开发者,他们都提供给我很大的帮助。

我之所以会重新设计战斗系统便是源于与朋友Josh谈到MMO风格的战斗。他认为这可能会不够吸引人。而随着项目的发展,我意识到他的看法是正确的,所以我需要抛弃最初的观点。

还有其它功能也是如此,如“fairy guide”便是在我的朋友Rob的提示下所执行的,还有全新的攻击动画也是基于他的看法所创造出来的。甚至连Twitter上的一些留言也带给了我很多帮助,让我知道该如何更有效地引导玩家前行。

你不能低估与人们交谈的重要性,甚至在独立项目中这点更加重要。

结论

虽然文书工作和日程安排非常乏味且通常都不是很准确,但它们却非常有帮助。

花些时间在纸上写下你的计划能够推动着你从整体去审视你的项目。当你将项目分解成一些特定的功能时,你将能够看到不同组件之间的关系,如此你便能够更有效地处理它们。之后你便能够只待在任务之间的区域中,因为你不需要在思考细节与思考整体之间来回转换了。

写下列表的另一个优势便是你可以在开发期间添加新内容。如果你遇到一个漏洞或需要执行的功能,你便能够在适当的地方将其记录下来并保持整体的有序。

我以为自己可以侥幸避免单调乏味的情况,但似乎我是错误的。不管我有多少经验,对于问题我还是不具有免疫力。而不管你认为自己多优秀,前期制作都是非常重要的一步。

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

Bad Game + Bad Game = Good Learning Experience

by Ian Richard

For my One Game a Month projects, I have chosen to undertake a unique challenge. Every other month I choose one “bad” video game and remake it into something playable and hopefully even entertaining.

For May, I decided to remake the NES classic Hyldide, and combine it with its official remake, Virtual Hydlide. Together, they would create Virtually Super Hydlide Special!

While Hydlide is considered a groundbreaking classic in Japan, its late American release made it a laughing stock prime for AVGN. Virtual Hydlide, on the other hand, was pretty much universally panned. At best, it was a poorly implemented game with some good ideas.

AVGN on Hydlide

ProJared On Virtual Hydlide

Combining a game that half the world hates with a game the whole world hates… What could possibly go wrong?

The Plan

One of the biggest issues players have with Hydlide is the combat system. Long before Zelda’s exciting blend of action and exploration, Hydlide was all about walking into things.

No, I’m not kidding.

To attack an enemy in Hydlide, you walk into him. You and the enemy each trade blows every time you step onto his tile or vice-versa. The deepest strategy you can apply is to hold the A button to enter Attack Mode. While in Attack Mode, the player inflicts more damage, but also suffers more. If it looks like you might lose the battle, you can just move away and wait for your HP to recover.

Fortunately, we have a genre of games that is beloved despite its similar lack of gameplay: the MMO.

In classic MMO format, the player chooses a target enemy and trades blows automatically, until either the player dies or the enemy dies. This was actually the core concept I used when I started this remake, because it solved many issues:

If I made this first person, I wouldn’t need custom attack animations and could tie into the Virtual Hydlide style of gameplay.

Because MMO combat-style trading of blows is so similar to the old style, I could keep the stats exactly the same and maintain the original balance.

I could even keep the Attack Mode and Defense Mode distinction, and have it function the same.

The other major advantage is that I’d been working on a 3D sprite engine the previous month, and this would allow me to use the original NES sprites in a 3D world!

Note: The gameplay images in this article use custom sprites to avoid copyright issues. Virtually Super Hydlide Special uses the original NES sprites.

Finally, the sprite engine allowed me to import maps from a directly from a bitmap. In order to create my game’s maps, all I needed to do was trace the original maps with solid colors and shrink the image to a reasonable size. The engine does the rest.

Looking back, it really was actually a pretty good plan. But, you know what they say about the best laid plans…

What Went Horribly Wrong

I Vastly Overestimated My Engine

I’d built my engine for old-school dungeon crawls. The largest map that I had built was about 30×30. The smallest I could make Hydlide’s world map while keeping that expansive feel was 83×83.

At almost triple the tested size, this lead to a long loading sequence. This is problematic, because the dungeons are not large and you’ll be loading the world map often. I ended up spending a few days implementing a streaming map, only to cut the feature later because I realized the loading screens were a good way to give the player information they needed.

The days I spent making the map stream were wasted. If I had taken the time to think about things prior to attempting to work through the problem, I’d have saved time and stress.

The other set of issues came from modifying the engine to use a looping map. The tiles that I used were very small and I needed to draw a lot of these to fill a reasonable draw distance. This lead to visible slowdown as the map tiles looped around.

My solution? I loaded more tiles!

During the loading screen, I loaded about twice the tiles that I needed to fill the draw distance. This means that, as you walk, the map is already fully loaded and in place, but tiles in the distance are loading in real time.

At this point, I modified the system to load only a few tiles each frame. To the player, it looks like the map is streaming around seamlessly, but beyond the camera there are holes in the world where it’s actually being built a little bit at a time.

Overall, the engine worked, but it sure as heck wasn’t as smooth as I had intended. I had wanted my core gameplay to be implemented by Day Seven, but didn’t actually finish until almost a week later.

I Underestimated the Conversion to 3D

Because I put so much time into making the world map work, I didn’t foresee this second major issue until I was well into the project. I have enough experience that I should have seen it coming a mile away.

The dungeons in the original Hydlide are mazes: The Original Dungeon Maps

It was forgivable in the original game, because a bird’s eye view allows you to see the correct paths. But, as a first person game, directly using the dungeons’ maps as I had planned would make things frustrating.

I couldn’t import the levels as I’d planned, and so I needed to hand-make new ones. While creating short and functional maps was not a major problem, it was an unplanned expense.

I Was Overconfident and This Made Me Stupid

Two months earlier, my previous remake project, Ghostbusters Inc., had been amazing from a work standpoint. Everything fell into place, and I ended up implementing nearly every feature I had hoped for, while still working a reasonable schedule.

My last #1GAM project had gone extremely smoothly as well. I completely designed and implemented Tactical Strike Micro in a week. It had used the same engine as Hydlide, and everything worked out well.

I went into this month with good projects on the brain, and I ignored one of my most important tools: planning!

I’m usually a fanatic about taking the time to write down a schedule, plan features and dependencies, and correctly prioritize everything. I’ve seen and often taken part in the stupidity that comes from “winging it”.

On the 13th>, I was still implementing core gameplay features that should have been either implemented or cut by now. Stress was beginning to get to me, and I could feel the developer tunnel vision coming over me. I was working hard, despite having lost sight of the big picture.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure I’d finish on time. Half a month on a small project seems like a long time, but there was a lot that needed to be done, and it wasn’t going well.

I often warn people about the dangers of blind passion, yet this project was a fine reminder that I’m not above it.

The Good

I Didn’t Panic

I’ve worked with myself enough to know that this is an accomplishment. When things go south I usually enter a purely reactive emotional state—highly effective, but misguided. But I didn’t do that here.

On the 13th, I realized that I was in trouble, and I stepped back to review my process. It didn’t take long to see that I was so focused on controlling the steering wheel that I wasn’t watching the road. I was fixing issues without any consideration for how they fit into the final product.

I took the entire day of the 14th off from development to outline a proper plan:

Dates by which each part should be ready.

A prioritized list of features and bug fixes.

Questions that I needed to think about, such as “How will I help guide the player without NPCs?” With this list, I knew what to think about when I wasn’t working.

When the plan was ready, I sat down and relaxed for the rest of the evening. I knew that stress had started to affect my thinking and I needed to clear my head.

Starting on the 15th, my productivity skyrocketed. I accomplished more in the next three days than I had in the previous week.

The Style

I was amazed how good the 2D NES sprites looked in the 3D world. All the enemies, dungeon walls, and terrain tiles are straight from the NES game, yet they stand out and make the game look unique.

While I’ve designed better games over the years, this one seemed to catch people’s eyes. I actually received a lot of positive feedback on the way the game looks.

My Early Assumptions Were Correct

Thankfully, most of my original assumptions were valid. The combat system worked fine and was reasonably balanced, and even with the flaws, the engine did what I needed it to do.

Despite everything that went poorly, the game is fun.

While I did modify the combat system to be more action-oriented and less of a grind, I had a strong start thanks to the links to the original game.

My Dev Network

While this was a solo project that I built on my own, I didn’t actually do it alone. Many of my friends are experienced game developers and they were an immense help.

The combat redesign came after talking to my friend Josh about the MMO-style combat. He expressed concern that it wouldn’t be exciting enough. As the project continued, I realized that he was right, and that I needed to stray from the original vision.

The same goes for other features ,such as the “fairy guide” I implemented after my friend Rob got lost, or the new attack animations I coded upon his observation that I could just rotate the sprites to decent effect. Even Twitter came to my aid, linking me to information I needed to help guide the player wordlessly.

You cannot underestimate the value of having people to talk to, even on solo projects.

My Biggest Takeaway

Paperwork and scheduling are tedious and rarely accurate, but they are still beneficial.

Taking the time to put your plan on paper will force you to examine the project as a whole. As you break it down into specific features, you’ll see which pieces are reliant on one another so that you can tackle them in an effective order. Then, you can stay in the zone between tasks because you don’t need to switch between details thinking and big picture thinking.

The other nifty advantage is that having a list means that you can add to it during development. If you encounter a bug or feature that should be implemented, you have a place to write it down and stay organized.

I thought I could get away with avoiding the tedium, but I was wrong, No matter how experienced I might be, I’m not immune to mistakes. Pre-production is an important step, no matter how good you think you are.

You can play Virtually Super Hydlide Special Online, or follow me on Twitter for more retro remakes.(source:tutplus)

 


上一篇:

下一篇: