作者：Stefanie Fogel

多亏了Telltale Games的《行尸走肉》，越来越多人开始关注图像冒险游戏。因为益智思考和互动故事而出名的图像冒险游戏正享受着自20世纪90年代以来从未有过的高人气。这在某种程度上也要归功于Kickstarter等集资网站，该网站帮助独立开发商Phoenix Online Studios推动着旗下最新项目，即名为《认知：艾丽卡·里德的惊悚故事》的插话式神秘游戏的发展。

The Walking Dead(from judao)

与《行尸走肉》一样，《认知》也突出了一个分支故事情节，带有漫画书般的艺术风格（由设计师Romano Molenaar所创造）以及较为残酷的主题。作为通灵的FBI特工Erica Reed，玩家将追捕那些杀害了自己兄弟的连环杀手。GameBeat最近与《认知》的联合总监Cesar Bittar和Katie Hallahan，以及产业专家，同时也是该游戏的故事顾问的Jane Jensen（曾经参与了《狩魔猎人》，《国王密使》以及《脑灰质》等游戏的制作）就他们的编写过程以及为何侦探故事能够成就一款优秀的冒险游戏等问题展开交谈。

Cesar和Katie，你们是如何想出《认知》的游戏理念？

Cesar Bittar：我们是从另外一家公司手上接过这款游戏。原先他们设定了一个非常复杂且荒谬的情节，而我们截取了其中的一些内容并加以修改，最终将其转变成一个全新的故事。那时候，我们构思了2个不同的故事，并将它们带到Jane面前询问她的意见。结果Jane说‘就选择一个故事。如果同时呈现出两个故事会很容易混淆玩家。’所以我们便决定选择其中能够进行长期发展的故事，也就是Erica的追捕行动。“

Jane，作为顾问，你对《认知》的故事情节给予了哪些建议？

Jane Jensen：他们将最初的情节大纲发给了我。Cesar所写的故事真的很有趣，因为他是一名复杂情节作家。所以很多时候我不得不对他们说：“你们太费心这一情节了。让我们进行适当删减。要搞清楚重点是什么？我们该如何为这一转折结尾？”也许这看来这是一种辅导关系，但是我更希望将其理解为是一种正面的影响。

Jane，你曾经编写过的许多游戏（如《狩魔猎人》和《认知》）都属于侦探故事。你为何会被这种类型的故事所吸引？

Cognition An Erica Reed Thriller(from geeklegacy)

Jensen：实际上，有关《认知》的游戏理念，基本主题和情节的灵感是来自于Cesar和Katle。而吸引我加入其中的一大因素便是这真的是一个非常棒的推理故事。而现在我们所致力的游戏也仍属于这种类型。我认为在致力于一款冒险游戏中时，游戏的互动性与谜题必须与故事有效地整合在一起。这与《神秘岛》或《第七访客》不同，在这些游戏中玩家将遇到任何谜题，但是这些谜题都不能与游戏故事真正维系在一起，而推理类型游戏之所以让你这么做便是因为这是游戏真正的神秘所在。玩家就像游戏中的研究员，尝试着去寻找线索，访问别人，并推断出真相。如此便能转化成真正的谜题。

你们认为与别人合作创造一个连贯的故事情节有何难度？

Bittar：我与Katie搭档已经有一段时间了。我们会一起讨论所有故事构思，然后我便产生了一种想法，即‘要不我们来创造一些与认知力量相关的内容？’当我们明确了故事的大概时，我们便开始分配任务，即“我负责第一章节，Katie负责第二章节。”当然，我们会阅读彼此的创作，并给予评价，但同时我们也拥有属于自己的小块完整工作。如此分配便能够避免我们为需要添加哪些内容而争吵。”

Katie Hallahan：的确如此，我们经常会互相涉及对方的工作。

Bittar：而当我们将故事呈献给Jane时，我们知道，她肯定能够提供一些建设性意见。我当然不希望自己的作品被否定，但是既然决定这么做就肯定有这么做的理由，所以最终她帮助我们理清了故事线，并呈现出了真正合理且诱人的内容。这便是Jane对我们的创作的贡献。我很庆幸找她当顾问，因为就像她所说的，我真的在某些情节中绕太深了。帮助我们明确故事的视角以及其中真正重要的元素是Jane带给游戏的最大贡献。

你们是否认为玩家准备好迎接更成熟且更复杂的电子游戏故事？

Jensen：我认为人们的兴趣正在发生着改变，在过去1年左右，玩家对于冒险游戏的接收度变得更加广泛了。所以他们才会欢迎像《行尸走肉》等游戏的出现。而关于这种转变到底有多大，还是有待观察。

Bittar：我们已经创造出了成熟的游戏故事。我还记得第一款让我能够惊呼“哇”的游戏是Jane所创造的《狩魔猎人1》。那时候的我从未想过游戏中也能够出现这样的故事，而Jane便向世人证实了这种可能。我想之前就出现过这种故事，只是现在我们再次意识到它的魅力。

如何在一款冒险游戏，特别是女性为主导的游戏中创造一个强大的角色？

Jensen：对于任何角色，不管是男性角色还是女性角色，我认为最重要的还是创造出一个带有缺陷的角色，并认真思考其优势与劣势，确保同时呈现出这两方面元素，而不是只创造出一个完美的角色。同时还要确保角色的自然，不做作，不管是在执行某些行动还是与故事中的其他角色进行对话。而我还需要塑造出角色的缺陷。如Gabe是一个懒惰，相信宿命论的“小白脸”。其实Eirca也具有缺陷。就像在游戏一开始我们便能看到她所经历的毁灭性打击，从而让她内心充满了仇恨。但是不管怎么说，她都是一个坚强的角色。

Bittar：我们还开玩笑地说Erica身上具有Jack Bauer（游戏邦注：美国福克斯广播公司《24》男主角，他似乎总会为达目的而不折手段）的影子。但说到她的真正缺陷还是其过于强大的力量，并且有时候这也会阻碍她的前进。除此之外，也就是Jane所提到的，她在一开始便遭遇了失去兄弟的痛苦。虽然这种经历能够推动着她发展，但同时也将始终把她束缚于此。其实《认知》的故事中存在着许多“随它而去”的元素。我认为这也是Erica在这一特殊的故事中需要学会面对的。

能否推荐一个你们所玩过的电子游戏（不是你们所参与制作的）中最强大的角色？

Jensen：我很喜欢Telltale Games所创造的Hector，这真的是一个非常有趣的角色。

Bittar：我喜欢《Gabriel Knight 2》中的Baron Von Glower。他真的是一个非常强大的角色，尽管玩家并不能直接控制他。他是我最喜欢的一个电子游戏角色。

Hallahan：也许许多人会和我有同感，即当我最近在玩《行尸走肉》时，我认为Clementine是大家都会喜欢的角色。但是真正让我感兴趣的是开发者是如何创造这个8岁的小萝莉。创造一个强大，但却不会惹人烦的儿童角色真的是件很困难的事。

你们能否给予那些想要进入电子游戏故事编写领域的新人一些建议？

Jensen：很多时候人们在问我这一问题时，总是会说如何才能成为一名游戏设计师。我便会建议他们去争取计算机科学，创意写作，英语或美术的学士学位。大多数游戏设计师都是来自于游戏公司的其它部门，如程序员，美术人员或质量管理人员。成为游戏设计师并不容易，我并不知道是否存在哪条捷径能够帮助毕业生们直接坐上游戏设计师的位置。但是你们却可以先通过编写一些小故事去训练自己的写作能力，并朝着创造第一款游戏的目标而努力。

Bittar：就像Jane所说的，坐上游戏设计师的位置并不是件易事。而我们因为拥有自己的公司，所以能够按照自己的想法去编写故事。我建议新手们能够先组建一个小团队，并创造一款小型的独立游戏。确保游戏拥有吸引人的故事和有趣的游戏玩法，但是千万不要太过火。市场上也有许多独立游戏的拥护者，他们一定能够发现你的游戏的魅力。

为什么找到一份游戏编写工作如此困难？

Jensen：根据我在游戏公司的经历，这应该是所有人最梦寐以求的职位。游戏公司中的许多人都想要坐上这一位置，这也是我为何会说那些在公司有一定资历，并提交了3至4款游戏提议的人更有可能争取到它。所以，这并不是一个随意面向公众开放的职位。

Bittar：每个人都想要创造游戏，每个人都有自己的游戏理念，每个人也都希望自己的理念能够变成现实。就拿我们来说吧，我有自己的游戏理念，Katie也有她的游戏理念，我们工作室中的其他人也都有各自的游戏理念。这些理念都很棒。但是当团队中已经存在太多的理念时，我们便很难去雇佣别人来编写游戏理念了。

你们认为自己收到过的最糟糕的编写建议是什么？

Jensen：我个人很反感那些刻板的内容，如“男孩追到女孩，男孩失去女孩，男孩找回女孩”这类。我当然知道情节弧线的价值，包括它们的积极性和消极性，以及某些技术内容。我也会使用这些内容。但是我认为这些刻板的内容并不能带给游戏作者真正有价值的帮助。

Hallahan：我记不起任何特殊的建议，但是我仍记得一位让我非常反感的写作老师，因为我会在他的课上写科幻小说，但却不能获得他的理解。所以每次上课时他都会问我：“你怎么不会将故事设定在正常的背景下？”我便会回答：“这不是重点。”

Jensen：还有一种糟糕的建议便是，“写下你所知道的内容。”因为世界上有许多出色的科幻小说作家所写下的内容都不是自己所了解的。就像一系列非常出色的英国科幻小说便是由一个住在加利福尼亚的女作家所创作的。所以我认为基于当今时代或现实内容进行编写只会局限自己的发挥。我脑中经常会浮现出一些我从未到过的场景，或我并不了解的角色，而我需要做的便是去研究这些陌生的内容。这时候谷歌便能派上用场了！

（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）

Cognition writers talk adventure games, detective stories, and bad writing advice

By Stefanie Fogel

Thanks to Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead, more eyes than ever are focused on graphic adventure games. Known for its brain-teasing puzzles and interactive storytelling, the genre is currently experiencing a surge in popularity it hasn’t felt since the 1990s. This is also thanks, in part, to crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter, which is where independent developer Phoenix Online Studios turned for its latest project, an episodic mystery called Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller.

Like The Walking Dead, Cognition features a branching storyline, a comic-book art style courtesy of artist Romano Molenaar, and gory subject matter. As psychic FBI agent Erica Reed, the player must track down a serial killer who has taken her brother as one of his victims. GamesBeat recently chatted with Cognition’s co-directors, Cesar Bittar and Katie Hallahan, as well as industry veteran Jane Jensen (Gabriel Knight, Kings Quest, Gray Matter), who worked on the project as a story consultant, about their writing process and why detective stories make great adventure games.

GamesBeat: Cesar and Katie, how did you two come up with the idea for Cognition?

Cesar Bittar: [Cognition] was handed down from another company to us. They had a very complicated, nonsense plot going on. We sort of took some of the stuff that they had and we fixed it and completely revamped it into a whole new story. Back then, we had two different stories going on. We actually brought them to Jane and [she said], “You guys, just choose one, because if you try to do both it’s just going to be too [confusing]. So, we decided to go with the story that we could develop in the long-term, which was Erica’s powers.

GamesBeat: Jane, how much input did you have in Cognition’s story line as a consultant?

Jane Jensen: Well, they sent me the first draft of sort of a plot outline. Cesar’s actually funny because he’s a very, very convoluted, complex plot writer. So, a lot of times I just had to say, “You guys are trying to do too much in this episode. Let’s focus, cut it down. What is the primary thing? How do we get this twist ending to work?” So, it was really more of a mentorship. But I like to think that I had a good influence on it.

GamesBeat: Jane, a lot of the games you write, like Gabriel Knight and Cognition, are detective stories. What is it about that genre that attracts you?

Jensen: Well, actually, the idea for Cognition, the basic theme and plot of it, came from Cesar and Katie. One of the reasons why I agreed to be part of it was because it was a really good mystery story. The games we’re working on now are also in the same genre. I think, for me, it’s really important when I work on an adventure game that it feels like the interactivity and the puzzles are very, very tightly integrated to the story. So, I mean, unlike something like Myst or The 7th Guest, where you just run into these random puzzles that don’t really have any true integration with the story, the mystery genre really allows you to do that because that’s kind of what a mystery is. It’s an investigator of some sort who’s trying to find clues and interview people and figure out what’s going on. So, that all translates really well into puzzles.

GamesBeat: How difficult is it to create a coherent story line when you’re collaborating with multiple people?

Bittar: Well … I’ve been working with Katie for a while. We discussed all the seeds of the story that we had and then I kind of came along with the idea of “let’s do something with the cognition power,” let’s do something with the power of the mind. Then at that point, once we had an initial outline, what we started to do was “I’m going to take the first episode. Katie, you’re going to take the second episode.” That way, obviously, we read each other’s work and we comment and we give ideas, but then each one of us owns a little piece of the full work. That way it’s easier for us not to try to fight over what gets in it.

Katie Hallahan: Yeah, we’d be stepping on each other’s feet too much.

Bittar: When we brought it to Jane, we were aware that she was going to have an influence in it. I tend to be very protective of my work, but once I decided to do this I said there’s a reason we’re bringing it to her, so that she can help us go through the threads of stories and make it … take whatever is really strong and keep that. That’s exactly what Jane did with our work. I mean, I’m very glad that we did because, as she said, I tend to convolute things too much. Getting some perspective on the story and what really matters on the story has been Jane’s biggest contribution.

GamesBeat: Do you think gamers are ready for more mature, more in-depth storytelling in video games?

Jensen: I think there’s been a revival in interest lately, from my point of view anyway, over the last year or so in adventure games in general, and more open-mindedness about them. So, it’s great to see something like The Walking Dead do well. As for how much of a real shift it is, I think that remains to be seen.

Bittar: We’ve had [mature storytelling] for a while. I remember the first time I saw a game that really grabbed me and I went “wow” was with Jane’s own Gabriel Knight 1. Back then, I don’t know that we expected to see that kind of storytelling in a game, and she came in with that story and wowed everybody. I think we’ve had that kind of storytelling before. It’s nice to see it really be recognized again.

GamesBeat: What do you think goes into creating a strong character in an adventure game, especially a game with a female lead?

Jensen: For any character, male or female, I think it’s important to have … it’s cliché to say a flawed character, but to really think about the good and the bad and make sure that both are present, and it doesn’t just become a glossed over icon of perfection. Just to keep it as natural as possible, especially when it comes to dialogue, but even what the character does and how they relate to other people in the plot line. I have a thing for working with wounded characters. Gabe definitely was lazy, and he was fatalistic and a lady’s man. I think Erica also is a very wounded character. The very first thing you see in the prologue is this devastating thing that happens to her that makes her very tough and very bitter in a way. She’s a full-bodied character for sure.

Bittar: We also made the joke that Erica has a bit of Jack Bauer thrown in to make her really bad-ass. But speaking about the actual flaws, she has a really, really great power, but it also becomes a hindrance to her. Then there’s obviously what Jane was mentioning, which is she loses her brother at the beginning of the story. That is something that she’s obsessed with, which is her drive to continue, but it’s also something that she’s really obsessed about. The story of Cognition in many ways is about letting go. I think that’s what Erica is facing in this particular story, learning to let go of a lot of things.

GamesBeat: Recommend a strong character in a video game that you didn’t work on.

Jensen: Well, I really like Hector from Telltale Games, which is a funny game. I think that’s a really fun character.

Bittar: I will say Baron Von Glower from Gabriel Knight 2. [He’s a] really, really strong character, even though he wasn’t one you actually played. He’s one of my favorite characters in video games.

Hallahan: This is probably one that a lot of people would say currently, but in playing The Walking Dead recently I know everyone’s favorite was Clementine. But I really loved how they did her, especially because you’ve got this 8-year-old kid and yet she’s very fully realized. She’s got a lot of dimensions to her and she changes. They made a kid character who was strong and who wasn’t annoying, which would be really easy to fall into. I definitely enjoyed her in that game a lot.

GamesBeat: What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into video game writing?

Jensen: Usually, when people ask me that, they ask me how to become a game designer. My suggestion is to get an undergraduate degree either in computer science or creative writing or English or art. Usually, most game designers end up coming up through some other part of the company, like either a programmer or an artist or QA. It’s just hard to become a game designer. I guess there are some programs now specifically on that, but I don’t know how easy those graduates find to get directly hired into a game designer slot. But just to practice your own writing as much as possible with short stories and other means before you get that opportunity to do your first game.

Bittar: Like Jane said, it’s a really tough position to get into. In our case, we had to really do our own company so that we could write the stories that we wanted. I think that one of my recommendations would be if you can get a small team and do a small indie game. Make sure that it’s good, that it’s great storytelling and great game play, but don’t go too crazy with it. There’s a huge indie audience out there that will recognize great stuff.

GamesBeat: Why is it so hard to get a game writing job?

Jensen: It just seems like from my time in game companies that it’s the most coveted position. A lot of people who are inside the company want those positions, so that’s why I say it more often goes to somebody who’s already been with the company and has proven themselves and has maybe submitted three or four game proposals and is eventually given a shot. So, those positions don’t often become open to the public.

Bittar: Everybody wants to make a game, everybody has an idea for a game, and everybody wants their idea produced. So, it’s really hard to define. In our case, I have ideas, Katie has ideas, and then we have a bunch of other people in the studio that have ideas. They’re all great. So, just hiring somebody to write ideas for us when we already have so many in the team, it becomes hard.

GamesBeat: What do you think is the worst piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?

Jensen: Oh, wow. I, personally, have always bristled about the sort of formulaic “boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl,” which I kind of had handed to me a bit when I started writing for Sierra. I mean, I definitely see the value in plot arcs and the positive and negative, and all that sort of technical stuff. I do use it. But just to become that sort of formulaic is not something that I find really valuable as a writer.

Hallahan: I don’t know that I can think of a specific piece of advice. I can remember a writing teacher I didn’t really like all that much. But I think that was because I wrote science fiction and fantasy in his class and he didn’t really get it. So, every time I went there, he would kind of keep asking me, “But why can’t this just be in a normal setting?” I was like, “That’s not the point.”
Jensen: The other one … is “write what you know.” Because there are plenty of amazing writers in the world that have written science fiction and fantasy, and all kinds of stuff that isn’t what they know. For example, there’s a really great British mystery series, it’s written by a woman who lives in California or something. So, I think to be limited to only writing stuff that’s contemporary, realistic, is set in your neighborhood, is just too limiting for me. I frequently have scenes that take place in places I’ve never been or characters who have professions that I know nothing about that I’ve got to research. But that’s what Google is for.(source:venturebeat)