作者：Jana Reinhardt

虽然beta状态的游戏、网站或软件总是带有“香蕉软件”（“让它在用户手中成熟”）的感觉，但测试及运用功能完整但存在漏洞的内容版本如今非常盛行。

相比beta版本，游戏的alpha版本并未落实多数功能或关卡。游戏不过是个需要具体化及裹以漂亮皮肤的骨架，丰富之后大家方能判断此新内容会迈向何处。有些开发者甚至只呈现一个供你行走的网格，作为首个玩法样本。

游戏开发何以步入这一阶段，仅出售细微玩法内容？我们是否真的那般如饥似渴？如今为什么出现如此多前alpha内容？

碰巧的是，我是其中一员，会在早期开发阶段出售自己的游戏。虽然我们通过这种方案促成不完整文化，且这（游戏邦注：尤其是就独立游戏而言）能够建立一定名气，但下面我将就alpha内容发表自己的几点看法。

用户

首先——为什么玩家要接受这些早期版本？这是你在出售半成品时应该自问的事情。你的论证要非常清晰，尤其是如果你希望预期作品能够创造丰厚收益。若你有等待你作品的粉丝，这会令事情简单化：

—折扣

清晰把握游戏完工后的潜在价值，给予明显折扣（如50%）。玩家喜欢折扣，希望通过耐心等待获得差价，他们非常信任你的潜在项目。

—“在完工前进行试验”

只有那些资助你的玩家能够在初期状态试验你的玩法。若你有独特玩法，以及迫切想要进行试验的粉丝，那么这非常有说服力。若玩家现在能够获得类似风格的玩法，那他们为什么要再等1年？务必清楚说明当前版本包含什么功能，未来更新内容将添加什么元素。

—“资助你的开发者”

有众多粉丝和用户支持你的游戏类型是件好事！若你已有粉丝，你应清楚说明，为什么你需要这些资金，具体用途是什么。

因此许多开发者都会在原价和包含声道、插图之类更多附加元素的高价版本中植入不同alpha包裹。例如，Tale of Tales成功推出公司未来新作《Bientôt l’été》的“奢华”版本，内容售价32美元，而非原来的8美元。

—“参与我们的游戏开发”

你有权决定让玩家在多大程度上参与至开发过程中，但不要只是因为这听起来不错而采纳此观点。大家喜欢自己思考构思和解决方案。如果你邀请他们参与其中，那么在更新内容中也不要忘记这点。

—“观察游戏发展”

定期更新的alpha内容是个可玩的定时版本。在各更新内容中，目标更加清晰，更加美观，融入各种纹理、角色和装饰品（至少这是我们的计划）。许多人喜欢秘密查看内容。结合博客和视频文件，观看游戏发展是个有趣过程。

虽然我是位游戏设计师，但我本身也是位玩家。我尝试过许多alpha内容，喜欢体验处于初级状态的潜在作品。经常在媒体尚未“一睹芳容”前体验这些游戏。

但下述弊端抵消上述所有有利条件：玩家无法确定他们所购买的游戏最终是否会完工！出现越多alpha内容，越多开发者就会中止他们的项目，或者从此不再出现。

我们希望通过更新内容和记录信息消除这一印象。即便因面临不同合约或其他情况中间存在较大开发暂停期，你也应该向玩家传递这类信息。

开发者

但说实话：从alpha内容中受益最多的是开发者。推广半成品游戏的方式有很多：

—资助你的游戏！

当然，alpha内容的曝光度不及成品内容。此状态的内容很难得到认可，被大家认真看待或是得到资助。我们需要每月出售800份内容，方能脱离任何外包工作（基于《TRI》当前的5美元标准，相当节约型的生活方式）。

但我们有望在未来的更新内容中实现这一目标。

—按部就班的营销更加简单

关于营销，我犯下众多错误。过晚撰写新闻发布稿，忘记内容需要经过测试，新闻需要经过特定网站的审核。时机是我永远无法正确把握的元素！

在我看来，推广alpha游戏更加简单。你未能撰写有关上个更新内容的相关文字？很快就会有一个优化内容的更新版本，包含优质角色图像和专属空间装饰品。

要做到游戏一完工就将其推向市场非常困难。一切都需要配合此特定的时间范围。在alpha内容中，你可以尝试不同营销方案，失败惩罚也不会那么严峻。

—反馈和游戏测试

alpha版本的一个突出优点在于，我们所进行的调查。很多用户通过回答他们喜欢&讨厌哪些内容，在何处受困参与其中。当然我们有在总部和朋友共同进行游戏测试。但安排10个以上人员进行自发测试（而非碍于友谊情面）非常重要！

除此之外，你还可以查看，你的游戏是否真的吸引眼球，或者最好削减开发内容。

—在初期开发阶段摆脱失误！

你不确定玩家是否会喜欢特定功能，或者你发现，“有些”玩家偶然遇到特定障碍？你的游戏会因各更新内容而变得更加杰出。起初没有尽善尽美的必要。但当然，游戏需要具有可玩性，让玩家大致知晓首个版本之后会有什么东西！

你为什么不应基于(前)alpha状态发行游戏？

这听起来像是，alpha内容对所有人来说都很方便。我们都应该将半成品作品推向市场。毫无疑问，避免这么做的原因有很多。

—有损你的声誉

若你没有什么名气——不要担心，我想alpha内容将会非常适合你。但若你以发行精致、美观的作品著称，你就应该考虑避免制作pre-alpha内容。

另一丧失良好信誉的例子是，在较长延误后获得差评，这一情况曾出现在《Survivors of Ragnarök》上，这是款俏皮的像素沙盒模式城建管理生存游戏。开发者基于alpha状态出售游戏，但未能持续推出更新内容及修复漏洞，这惹恼许多粉丝，最终导致游戏在Desura获得不必要的差评！

愤世嫉俗的人看什么都不顺眼，即便沟通顺畅，更新内容杰出。若你无法忍受这类批评声音，那就不要发行alpha内容！

—“这款游戏已完工？”

这是alpha内容出现沟通失败时，你会听到的质疑。很多人会根据眼前所见做出评判（游戏邦注：即便知道这不是最终版本）。有些玩家会因游戏存在漏洞、控制迟缓、保存内容缺失或糟糕纹理而放弃体验。

—“你现在是否能够改变这一情况？”

你的游戏拥有越多玩家，改变特定玩法的需求就越多。较早发行游戏意味着，你需要持续针对公众测试人员和玩家更新内容。

若你觉得撰写博客与发行可玩内容非常烦人，那么开发游戏，出售alpha版本显然不会是你想做的事情。

平台

虽然我们建议在出售alpha内容时采用自己的网站，但我们也通过Desura出售我们的半成品游戏。Indievania也接受alpha和beta内容，但注意：你选择的平台越多，确保所有玩家持续跟进的难度就越大。

* Desura

—通过客户服务更新信息

—自己的alpha内容类别

—允许不同alpha版本

—费用：15-30%

* Indievania

—通过客户服务更新信息

—游戏能够贴上“原型”、“alpha”和“beta”标识

—正常价格不收费

虽然有15-30%的销售收益被留在Desura中，但你能够因此获得更多关注，尤其是他们能够同IndieDB建立有效的直接联系。

总结

alpha融资目前暂不适合我们，虽然我们试图在未来的更新内容中这么做。但我们的游戏高度受益于我们在头几周所获得的反馈信息，尤其是在评估调查之后。通过网络分析和转换率，我们清楚知晓，游戏本身表现不错，但我们需要呈现更优质的图像和玩法视频。当前内容看起来有些平庸，或者说没有向多数玩家展现足够的玩法功能。

没有封闭alpha内容及演示样本，我们无法获得诚实评论及有效关注。就如我上面提到的，所有这些alpha版本会给独立开发者创造一定的不完整名气，但另一方面，我们需要独立利用各种资源制作出自己的游戏。

希望我有充分向你介绍alpha内容，或者改变你对它们的看法。

关于我们游戏《TRI》的alpha内容

《TRI》是融入空间谜题的第一人称3D游戏。它的灵感来自于《Porta》、《Thief》和《塞尔达》。主要玩法包括：你制作三角形以创建平台，克服障碍，在墙上行走，反射光线和激光等。

最终游戏将售价约10美元，我们网站tri-game.com和Desura平台给予玩家50%的折扣。（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）

Why we released a pre-alpha version of our game

by Jana Reinhardt

Although games, websites or software in beta state always have the touch of banana software (“ripens at the customer’s”), testing and using a feature-complete, but buggy version is popular these days. You don’t even recognize the “beta”-button anymore.

In contrast to the beta, the alpha version of a game lacks the implementation of most features, levels or functions. The game is just a skeleton that needs to be fleshed out and wrapped into a nice skin, before anyone can estimate where this new thing will walk to. Some developers go even so far to present just a grid you can walk on as a first gameplay demo.

How did game development come this far, to sell even the slightest appearance of gameplay? Are we that desperate? And why do so many of these pre-pre-alphas pop-up these days?

Coincidentally I’m one of them, selling my game in an early development phase. Although we fuel a culture of incompleteness with this approach, that – above all when it comes to indie games – creates a certain reputation, I try to give you some insights on my opinion about alphas.

The customer

First of all – why should a player be bothered with this early versions? This is a question you should ask yourself when you sell an unfinished product. Your argumentation should be clear, more so if you want money for your game-to-be-made. If you have fans that really wait for your game, this will make some things easier:

- Discount

Have a clear vision what your game will be worth when it’s finished, to give a visible discount (e.g. 50% off). Players love discounts and get a price deduction for their patience and trust in your upcoming game project.

- “Try it before it’s finished!”

Only those players who fund you will be able to try your gameplay in this early state. This is convincing if you have gameplay that is unique and fans that are eager to try it. Why should players wait a year, when they can have a piece of this tasty cake now? Just make clear what features the current version contains and which one will be added with future updates.

- “Fund your developer <3″

An appreciating fanbase and people loving to support your kind of games is awesome! If you already have fans, you should communicate why you need the money and what you need it for.

Many developers therefore use different alpha packages in regular priced and higher priced versions with more extras like soundtrack, artworks, etc. For example, Tale of Tales are quite successful with the “extravagant” version of their upcoming Bientôt l’été, which costs $32 instead of the regular $8.

- “Participate in game our development!”

How much you want your players to be part of the development process is your decision, but don’t use this argument only because it sounds good. People love to bring in themselves with opinions and solutions. If you ask them to take part, you must not ignore that in updates.

We did a survey about the good, the bad and the ugly right in the beginning.

- “Watch the evolution of a game!”

Regularly updated alphas are a playable time-lapse. With every update the vision gets clearer, more beautiful and filled with textures, characters and decoration (well, at least that’s our plan). Many people love to take a look behind the scenes. Combined with blogging and video documentation it is interesting how a game evolves.

Although I am a game designer, I am a player myself, too. I have stabs at many alphas and love to play upcoming and promising games in this early state. Playing games before even the press got an eye on these games!

One argument that really kills all the above enumerated pros is one contra though: Players will never have the certainty that a game they bought will get finished! The more alphas are out there, the more developers will occur that abort their projects or never show up again.

We hope to eliminate this impression by updates and postings. Even if there will be a bigger pause of development because of different engagements or other circumstances, you should communicate this to your players.

The developer

But to be honest: The one that benefits most from an alpha is the developer, of course. There are many arguments to sell your game before it’s finished:

- Fund your game!

Naturally, there won’t be that much coverage about an alpha than a finished game. It’s hard to really get recognized, taken seriously and funded in this state! We would need to sell 800 copies a month to really be independent from doing contract work (with the current price of $5 for TRI and extremely economized lifestyle).

But it is possible and we try to achieve that with the next updates, hopefully.

- Marketing is easier step-by-step

When it comes to marketing, I make tons of mistakes. Writing press releases too late, forgetting that things need to be tested or news need to be approved by certain sites. Timing is something I’ll never learn!

In my opinion marketing an alpha game is easier. You failed to write about your last update? There will be another one soon that makes everything better, with cool character art and exclusive environmental decoration updates.

Selling a game in the moment it comes out proves to be extremely difficult. Everything has to fit in this certain time frame. With the alpha you are able to try out different approaches in marketing and failures are not that much punished with ignorance.

- Feedback and play-test

An immense advantage of our alpha version is the survey we are doing. Many people participated by answering what they liked, hated and where they got stuck. Of cause we did do play-tests at our headquarter with friends. But having more than 10 people testing it by their own desire (instead of being forced by friendship) is priceless!

Aside from that you can check if your game really interests anybody or if you better cut development for your own good.

- Get rid of mistakes in an early phase of development!

You are not sure if people might like certain features or you recognize that ‘some’ people stumble upon certain obstacles? With every update your game will get better. There is no need of perfection in the first place. But the game should, of course, be playable and deliver an impression of what lies beyond this first version!

Why you should not publish your game at (pre-)alpha state:

This arguments sound like alpha release is totally convenient for everybody. We all should push our games on the market unfinished!? Needless to say, there are many reasons to NOT do so.

- Losing your reputation.

If you don’t have one – don’t worry, I guess the alpha release will serve you well. But if you are famous for highly polished, good-looking games you should consider to not make a pre-alpha for your customers.

Another example of losing a good reputation is getting bad reviews after a long delay, which happened to “Survivors of Ragnarök”, a cute pixel-graphics sand-box city-building-management-survival game. The developers are selling their game in alpha state, but couldn’t afford to do updates and bug-fixes all the time, which annoyed many fans and ended up in unnecessarily bad reviews on Desura!

Haters gonny hate, always, even with well-managed communication and updates. If you can’t stand this kind of critics or criticism – don’t do an alpha release!

- “This game is finished?”

… is something you might hear when your communication fails that this game is alpha state. Many people judge your game – even knowing that this is not the final version – by what they see now. Some players could be alienated by buggy versions, sluggish controls, destroyed savegames or crappy textures.

- “Can you change this now?”

The more players your game has, the more requests of changing certain issues you might get. If you sell your game that early means permanently updating your game for public testers and players.

If you think writing blog posts and delivering playable builds is annoying while developing a game, selling an alpha version is definitely not what you want to do!

Platforms

Although we recommend using your own website for alpha sale, we also use Desura to sell our unfinished game. Indievania allows alpha and beta release (and even prototypes), too, but be aware: the more platforms you choose to publish, the bigger the hassle is to make sure every player is up to date.

* Desura

- update info through client service

- own category for alphas

- different alpha editions permitted

- fees: 15-30%

* Indievania

- update info through client service

- games can be marked with “prototype”, “alpha”, “beta”

- no fees for normal price

While 15-30% of your price stays at Desura, you might gain more attention thanks to them, especially because they got a useful direct connection to IndieDB.

Conclusion

Alpha funding doesn’t work for us at the moment, even though we try achieve this with future updates. But our game highly benefits from the feedback we gained in the first weeks, especially after evaluating the survey. Through web analysis and conversion rates we know that the game itself works fine, but we need to have better graphics and gameplay videos. The current ones look a bit underwhelming or don’t show enough gameplay features for most people.

Without the closed alpha and its demo we wouldn’t get that many honest criticism and attention. Like I mentioned above, all these alpha versions floating around might create a certain reputation of incompleteness for indies, but on the other hand it’s our independence to use everything to make OUR game if it wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

Hopefully I introduced alphas to you well, or changed your mind about them (in which way whatsoever).

About the alpha of our game TRI

TRI is a first-person 3D game with environmental puzzles. It is inspired by great games like “Portal”, “Thief” and “Zelda”. The main gameplay: You create triangles to build platforms, overcome obstacles, walk on walls, reflect light rays and lasers, and more.

The final game will cost around $10 and is available 50% off at the moment on our website tri-game.com and on Desura.（Source：gamasutra）