作者：Brice Morrison

此前在谈论Game Design Canvas时，我们就谈及美学布局，就是令游戏富有美学特色的图形、音效和互动元素。许多游戏都因玩法而备受推崇，但鲜少有游戏因有趣美学设计而受到赞誉。

但这是非常适合进行创新的领域。着眼图形、音效或互动元素也能够创造游戏独创性和有趣内容，但此方式颇受忽视。在童年体验的游戏中，我最喜欢的内容大多和小小美学惊喜有关，这些内容不是源自游戏的基础机制或奖惩系统，而是产生于开发商意图让内容超越游戏，创造真实世界体验的有趣构思。

下文中我将重点谈论3个我最喜欢的美学惊喜，这些内容都让我兴奋不已。通过以开发心态看待游戏核心体验，开发者能够轻松在自己的作品中创造这些体验。跳出固有思维亦能够让你的游戏变得引人注目；这无疑是我们会在线或亲自同伙伴玩家分享的内容。

下面是3款游戏的美学设计。

《星际回归线》的秘密字母

Star Tropics from destructoid.com

我和这款游戏已是老朋友。在这款搭载任天堂Entertainment System的精致动作探险游戏中，玩家将航行全球搜寻走失的叔叔。谜题游戏非常简单，主要包含祖玛式按键和开关挑战。此战斗机制非常有趣，音乐富有生气；是款非常不错的游戏。

但令我兴奋不已的游戏内容是玩家需寻找秘密口令。游戏角色告诉玩家其需将字母浸入水中。游戏从字母开始，出乎意料的是当将字母浸入水中时，画面就出现数字“747”。哇！真正机密信息由水激活。这令玩家深深融入此热带世界中；真是巧妙的设计。

《合金装备》的Psycho Mantis

Metal Gear Solid from metalgear.wikia.com

《合金装备》堪称经典之作。这款Playstation热作令呆板的原生内容起死回生，合理设置曲折内容和故事元素。这里我们主要着眼游戏的互动设计。

在某环节的游戏内容中，Snake遇到敌人Psycho Mantis（游戏邦注：他能够控制Snake的理智）。然后它就开始被动地移动，仿佛有人点击控制器按钮，最后上校会告诉玩家他需摆脱Psycho Mantis。由于控制操作取决于控制器，实现此目标的方式就是将控制器从P1端口拔开，插入P2端口。这是非常有趣的小技巧。

《Trace Memory》的邮票

Trace Memory from infendo.com

《Trace Memory》是款搭载任天堂DS的有趣梦幻游戏（游戏邦注：这款游戏的商业成就不大）。但我不久前才完整体验整款游戏，我非常喜欢游戏的诱人故事和非暴力谜题。虽然游戏算不上我的最爱，但确实存在某些令我着迷的内容。

在某环节的游戏内容中，玩家需往某些纸张粘邮票，从而在游戏中前进。玩家被告知邮票需粘在屏幕反面的纸张上，但如何进行此操作是个谜团。最后玩家会发现自己需合上任天堂DS，仿佛它是本真正的集邮册，从将某屏幕上的墨水印到另一屏幕。这是非常巧妙的设计，很多DS游戏都效仿此策略，但这确实给故事内容增添颇多色彩。

注意事项

所有这些元素都非常有趣，将这些内容融入作品中定能够获得预期效果。但值得注意的是，这些元素都属于美学设计，而非基础机制。大家最常犯的错误是将这些元素融入整款游戏，而非单个内容。但将这些互动设计视作游戏机制会惹祸上身。若玩家需改变控制器端口，合上DS，或不止一次浸湿纸张，游戏就会变得乏味，体验就会受到破坏。原因是玩家已掌握游戏所需的单互动操作；融入更多内容会让游戏变得枯燥和重复。所以确保内容不要持久过久，超出玩家的期望。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Making Jump-Out-Of-Your-Seat Moments in a Game

by Brice Morrison

In our final article detailing the Game Design Canvas, we talked about the Aesthetic Layout, the icing on the cake, the visuals and sounds and interaction methods that give games their artistic spark.  Many games are revered for their gameplay, but not as many games nowadays are praised for fun Aesthetic Layouts.

However, this is still an area ripe for innovation.  Playing with visuals, sound, or interaction in a way that hasn’t been done before is a highly underestimated way to add originality and memorable moments to games.  Some of my all time favorite anecdotes from childhood game experiences come from these little Aesthetic surprises, that are built not from the Base Mechanics or the P&R Systems, but from the developer’s fun ideas about making it more than a game and bringing it into a real world experience.

To illustrate, I’d like to highlight three of my favorite Aesthetic surprises, all of which made me practically jump out of my seat and say, “Wow!  This is so fun!”  With an open mind centered around a game’s Core Experience, developers can easily create these kinds of moments in their own games.  Thinking outside the box in this area also makes your game very noteworthy; it’s definitely the kind of moment that would be shared online or in person with fellow players.

Note that this post contains spoilers for all three of these titles.  So if you’re ready, my three picks for the best jump-out-of-your-seat-moments:

Star Tropics’ Secret Letter

This one goes waaaaaaay back.  In this tidy little action adventure title for the Nintendo Entertainment System, the player sailed and yo-yo’d all over the world in search of their lost uncle.  The puzzles were simple, consisting mostly of Zelda-style button and switch challenges.  The battle system was fun and the music was snappy; not a bad title in my book.

But the moment that made this a jump out of your chair game for me was when you needed to find a secret password.  A character in the game told you that you needed to dip his letter in water.  The game came with a letter which, surprise surprise, revealed the numbers “747″ when dipped in water.  Wow!  A real secret message that was activated by water!  This made players really feel immersed in this tropical world; a real treat.

Metal Gear Solid’s Psycho Mantis

Metal Gear Solid is such a classic.  The Playstation juggernaut that revived a dead franchise had its fair share of twists and turns and story elements.  We could probably spend an entire post or more talking about the ways Metal Gear Solid manipulated its Aesthetic Layout for the player’s benefit and excitement.  But for the purposes of this discussion, I want to focus on one specific moment that involved manipulating the Interaction Design.

During one portion of the game, Snake encounters an enemy named Psycho Mantis that has the power to control his mind.  Moving Snake around as though someone else were pressing the controller buttons, the Colonel eventually tells the player that they need to break free from Psycho Mantis’ control.  And since control is dictated by the controller, the way to do this is to unplug the controller from the P1 port and put it into the P2 port.  A fancy little trick indeed.

Trace Memory’s Stamps

Trace Memory was a fun little mystery game for the Nintendo DS that didn’t seem to make a huge commercial splash.  Nevertheless, I played through the entire game a while ago and really enjoyed the endearing story and the non-violent puzzle solving.  While the game wasn’t one of my all time favorites, it did contain a moment that blew my mind.

In one part of the game, the player was required to stamp some paper to progress in the game.  The player was told that the stamps needed to be pressed onto paper shown on the opposite screen, but actually how to perform this action was left as a mystery.  Eventually, you figure out that you need to actually close the Nintendo DS as though it was an actual stamp book, thus putting the ink on one screen onto the other screen.  It was a really neat moment that I’m sure was replicated in many other DS games, but it really helped to give that section of the story an extra umph.

Caveat

All of these moments were fun, and it’s difficult to mess something like this up when putting them into your own titles.  It’s important to realize, however, that these little moments are part of the Aesthetic Layout, not the Base Mechanics.  The most common mistake is to try and incorporate them into the entire game instead of just a single moment.  However, trying to treat these Interaction Design tricks as Mechanics is asking for trouble.  If the player has to change controller ports, close the DS, or soak paper more than once, it’s going to get monotonous, and the experience is ruined.  The reason is that the player has already mastered the single interaction that’s required; anything more is boring and repetitive.  So be careful that you don’t overstay your welcome.（Source：thegameprodigy）