作者：Joe Osborne

寻物解谜游戏粉丝在1月份假期大获惊喜。近日PopCap Games宣布其首款Facebook寻物解谜游戏，即备受期待的《Hidden Agenda》已进入公测阶段。虽然目前已开放谜题，但PopCap表示，直到下个月推出《Season 1: The Puzzle of the Poisoned Planner》才会迎来“正式发行”。

PopCap指出，虽然此次公测中展现24个场景，但这期间会有12个事件，48个寻物场景，25个角色，以及30座可供建设的建筑。今日我们采访了寻物解谜游戏制作总监兼Vancouver工作室总经理Kurt Busch，揭开《Hidden Agenda》的神秘面纱。

hidden Agenda(from games)

众所周知，PopCap的寻物解谜游戏下载量颇丰，那是什么激励你们像Zynga与Playdom那样进军Facebook游戏领域？

其实，在Facebook平台出现大量寻物解谜游戏前，长时间以来我们已尝试多种不同创意。我们创建了两个不同原型，但都不是特别满意。而后在1月份，我们挖来Rick Davidson（游戏邦注：即《Hidden Agenda》总监）。他组织先前合作成员，并与我们寻物解谜游戏专家核心小组结合，提出了一个全新方案。

为什么要针对Facebook平台创造一款全新游戏，而不是将《Vacation Quest》或《Amazing Adventures》系列引到该平台？其过程又是怎样？

事实上，最初我们是从《Myester PI》入手（也许是我们最成功的作品）。当时，我们认为其神秘主题能完美匹配Facebook平台与其用户。但该作中不含任何角色，且玩法相对简单。而Rick与其团队开始在其中增添角色与故事情节，我们逐渐意识到它已不再是《MPI》世界，而是更加精彩的场景，于是我们决定制作全新内容。

PopCap是如何想出《Hidden Agenda》这个游戏名称？它又具备何种美术风格？

我们力图找到正确名称。很长一段时间内，我们以研发代码“FaceHog”称呼，这个并不糟糕。然而我们希望游戏名称能够传达城镇中敌对人物的阴谋诡计，及寻物解谜游戏体验的乐趣。碰巧《Hidden Agenda》完美契合我们的设想。

其中，每个角色都暗藏着物品。这是该故事与玩法体验的核心。有些角色较易察觉到，因为他们具有动物特征，然而各个角色都暗藏着秘密、恐慌、黑暗过去或是掩饰欲望（即打算永远隐瞒城镇中的其他人）。在你获得城镇居民的信任后，你能更了解他们的情况，这样有望获得开启大门的机会。

在美术风格上，一开始其实我们采用卡通形象。但美术总监Nelson Garcia绘制的具有动物特征的角色引发所有开发人员的共鸣。从人物造型，到每个动物特性，他尝试各种方案，找出最优模式，才令我们有望一睹风采。

顺便说下，在设计两个敌对家族特征时，Garcia无意中塑造成一方为肉食者，另一方为素食者。我们并没有严格要求这种分界，但这样却能快速体现出所有角色的特征。

除了美术风格较为独特，《Hidden Agenda》与Facebook上其它寻物解谜游戏还有哪些差异？

我们游戏中的各个部分都是寻物解谜体验，而不是传统情景。Facebook上标准寻物解谜游戏是传统空间装扮游戏与精选寻物解谜情景的结合。为了前进，你需要不断探索神秘场景，因此寻物解谜经历更像是记忆游戏，且逐渐丧失传统体验模式。即使这样，它仍相当有趣。只是我们采用与众不同的设计方案。

Rick与其团队决定将整个世界打造为寻物解谜经历。游戏中并没有购买放置建筑模式，你会以元谜题模式探索城镇，寻找完成任务所需的道具与角色。这在城镇中归为职业，你应为自己相遇的每个角色提供服务。各个职业都是寻物游戏，比如寻找遗失道具、嫌疑犯、失踪角色，或是调查犯罪现场所需的工具。

完成职业后，你能开启事件，通常是由多个传统寻物解谜场景构成的个人谜题。在调查过程中，你会收获线索，解决各个谜题。每当完成事件，你将会扩大相遇人物名单，整个故事会继续向前发展，帮助你解决最终谜团。

PopCap打算在《Hidden Agenda》中讲述哪类故事？主要瞄准哪类用户？

《Hidden Agenda》故事是以城镇规划师Albus B. P离奇遭到谋杀，其最近修改的区域图纸被盗这一情节开场。在该作中，你将扮演一个私家侦探，到这里揭开小镇与居民的秘密。

这是关于两个家族的故事，他们都有不为人知的黑暗过去。其中一个家族思想较为先进，他希望城镇能逐步发展并实现工业化。而另一个家族则较为传统，他反对对自己家乡进行任何改造。

每个家族都由族长领头，其中人物的生活模式各不相同。随着故事展开，你会卷入大量事件中，其中会有形形色色的角色长期争执。你应找出杀害Puckerwhip的凶手。

对于目标用户，我认为，这是款Facebook游戏，它无疑瞄准了该平台用户。该作必定会吸引那些较为年长的女性玩家，当然其他人同样会喜爱该作。我们的设计宗旨是服务于那些热爱推理，钟爱寻物解谜游戏，欣赏PopCap设计模式的用户。（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）

PopCap spills the beans on its Hidden Agenda for Facebook [Interview]

by Joe Osborne

Fans of hidden object games get a surprise holiday in January. PopCap Games has announced that its first hidden object game for Facebook, the much anticipated Hidden Agenda, has entered open beta (i.e. it’s live and playable). While the puzzler is available now, PopCap says that its “mainstream launch” won’t be until next month with the release of Season 1: The Puzzle of the Poisoned Planner.

While this open beta test will offer 24 scenes to master, PopCap teases that this season is packed with 12 cases, 48 hidden object scenes, 25 characters and 30 buildings to create. In anticipation of the release, we sat down with Kurt Busch, Executive Producer for hidden object games at PopCap and GM of its Vancouver studio, to take a bit more mystery out of, well, this mystery.

PopCap is well-known for its hidden object games for download, so what inspired the studio to enter the ring with likes of Zynga and Playdom?

We actually started working out different ideas a long time before there were any hidden object Games on Facebook. We prototyped a couple of different approaches but weren’t quite happy with them. Then in January we brought in Rick Davidson, the Game Director on Hidden Agenda. He put together a team of people he’d worked with before and we combined this with our core team of hidden object experts and came up with an entirely new approach.

Why create a new intellectual property for Facebook rather than, say, bring the Vacation Quest or Amazing Adventures series over? What was that process like?

Actually, we started out with Mystery PI, probably our most successful franchise. We thought the mystery theme worked perfectly for the audience and the platform. But Mystery PI is a straightforward HOG with no characters. As Rick and his team began to add characters and story lines, we realized we were moving away from the MPI world and into something really cool, so we decided to create a new franchise.

Hidden Agenda on Facebook

How did PopCap come up with the title “Hidden Agenda,” and how about the art style?

We were trying to find the right title. For the longest time, it was being built under the codename “FaceHog”, which is not a bad PopCap sort of title. But we wanted something that conveyed the intrigue of a small town filled with conflicting personalities, and the fun of the hidden object Game experience. “Hidden Agenda” wound up fitting the bill perfectly.

Each character is hiding something. This is at the core of the story and the gameplay experience. The characters may appear easy to figure out because of their animal personalities but each and every one has a secret, a fear, a dark past or a hidden desire that he or she is trying to keep hidden from other characters in town. As you gain the trust and confidence of the townsfolk, you learn more about them. This knowledge opens doors and opportunities.

As for the art, we actually started with cartoony human characters. Nelson Garcia, the Lead Artist, started creating characters with animal features and it struck a chord with everyone. He tried a whole range of approaches, ranging from very human to very animalistic features and found the sweet spot you see in the game now.

Incidentally, when designing the characters for the two feuding families, he wound up unintentionally casting one side as carnivores and one as herbivores. We didn’t confine ourselves strictly to that division, but it made a good starting point for bringing across the personalities of the characters quickly.

Aside from Hidden Agenda’s distinct art direction, what else differentiates this game from the rest on Facebook?

Every part of our game is a hidden object experience, not just the traditional hidden object scenes. The standard mold for HOGs on Facebook has been to combine a conventional space-decorating game with a selection of HOG scenes. Since you need to grind the HOG scenes to advance the gameplay, the hidden object experience becomes more of a memory game and less of a traditional hidden object experience. Nothing wrong with this – it can be pretty fun. But we wanted a different approach.

Rick and his team came up with the idea of making the whole world a hidden object experience. So instead of buying and placing structures, you explore a town in the meta-game and find items and characters to complete quests. In the town, these are referred to as Jobs and you carry them out for the many characters you meet. Each Job is a scavenger hunt to find lost items, suspects, missing characters, or the tools you need to investigate a crime scene.

Completing enough Jobs allows you to open Cases, which are individual mysteries, made up of a number of traditional HOG scenes. Investigating these scenes gives you clues, which in turn can be used to solve each mystery. Closing cases allows you to expand the list of characters you meet and advance the overall story, helping you solve the ultimate mystery in the game.

What kind of story is PopCap trying to tell with Hidden Agenda, and to what audience?

The story opens with the mysterious murder of Albus B. Puckerwhip, the Town Planner, and the theft of his recently revised zoning plans. You are a Private Investigator that comes to town to unravel the secrets of the town and its residents.

It’s the story of two families, bound by a common history but divided by a dark event in the past. One family is driven by progress and wants to see the town grow and industrialize. The other is bound by tradition and opposed to anything that changes the character of their hometown.

Each family is led by a patriarch and features a cast of characters with conflicting agendas. As the story unfolds, you’ll be drawn into numerous cases that feature the colorful characters on both sides of the feud. And you will find out who killed Puckerwhip. We promise.

As for the audience, this is a game on Facebook, so by definition it’s targeted at an audience that’s engaged in games there. It will definitely appeal to older, female players but not at the expense of someone else who might enjoy the game. It’s designed for anyone who loves mysteries, anyone who loves hidden object Games, and anyone who loves the way PopCap approaches games.(source:games)