作者：John Polson

第一人称射击游戏是最受欢迎的一种电子游戏，并且其游戏机制和理念大多是经过验证的。但是如果开发者始终坚持一些过时的理念，游戏的创造性将始终停滞不前。

Gamasutra姐妹网站IndieGames.com收集了来自6名第一人称射击游戏独立开发者的观点——即关于这一游戏类型该如何进行突破创新，以及如何改造或抛弃早前的理念。

但是我们需要先说说FPS游戏的相关历史。最早的FPS游戏可以追溯到20世纪70年代，也就是《Maze War》和《Spasim》等游戏刚刚问世时期。而现代FPS游戏也总是被拿来与90年代的id Software游戏，如《Catacomb 3-D》，《Doom》以及《Wolfenstein 3D》等游戏做比较。这些来自90年代的热门游戏大多出自小团队之手，类似于今天的“独立”开发团队的规模。

Doom(from psychosaurus.com)

参加访谈的人物包括Tripwire Interactive（《杀戮间》和《红色管弦乐队》开发商）的Alan Wilson，Illfonic（《Nexuiz》开发商）的Kedhrin Gonzalez，Cryptic Sea（《A New Zero》开发商）的Alex Austin，Interwave（《核子黎明》开发商）Michiel Beenen，Coffee Stain Studios（《幽闭圣地》开发商）的Oscar Jilsen以及Misfit Village（《SickBrick》开发商）的Mladen Bošnjak。

IndieGames：你们是如果判断游戏创造性是成熟的还是有待发展？

Alan Wilson（Tripwire）：我们总是非常热衷于尝试一些新元素——如真正的第一人称掩体系统。周边视觉等元素也已经很成熟，这些元素让我更加沉浸于游戏之中。对于我来说这是FPS中最关键的一点，它能帮助我们从最真实且最可信的视角去看待这个游戏世界。从我同游戏的互动中来看，我发现游戏不一定需要变成“现实”世界——但是玩家却真心希望能够成为其中的一员。所以FPS游戏最好能够让玩家有机会“融入”游戏世界中。

同时关于玩家该为游戏花多少钱以及游戏是否值得玩家的这些付出也仍然饱受争议——我也希望就此问题进行深入研究。我一直在追踪各种游戏的表现，但是我却从未遇到一款真正对得起60美元售价的游戏。不过我也希望能够继续享受游戏的乐趣。

Alex Austin（Cryptic Sea）：FPS游戏中还存在许多创造空间，而我现在所侧重的则是移动这一领域。现在几乎所有FPS游戏都在使用与《Quake 1》类似的移动，如设置一些俯卧的骇客或在开火时移动标线。

主要是因为《Quake》的移动与现实中人类的移动间存在着巨大的鸿沟，而如果你不能跃过这道鸿沟玩家便很难接受你的游戏。据我所知《Trespasser》便是唯一去弥补这种差距的游戏，但是它却未能得到玩家的好评。而现在我想带着《A New Zero》去跨越这一鸿沟。不久后我们便能够看到结果。

Michiel Beenen（Interwave）：在最近的游戏发展史上，《半条命2》，《骇客任务》以及《魔法门之黑暗弥赛亚》等游戏都证明了FPS中的“射击手”只是这类型游戏所特有的游戏玩法。我们希望看到在越来越多游戏开发出不同的风格，但是迄今为止“射击”仍只是FPS冒险历程中的唯一元素。

Oscar Jilsen（Coffee Stain）：这是一个复杂的问题，我还未就其进行深入思考。

似乎今天的FPS游戏都只是在重复一些相同的过程。自从《光晕》带动了双武器标准的普及，并让命值再生系统成了一种准则，最近的FPS游戏也变得越来越相似了。我们很难去回答这一问题，因为“第一人称射击”这一名称便锁定了这种游戏的所有可能性，即要求玩家只能通过第一人称视角进行射击。

我更想看到像《镜之源》以及《失忆症》这类型的第一人称视角游戏——侧重于表现玩家与游戏环境的互动，并会穿插使用各种不同的视角。《失忆症》便在这点上做得很好，即在惩罚玩家的时候让他们面向敌人，这是对于这类游戏巧妙且有趣的调整，我希望其它游戏也能够利用这一点进行完善。

Mladen Bošnjak(Misfit Villager)：FPS游戏非常直接，而当你添加了一些元素并开始创新时，它将变成完全不同的类型（添加库存以及一些选择，它便会变成角色扮演游戏），所以我认为如果你不扩展“第一人称射击游戏”这一名称你便难以实现FPS游戏题材的创新。

Kedhrin Gonzalez（Illfonic）：我认为FPS可以迈出的最大一步便是尽可能缩小各种限制而让玩家进一步融入游戏中。很多人已经尝试了Wii，Move以及Kinect等平台，但是这些平台在精度控制上都存在缺陷。瞄准屏幕去实现转向不可能取得多大成效！我有一个不错的方法，但是因为它过于直接，所以我并不打算在此进行讨论。

关键在于，我们不能把一个全新的控制方式直接塞进这整个游戏类型，并期待它能立刻发生改变。如今的时代已经不再像1996年那样，即《Quake》允许玩家使用+mlook（游戏邦注：用鼠标控制头部动作）并以此改变游戏中的所有内容。也不像《光晕》那样为了迎合主机游戏玩法而将模拟控制器带进游戏中。如今我们所面对的是更加广阔的现实。

转向同样也是FPS中最重要的一个元素。我们必须确保转向足够顺畅且容易操纵。忽视了这一点你便不可能创造出一款有趣的FPS。我想整合这些理念而进一步推进这一游戏类型的发展。

让我们面对现实吧，第一人称视角是最重要的一种类型，因为它将引领玩家进入一个虚拟现实中。而只有精通这种视角的使用方法你才能真正决定一个虚拟现实的最终命运。

除此之外，FPS游戏向FPS RPG类型的转变也将成为众人瞩目的焦点。它能让玩家在不断重复的行动中得到发展，它能在游戏中给予玩家一定的承诺；并且它既能奖励给玩家更多故事也能够为他们提供硬核游戏玩法。我认为《潜行者》便是最佳例子。尽管游戏中存在一些严重的缺陷导致它未能充分发挥潜能，但是不管怎么说它都可以算是FPS游戏的最佳范例。

IndieGames：你们是否希望看到复制游戏的出现？现在的游戏是否应该重新使用早前那些被遗忘的FPS元素？

Oscar Jilsen（Coffee Stain）：我个人便非常喜欢早前游戏中的二次射击功能。这种功能让武器的使用变得更加复杂，并且玩家也可以在此改变他们的战术。

Alan Wilson（Tripwire）：最近我重新玩了《彩虹六号：维加斯2》，我非常喜欢游戏中的恐怖者狩猎模式。我希望能够看到更多战略性游戏的出现，而不再是一些围绕着所谓好莱坞情节的游戏。

Kedhrin Gonzalez（Illfonic）：越来越短的瞄准范围导致FPS游戏逐渐失去了其原有的探索元素。大多数FPS玩家希望直达目标的行动，而我则更希望在游戏中进行探索，并慢慢深入游戏环境中。在《铁血农夫》中奔跑并体验着游戏中的各种内容总是非常有趣。《毁灭公爵》亦是如此，因为开发者希望玩家能够立刻沉浸于游戏中，并且不愿意花费多余的资源去创造一些玩家可能会忽视的疯狂事件，所以游戏便采用了一种线性发展轨迹。这也再次证实了我对FPS RPG的论据，这两种类型的游戏始终是相辅相成的。

Mladen Bošnjak（Misfit Village）：《英雄萨姆3》让玩家射击成群的敌人这一幕不禁让人回忆起早前的《Doom》所带来的乐趣，但是这种回忆对于我来说却没有多大作用。我认为开发者在制作FPS游戏时应该参考早前的《虚幻竞技场》和《Quake 3》等游戏，观察这些游戏中的武器射击带给玩家的各种感受。我记得在玩《虚幻竞技场》时我总是会选择粗齿锯，因为它在射击时能够给我带来各种乐趣，并且它不仅是这款游戏中的急射小机枪，同时也是源自于早前《英雄萨姆》中的一种武器。不过游戏开发者对其进行了调整让它和早前游戏中所呈现的有所不同。

quake3(from tech-trip.com)

Michiel Beenen（Interwave）：难度。并不是每一款游戏都必须体现出极大的难度，更别说变成“硬核游戏”那样了！但是现在的FPS游戏却过度宠溺玩家了，即让他们一味地沉浸于游戏中各种辉煌成就中。

游戏越来越突显这种不现实的英雄感。请果断杀死玩家，让他们惧怕游戏中的黑暗与凶狠的敌人，不要再让胜利成为游戏中的唯一必然结果。

Alex Austin（Cryptic Sea）：我希望看到更多游戏去使用像早于《Quake》的FPS游戏元素，如《Ultima Underworld》，《System Shock》或《Terra Nova》等。所有的这些游戏都具有

各种细节和复杂的交互性，而可惜的是它们也都遵循着id Software的射击方式。同时我也希望有人能够使用新的引擎重塑《Hidden and Dangerous 1》（游戏邦注：融合了第一人称视角和第三人称视角的战斗游戏），让我能和好友们再次感受这款游戏的魅力。

IndieGames：如今的FPS游戏中有哪些元素做得太过头了？

Oscar Jilsen（Coffee Stain）：本来我想继续说说重生机制和双武器标准，但似乎这都是大家所熟悉的内容。而如果说是较为过火的元素，那便不得不提游戏中的“电影效果”。现在带FPS游戏中呈现出过度“电影效果”会让玩家觉得自己是在观看游戏而不是在玩游戏，玩家将在游戏过程中不断被打断。如果玩家只是想要坐下来观看游戏的话，他们大可选择去看电影。

不过我也并非反对过场动画的存在。只是我认为开发者应在适当的时候设置这些动画。但现代FPS游戏更像是电影和游戏的混合体。

Alan Wilson（Tripwire）：现代战争，不对称的战争场景（如CT/COIN），照本宣科的故事情节以及一些忽悠人的配音等内容！

Kedhrin Gonzalez（Illfonic）：我认为多人游戏的发展越来越缓慢。当然了我并不是说这些游戏很糟糕。那么FPS游戏又是怎样的呢？只是让玩家能够不断地炫耀自己是很棒的游戏高手而已。FPS之所以发展缓慢是因为《光晕》等游戏主导着主机市场。我认为像《光晕》和《使命召唤》等游戏非常有趣，但并不是说所有游戏都应该去复制它们。

Mladen Bošnjak（Misfit Village）：作为一个游戏系列，《使命召唤》的确做得太过头了。我认为《使命召唤》和《战地》都不再具有创造性。开发者只能够在战争场景中进行扩展。

DICE在《镜之边缘》中便做得非常出色，但是他们却不能依赖于这款游戏，因为EA希望他们能够创造出新的《战地》系列游戏。

也许还存在许多我不熟悉但却做得过头的特殊游戏元素，或者只是做得不够。我希望在AAA级FPS游戏中看到更多子弹时间。《极度恐慌3》和《时空飞梭》是我玩过的最后几款FPS游戏，但是不可否认的是这两款游戏都不是很有趣。

Alex Austin（Cryptic Sea）：线性故事。在多人游戏中玩家总是会面临不断反复的游戏过程，即进入游戏，射击一个对象，死亡，重生，并继续之前的行动。例如《战地3》。（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）

First-person shooter design: What to save, and what to frag

by John Polson

While the first-person shooter is one of the most popular video game genres around, it often relies on tried and true mechanics and concepts. That reliance on stale ideas can often lead to creative stagnation.

In a group interview, Gamasutra sister site IndieGames.com gathered the opinions of six independent first-person shooter developers, who discussed where the genre should innovate, and what old tropes should be revisited or retired.

But first, a bit of relevant history. The origins of FPS games have been traced to the 1970s, with titles such as Maze War and Spasim. However, modern FPS titles are often compared to the id Software titles of the 90s, such as Catacomb 3-D, Doom, and Wolfenstein 3D, or more recent titles. Those hits from the 90s were often made with small teams, similar to the size of “indie” teams today.

The genre has since diffused mechanically (even mixing with other genres) and financially (over $50 million budgets). Yet, maybe to evolve, the genre just needs more attention from teams similarly sized to those who brought it to life.

Joining the interview are Alan Wilson of Tripwire Interactive (developer of Killing Floor and Red Orchestra), Kedhrin Gonzalez of Illfonic (Nexuiz), Alex Austin of Cryptic Sea (A New Zero), Michiel Beenen of Interwave (Nuclear Dawn), Oscar Jilsen of Coffee Stain Studios (Sanctum), and Mladen Bo?njak of Misfit Village (SickBrick).

IndieGames: Where do you see innovation is ripe and waiting?

Alan Wilson, Tripwire: We’re always keen to try new elements out – like a real first-person cover system. Peripheral vision done well. All sorts of stuff like that. Those things that really make me feel immersed in a game. That is one of the key points about an FPS for me – that it gives me the most real, believable perspective on whatever the game world is. [It] doesn’t have to be a “real” world – but I want to feel part of it, from the perspective and the way I interact with it. FPS games, at their best, give you the best possible chance to be “in” the world.

There is also a whole debate about how we pay for games and value for money – and I would really like to see that getting explored more. I’ve always been on record as saying that I have yet to see a game I really believe is worth $60 up front. I want to go on enjoying my games.

Alex Austin, Cryptic Sea: There’s a lot of room for innovation in FPS games, the main one I’m focused on right now is movement. Every FPS game right now uses the same movement as Quake 1 essentially, with a few hacks like prone position or moving your aiming reticule when firing a weapon.

The reason for this is there is a huge gap between simple Quake movement and realistic human movement, and if you don’t make it over that gap almost everyone will hate it. The only game that I know of that ever tried to make it was Trespasser, and that was not received well. I’m currently trying to jump that gap with A New Zero. We’ll see if I make it, but so far it’s encouraging. I have a video of what the movement system allows.

Michiel Beenen, Interwave: In recent gaming history, titles such as Half Life 2, Deus Ex and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic have demonstrated how the ‘Shooter’ in FPS games is but one of the gameplay approaches that the genre permits. We’d like to see more and more games find and develop these alternative styles, where shooting is but a single component of a great, cinematic FPS adventure.

Oscar Jilsen, Coffee Stain: It’s a hard question, as I have not been thinking about it a whole lot.

Most FPS games right now seem to just be repeating the same process. Ever since Halo popularized the two-weapon standard and regenerating health became the norm most recent FPS games feel similar. It is hard to answer that question because the name “First Person Shooter” kinda locks down the possibilities, it demands that you can shoot from a first person perspective.

What I would like to see from First Person Perspective games is more games like Mirror’s Edge and Amnesia: to focus on interaction with the environment and to use the perspective differently. Amnesia does this well when they punish you for looking at enemies, that is a very smart and interesting twist to the genre that more games could utilize.

Mladen Bo?njak, Misfit Villager: The FPS genre is pretty straightforward, when you add elements and start innovating, it goes into different genres (add inventory and a few choices, it’s already an RPG), so I don’t think you can innovate the FPS genre in particular much without it stretching its “First Person Shooter” name.

Kedhrin Gonzalez, Illfonic: I think, the largest step FPS games can take at this point, is a new peripheral that gets players more involved with fewer restrictions. They’ve tried it with the Wii, Move and Kinect, but they’re lacking precision control. Aiming at the screen to turn just doesn’t work well enough! I do have an idea that can work (I think)… but I can’t really discuss it. It’s pretty direct…

The thing is, you can’t take this entire genre, throw in new controls and expect it to immediately change. Today’s day and age isn’t like 1996 when Quake allowed +mlook and it changed everything. It also isn’t like Halo where the thumbsticks came in with gameplay catered towards console play. Things are a lot more expansive now.

Turning is [also] one of the most important things in an FPS. It has to be smooth, easy, and controllable. Take that away and you just don’t have a fun FPS. I’d love to play around with all of these ideas to further expand on what we can do with the genre. Let’s face it, First Person View is the most important genre because it will lead into Virtual Reality. The people mastering its craft today will be the ones deciding VR’s fate.

Other than that, I think FPS is going towards FPS RPG being the main focus. It gives progression over repetition. It drives commitment within a game. Reward the player with lush story, but also give them hardcore gameplay. I think S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is the best example of this. Although the game had some serious flaws that prevented it from seeing its full potential, it is a star role model of things to come for FPS Games.

IndieGames: Where would you like to see the games imitate, as in what old or forgotten elements of FPSes should be revisited?

Oscar Jilsen, Coffee Stain: I personally am a big fan of the secondary fire feature that was common back in the day. It (usually) made the weapons a little deeper and invited the player to switch up their tactics.

Alan Wilson, Tripwire: I’ve been replaying bits of Rainbow Six: Vegas recently. I always loved the whole terrorist hunt mode in that game. [I'd like] more tactical games, that don’t revolve around some Hollywood plot type of thing.

Kedhrin Gonzalez, Illfonic: FPS games have been losing the exploration factor. This is due to short attention spans. The majority of FPS fans just want non-stop, in your face action. I prefer exploring, getting into the environment. It was awesome running around Redneck Rampage and laughing at all the stuff. Duke Nukem, I mean come on. That was so fun! Games take you on a linear track because developers want constant engagement and don’t want to spend resources doing some crazy event players might miss. This goes back my FPS RPG argument. They almost go hand in hand!

Mladen Bo?njak, Misfit Village: Well, I thought that Serious Sam 3 was going to bring back the old Doom-like fun of just shooting hordes of guys, but that’s just not working for me anymore. I think that developers making FPS games should look back on the original Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 and see how great just shooting all of those weapons feels. I remember how I always used the ripper in UT just because it was fun to shoot, also the minigun from UT and the one from the original Serious Sam. They just don’t make them like they used to.

Michiel Beenen, Interwave: Difficulty. Not every game needs to be murderously difficult, and talk of ‘hardcore’ switches is plain silly. However, we feel that modern FPS games place too much emphasis on coddling the player from one glorious moment of epic accomplishment to the next.

Games are starting to feel like highlight reels of these unreal, impossible heroes that it’s hard to feel connected to them. Kill the player, make them fear the dark and their enemies, and don’t make victory a foregone conclusion, please.

Alex Austin, Cryptic Sea: I would like to see games use some elements of pre-Quake FPS games like Ultima Underworld, System Shock or Terra Nova. All of those games had a lot of detail and complex interactions; unfortunately, everyone followed the id Software path of shoot everything. Also someone should remake Hidden and Dangerous 1 with a new engine so I can play it with my friends.

IndieGames: What elements of FPSes are overdone at this point?

Oscar Jilsen, Coffee Stain: I could go on about regenerating [health] and the two-weapon standard. But that’s common knowledge. Something I think is overdone at this point is the “cinematic effect.” There seems to be more watching than playing in modern FPS games; you constantly get interrupted in the middle of gameplay.

If I wanted to just sit and watch, I’d be watching a movie.

Don’t get me wrong, though, I don’t have anything against cut scenes. Not if they’re used at the right moment. But modern FPS games seem to be some kind of half movie-half game hybrids.

Alan Wilson, Tripwire: Modern warfare, bad takes on asymmetric warfare (i.e CT/COIN), immensely expensive scripted story-line pieces with dodgy voice acting. That sort of thing!

Kedhrin Gonzalez, Illfonic: Well, I do think multiplayer games have become too slow. I’m not saying those games are bad. But every FPS game? Give us back the right to really brag about being a good gamer. FPS games got slower because of how Halo dominated the console market. I think multiplayer is fun in Halo and Call of Duty, but not every game needs to mimic them.

Mladen Bo?njak, Misfit Village: Call of Duty is pretty overdone as a series. I think that Call of Duty and Battlefield are hurting their developers in a way that

they’re not innovating enough. There’s only so much you can do in the warfare scenario. DICE did a great thing with Mirror’s Edge, but they can’t build on that because EA is probably pushing them to make new Battlefield franchise installments.

As for particular game elements I don’t know if anything is overdone, maybe just not done enough. I’d like to see more bullet time in AAA FPS games. Fear 3 and TimeShift are the last ones that had it that I have played, and both of those games aren’t really good.

Alex Austin, Cryptic Sea: Linear story. Multiplayer where you run in, shoot a guy, die, respawn and repeat. Perks. Basically, Battlefield 3.
(source:GAMASUTRA)