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游戏敌人的设计:动作、反应和结果(1)

发布时间:2013-11-12 16:27:07 Tags:,,,,

作者:Mike Birkhead

本系列将分成三篇文章。在第一篇文章中,我首先要强调一个基本前提:你能想到的任何一个动作都已经被制作好了。我将以《Marvel vs Capcom 2》作为学习角色动作的资料来源和参考,因为这款游戏的玩法有深度也有广度,且有大量可以借鉴的好主题。现在,我就来分析这款游戏中的某些动作,从而加深我们对动作的理解,为日后的动作设计积累经验。

注意:我的用词与《Marvel vs Capcom 2》(游戏邦注:这是由Capcom公司发行的重构格斗游戏;游戏中有两大阵营,分别由Capcom的游戏角色和Marvel漫画的英雄角色组成。)的玩家社区并不相同。这些词是我在制作《战神》时学到的,被我改编并运用到《Marvel vs Capcom 2》中。我这么做一方面能我更容易在《战神》的术语下思考动作,另一方面可以提醒我这不是“关于”《Marvel vs Capcom 2》。本文的目的是,以《Marvel vs Capcom 2》为最佳参考来源,告诉大家如何有效地构思动作冒险游戏的动作。

所有的招式都可以分为三个阶段:动作、反应和结果。玩家执行动作,对手做出反应,结果是双方的状态都发生变化。有些动作具备这三个阶段(比如投火球),有些可能只涉及两个阶段(比如瞬间传送),是的,有时候很难把行动招式对应到所有模式中。但不要灰心,只要记住:最终你是要把这些想法构建成你自己的招式。有一个构造法在构思和平衡两方面都有益;另外,这种思路提醒你思考以下几个重要问题:这个招式是怎么样的?有什么作用?我如何反应?为什么使用它?我如何反击它?

当设计时,这个过程似乎鲜有进展得自然流畅的时候。到处都是灵感,你很清楚自己想要的动作是什么。看一眼概念艺术,你就知道应该有什么样的招式。这些完美的时刻实在太不常见了。灵感,最难相遇的朋友,总是来得出其不意;然而,那并不意味着我们只能坐等它上门。无论我们是寻找适合某只怪物的招式,还是寻找使用某个招式的怪物,首先要研究的就是动作。

动作

你的角色做的任何招式都算是动作。在解构《Marvel vs Capcom 2》或任何游戏中的动作时,第一步就是理解它们的基本结构。招式是由动画帧组成的,这些帧分为三个阶段:启动、执行和复原。

启动:招式正在开始,但还没有产生任何效果。比如,我要打你,启动阶段就是我伸出手并做好出拳的准备—-我的肌肉收缩、蓄势待发。这个阶段持续得越长,你的对手就有越多的时间思考你的意图和自己应该如何反应。当有人说一个招式“流露出来”时,他的意思可能是,那个招式的启动阶段比较长和明显。

Readies the kick(from flarkminator)

Readies the kick(from flarkminator)

准备踢

执行:招式现在“生效”了。还是上面那个例子,如果我打你,这时候拳头已经落在你身上了,你应该感到疼并对此做出反应了。这个阶段持续得越长,越容易打到某人。乍一看,似乎是“越长越好”,然而这个执行帧越长,你的角色受制这个动作的时间也越长。在《街头霸王2》中,M. Bison的蓄力重踢会使他顺着地面滑行相当一段距离。他的执行帧包含了整个滑行,所以这是一个有风险的招式。如果其他玩家打断你的这个动作,因为你仍然处于滑行状态,对手可以很轻易地反击你。

Extends and connects(from flarkminator)

Extends and connects(from flarkminator)

出腿

复原:招式不再“有效”,但角色必须花时间恢复到“静止”状态,才能执行下一个动作。如果我打你,现在是我把手收回来的时候。如果我打你时使尽了全力,那么我的喘气时间也属于这个阶段。复原持续得越长,与有多个执行帧一样,意味着这个招式的缓冲时间越长。越是强大的招式需要的复原时间越长,这就是平衡—-高奖励意味着高风险。

Brings the leg back(from flarkminator)

Brings the leg back(from flarkminator)

收腿

战斗游戏、动作冒险游戏、格斗游戏等等的进攻一般都是近战动作。是否觉得强大、是否流畅,是否合理。与一般的格斗游戏一样,《Marvel vs Capcom 2》中的绝大部分招式都属于近战动作,比如把对手一拳打死的快速猛击、把对手打倒在地的高压扣杀;我们可以想象到的用身体的某些部分攻击某人的方式是非常丰富的。这种丰富来自三个属性的相互作用:力量、距离和速度。这些属性是滑动的比例,不是严格的选项—-相当于转盘,而不是复选框。

理解如何调整这个转盘,需要深刻理解上述的招式“三段论”。在某个游戏中,你的招式也许力量最强,而我的最弱,但如果我的启动帧更少,那么我仍然可以一直打到你。如果我的速度胜过你的力量,作为弥补,你的强力招式可能作用距离更大。当我们对反应以及可用于平衡动作的不同反应类型(或缺少类型)的理解更深刻,我们就能想到更好的应对方案,

反应

动作是有趣的部分—-我们关注的部分,但它们并不是最重要的部分。强力的招式必须有看起来激烈的反应才会让人觉得    。为了确保你的招式不会让玩家觉得平庸或甚至更糟,太滑稽,你必须理解角色如何以及为什么对各种招式做出反应。

当你研究招式时,你要观察对手的一般反应和防御时的反应之间的差别。当你被一个招式打中时,与当你执行一个招式时一样,播放动画,你的角色受限于这个反应一段时间。你播放的这个反应动画,大部分时候与你在防御时是不一样的。但更重要的是,你被迫播放的动画更短(帧数更少)。承受攻击和警戒攻击的之间的长度变化意味着战斗或受到严重惩罚之间的区别是。一般反应是指,你陷于执行复原阶段(也叫作“攻击晕眩”阶段)。如果你是防御的,那么你就陷于防御复原阶段(也叫作“阻止晕眩”)。注:我不喜欢“晕眩”或“阻止”这两个词。前者是因为你其实并不是晕眩了,后者是因为阻止暗示着否定了所有伤害,而防御意味着伤害减少—-这个更准确。

假设有一个拳打动作有2个执行帧,4个复原帧,以及一个带3个启动帧的脚踢动作。拳打动作导致10帧执行复原和5帧防御复原。如果我用这个招式攻击某人(他并不防御),我可以顺势连上脚踢(我的攻击的复原和启动时间短于他的攻击复原)。如果他防御,那么他会比我更早恢复。这只是一个简单的例子,但你可以看出理解这种差别的重要性。

The attacker recovers first(from flarkminator)

The attacker recovers first(from flarkminator)

进攻者的复原帧

The defender recovers first(from flarkminator)

The defender recovers first(from flarkminator)

防御者的复原帧

这只是你开始理解反应时能做的事。回到上述那个强大但是缓慢的招式和弱小但是迅速的招式的例子。迅速的招式有优势,但如果我们在缓慢的招式上加一个新技巧,会怎么样呢?有些招式允许玩家在进攻时有“护甲”或“肉盾”。具有肉盾属性的角色在承受伤害时并不需要做出反应,这是一个显著的优势。迅速的招式会打到你,但你能够承受伤害,所以没关系,因为你可以反击把那个小废物打倒在地!肉盾是一个可以用于招式改良的例子,当然不是唯一的做法。注:即使改良是动作的属性,我认为还是有必要把它放在反应阶段来谈,因为它们几乎仅仅与你对动作的反应(或不反应)有关。改良属性有若干种,还是那句话,这些是我开发《战神》时学到的用语,但你在《Marvel vs Capcom 2》中可以看到大部分:

肉盾:你承受伤害,但不反应。有时候角色只能抵挡固定次数的攻击。例如,你可以抵挡第一次伤害,但如果被命中第二次时,你就会做出正常的反应。

抗性:伤害对你无效,你不做出反应。

防御中断:试图用这个属性阻止某个攻击,会迫使你做出特殊的反应。你不承受伤害,但处于易受伤害的状态。

不可阻止:试图用这个属性阻止某个攻击,会迫使你做出一般的反应,就好像你完全没有阻止攻击一样。

崩溃:一种特殊的反应。你的角色失去控制一段时间。被攻击后崩溃会导致一般反应。注:这与被晕眩是不同的。当你被晕眩且受到攻击,你会保持晕眩状态一阵子。而崩溃状态是,被攻击时马上结束。

冻结:变成冰块、变成石头,叫法虽然不一样,但反应都是相同的。你被阻止、被打晕、直到时间走完才能恢复活动。注:这是我第一次使用“被打晕”这个词。这是因为这次它总算反映真实情况了。不要在不合适的情况下使用它,因为会让人困惑,词不达意。

面对这么多种反应(游戏邦注:一般进攻、防御进攻、崩溃,等等)和关于为了真正体现进攻所以进攻必须有合适反应的知识,你会看到如果不加以抑制,工作压力就会开始像滚雪球似地增加。

“注:如果你没有时间制作体面的反应,那么制作看起来‘很酷的’进攻的时间和努力就白费了。”

以上纯粹是传说,但我认为,好与非常好之间的差距就是是否真正理解反应对动作系统的重要性;不只是知道如何把它们做得好看,还要知道如何在控制预算的情况下把它们做得好看。你的工作压力决定了可能的反应,而反应决定了你的进攻感觉,而进攻感觉决定了最终的结果。

结果

反应和结果之间有什么区别?乍一看,反应似乎就是结果,但这里存在一个值得注意的差别。首先,动作可以有结果而没有反应(我喝了一口生命药水)。第二,也是更重要的一点,反应是动画,而结果是状态的改变。

状态,在这种语境下,不仅是指你的角色的命值。其他状态改变包括当前装备等级、站在地面还是半空中,等等。为了让大家更明白,我把它们分类,然后对每一类举例子,以便解释它的用法。

生命:

伤害:命值的固定减少值。伤害值取决于两个因素:对手的装备等级和当前连击计数。角色如Sentinel受到的伤害比Akuma更少,因为二者的装备等级不同,另外,你攻击某人越多,伤害会按比例减少(最终减少到每次攻击造成1点伤害)。

中毒:命值按时间和固定量减少。

治疗:命值的固定增加量。

新生:命值按时间和固定量增加。

生命汲取:减少某人的命值,同时恢复其他人因伤害造成的部分命值受损。

防御:

护甲:根据装备属性或等级,增加或减少承受的伤害量。

时间:

增加:使一名角色比其他角色出招更快,是很容易理解的:想象一下我们只减少角色招式的启动帧数量。

减少:与“增加”同样的原理,但反向执行。我可以增加对手的复原时间,这使我获得大优势。

位置:

推动:并非所有动作都会让你滑过屏幕。推动是一个由程序执行的一般属性,表示某物推动你的程度(正向的或反向的)。

发射:把敌人打到半空中,使他处于全新的状态。如果行为不同,那么反应也会不同。当你处于半空中时,有一系列全新的反应要执行;记住,如果你不注意,你的工作量会滚雪球般地增加。

结果是容易理解的,想起来也有趣,但不要得意忘形。它们在概念上的简单掩饰了执行上的复杂。无论你想调节什么系统,程序员都必须花时间和精力使那个系统是可变化的而不是固定的。谨慎处理你的战斗吧。

完成一半的工作

动作、反应和结果。这些阶段帮助我们回答了三个问题:它是怎么样的,我如何反应和它做什么?我们还没学习为什么我们应该使用它以及如何反击它,但这些问题可以通过把解构的部分和想法重新组装成连贯的整体来回答。听起来比做起来容易多了,根据我们解构的部分想出新创意似乎是一件极为艰难的任务;然而,借助一些简单的指导(和耐心),仍然是可以完成的—-甚至可能很有趣。

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

Designing Enemies: Actions Reactions and Results

by Mike Birkhead

In the first part of this three part post I started with a basic premise: every move you can think of has already been created. I focused on Marvel vs Capcom 2 as a powerful resource for studying cool and powerful moves, as it has both depth and breadth in play, and it has a large tapestry of themes to pull from. Now we are going to get into the nitty-gritty fun of breaking down moves by understanding not only what you are seeing, but also why you are stealing it.

Just to be clear: my vocabulary is NOT congruous with the MvC2 community. These are the terms I was taught while working on god of war, which I have adapted and applied to the game of MvC2. I do this, number one, because it is easier for me to think in terms of god of war terminology, and number two, I do it to reinforce the idea that this is not “about” MvC2. The purpose is to talk about how to effectively construct ideas for use in an action adventure game, with MvC2 being the greatest source.

All moves are broken down into three stages: Action, Reaction, and Result. The player performs some action, his opponent reacts, and it results in both of their status changing. Some moves involve all three stages (throwing a fireball), while others might only involve one (teleporting), and yes, sometimes it can be hard to fit moves into any mold. Do not lose heart but instead remember: eventually you are going to reconstruct these ideas into your own moves. A structured approach helps in both construction and balance; additionally, this way of thinking reminds you of the important questions to ask: what does it look like, what does it do, how do I react, why should I use it, and how can I counter it?

When designing, there are those rare moments where the process seems to flow naturally. Inspiration is striking left and right, and you know the exact move that you want. One look at a piece of concept art, and you know exactly what moves it should have. These perfect moments are all too uncommon. Inspiration, that most elusive friend, chooses when she wants to strike; however, that doesn’t mean we just sit around waiting. That’s where mining for ideas comes in, and whether we are looking for a move to fit a monster, or hoping to find a monster to fit a move, the search starts with an action.

Action

Every move your character makes is some kind of action. The first step in deconstructing the actions you see in MvC2, or any game, is by understanding their basic structure. A move is made up of frames of animation, and these frames are broken down into three stages: Startup, Hit, and Recovery.

Startup: The move is starting, but nothing has happened yet. If I was going to punch you, this would be the part where I pull my hand back and get ready – my muscles tightening in preparation. The longer this period last, the more time your opponent has to figure out what move you are doing and react. When someone says a move is “telegraphed”, they are likely referring to the fact that a move had a long and obvious startup.

Frame 5: Readies the kick

Hit: The move is now “active”. If it was a punch and it was touching someone else, this would be the part where they take damage and react to it. The longer this period lasts, the easier it is to hit someone. At first glance it appears that “longer is better”, however the longer your hit frames are active the more time your character spends locked into this move. In Street Fighter 2, M. Bison’s crouching heavy kick (c.HK) makes him slide along the floor a decent distance. His hit frames encompass the entire slide, which makes it a risky move. If the other player blocks the move, since you are still locked into the slide, they can easily counter attack.

Frame 8: Extends and connects

Recovery: The move is no longer active, but I must spend time recovering back to my “rest” state before I can perform another move. If I was punching you this would be the time it takes me to bring my hand back. If I really put my all into this punch, it could also be the time I spend trying to catch my breath. The longer the recovery, like having a large number of hit frames, means that you are locked into this move, or “committed”. A particularly powerful move might be balanced by having a long recovery – high risk high reward.

Frame 12: Brings the leg back

Fighting games, action adventure games, beat em ups… they all make it or break it by the strength of their melee moves. Do they feel powerful, do they flow, and do they make sense. The majority of moves in MvC2 – in fighting games in general – fall into the category of melee moves. From quick jabs that let you poke your opponent to death, to arm-stretching overhead smashes that flatten them to the ground; the number of ways you can slap some part of your body against someone else is as varied as our imaginations. This variety comes from the interplay between three attributes: Power, Range, and Speed. These attributes are a sliding scale and not a harsh choice – imagine dials not check boxes.

Understanding how to adjust these dials requires a firm grasp of our three stages of a move. You can have the most powerful move in the game and I the weakest, but if my move has fewer start up frames I will beat you all day every day. My speed defeats your power, and while we could fix this by giving that powerful move greater range, the better solutions present themselves when we have a robust understanding of reactions, and how different kinds of reactions (or a lack of them) can be used to balance moves.

Reaction

Actions are the fun part – the part we fixate on – but they are not the most important part. A powerful move feels like a powerful move only when it is sold by a powerful looking reaction. Understanding how and why characters react to various moves is integral in making sure your moves don’t come off feeling underwhelming, or even worse, comical.

As you study moves, observe the difference between an opponents normal reaction and his reaction when blocking (guarding). When you are hit by a move, much like when you perform an action, you play an animation, and your character is locked into this reaction for a period of time. The reaction animation you play is, most times, visually different when you are guarding, but more importantly, the animation you are forced to play is shorter (fewer frames). The variance in length between taking a hit and guarding a hit can mean the difference between landing a combo, or getting brutally punished. A normal reaction means that you are stuck in Hit Recovery (also called Hit Stun). If you are guarding, you are stuck in Guard Recovery (also called Block Stun). Note: I do not like the terms stun or block. The former because you are not actually stunned, and the latter because blocking implies a negation of all damage, while guarding implies a reduction in damage, which is more accurate.

Let’s say I have a punch with 2 hit frames, 4 frames of Recovery, and a kick with 3 frames of Startup. The punch causes 10 frames of Hit Recovery but only 5 frames of Guard Recovery. If I attack someone with this punch (and they do not guard it), I can combo into my kick and get a free hit (my hit, recovery and startup is less than his hit recovery). If they guard my punch, however, he will recover before I do. This is just a simple example, but you can see the importance in understanding the difference.

The attacker recovers first

The defender recovers first

This is just the beginning of what you can do when you begin to understand reactions. Return to the example above, with the ridiculously powerful but slow move and the weak but very quick move. The quick move was going to have the advantage, but what if we can introduce a new trick to the slow move? Some moves allow the player to have armor or “tank” through attacks. While tanking you take damage, but do not react. This gives you a clear advantage. The quick move will hit you, and you will take damage, but it’s no matter because you plow right on through and smash that punk to bits – huzzah! Tanking is an example of a modifier that we can place on a move, and it’s not the only one you can use. Note: even though modifiers are an attribute of the action, I feel it’s important to talk about them here in reactions, because they deal almost exclusively with how you react (or don’t react) to moves. There are quite a few modifiers, and again, these are terms I learned from working on god of war, but you can see most of them in some form in MvC2:

Tank: You take damage, but do not play reactions. Sometimes a move can only tank a fixed number of hits. For example, you can tank the first hit, but if you are hit a second time you play a reaction normally.

Invulnerable: You take no damage and do not play reactions.

Guard Break: Attempting to block a move with this attribute forces you to play a special kind of reaction. You do not take damage, but you are left vulnerable.

Unblockable: Attempting to block a move with this modifier forces you to play a normal reaction as if you did not block it at all.

Crumple: A special kind of reaction. Your character loses control for a period of time. Being hit while crumpled causes you to play a normal reaction. Note: THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS BEING STUNNED. When you are stunned and receive a hit, you remain stunned until a period of time has passed. The Crumple state, however, ends once you are hit.

Frozen: Turned to ice, turned to stone; theme is irrelevant, the reaction is the same. You are locked down, stunned, and you cannot break free until a timer runs down. Note: this is the first time I have used the word stunned. That is because this is the first time it has been factually correct. Do not use it when not appropriate. It’s confusing, and only serves to weaken communication and meaning.

With all of the various reactions (normal hits, guarded hits, air hits, crumples, etc.) and with the knowledge that to truly sell an attack it has to have an appropriate reaction, you can see how the workload begins to balloon when left unchecked.

Note: If you don’t have time to make heavy reactions, all that time and effort making ‘cool’ heavy looking attacks is now worthless.

It is purely anecdotal, but it is my belief that what separates the good from the great is having a truly competent grasp of how important reactions are to the system; not just how to make them look good, but how to make them look good within a budget. Your workload dictates the possible reactions, the reactions dictate the feel of your attacks, and the feel dictates the final piece, your results.

Result

What is the difference between reaction and result? Viewed casually, reactions seem to be results, but there is a worthwhile distinction here. First, a move can have a result without a reaction (I drink a health potion). Second, and more important, reactions are animations, while results are changes in state.

State, in this context, refers to more than just the health of your character. Other changes in state range from altering your current armor rating, to altering whether you are considered on the ground or in the air. For clarity I will break them down into categories, and then provide some examples within each category to illustrate its uses.

Health

Damage: A fixed reduction in health. The amount of damage done is scaled by two factors: the opponents armor class, and the current combo count. A character like Sentinel takes less damage from hits than someone like Akuma because they have different armor class ratings, additionally, the more you hit someone, the more your damage is scaled down (eventually reducing down to 1 damage per hit).

Poison: A fixed reduction in health over time.

Heal: A fixed increase in health

Regen: A fixed increase in health over time

Drain: Reduces health from one person, healing someone else for some fraction of damage done.

Defense

Armor: Increases or decreases the amount of damage scaled by your armor.
Time

Increase: Making one character move faster than another is a simple to understand, if complex to implement, example of this concept, but a better illustration is to consider what happens if we simply reduce the number of startup frames a character plays.
Decrease: Much the same, but in reverse. I could increase the length of my opponents recovery, giving me a major advantage.
Position

Impulse: Not all moves shove you across the screen, some suck you in. Impulse is the generic attribute, applied programmatically, of how much (both positive or negative) something shoves you.

Launch: Knocking an enemy into the air places him into a completely new state. The game must understand not only that he acts differently, but also that he reacts differently. There are a whole new set of reactions to play when you are in the air; remember what I said about your workload ballooning when you don’t pay attention?

Results are easy to grasp and fun to think about, but do not get carried away. Their simplicity in concept belies their complexity of implementation. For every system you wish to modulate, the programmers must expend time and effort making that system variable instead of fixed. Pick your battles carefully.

A Job Half Done

Action, Reaction, and Result. These stages help us answer three questions: what does it look like, how do I react to it, and what does it do? We have yet to learn why we should use it and how to counter it, but these questions are answered by taking the deconstructed parts and ideas and reconstructing them into a coherent package. It sounds a hell of a lot easier than it is, and crafting new ideas from our deconstructed parts can, once started, seem like a Herculean task; however, with some simple guidelines (and patience), it is very manageable – maybe even fun.(source:flarkminator)


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