下图中的张希（James Zhang）是Concept Art House的首席执行官。提供高端美术服务的CAH公司在旧金山和上海都设有办事处，曾协助Zynga, Crowdstar, Rockyou, Kabam, LOLapps, Openfeint, Ngmoco等知名社交游戏和手机游戏开发公司进行视觉开发。

James-Zhang

当问及高画质是否关系游戏成败时，游戏开发商的回答各异，有的认为画面效果至关重要，而有的则认为画面效果作用不大。首先，我们了解下高画质对游戏成功有何影响：

一，提升玩家对游戏的第一印象：据数据显示，50%的Facebook的用户会在首次体验游戏后选择放弃游戏，主要原因有三：1，用户界面太复杂；2，游戏不符合玩家的预期；3，起始体验不尽如人意。而其中，优良的画面效果则可以大大地改善第三个原因。我们知道平台游戏或者电影会利用简短的预告片介绍吸引玩家。同样，新书上市也要依靠精美的封面包装吸引陌生的读者。因此，尽管画面效果或许不会对现有玩家有所影响，但却可以吸引新玩家。漫画界就有这么一句名言：

二：优化货币化渠道：虚拟商品从本质上其实就是一种数字艺术财产。玩家购买这些虚拟商品就是为了将自己的虚拟农田、城市、小镇或者帝国装饰得更加美丽，也因此越精致美观的虚拟商品售价越高。另外，社交游戏中的朋友们不免互相竞争，因此玩家都希望向对手展示的战利品真的可以令对手向往，物有所值。

三，激烈的竞争：社交游戏也算是高质量的视觉媒介。随着社交游戏产业的不断发展，玩家拥有更多的游戏选择。因此拥有优质的画面效果也可以提升游戏的竞争力，尤其针对耗时较短的休闲游戏玩家和网页浏览者。目前来看，几乎所有的热门手机和社交游戏都有引人入胜的画面效果，尽管这并不是游戏取得成功的主要原因。

接下来，我们比较看看画面效果对哪类社交游戏最为重要。

一，益智游戏

Puzzle Games

画面效果在益智类游戏中并的作用并不明显。类似《宝石迷阵》的游戏中不论玩家移动的是宝石、水果还是排球，益智类游戏的体验都大同小异，主要都是解决问题，获取胜利，而不是在于装饰空间或者经营饭店。然而，Aurora Feint算是益智类游戏中的例外，该款游戏的开发商根据黑妖精故事建造一个拥有企划生物和魔法的游戏背景。

二，资源管理类游戏

Resource Management Games

Diner Dash等资源管理类游戏的主要体验是快速地执行各种管理决定，但其中Flo的创业故事十分有趣。在这款游戏中，要有够精美的画面效果令玩家置身其中，但同时又要塑造出Flo这样一位拼搏勤奋的年轻企业家。尽管不需要类似迪士尼动画般的画面效果，这类游戏还是需要给玩家一种强烈和协调的画面感，体现出这一品牌的风格。

三，文本类角色扮演游戏

Text-Based RPGs--Legacy of a Thousand Suns

对于Mafia War，Castle Age或Kingdoms of Camelot等文本类角色扮演游戏而言，画面效果至关重要。如果没有运用插画推动游戏体验进展的话，玩家所面对的只是复杂的文本菜单和数字，这将无法提起玩家的游戏兴趣。

最近通过与5th Planet Games进行合作，我们发布可一款文本类角色扮演游戏Legacy of a Thousand Suns。通过这款游戏，我们希望在Facebook游戏中体验到类似电影的精良画质。在这类注重“完成任务”的Facebook游戏中，画面效果，故事情节和背景音乐等元素都关系着游戏体验的成功与失败。

针对这款游戏，我们进行了多次概念创作，使用先进又便于操作的用户界面系统。尽管尚不能知道这款游戏的产品价值是否能确实地转换为MAU和DAU，但通过对早期玩家的调查，大部分玩家都十分喜爱这款游戏的画面风格。

四，装饰经营类游戏

Decoration Management Games

装饰经营类游戏是2010年最主要的一种Facebook游戏，如FamrVille和Happy Aquarium等。这些游戏的虚拟商品货币化主要取决去游戏道具的美观程度。尽管有部分玩家在乎的是数字上的利益（如盈利或冷却时间等），也有部分玩家喜欢购买各种可爱特别的道具。对第二种玩家人群而言，画面效果可以驱使他们进行游戏内购物。

正是由于精美的画面效果及多样化的游戏体验，装饰经营类游戏获得了广大游戏玩家的欢迎。其中，Happy Element公司出品的My Kingdom游戏就采用了精美的3D画效使得游戏中的每款道具精美得好比收藏用的迷你版玩具。同样，LOLapps旗下的Ravenwood Fair也凭借着类似Arthur Rackham或Brian Froud的奇幻派插画风格获得了玩家的广泛好评。

该两款游戏凭借其精致的画面效果从Zynga公司的“Ville”系列游戏和Playdom的城市建设类游戏中脱颖而出。而对于s Crime City和Mall World等游戏，装饰也是玩家升级的主要动力，当然玩家还可以在游戏中进行各种其他活动。对于Ravenwood Fair或My Kingdom这些装饰占有很大比重的游戏，画面效果起着至关重要的作用。

总结

尽管陈列了上述例子，人们对画面效果的重要性仍然不尽相同。以上为了支持画面效果重要的这一论点我提出了三大原因：1，有利于提高玩家对游戏的第一印象；2，提高虚拟商品的价值；3，延长玩家的游戏时间。以上三点事关游戏是否能在目前竞争激烈的市场中取得成功。因此，我们所面临的问题并不是高质量画效是否重要，而是这一重要元素的具有何种水平的价值。

有数据显示，现在一款Facebook游戏的平均开发消费在20万美元到40万美元之间，其中20%到30%投入在艺术画面效果。最近由于很多社交游戏公司追求平台游戏般的画面效果，因此我们公司的整体画面花费也有所提高。对比2009年，2010年很多公司在游戏介绍，全彩背景绘画和游戏风格开发方面的要求都有所提高。在2011年我期望这一趋势继续盛行，将社交游戏的画面效果带到一个新的高度。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

[Editor's note: James Zhang is CEO of Concept Art House, a high-end art service provider based in San Francisco and Shanghai, China. CAH has done visual development work for top social and mobile game companies including Zynga, Crowdstar, Rockyou, Kabam, LOLapps, Openfeint, and Ngmoco.]

When asked if high quality art matters in social games, developers’ responses vary widely. To some, art is absolutely critical, while others treat it as an after-thought of game design.  To quantitatively answer such a subjective question, let’s look at some ways that high quality visuals might directly affect the success of a game.

* Increase retention on initial install: On average, over 50% of initial Facebook installs are lost after the first minute of gameplay, for one of three reasons:  the UI is too complicated, the game is not what the player expected, or the ‘intro’ experience wasn’t appealing enough. Art can drastically improve the last of these elements. Consider console games or movies, which often rely on a trailer or intro to bring the player into the story. A new book may need a great cover for an unfamiliar reader to pick it up. While art may not matter as much for players already engaged in a game, it is extremely important in converting new players.  As the saying in the comic book industry goes: The artwork sells the first book, the story sells the series.
* Better monetization: Virtual goods are, by nature, digital art assets. Vanity purchases for premium items that simply make your virtual farm/city/ville/kingdom more beautiful are often based on the aesthetic or ‘cuteness’ of the art asset alone, and more appeal equals more buys at higher prices. Additionally, if friendly competition is a draw for aggressively building your space, then the trophy “check out what I got” assets should look like something worth grinding or paying for. Therefore, high quality art not only command higher prices and more buys, it can also prolong the duration of gameplay.
* Competition is stiff: Social games are highly visual mediums. As competition increases in this industry, players have ever more options for where to spend their time and money. Having ‘better’ art than a competing game can mean the difference in winning a player over a competitor, especially when combined with the short attention spans of the casual gamer/web-surfer. On close examination, almost all top games on mobile and social platforms have cohesive, appealing art styles, even if graphics are not the primary reason for a product’s success in the market.

To examine further, we can look at what social games are heavily art dependent and which are not.
Puzzle Games

The value of art is not as high for a puzzle game, as it is for a resource management game (more on these below). For a Bejeweled-style game, the gameplay experience will be largely similar whether the moving assets are jewels, fruits, or beach balls. The experience is about the problem solving and accomplishment, not to dazzle neighbors or feed hungry customers.

The exception to this rule is a title like the Aurora Feint series, a puzzle game for which the developers took extra care to build up a background fantasy world with creatures and magic out of a dark fairy tale. The added screen size of the iPad also allows more creative graphic additions to the standard puzzle game.
Resource Management Games

Although a resource management game like Diner Dash is played by making good game decisions, the game is made compelling by Flo and her story. Here, the art quality needs to be good enough to engage the player in the game activity while still gently reminding him or her that Flo is a young woman trying to succeed as a young entrepreneur. While the developer may not need a full team of Disney animators to pull of these graphics, the visuals need to be strong, coherent, and reinforce a brand every time the game is fired up.

Text-Based RPGs

For text-based RPG titles such as Mafia Wars and Castle Age or illustration heavy games such as Kingdoms of Camelot, the art is extremely important.  Simply put, without the key illustrations to propel the experience forward, the player is left staring at a complex menu of text and numbers, with no game immersion or bad art as payoff.

Players look forward to being rewarded by banner art saying “here’s your new sports car,” after succeeding in a series of hard-fought battles. As with the resource management style of gaming, even if the player rarely looks at their avatar, the gritty style of the Mafia Wars title becomes the brand that gets reinforced through visual elements from the dark colors to the story panels of fast cars, tough mobsters, and seedy alleys.

In collaboration with 5th Planet Games, we released a text-based RPG game called Legacy of a Thousand Suns earlier this week. Our focus was to bring a cinematic, console quality experience into a Facebook game. In a sub-genre of Facebook games that’s focused on ‘do quest’ button clicking, we knew that artwork, storytelling, music, can make or break an otherwise monotonous experience.

Our process included multiple rounds of concept art, an opening cinematic, and an advanced UI system that was still simple to use. While it’s still early to say whether the high production value translates into MAUs and DAUs, the early fan and consumer reviews have been very vocal about how much they love the art.

Decoration Management Games

Despite fewer new releases in 2010, the largest market share of on Facebook still goes to decoration management games like FarmVille and Happy Aquarium. The monetization of virtual goods in these games can be dependent on how visually desirable an asset is. While some players only look at statistical benefits (earn more money, faster cool-downs), other players (such as my girlfriend) will buy anything cute or anything Unicorn. In the latter case, art drives monetization, whether through the number of items sold or the amount they’re sold for.

The successful games in this genre have done so with either stand-out visuals or by expanding to a variety of gameplay. Happy Element’s My Kingdom (above) adopted a bright and colorful 3D look which makes each building asset look like a collectable miniature toy.  LOLapps’ Ravenwood Fair (below) has received considerable praise for their look which is reminiscent of Arthur Rackham or Brian Froud’s fantasy illustrations.

These 2 games used quality artwork to distinguish their game from Zynga’s ‘ville’ series or Playdom’s pastel colored social city game titles. For games such as Crime City and Mall World, decoration is still a core motivator to raise levels in order to improve your ‘hoods’ or store. However, there are plenty of other things to do to keep you busy such as robbing record stores or buying a puppy.

Games that rely heavily on decorations as the key drivers in the game (such as Ravenwood Fair and My Kingdom), graphics become extremely important.  Where decorations are a supporting feature, the emphasis on premium visuals is less so.
Summary

Despite the above examples, great graphics remain a subjective factor for social game developers. To help further refine the argument that it is valuable, I consider three areas related to those discussed above: retaining initial installs of new players, better monetization of virtual goods, and extending game-play durations. These areas all play a large part in a games’ success or failure in an increasingly competitive market.  The question then becomes not whether high quality is important, but the level or value of that importance.

Average Facebook game development costs (excluding marketing) range from $200,000 to $400,000, with 20 to 35 percent dedicated to art and graphics. My own company has seen significant increases in overall art budgets as more companies seek production values on the level of console games. Comparing 2009 to 2010, this year we’re seeing more requests for game intros, fully painted ‘matte painting’ quality backgrounds, and long preproduction cycles for R&D, game style development, and character explorations. For 2011, I fully expect the trend to continue to ever-higher budgets and higher caliber art direction. （Source：Inside Social Games）