游戏邦在:
杂志专栏:
gamerboom.com订阅到鲜果订阅到抓虾google reader订阅到有道订阅到QQ邮箱订阅到帮看

人物专访:wooga产品经理谈游戏设计要点

发布时间:2011-07-13 01:26:08 Tags:,

Alena Delacruz是德国社交游戏开发商wooga的产品经理,近期接受Jetztspielen.de的采访,谈论开发游戏的感觉以及对其他有兴趣进入该领域的人的建议。Alena在美国麻省理工学院学习建筑学。她从2009年起在wooga担任产品经理,对《Bubble Island》和《Bubble Party》这两款游戏的发布都有所帮助。目前,她正在《Monster World》开发团队中工作。以下是游戏邦编译的访谈内容:

Monster World(from gamesfacebook.net)

Monster World(from gamesfacebook.net)

时常有人表示从事游戏开发的都是男性,而且整天都待在房间里盯着电脑,是这样的吗?

这种想法听起来很好玩,但把游戏玩家或开发者当成这样的人确有不当。现代游戏开发者应该多接触他们的受众。最佳方法便是招募那些热衷参与社交活动且又有游戏开发背景和兴趣的人。

你觉得玩家的身份是否会对成为游戏开发者起到作用?

我同意这种看法。从本质上来说,钟爱你所制作的东西会让工作变得更有激情,遇到难题也更容易解决。

在这个行业起步有多困难?

这取决于你感兴趣的是行业哪个领域的内容。那些制作大预算和国际品牌游戏的公司可能偏爱资深开发者,但小型游戏公司或社交游戏和手机游戏等新兴市场的门路要广得多。

成为游戏开发者需要掌握何种技能?

通常来说,你需要理解所选择领域中的竞争性,能够提出鼓励玩家进行游戏任务的想法并可以将这些概念传达给玩家。而且,游戏开发者还必须有学习各种不同技能的意愿。

成为游戏开发者需要接受何种教育?

游戏设计这门教育课程还相对较新。然而,大学逐渐开始开设游戏设计课程,有些还设有学位。Vancouver Film School之类的学校甚至直接与游戏公司展开合作。还有些学校进行更为概念化和实验性的游戏设计研究,比如Georgia Institute of Technology。

从某种程度上来说,德国在游戏开发行业中的关注度仍较低。先进入外国公司学习是否是个开启职业生涯的良好方法呢?

不一定需要这么做,因为德国也有许多受国际认可的游戏公司,比如《孤岛危机2》的开发商Crytek Studios。尤其是柏林,有着大量的新兴社交游戏开发商,如wooga。这些公司都可以给学习相关领域知识的学生提供实习的机会。

现在你还能从玩游戏中找到乐趣吗?抑或是带有更具批判性的观点?

这要看玩的是什么游戏了。如果游戏的题材接近或者这是我所开发游戏的题材,那么我会带着批判性的看法来审视游戏中的互动形式或新颖事物。正是由于游戏各不相同,所以我才会有不同的体验。

玩自己的游戏感觉如何?

玩自己制作的游戏显得更具技术性而不是真正的“有趣”。这是个不断确认游戏流程是否有效或发现接下来需要修改之处的过程。换句话说,以专业化的观点来更新和扩展当前游戏的特征。

新的创意性想法和标准哪个更重要?

创意性很重要,但实践更加重要。多数玩家都对某题材游戏的样式有着普遍的理解。过分改变已确立的方法可能会适得其反,为新手玩家带来不必要的麻烦。比如,多数社交游戏把好友列表放在游戏窗口下方,经验、能量和声望条放在顶端。如果将这些元素任意摆放,玩家或许会在游戏初期感到茫然。他们选择离开游戏的可能性会更大,而不是想去学习新的游戏系统。

发行商对开发商作品的影响力有多大?

社交游戏行业中,发行商和开发商的地位与传统游戏并不相同。事实上,社交游戏行业并没有真正的发行商。

你在工作中与哪些职业的人密切配合?

项目主管、图像艺术师、编程员、质量管理测试员、翻译人员等。游戏通常都需要团队成员协作完成,小型游戏成员数量在5到15之间,复杂主机游戏的团队成员可能多达200人。

各平台间的编程和开发是否存在显著差异?

将游戏从一个平台移植到另一个平台是个充满技巧性的工作。并非所有的游戏功能都会在新平台中发挥自己的作用。不同平台有着不同的框架尺寸要求和不同的导航界面,这会影响用户尝试游戏的想法和付费意愿,甚至包括互动方式也会不同。将游戏从一个社交网络移植到另一个之上很困难,但将主机游戏移植到PC上同样也会面临诸多挑战。举个例子,成功搬上主机系统的MMO游戏并不多见。

你还会继续从事这个职业吗?

当然。我觉得自己所做的工作有趣、富有创意性且充满挑战。

社交游戏简单和休闲的发展趋势如何影响游戏行业?

社交游戏是游戏市场中的新兴产物,不再是传统的“先买后玩”的游戏。通过Facebook之类门户网站登录游戏的玩家也许最初并非因游戏而来。或许他们并非电脑狂,没有足够的时间和兴趣去体验传统游戏。因而,对这部分用户群体而言,可在短时间内体验的机制简单且强调社交互动的游戏或许是个较好的选择,其中之一便是《Monster World》。

对有抱负成为游戏开发者的人有何建议?

玩各种类型和题材的游戏。努力理解游戏中潜藏的创意、样式和重复发生的游戏循环。努力发掘游戏中吸引玩家的要素以及奖励系统如何发挥作用。有许多研究材料值得开发者看一看,比如Tracy Fullerton编写的《Game Design Workshop》。最后,开始设计小游戏或向游戏公司求职,从设计游戏的过程中学习经验。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Do You Want to Become a Game Designer?

Alena Delacruz, Product Manager at wooga, was recently interviewed by Jetztspielen.de (German Version) about what it is like to develop games, and what her advice would be to other people interested in getting into the field. Alena studied Architecture in the U.S. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Since 2009, she has been a Product Manager at wooga, and has helped to launch two games: Bubble Island, and Bubble Party. She is currently working on the Monster World development team.

It’s often said that game development is dominated by men with glasses who’ve only heard rumors of the sun and spend 24 hours of each day on the computer – What is it really like?

The stereotype is amusing but seeing gamers or developers in that way is a bit reductive. To be competitive, modern games should be interested in expanding their audience reach. The best way to do this is to have socially-engaged professionals with a wide variety of backgrounds and hobbies develop these games.

Becoming a game developer is the absolute dream job of most gamers. Do you feel that way?

I agree. Fundamentally enjoying what you do can make the accomplishments more exciting and the difficulties more manageable.

How difficult is it to get started in the industry?

It depends on which area of the industry a person would be interested in. Games with large budgets and internationally recognized brands will always have a glut of talent and may prefer to develop additional talent in-house. For smaller game companies or newer markets, like Social or Mobile gaming, there are larger windows of entry.

What skills do you need to ‘bring’ as a prospective developer?

Generally, an understanding of the competition in your chosen field, ideas of how to encourage players to perform in-game tasks, and a method of conveying these concepts to others. Also, a willingness to jump-in and learn a myriad of different skills is essential.

What educational opportunities are there?

Game Design as an educational tract is still relatively new. However, universities are increasingly promoting undergraduate design courses with a few beginning to develop advanced degree options. Some even have direct connections with established game companies in their alumni network, like the Vancouver Film School. Others deal with more conceptual and experimental game design studies, ex. Georgia Institute of Technology.

In many ways, Germany is still behind the rest of the world concerning game development. Is an entry level position/internship in a foreign country a good way to start your career?

This isn’t altogether necessary as Germany has a number of game companies that range from small to large to internationally recognized like Crytek Studios, the developer of Crysis 2. Berlin, specifically, has a burgeoning tech scene with a number of social game developers like wooga. Any of these could be an internship opportunity for students that have studied related fields but not necessarily game design.

Do you still have fun playing games, or have you become too critical?

It depends on the game. With games that are in or near the genre that I develop for, my eye can become quite critical when I notice a new interaction or an oddity. Games that are very different can allow for me to have more freedom with my enjoyment of the experience.

What is it like to play your own games?

Playing a game you’ve helped to develop can feel more technical than strictly “fun.” It can become a process of constantly confirming that a flow in a game is/isn’t working or listing what to correct next or review later. On the other hand, you gain a specialized knowledge that is helpful when updating or expanding on current game’s features.

Is it easy to come up with new, creative ideas, or are pre-set standards more important?

Creativity is important but best practices are good tools to have in your repertoire. Most players will have a general understanding of what a game in a genre will look and play like. Changing too many established practices can be jarring and unnecessarily difficult for novice players. For example, most social games will have a friend list at the bottom of the game play window and an experience/energy/reputation bar along the top. If these progress bars would be randomly re-arranged, players may feel lost in the early stages of game play and may be more likely to leave rather than learn a new system of organization.

How much influence does a publisher have over the work of developers?

The roles of publishers and developers in the social gaming industry is very different. Actually, the social gaming industry doesn’t have publishers.

What other types of professionals do you work closely with?

Project managers, graphic artists, programmers, quality assurance testers, translators, etc. Games are generally large collaborative efforts with team sizes ranging from 5 to 15 for smaller games and upwards of 200 for very complex console games.

Are the programming and development details for particular platforms very specific, or can they be easily migrated across platforms?

Translating a game from one platform to another can be tricky. Not all of a game’s features will work in the same way or would make sense for a platform with a significantly smaller/larger user-base. Different platforms can have different frame size requirements, different navigational interfaces that can influence how users are encouraged to try a game, different payment options, even interaction methods. Bringing a game from one social networking site to another can be difficult, but moving a console game to PC or vice versa can be extremely challenging. A good example of the latter would be researching how many successful MMO titles have been moved to console systems.

Would you pursue this career again?

Absolutely. I find the work that I do fun, creative and challenging.

How has the trend towards simple, casual, social games affected the industry?

Social games capture a different area of the gaming market than the traditional “purchase then play” games. Players that enter through a portal like Facebook aren’t initially logging onto this platform just for play. They may be less computer-savvy, less capable of large time commitments or disinterested in traditional gaming experiences. So, games that can be played in small time-frames, with simpler mechanics, and an emphasis on social organization and advancement through artistic expression may be a better fit for this user group. A good example of this would be Monster World.

Finally: Do you have any advice for aspiring game developers?

Play lots of games in a variety of styles and genres. Work to understand the underlying assumptions, patterns, and game loops that recur. Try to discover why you like playing games and how the games that you play reinforce a reward system. There are many research materials that can help to develop a vocabulary for games that are worth investing in, ex. Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton. Finally, start to design small games or apply for an entry level position in a game company. Learn by doing. (Source: Wooga)


上一篇:

下一篇: