开发者谈Nordeus从足球游戏向奇幻题材的MOBA/CCG手游演进

原作者：Craig Chapple 译者：Willow Wu

近几年来，塞尔维亚的开发团队Nordeus靠他们的足球经营游戏Top Eleven名利双收。

这个耗费多年悉心打造的游戏，如今在英国收益榜上取得了稳固的地位，在其他国家也是如此。从这个游戏所取得的成绩来看，Nordeus应该是没有什么理由把它立即抛在脑后。

然而，在Nordeus学会了如何才能制作出一个优秀的模拟经营游戏之后，他们决定带着这些知识离开Top Eleven，投入到MOBA/CCG游戏的怀抱。

Nordeus已经在加拿大、澳大利亚、荷兰等地发行测试了他们的最新游戏：Spellsouls。

游戏中使用了许多行业内当下流行的类型以及特色，从实时PVP到MOBA风格玩法，再到CCG元素。

但是鉴于这些市场的竞争非常激烈，尤其是后者更甚，为什么Nordeus在开辟未来道路上选择抛弃了Top Eleven？通过与Nordeus的创意总监Milan Jovović的对话或许能给我们一个答案。

你能简单地说一说Spellsouls这个游戏，告诉我们它和市场上现存的游戏有哪些区别吗？

简单来说，我们制作了一个快节奏的实时PvP策略手游/MOBA，就是有那么一群热血玩家就喜欢这种快速的硬碰硬对战。

spell souls（from pocketgamer.biz）

我们致力于创造出一种内容丰富、拟真的奇幻体验，再结合游戏的玩法：玩家要在时间仅为三分钟的紧张战斗中利用大量咒语对抗敌人。在开始制作游戏的时候，我们定的其中一项准则就是要创造出一个3A级别的手游。实现了这个目标，令我们感到十分欣慰。

我认为我们已经创造出了一种美妙的平衡状态：一是需要玩家深思熟虑的策略影响力，二是很大程度上由剧情主导的奇幻体验，这二者恰当地融合在了一起。这或许算是陈腔滥调，但我们最想要的就是这种游戏体验：上手容易，但是对于hardcore玩家和休闲玩家来说，都很难戒掉。

我们当然知道行业内的流行的卡通风格游戏，还有超级英雄IP游戏。我们的目标是不一样的，重点就是要把玩家带入一个更严肃、更黑暗的游戏世界，在这里，策略和咒语拥有强大的力量，角色可以全方位发展，每个角色都有复杂、神秘的背景故事。

你最引以为豪的是哪些游戏特色？

说到游戏特色，我认为最让人骄傲的就是我们在某些地方塑造得相当有深度，就是上面提到的，三分钟快速对战体验。

我们制作游戏的时候，紧张感就是游戏的核心部分，它能经受时间的考验，玩家不会在短时间内就戒掉这个游戏，还会天天玩，这就是我们想要的。我们更关注的是能够把玩家留住,不仅仅是只有1-30天这个范围，而是更长，更长的时间。

还有我们在策略功能上下了这么多功夫，配上那么多咒语，这些咒语最终都会对玩家的战斗策略产生巨大的影响。这也是能让我们感到自豪的地方。

但是如果没有足够吸引人的meta-game，那这上面说到的东西就变得无关紧要了。游戏发布后，我们还计划逐步优化游戏、举办联赛活动。

你们是怎么想到制作Spellsouls这样一个游戏的？这个想法什么时候萌生的？是什么促使你们决心要全力发展这个游戏？

显然，Top Eleven获得了令人满意的反响，这时候就明白了其实我们想要去创造更多优秀的游戏。我们仔细考虑了各个方面，谨慎地做了计划，但同时也保持着开放的头脑，我们的团队成员都可以自由地进行创作，自主选择下一步的发展方向。

我们真正开始花心思做这个游戏的时候大概是三年前吧，游戏的代号还是“wizards”，核心想法就是设定一个奇幻世界背景，把3分钟时长的PvP战斗嵌入其中，这算是一个挺吸引人的主意。

我们也花了很多时间跟玩家交流，了解什么能打动玩家，他们想从手游中收获什么。以玩家为中心的设计对我们来说至关重要。

在某些方面，我们的决策方向在日后也被证明是正确的，比如Supercell这样的同行，也是沿着这个方向，他们最终呈现了《部落冲突：皇室战争》这样优秀的作品。

你对这个游戏的投资有多少？有寄予很高的期望吗？

我不认为我们在投资方面会有什么回报，但是任何人都知道，要运营好一个多方位的人才团队长达一年多是需要成本的！

我们对这游戏的各个部分都有很高的期望。从制作到画面到声效，都是顶级水准。现在要交给玩家评价了。如果我们在各方面都尽善尽美，那接下来的很长一段时间都不用担心盈利的事情了。

在测试发行之时，你们想要从中得到什么？

手游是一个行业，在进行全球正式发行之前，我们有这个非常难得的机会先在多个不同的市场测试游戏效果，所以这里没有什么不可告人的秘密。我们追寻的东西都是一样的，大家都想要搞清楚自己的游戏究竟有没有具备成功的基本要素，我们能不能让目标用户和它产生过共鸣。

出于好奇，我们还反复测试了服务器的容量，预测了游戏规模。我们的内测版本效果十分理想，从中也学到了很多东西。我们参与到某个用户测试小组中，他们是在早期阶段帮助开发团队测试的理论可不可行，帮助我们实现这种欲罢不能的游戏体验。

集卡游戏市场竞争非常激烈，其中也不乏巨头公司。为什么你认为可以从中突围？

我不认为我们的游戏本质上是CCG游戏。确实，我们的游戏中包含了的以卡牌/咒语为基础的游戏机制，但是Spellsouls中的PvP和策略部分才是重头戏，比单单的集卡、升卡重要得多。

说到要“突围”啊，我们花了很多时间和市场内竞争对手的玩家交流，得到了不计其数的反馈，通过这些信息我们知道了实际上我们所创作出的东西是正对他们的需求的，而且这个游戏的深度和精细程度也是市场内比较少见的，很多游戏都没有。

我们期待着和市场上的那些顶级游戏竞争，而且我们已经准备好了。

既然你们为游戏创作出了一个奇幻世界，你们有想要做成一个系列吗？

我们是希望这个游戏能长久地屹立于市场中。我们希望它能撑个几年，Top Eleven到现在有大概7年了。

我们一步一步打造这个品牌，完善细节，但是没有人可以预言它究竟会不会发展成一个IP游戏。在计划中我们一直是有条不紊的，我们创造出来的是一个包罗万象的世界，拥有强大的角色，所以，让我们等待好运降临吧。

从Top Eleven那里学到的东西有哪些会应用到Spellsouls上？

你可以从Top Eleven就看得出，我们公司有很多优势。我们拥有高效的的调研/用户中心方法帮助游戏开发，一群满腔热血的开发人才，还有极好的工作环境，可以帮助我们创造出令人满意的作品。

我们的商务拓展团队同样也是不乏人才，合作伙伴也很棒，公司文化悠久，热情满满，再加上公司所具备的营销专业技能，我们有能力组成，也有能力管理好一支高效、优秀的团队。

很显然，我们已经成功运营了一个游戏快7年了，这能让我们学到很多知识，包括商务方面的。

我还得说我们负责商务的数据科学团队也是最优秀的团队之一，只要亮出我们的方案，人们就会对它的深度和精细程度感到非常惊讶。

同样，我们也十分了解手游消费者，不管是本地玩家还是其他地区的玩家，还有他们的消费行为。我们很有把握能在众多游戏中脱颖而出，尽我们所能挑战行业的极限。

Top Eleven的所取得成绩非常耀眼，为什么你们不考虑再发行一个同类型的游戏呢？

我们一直都没有把这个选项排除在外，其实我们还思考了挺多的。很显然，足球和运动题材都是大热门，但是我们讨论的重点是Top Eleven的下一步该怎么做。

我们持续对游戏进行调整、优化，认真听取粉丝的意见建议，这就是目前关于Top Eleven的主要工作。Spellsouls发行后会带给我们怎样的冲击，让我们拭目以待。

2017年，你还打算继续增加你们的作品吗？或者你不太想出那么多游戏？

我们更看重质量而不是数量。因此，还是先看看Spellsouls的表现如何，再做打算吧。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

For years now Serbia-based developer Nordeus has made a big business out of football management game Top Eleven.

Carefully built up over the years, the game remains a stalwart in the UK top grossing charts, as well as in other countries around the globe. Given its success, it’s a game Nordeus has no plans to leave behind anytime soon.

But while Nordeus has learnt the intricacies of what makes management sims great, the studio has decided to use those lessons to spread its wings away from Top Eleven and into a MOBA/CCG game.

The studio has soft-launched its latest title, Spellsouls, in countries such as Canada, Australia and the Netherlands.

The game pulls in a number of trending genres and features in the games industry right now, from real-time PVP to MOBA-style gameplay and CCG elements.

But given the high competition in these markets, particularly the latter, how does Nordeus hope to carve out a future away from Top Eleven? We speak to Nordeus Chief Creative Officer Milan Jovović to find out.

Could you explain a bit about Spellsouls and how it differs from what’s currently on the market?

In simple terms, we have a created a fast action real-time PvP mobile strategy game/MOBA, clearly based on the well-documented passion gamers have for speedy head-to-head battles.

We’ve focused on a rich, immersive fantasy experience with gameplay based on the casting of a myriad of spells during intense three-minute battles. One of our mantras from the start was to create a triple-A quality mobile game. We’re comfortable we’ve achieved that.

We think we’ve struck an intriguing balance, blending deep strategy with a powerful story-driven fantasy experience. It may be a cliché, but we’ve focused on a experience that should be easy pick up, but tough to put down for hardcore and casual gamers alike.

We’ve obviously seen the trend for cartoon-style and superhero IP out there, so we’ve focused on taking gamers into a more serious, dark world, where strategy and spells have immense power, and characters are well developed and have a rich, intriguing deep back story.

What are some of the features you’re particularly proud of?

In terms of features, I think we’re most proud that we have brought some real depth, to what we have already stated, is quick battle experience over three minutes.

It’s seriously intense, with longevity a key part of how the game is built – we want people coming back every day. But we’re focusing more on the longer-term retention metrics, so much more than the days one to 30.

I think we’re also proud that the we have built such strategic depth with the sheer volume of spells we have that ultimately have a massive impact on each player’s strategy.

All of this would be irrelevant if we didn’t have a strong meta-game, the chance to run live events and the flow of enhancements we have planned post-launch.

How and when did you come up with the idea for Spellsouls and why did you bring the game into full development?

Obviously, once we could see that Top Eleven was established as a resounding success; we knew we wanted to make more games. We have been very deliberate and planned for this carefully and with an open mind, giving our teams the freedom to create and choose the direction we moved in.

It was probably almost three years back that we started to really put thought into a game that was codenamed “wizards”, that focused on the idea that a three minute PvP battle set in a fantasy world was a compelling proposition.

We’ve also spent a lot of time talking to gamers, understanding what motivates them and what they want from a mobile game. User-centric design is important to us.

In some ways, we are further vindicated with our decision to take this direction by guys like Supercell, with them bringing the excellent Clash Royale to market.

How big an investment are you putting into the game? Are expectations high?

I don’t think we’d share a dollar amount on the investment; but anyone can appreciate that running a full development team for well over a year has it’s inherent cost!

We had high expectations in the very building of this game. Everything from engineering to the art and sound is top notch. Now the players will judge. If we’ve done everything right, long-term commercial success will follow.

What are you looking to get out of soft launch?

As an industry, we’ve had the luxury of being able to test games in multiple markets prior to launching on full global scale; so there’s no secret there. We’re all after the same thing, and do all we can to prove that the game has the basic elements to be a success that we feel will resonate with our target audience.

We’d also be intrigued to really test server capacity and predict how it scales, obviously. We ran a successful closed beta program that taught us a lot and also engaged in some small group user-testing at the early stages to help prove or disprove our theories on how we turn this into a compelling experience.

The collectible card game market is quite crowded with some notable leaders in the space. What makes you think you can crack this market?

I don’t think we tag ourselves a CCG game per se. Yes there is fundamental card/spell-based mechanism to our game, but Spellsouls PvP and deep strategy are of much more importance than simply collecting and levelling up cards.

Regarding our ability to ‘crack’ this market, we have spent a lot of time in dialogue with current players of competitive games in this space, and the feedback we get overwhelmingly points to the fact that we have created something that meets their needs and offers the depth and polish not seen in a number of games in the market.

We’re expecting to compete with the best games out there, and come well equipped.

Since you are creating a new fantasy world for the game, are your ambitions to create a franchise out of this?

We build the game with longevity in mind. We want this to be around for years, as Top Eleven has been for almost seven years now.

We’re taking care to build the brand with clear attention to detail, but no one can predict if this has what it takes to become a major gaming IP. We have been methodical in our planning, and feel we are building a rich world with strong characters, so let’s keep our fingers crossed.

What learnings from Top Eleven will you be bringing into Spellsouls?

We have a number of strengths in the company, proven on Top Eleven. We have a very strong research / user-centric approach to game development, a strong and passionate development team and a superb environment that continues to yield excellent results.

We also believe we have very strong business development personnel, great partnerships, a well-established passionate culture, marketing expertise and the ability to build and manage high performing teams.

Obviously, we’ve been able to run a successful games business for almost seven years, and with that comes a high degree of learning and commercial intelligence.

I’d say that we also have one of the strongest data science teams in the business, to the extent that we could probably roll out our own tools to the industry and people would be impressed at the depth and sophistication of the tools.

We also feel that we really understand mobile consumers, and their behaviours, on a global and local scale. And finally, we really feel confident in being bold and pushing the limits of the industry, where we can.

You’ve had great success with Top Eleven, so why not release another similar game in the genre?

It’s always an option, and something we think about a lot. Obviously football and sports are both crowded genres, but we continue to discuss ideas around what might be next for Top Eleven.

We continue to fine tune and improve the game; and listen carefully to our fans, and that is our focus for Top Eleven for now. Let’s see how we feel after Spellsouls is launched.

Will you be expanding your portfolio of games further in 2017? Or are you keen to keep your portfolio of games small?

We believe in quality over quantity, so let’s see how Spellsouls does, and go from there.（source：pocketgamer.biz ）