互联网让信息服务更加普及，而游戏开发对与普通人来说也不再是个遥不可及的梦想。

GameSalad就是使其变得可行的工具之一。GameSalad是迈克尔·奥古斯丁（Michael Agustin）的智慧结晶，它通过一个视觉工具包向大众敞开了游戏开发的大门。

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GameSalad的开发者关系主管乔纳森·亨特（Jonathan Hunt）表示，“作为一名游戏设计师，迈克尔一直在寻找更好的快速开发游戏原型的方法。他的突破性表现在，从一个设计师而非程序员的角度看待游戏开发。他不明白为什么创建一个出色游戏非要编码不可。”据游戏邦了解，这位GameSalad创始人不使用代码，也能让入门级开发者轻松创建简单的2D游戏。

“使用GameSalad创建一个游戏，你永远都不需要写任何一行代码，所有的操作只是拖拽而已。你想在游戏中加入艺术元素吗？从取景窗口把它拖出来吧。想加入一个动作？从行为列表中把它拽到你选择的角色身上吧。这些都是常识，而不是编程语言。”

针对GameSalad用户的平均技术水平如何这一问题，亨特称“大多数GameSalad的用户都有编程经验，不过，我们还有Beansprites之类的开发者。Beansprites的运营者在找到GameSalad之前从未见过一行代码，但在一年之后她制作了36款iOS游戏，目前作为一名全职独立游戏开发者拥有自己的企业。”

“我们还有像Utopian Games的达伦·斯宾塞（Darren Spencer）这样的开发者，达伦领导着一个三人团队，他们从事电脑游戏研发工作已经有十年以上了。”

游戏邦获悉，成功的益智类游戏《Bumps》是Utopian Games的作品之一。斯宾塞已经积累了十五年的工作经验，他表示，“构建《Bumps》操作模型时快捷简便的体验十分神奇，因此我们决定开足马力使用GameSalad开发游戏。”

该工具包支持iPhone、iPad、iPod Touch这三个iOS平台，这吸引了许多寻求以更经济的路线进军App Store的开发者。然而，开放的标准意味着游戏质量也会产生较大差别。

平面设计师保罗·多布森（Paul Dobson）是一名GameSalad用户，在游戏设计领域并无太多经验，他使用该工具包创建了iOS游戏《Rasher Basher》。在决定使用GameSalad创建他的手机游戏之前，他在掌握该工具的使用方法上花费了几个月的时间。

“说实话，它并不像说明中那样容易。你必须了解游戏如何运行并参与其中。这与编程本身并无太大关系，更重要的是思考过程。它当然不是单纯的拖拽行为。《Rasher Basher》的创作时间仍然长达七个月以上——制图、音效、关卡设计、故事情节，这都需要时间来完成。”

多布森表示，“有许多差劲的游戏也使用GameSalad，但对制作出色的游戏所需涉及的各个方面却知之甚少。当然，你还得了解苹果的应用审核流程和资金是如何运作的。如果你希望快速取得回报，它并不是一种理想的选择。”

在这个方面，GameSalad有着明显的局限性。用户仍需花费一番功夫学会发行和推广他们的游戏。不过，它对想要磨练游戏设计能力的人来说，却是一个低成本的试验平台。

多布森认为，学习过程正是它为何同时适合初级开发者和高级编码员的原因所在，“GameSalad可以让你从枯燥的游戏制作过程中解脱出来，发挥你的积极性和技能来创造出他人可能会欣赏的东西。”（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

GameSalad: Why making games is more accessible than ever

The internet has democratised information and services like never before, and game making is one area that is now within reach of ordinary people.

GameSalad is one of the tools that is making this possible.

The brainchild of co-founder Michael Agustin, GameSalad uses a visual toolkit to open up game development to the masses.

“While working as a game designer, Michael kept searching for better methods of rapid prototyping. His breakthrough was to approach game development from a designer’s perspective, rather than a programmer’s. He didn’t understand why coding should be necessary to build a great game,” says Jonathan Hunt, director of community relations at GameSalad.

The GameSalad Creator doesn’t use code, making it well-suited for entry-level developers to build simple 2D games relatively for free.

“To build a game with GameSalad, you will never have to write a single line of code. Everything is drag and drop. You want to add art to a game? Drag it in from a finder window. You want to add a behaviour? Drag it in from the behaviour list onto the actor of your choice. It’s common sense, not a programming language.”

On the subject of how technically experienced the average GameSalad user is, Hunt says:

“The majority of GameSalad users have some experience with programming. At the same time, we have developers like Beansprites. The owner of Beansprites had never seen a line of code before finding GameSalad. One year later, she’s made 36 games for iOS and now owns a business as a full-time independent game developer.

“We also have developers like Darren Spencer of Utopian Games. Darren leads a three-person team, and they’ve been building games for PC for more than a decade.”

Utopian Games are responsible for success puzzle game Bumps. Spencer has 15 years experience already, and told us: “It was amazing how fast and easy it was to get a working prototype of Bumps so we decided to go full steam ahead and use GameSalad to develop.”

The toolkit supports all three iOS formats, a fact that has attracted many who seek a more affordable route to the App Store. However, open standards mean quality varies wildly.

A GameSalad user who has less experience in the field of game design is graphic designer Paul Dobson, who used the toolkit to build iOS game Rasher Basher. He spent several months with the toolkit before deciding to use it for his mobile game.

“The truth is, it’s not quite as easy as it makes out. You do have to understand how a game works and become involved, not so much with programming itself, but the thought process behind that. It’s certainly not a case of pure drag and drop. Rasher Basher still took more than seven months to create – graphics, sound, level design, story. That all takes time.

“There are many poor games made using GameSalad but the fundamentals involved in producing something respectable needs investment and, of course, you still have to understand exactly how the Apple process works and put money up – it’s not a tool to use if you’re just after a quick buck,” says Dobson.

In this respect, there are evidently limitations to GameSalad. And users will still have to learn about publishing and marketing their games the hard way. Nevertheless, it’s a cost-effective proving ground for those who wish to hone their game design skills.

Dobson says the learning curve is why it is well suited for entry-level developers and more advanced coders: “What GameSalad does is free you from the grind of game making and lets you use your initiative and skills to produce something that others will enjoy.”（source：casualgaming）