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主机FPS变身RTS手游:《泰坦陨落:突袭》

发布时间:2017-10-17 13:58:28 Tags:,

原文作者:Jon Jordan 译者:Megan Shieh

《Titanfall(泰坦陨落)》是个科幻类第一人称射击(FPS)系列游戏,该系列包含大量的战斗、流畅的动作以及复杂的多人对战。然而正是这些出色的性能,使得该游戏的移植变得更加困难。

2015年10月,该系列的发行商Nexon和开发商Respawn宣布投资创立了一个名为Particle City的手游工作室,主要目的是将《泰坦陨落》移植到移动设备上。

该工作室此前计划在移动平台上推出一款卡牌对战类型的衍生作《泰坦陨落:前线(Titanfall Frontline)》,该作于2016年下旬开始公测,不过尚未正式上架就已夭折。

幸运的是,Particle City手里还握着一张王牌——《Titanfall:Assault(泰坦陨落:突袭)》。

Particle City首席执行Larry Pacey解释道:“《泰坦陨落》系列主打快速、流畅的动作,而《泰坦陨落:突袭》就是最好的选择。”

实际上,《前线》的失败激励了Particle City,使他们在《泰坦陨落:突袭》的制作上付出了加倍的努力。

《前线》的一些社区工具和视频共享系统都改换了用途。Particle City此前有两个工作室(洛杉矶和奥兰多),每个工作室负责一个游戏;而现在,全部的人都朝着共同的目标而努力。

titan fall assault (from pocketgamer.biz)

titan fall assault (from pocketgamer.biz)

游戏主设置

从灵感方面来看,F2P手游的设计趋势对《泰坦陨落:突袭》产生了很大的影响,几乎和它的主机原作不相上下。

本作主打玩家之间的PVP对决,是一款即时战略(RTS)游戏。每局游戏为四分钟,玩家可以控制自己的小队通过不断地占点来得分,累积到100分就可以获胜;或者也可以直接推掉对手的主炮塔,从而获得胜利。

与MOBA手游颇为相似,可以看得出《皇室战争》对本作产生了一些影响,比如用来生成单位的缓增资源,这些资源都需要通过使用宝箱抽卡系统来实现解锁和升级。

然而,本作的玩法比其他MOBA手游更加复杂。

虽然游戏中的4种地图各有不同车道,但敏捷的驾驶员可以在竞技场的上空飞行,加快占点形势的变化速度。

四张地图中的其中两张又小又紧凑;另一张则杂乱无章;还有一张包含了一些动态元素,比如可以用来发动突然袭击的陷阱(tripwires)。

然而游戏中最重要的部分也许是会话节奏。在第一分钟里,玩家只能使用三名驾驶员和四张战术卡(burn cards),这些都是战术支援装备,可以用来召唤哨戒塔、敢死队,等等。

两分钟后,玩家会得到可用的加速资源,泰坦在这时才得以使用,这也意味着比赛的节奏将大大加快。

战术优势

高级游戏设计师Hugh Shelton解释道:“我们试图制作出一款独一无二的RTS游戏。占点控制是《泰坦陨落》的关键模式,而且所有的地图都含有《泰坦陨落》系列游戏该有的‘垂直性(verticality)’。”

当然,进军移动领域的举动也提供了超越现有IP的机会。Shelton透露道:“Respawn允许我们在一定程度上自由地扩展游戏里的世界。”

比如Nuke Atlas,它是进阶版的Alta,装备了一种以近身战斗为重点的大锤(Hammer maul),被摧毁时会触发核爆炸。

此外,每个单位都有对抗人类军队的能力和对抗机甲单位的力量。

泰坦虽然是游戏中的铁血战士,但超快的会话节奏和驾驶员的能力意味着只依赖步兵是不可能获得成功的。

事实上在大量的内测中,从没有哪个玩家可以光靠甲板的资源优势或者策略碾压其他玩家。这一结论将在比赛现场进行测试,届时将会有成千上万的玩家试图磨炼他们的竞争优势。

保持高端游戏动态不容易,这将会是个永恒的挑战。但Shelton认为,游戏中复杂的玩法(包含地图、战术、18个泰坦、16个驾驶员和18张战术卡)给了设计师足够的空间来作调和。

首战

当被问及《泰坦陨落:突袭》能否成为移动电子竞技游戏时,他很激动,但也很谨慎。

他说:“我认为潜力是有的,但这真的取决于社区,何况移动电子竞技市场都还没有站稳脚跟。”

本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Everything that defines Titanfall makes it difficult to bring to mobile.

The first-person shooter series boasts massive action, fluid movement and complex multiplayer battles.

Hence, the announcement in October 2015 that publisher Nexon and developer Respawn hadinvested in the creation of Particle City, a new mobile-focused studio to make the franchise portable, was something of a surprise.

Titanfall: Frontline, the company’s first attempt, wasn’t a success either.

Certainly it was an interesting approach, but during its soft launch testing in late 2016, the card-collection-battler was deemed not to be delivering “the intense action-packed gameplay synonymous withTitanfall,” and was promptly canned.

Thankfully, Particle City had an ace up its sleeve: it was already working on another Titanfall game - Titanfall: Assault.

“When we started thinking about bringing Titanfall to mobile, we looked at every genre,” explains CEO Larry Pacey.

“The brand is all about fast, fluid action. Titanfall: Assault was the place we wanted to land.”

In fact, the cancellation of Frontline appears to have been the spur Particle City needed to double down – literally and figuratively – on its remaining game.

Some of the community tools and the video sharing system from Frontline were repurposed, and instead of having two studios – one in LA within the main Respawn office, and one in Orlando – working on two games, everyone was now working towards a common goal.

Two masters

When it comes to inspiration, it’s clear Titanfall: Assault has been shaped as much by trends in F2P mobile game design as its titular console licence.

The real-time strategy game is set up as a head-to-head PVP experience, in which players spawn units from their base and gain victory within a four minute session either by controlling the level hardpoints for long enough to reach a score of 100, or by directly taking out their opponent’s main turret.

This means it feels a bit like a mobile MOBA. Clash Royale’s influence looms large in terms of the slowly increasing resources you use to create your units. Similarly, these are unlocked and levelled up using a crate-based card gacha system.

That the gameplay is more complex than other mobile MOBAs is testament to how Particle City’s designers have implemented Titanfall’sfluidity of movement, however.

While there are distinct lanes through each of the four maps with which the game ships, the agile pilot units can jetpack over the level, making the fight for each hardpoint a fast-changing and often attritional affair. And while a couple of the maps are small and tight, another is sprawling, while another still includes dynamic elements including tripwires that can be used to launch surprise attacks.

But perhaps the most significant part of the gameplay is session pacing. For the first minute, players only have access to three pilots and four burn cards; these are tactical support units such as sentry guns, missile attacks and grunt troops.

Titans become available later, which combined with an acceleration in available resources after two minutes means the pace ratchets up considerably towards a conclusion.

Tactical advantage

“We’ve tried to make a RTS game that’s uniquelyTitanfall,” explains senior game designer Hugh Shelton.

“Hardpoint domination is a key mode in Titanfall, and all our maps have the ‘verticality’ you’d expect from a Titanfall game,” he says of the pilots’ wide movement.

Of course, going mobile has also created opportunities to go beyond the existing Titanfall IP.

“Respawn allowed us to take some liberties to expand the universe,” Shelton reveals.

Your squad contains three pilots and three titans

Perhaps the best examples are the new titan variants such as the Nuke Atlas, which is a version of the standard Atlas that’s armed with a melee-focused hammer maul and which triggers a nuclear explosion when it’s destroyed.

More generally, another layer of tactics is provided by each units’ abilities against human troops versus their strength against robotic units.

Titans might be the game’s apex predators, but the session pacing and the agility and ability of pilots means players won’t be successful if they just rely on the grunt provided by metal suits.

Indeed, during extensive internal playtesting, it’s never been the case one deck loadout or strategy has trumped all others. This conclusion will, no doubt, be tested when the game goes live and thousands of players attempt to hone their competitive edge.

Each unit’s stats provide gameplay depth

The ability to keep high-end gameplay dynamic will be a constant challenge. Shelton thinks the amount of complexity in the game – generated from the interplay of maps, tactics, 18 titans, 16 pilots and 18 burn cards – gives the designers plenty of scope to mix things up, though.

First battles

As for the inevitable question of whether Titanfall: Assault eventually ends up a mobile eSport, he’s excited but cautious.

“I think the potential is there but it really depends on the community,” he says, adding the mobile eSports market is yet to find its feet.

And, with its launch getting closer, Titanfall: Assault has to overcome more mundane challenges first; generating downloads, maintaining day seven+ retention, getting players into guilds, and keep everyone progressing through the content.

Only then will it become clear whether its mobile-specific version of ‘massive action, fluid movement, and complex multiplayer battles’ can successfully fit within both the Titanfall universe and the mobile gaming community.

Titanfall: Assault is released for iOS and Android devices on 10 August.(Source:pocketgamer.biz  )


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