作者：Justin Davis

《生化奇兵3：无限》是我去年（和今年，因为它跳票了）最期待的游戏之一。才看到游戏预告片，我就已经相当兴奋了，我实在是大爱原作，可惜预告片中出现的玩法只是从2011年E3游戏展上公布的视频中截取的片断。E3游戏展上的演示片让我迫不及待地想看到最终产品（如果你还没看到那个视频，建议你现在看一下）。在我看完演示片和带旁白录音的视频后，我意识在游戏发行以前，我不能再看任何与之相关的报道了。对于我真心喜欢的游戏，我通常都要自行封锁消息。我知道得越少越好。

BioShock-Infinite-Elizabeth(from nerdreactor)

几天以前，我拿到新一期《PC Gamer》。一看到封面上正是《生化奇兵3：无限》，我立马就知道不能再翻下去了。在翻过那篇文章时，我注意到一张插图。图片上是Elizabeth站在一间小店里，她是玩家在游戏的大部分时间里都要保护的角色。最吸引我的眼球的是她的服装，我记得在演示片里看到的跟图片上的这件完全不同。

为什么我会注意到这种细节？好吧，如果你看过她E3演示片里穿的服装，你就知道我为什么计较了。那件蓝色衣服暴露的“事业线”太多了，特别是考虑到游戏发生的时期。在《PC Gamer》的插图中，她穿着端庄的白衬衣，更适合她的角色定位。我感到非常惊喜，因为从2011年中旬开始，我就没有看到任何关于《无限》的信息了。

BioShock-Infinite-Elizabeth(from gamezone)

看到这个变化，我相当惊喜。在演示片中看来，Elizabeth是一个非常有意思的角色，但她的着装总是让我觉得有一点不和谐。我倒不是说女人不应该露出“事业线”，只是实在与这个角色不搭。这种服装设计的意图似乎就是为了吸引大部分男性玩家的注意力。《无限》的制作人Ken Levine不像是喜欢耍这种手段的人，所以出现这种设计就显得奇怪了。

这就让我不禁好奇，在游戏演示片公布后，论坛提到Elizabeth的服装问题，制作方是不是以此作为回应？我知道我不是唯一认为服装有恶趣味嫌疑的人。其他人也希望有所改变，Levine好像听到了我们的心声。当然，服装变化可能只出现在游戏进行到一半时，不过我也不确定。如果说这是为新版游戏中的Elizabeth设计的新服装，那我一点也不惊讶，因为我认为这个角色本来就应该穿这种服装。如果我的“如果”是真的，那么我就要为Levine叫好了，他做了明智的选择，角色穿上新服装后形象更加突出了。我认为这算是游戏业的先例。

我真希望其他开发者注意到这个设计决定，在他们的游戏中也能效仿。我经常在玩游戏时注意到女性角色的着装与她的个性非常不搭，似乎只是为了迎合男性玩家的喜好。糟糕的设计我见过无数次，比如间谍居然穿高跟鞋，战士居然穿露脐或露沟的盔甲。这些都是非常破坏沉浸感的设计，说玩家喜欢这种设计的人简直是侮辱玩家。设计一种既符合女性身份又契合游戏世界的服装并非不可能。《Fire Emblem: Awakening》就是一个典范。游戏中所有女性角色穿的盔甲都把她们包裹得严严实实，但并没有埋没女性形态之美和个性。一石二鸟的设计是有可能实现的；只是需要更多创意、更多工作。

作为一个比较难沉浸到游戏世界中的人，我真心感激某些开发者的英明决定——保证角色的服装符合游戏世界。我不是说不允许大胆的设计；我只是认为服装类型应该与游戏保持一致。以《猎天使魔女》的主角Bayonetta为例，她脚踩一双可笑的高跟鞋，用自己的头发做服装的装饰。虽然看起来十足荒诞，但符合游戏世界以及角色身份。我希望自己玩的游戏也是这样的。不应该打击创意，但我认为开发者应该更加注重游戏世界的细节，使游戏世界中的一切都符合逻辑，不至于破坏他们最初设想的视觉效果。（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）

Character design: A small change can make a huge difference

by Justin Davis

Bioshock Infinite was one of my most anticipated games of last year (and this year since it’s been delayed). I was already pretty hyped after the reveal trailer, knowing how much I enjoyed the original, but it was the lengthy gameplay snippet from the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2011 that made me unable to contain my desire for the final product (if you still haven’t managed to see it, I advise you do so now). After I saw the demo and a video showing off some of the voice-over recording process, I knew that I needed to go into media blackout until the game’s release. This is something I will often do with games I really want to play. The less I know about them, the better.

A few days ago, I received the latest issue of PC Gamer. I saw that Bioshock Infinite was on the cover and immediately knew I was going to avoid reading about it. While flipping past the article, I noticed something about one of the images (pictured above). It showed Elizabeth, the character you presumably escort around for most of the game, just standing in a shop. What caught my eye about this image was that the outfit she was wearing was entirely different from the one I remembered from the demo.

Why would I notice something this small? Well, if you’ve seen the outfit she was wearing in the E3 demo, you would know why it stuck in my mind. It was a blue dress that was quite over-the-top with the amount of cleavage it revealed, especially considering the time period in which the game takes place. In the PC Gamer image, she was wearing a much more modest white shirt that fit her character much better. It took me entirely by surprise because I hadn’t seen anything from Infinite since the middle of 2011.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this had changed. Elizabeth seemed like a very interesting character in the demo, but her outfit had always been a bit of an annoyance to me. I’m not saying that displaying cleavage or femininity is a bad thing; it just seemed glaringly out of character for her — even from the little we actually know about her design. It almost felt as if the outfit was meant to appeal to the large segment of males in the audience. Ken Levine, the creator of Infinite, didn’t seem like the type to let something like this be in his game, so it seemed very odd at the time.

This makes me wonder if the change was a response to the forum chatter about the Elizabeth’s design around the time of the demo’s release. I know that I wasn’t the only one who thought the outfit was a little unappealing and distasteful. Others wanted it toned back as well, and it would seem that Levine listened to us. Of course, this could very well just be a costume change that happens partway through the game, but I’m not so sure. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that this is just the new design for Elizabeth for the entirety of the game because it fits the idea I have of her so much better. If this is the case, I applaud Levine for making the smart choice to change the outfit and doing so in a way that speaks more strongly to the character wearing the outfit. I feel this sets a positive precedent for the industry at large.

I really hope other developers notice this design choice and try to implement it into their future games. All too often, I’ll play a game where a female character is dressed in a way that obviously doesn’t fit her personality and just seems like it was meant to pander to the large male audience. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen poor design choices, like stealthy spies wearing high heels or hardened warriors wearing midriff or cleavage-exposing suits of armor. It breaks my immersion in the world and insults everyone by saying we like this kind of thing. It is entirely possible to design an outfit (or even armor) that is both appropriately feminine and doesn’t seem out of place in the world the character inhabits. Fire Emblem: Awakening does a great job of this. All the women wear armor that covers them entirely and also emphasizes their beauty and character. It is possible to have it both ways; it just takes a bit more creativity and work.

As someone who already has a bit of trouble immersing himself in a video game’s world, I really appreciate developers that make intelligent decisions to ensure that outfits make logical sense in the world the characters inhabit. I’m not saying there isn’t a place for crazy designs; I just think that those types of costumes belong in a game that suits them better. Take Bayonetta — with her absurd high heels and costume made from her own hair. Even though she looks ridiculous, her outfit fits that world and her character. That’s all I want from my games. Creativity shouldn’t be squelched, but I think more developers should pay attention to the different pieces of their world so that everything fits together logically and doesn’t ruin the vision they originally had in mind.(source:venturebeat)