用户体验升级：《部落冲突》VS《竞逐之国：毁灭时代》

原文作者：Om Tandon 译者：Megan Shieh

‘用户体验设计’是电子游戏产品的关键组成部分之一，随着手游产业的发展和智能手机的普及，人们接触的手游越来越多，现有的手游体验对多数玩家来说已经不再陌生。为了在同类产品中建立优势，开发者需要不断实现创新，改进并突破这种体验，从而为用户创造新的价值。

与上市时间较长的同类手游《部落冲突》相比，Space Ape的RTS新作《竞逐之国：毁灭时代》在用户体验方面实现了突破。我们将两者的‘首次用户体验’、‘编辑模式&基地建造’、‘地图’和‘战斗机制’进行了详细对比。

首次用户体验（FTUE）

上手体验非常关键。对于任何一款手游而言，如果FTUE没做好，那么在最初的1-2分钟里，流失率可能高达40%-60%。

从多次‘可用性测试’中，我得出了以下结论：

玩家不喜欢冗长的教程；习惯跳过文本框和故事说明；喜欢先从视觉上（动画）了解一个动作，然后才愿意阅读相关文本；比起从新手教程中学到的东西，自己发掘的知识更能让他们感到骄傲；他们了解最为常见的手游特性及其运作方式（心智模型），因为他们使用智能手机已经很多年了。

在《部落冲突》中，玩家会把最初的5-10分钟花在基地建造上。这属于游戏体验中的常规部分，但并不是最吸引人的部分。

你可能会说“但是这些东西不教不行啊！”

在2012年的时候也许是不教不行，当时《部落冲突》首次发布，多数手机用户仍对RTS的概念感到陌生，因此你需要手把手地教授许多细节。但是6年过去了，现在市面上充斥着各种各样的RTS手游，其中许多作品的‘基地建造机制’都或多或少存在雷同，多数玩家对这类手游的心智模型也已经有了大致的了解。

考虑到FTUE可能对游戏带来的负面影响，你真的想让玩家在最初的5-10分钟里学习如何建造基地？

当《部落冲突》的玩家还在建基地的时候，《竞逐之国》的玩家已经开始在他的第二场战斗中学习各种‘守护神’的作用了。与《部落冲突》不同，《竞逐之国》最先让玩家体验的是游戏中最有趣的部分：战斗。

在《部落冲突》中，玩家若想加快教程节奏就必须支付宝石，而在《竞逐之国》中，玩家可以免费跳过教程。‘免费跳过教程’的做法会让玩家觉得游戏很大方，同时这也是一种更为积极的体验。

在《部落冲突》的新手教程中，玩家会获得金币和圣水作为奖励。在《竞逐之国》中，玩家先是赢得新手教程中的两场战斗，从而获得战斗奖励，接着马上获得任务奖励，然后游戏界面还会随机掉下宝箱，为之后的‘连胜’奠定基础。在紧接着的第三场战斗中，玩家将会实现可以获得额外宝箱的2连胜。战斗奖励+任务奖励+宝箱奖励=3倍奖励。一开始就获得成倍的奖励，给玩家提供了一种积极的、富有回报的体验。

FTUE的关键差异：

COC：利用游戏中较为普遍、回报率较低的机制作为起点。

RK：利用游戏中较为吸引人、回报率较高的部分作为起点。

COC：优先让玩家学习如何建造基地，进度较慢。

RK：移除了等待计时器（无需训练军队），让玩家直接开打。将基地建造的步骤自动化，从而加快进度。

COC：玩家一开始只有寥寥无几的建筑，剩下的需要后期慢慢刷。

RK：相对来说，玩家一开始获得的建筑就比较多。

COC：不能免费跳过新手教程中的计时器，而且奖励有限。

RK：可以免费跳过新手教程，通过任务和连胜机制提供成倍的奖励。

对于如今的手游玩家而言，上手体验必须是简单、快速并且充满回报的，否则他们就会拍拍屁股走人。

你有没有发现，《卡通农场》的新手教程是从收割开始，而不是播种？这是因为‘收割’是游戏机制中最有趣、最具回报的部分。‘播种’是在给予玩家收获和奖励之后才开始教的。

Supercell从来没有将这种教学手法运用到自己的RTS手游中，但是Space Ape就做到了这点。

编辑模式&基地建造

随着玩家进度的增长，建造能够防御敌人的基地就变得尤为重要，玩家需要采用合适的策略来降低损失并加快进度。尤其是RTS手游的高端玩家，他们非常在意基地的建造策略。

《部落冲突》中的编辑模式允许玩家选择单个建筑，然后逐一移动它们的位置。你也可以点击一个防御建筑，查看它的攻击范围。

在《竞逐之国》中，长按任何建筑都可以激活一个专用的编辑模式。这个编辑模式涵盖多种额外选项，可以加快基地规划的速度。‘多选按钮’允许你同时选择多个建筑物，这样你就可以一次性移动多个建筑物，从而加快编辑速度。从防御和战略的角度来看，随着建筑数量的增长，这种编辑模式能够为玩家省下许多麻烦。此外，点击界面上的‘眼睛图标’可以让你一次性看到所有防御建筑的攻击范围，一眼望去你就会知道自己的大本营够不够安全。

而在《皇室战争》和《海岛奇兵》中，玩家必须逐一查看防御建筑的攻击范围，然后再大概感觉一下基地的整体安全性。

编辑模式的关键差异：

COC:一次只能选定一个建筑物，如果建筑物很多的话，基地管理就变得非常耗时。

RK：带有专门的编辑模式，允许玩家一次性移动多个建筑物，快速、高效、省时。

COC：一次只能查看一个防御建筑的攻击范围，然后玩家还得在脑中计算总体的攻击范围。

RK：带有一个特殊的图标允许玩家一次性总览大局，帮助玩家一眼看出防御系统的缺陷，从而更好地谋划防御策略。

事实上，单单是提供更好的基地编辑选项，就足以说明开发者们了解玩家的心态以及他们玩同类游戏时所遇到的烦恼，从而表明，开发人员在意并且力图改善玩家们的游戏体验。

地图进度&导航

《部落冲突》的地图只能玩单人或PvP模式。《竞逐之国》的地图带有多条发展路径：PvP、PvE、王国&社交，叙事章节任务和联赛，允许玩家根据自己的喜好选择。此外，每条路径都有专属的浮动小图标，在你缩小地图界面以后，单机这些图标就能去到自己想去的路线，这样玩家就不会觉得找不着北。EA的《小黄人天堂》中也带有这一特性。

战斗机制

《部落冲突》的核心回路存在一个缺陷，游戏会随机匹配PvE和PvP基地，玩家不知道自己将会面对什么样的防御构架，一旦出兵，就不能更换兵种和特殊技能，除非投降。玩家可以在看完‘潜在对手’的基地以后，回到自己的基地去更换兵种，但是离开匹配界面再返回就只能重新匹配对手，所以根本无法对症下药。这是一个战略盲点，引起了许多玩家的诟病。这点在《海岛奇兵》中得到了改善，玩家可以先侦察再打，但是这就意味着玩家必须回到自己的基地去更换兵种，需要经过多次屏幕转换，这样就会消耗掉不必要的时间。

《竞逐之国》的开发者就考虑到了这一点，玩家不能侦查敌人的基地，但是开战前会出现一个界面，玩家可以在这个界面中更换兵种和巨人/守护神。这种做法可以帮助玩家通过观察敌人的基地来知道要用什么去对付敌人的防御，允许玩家在不投降或不回到基地的前提下临时更换兵种。

《部落冲突》和《海岛奇兵》的另一个缺陷是，一旦玩家用尽了自己的士兵和技能，就只能傻傻地盯着手机等待对战结束（一般1-2分钟），眼睁睁地看着AI单位摧毁敌人或被摧毁。这就打破了沉浸感，手游玩家通常都没什么耐性，到了这种时候就很可能会退出游戏。

为了解决这个问题，《竞逐之国》提供了一个‘快进按钮’。玩家可以点击按钮加快战斗节奏，知道对战结果后就可以去做别的事情，而不是无可奈何地盯着屏幕看。这一做法给了玩家更多控制权，并允许他们更好地利用自己的时间。

总结：

《竞逐之国》利用游戏中较为有趣的部分作为体验的起点，这样可以吸引并留住更多玩家。基地建造和编辑模式的界面为玩家提供了更多的工具和选项来高效、快速地管理他们的基地。开战前的界面允许玩家作出知情的战略决策，同时在策略方面拥有更多控制权，通过实时评估敌人的弱点来更改兵种和巨人/守护神。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Detailed comparison of how new genre RTS games like Rival kingdoms are attempting to innovate & improve over ageing counterparts like CoC, to refresh & build next generation of mobile gaming experiences

I Believe UX design in a product is a voice that stand for the end user. It must identify, pain points & cognitive friction which users might have experienced in the past in  similar products and also aims at pro-actively eliminating cognitive load for new breed of products. As users become more & more familiar with existing digital experiences, we need to keep evolving the experience , making it better and refreshing.

UX Comparison : On boarding

It is a critical aspect of any game, churn rates can be as high as 40-60%, in the first 1 to 2 minutes if we don’t get the FTUE (first time user experience right).

My personal observations from conducting usability tests.

PLAYERS:

Do not like lengthy tutorials.

Skip through text boxes & narratives.

Like to be visually shown a action (animated) then read about it.

Take pride in discovering features on there own rather then be handheld.

Are familiar with how most common mobile game features work (mental models). Remember  players are evolving and maturing having used smart phones for a number of years now.

The purpose of an tutorial is to make players familiar with the habit loop which they can keep repeating to stay engaged. Let’s see how CoC and RK handle this.

In CoC players spends first 5 to10 minutes of their gameplay in base building, the routine part of the ‘Habit Loop’ not necessarily the most engaging aspect of the game”

Well, you may argue. Om! you got to learn the ropes right?

Perhaps yes in 2012 when the game was first launched you needed to teach the ropes in so much detail, but not now with every second RTS game having more or less the same base building mechanics, well establishing this fast ageing mental model.

With churn rates as high as 20-40%, in the first 1 to 2 minutes if you don’t get the FTUEfirst time user experience right.
Are you sure? This is how a player should spend his first 5 -10 minutes within your game?

While player is still building his base in CoC, in RK he commences to his second battle learning the use of god powers.

Second battle is followed by brief base upgrade, which also unlocks a achievement for the player, rewarding him yet again.

Tutorial skips in CoC are paid for by the user, while they are free in RK. All players find the free skip generous and a more positive experience.

During tutorial Player is rewarded gold & elixir in CoC.

In Rk players first wins and rewards are multiplied for a more positive and rewarding experience, he gets battle rewards, immediate achievement reward and if you notice, the game is setting pace for Win streak which does random gacha drops, so the 3rd battle immediately after the tutorial gives player a win streak of 2 which gives him a additional gacha rewards.

Battle Rewards + Achievements + Gacha streak = 3x Rewards

In RK players first wins and rewards are multiplied for a more positive and rewarding experience, he gets battle rewards, immediate achievement reward and if you notice, the game is setting pace for Win streak which does random gacha drops, so the 3rd battle immediately after the tutorial gives player a win streak of 2 which gives him a additional gacha rewards.

For today’s mobile gamers, On boarding needs to be easy, fast paced and a very rewarding experience or they will churn

Notice how HAYDAY on boarding starts with the most rewarding part of theHabit Loop i:e Harvesting (Which is most fun & yield rewards) and notSeeding.

In Hayday’s on-boarding Seeding/Routine part of the habit loop is taught after Harvesting/Reward part!!

Supercell never applied this learning to RTS genre, Space Ape did!

UX Comparison : Edit Mode & Base Building

As Players progress in these games, base building /customisation for better defence’s is important for strategy, cutting down losses, & progression. A lot of TA, especially advanced players in this segment care deeply about base building.

A look at some of the screens where RK does it better then CoC

Edit mode in CoC allows you to select a building…

…and move them around ONE by ONE

You can also tap on a defence object to see it’s attack range.

Press & hold on any building in RK activates a dedicated edit mode. Which has additional selection options for quicker base editing.

Multi-select button allows you to select multiple buildings at one go. You can them move as a large group for faster customisation.

Ability to select multiple objects and move them together is a great asset as your base grows, from a defence and strategy point of view.

Clicking on the Eye-Icon, shows the attack range of ALL MY DEFENCE STRUCTURES together, you can see in one glance my stronghold is not well protected, in CoC & Boom Beach I need to individually tap on each defence structure to get an approximation of my defence overlaps.

Just the fact that RK is providing advanced base editing options, understanding the friction & pain points of base restructuring in existing games is a clear indication of how the Devs. care about and are committed to improve player UX.

UX Comparison : Map Progression & Navigation

Crafting core gameplay experience for a mobile audience, which has a gamut of varying attributes and expectations, involves offering multiple paths of progression, be it for killers, Achievers, Socialiser ,or less skilled players.

It’s becoming all about catering to a wider funnel of players. Glu Mobile FPS games like Deer Hunter 2014 and CK: Sniper prove that even hard core genre like FPS can be tailored to mid-core to casual audience by offering multiple paths of progression & easing cognitive load.

Map in CoC only allows players to play single player or PvP

RK map allows players to pursue multiple paths of progress as per their preference and inclination. PvE, PvP, Clan & Social,Narration driven episodic missions, tournaments.

The map has a more free flowing, exploration/discovery feel. it also has floating navigation pins, which appear once progression nodes are off screen, players can reach the nodes in just one click by tapping on the pins and never feel he is lost on the map. this feature is present in EA’s Minion Paradise as well.

UX Comparison : Action Phase: Battle Screen

In CoC one of the main core loop friction arises from the fact that players can not make informed choices, the game finds PvE and PvP bases randomly and once on that screen player can not change his troop types or powers unless he surrenders. Which is a strategy blind spot and players do complaint about it. In Boom Beach the ability to scout before attack is a improvement, but it still mean input effort on players part to go back to base and change his troop types, multiple screen transitions and delay in battle time.

In RK the Devs. thought about this strategy blind spot. The player can not scout the enemy but has a pre-battle screen where he has the ability to change his troop types and Titans/god powers if he wants. This helps players strategize by gauging their enemies map, and knowing what they would need to counter enemy defenses. They can now make informed strategic choices without surrendering, or transitioning back to base.

Another pain point in CoC & to a extent in BB is players have to painfully wait for the war to get over (some times 1-2 minutes), once they have exhausted their units and powers. Players helplessly watch AI units destroy or get destroyed. It breaks immersion, mobile players have a very short patience threshold and can quit the game at this point.

RK tries to address this issue by providing a fast forward button, Player can quicken the pace of his victory or loss outcome, and move on to progression rather then helplessly watch over. This gives players more control and utilise their play time better.

SUMMARY:

RK on-boarding starts with reward part of the habit loop which will engage and retain the players more.

Base building & Edit mode UI gives more tools and power to the player to efficiently and quickly organise their base.

Battle phase UI allows players to make informed decision and gives more control over their strategy by being able to change their troops and powers by gauging enemy weaknesses.

Both CoC and RK have limitations when it comes to small screens as they are designed for a tablet first experience.

To define next-gen. mobile experiences, best of both games should be adopted and UX should be improved wherever these games fail to deliver in areas like better target selection in small screens, HUD optimisation on small screens and keeping information more precise and contextual. （Source: linkedin.com ）