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分享来自《洞穴探险》的设计经验

发布时间:2014-02-22 15:21:04 Tags:,,,,

作者:Jamie Smith

我最近在Vita上再次看到了《洞穴探险》,并发现了许多让人上瘾的游戏玩法元素。如果没有严格的控制,顺畅的帧率以及精心设计的游戏玩法,它可能会搞砸了OLED屏幕。本文将着眼于分析游戏设计的5个元素,即在支持幸存者的核心挑战的同时限制玩家的挫败感并提供重玩价值。

1.复古的逻辑推进可用性

《洞穴探险》通过引用之前发生的事与玩家的期待保持一致而有效地将新用户带到游戏体验中。玩家可以跳到敌人身上(就像《马里奥》),秘密会伴随着旋律出现(就像《塞尔达传说》),玩家可以到达峰值(就像《波斯王子》),并且还可以放置炸弹(就像《炸弹人》)。通过利用这一信息,游戏将有规律地引进新的敌人和危险,从而让玩家可以随意使用工具,并且设计师也可以调整行为而朝着游戏最后去推动标准的发展。

2.程序化并不意味着随意

spelunky(from gamasutra)

spelunky(from gamasutra)

程序化是附属于最近许多独立游戏,如《盗贼遗产》,《饥荒》以及《我的世界》等的流行词。然而它却会被误解为是随意的,即代表缺少控制。《洞穴探险》是相反的。上面的例子是源自《Spelunky Generator Lessons》这篇文章,即突出每16个房间环境的布局,并且每一个编号将决定房间的类型和可行的出口。

基于更多游戏经验,一些常见的主题将通过在之后的游戏过程中呈现一致性去传达自己:

起点是朝向环境的顶部

出口通常是朝向与起点相反的角落

即使不使用装备也能完成每一个关卡

在每个标准关卡都会出现最多一个店主

来自下一个世界的敌人也许会在你进入该世界前就出现(你正靠近结局并暗示即将到来的危险)

这一列表将持续着……

布局是伴随着明确的限制所创造出来的。

3.多样性是生活中的调味品

Yeti(from gamasutra)

Yeti(from gamasutra)

在2013年GDC上的一次谈话中,Andy Hull(游戏邦注:《洞穴探险》的首席程序员)表示,游戏中的每一个道具,危险与敌人的设计都具多种用处。上图关于Yeti的例子便是源自他的展示内容,即允许玩家在不同情境下实验各种方法。

基于不同的记录,编辑器很少为了提供额外的挑战或神秘事物层面而被用于环境中。例如在黑暗中具有较低的能见度,或提升充满食人鱼的海水的水位从而阻碍玩家的前进。在元素的广泛阵列之间,具有决定性的布局和少数的编辑器以及多样性中的复杂性都能用于避免游戏玩法过于陈腐。

4.动态生态系统

《洞穴探险》中的生态系统能够帮助玩家获得有关任务的信息而存活下来;如能够引诱危险的敌人进入陷阱,使用回力镖将物体推离窗台,或者使用火把烧掉蜘蛛网。游戏元素的关系变得更熟悉,如果是事先计划好的话便能够获得让人满意的多米诺骨牌般的链条,而如果并未进行计划它也将创造出具有危险性且让人惊讶的结果。两种情况之间的震荡提供了许多情节,在此事件将在熟悉与不可预测间摆动着,从而导致每次的游戏都是不同的。

5.难度管理

最后,《洞穴探险》使用了许多技巧去阻止玩家因为受挫或者遇到一个琐碎的挑战而离开游戏,一些基本的例子包括:

当玩家花太多时间于关卡中时,幽灵将出现去推动玩家向前走,否认空间并限制可获得的战利品数量

当玩家死掉时,快速重新开始的选择让玩家能够掩盖失败并立刻回到行动中

当完成游戏区域时,一个名为Tunnel Man的NPC将提供方法让玩家略过这些关卡(如果他已经获得相关资源时)

此外,在《洞穴探险》中每个区域的难度系数并不会逐渐增加。因为具有大量开放空间和较少的陷阱,Ice Caves(第三个区域)是最不具有挑战的区域。两个能够解释这一选择的原因也许将在克服了挑战区域的紧张感后释放,但这也与玩家如何适应这一区域相关。

从心理学角度来看,大多数人都擅长于他们经过训练的任务。这里存在的陷阱在于人们将遭受特异性的诅咒,即阻止他们从类似,而非一样的任务中获得学习。在《洞穴探险》中,当你安全地通过Mines并开始克服Jungle时,回到Mines便成为一个巨大的任务,因为即使游戏玩法是相同的,玩家对于所遭遇的挑战仍是陌生的(在《黑暗之魂》中也存在类似的效果)。

《洞穴探险》是具有充满支持核心体验的设计的主要游戏案例,尽管人们可能会觉得它很难或者不公平,但是开发者还是做出了许多决定去保持乐趣的完整性并限制玩家的挫败感。

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

Design Lessons From Spelunky

by Jamie Smith

I’ve recently re-discovered Spelunky on Vita and have come to appreciate many aspects of the frustratingly addictive gameplay. Had it not been for the tight controls, slick frame rate and well-designed gameplay it could have been the cause of a smashed OLED screen. This article aims to detail five factors of the game’s design which supports the core challenge of survival whilst limiting player frustration and providing replay value.

1. Retro Logic Promoting Usability

Spelunky eases new users into the experience by referencing what has come before whilst remaining consistent with the player’s expectation. Enemies can be jumped on (like Mario), secrets are accompanied by a melody (like Zelda), spikes can be walked over (like Prince of Persia) and bombs can be placed (like Bomberman). By leveraging this information, new enemies and hazards can be introduced steadily allowing the player to experiment with the tools at their disposal whilst the designer can tweak behaviours to push their own standard towards the end of the game.

2. Procedural Doesn’t Mean Random

Procedural is the buzzword attached to many recent indie titles such as Rogue Legacy, Don’t Starve and Minecraft. However, it can be mistaken for random which implies a lack of control. Spelunky is quite the opposite. The above example is taken from Spelunky Generator Lessons which highlights the layout of each 16 room environment, each numbered to determine room types and viable exits.

With more experience playing the game, common themes present themselves providing consistency across subsequent play throughs:

The start position is towards the top of the environment

The exit will generally be towards the opposite corner of the start position

Every level can be completed the without use of equipment

A maximum of one shop keeper appears per standard level

Enemies from the next world may appear before you progress to it (you are near the end and hint at upcoming hazards)

And the list goes on…

Layouts are definitely created with defined limitations in mind.

3. Variety Is The Spice Of Life

Taken from a talk at GDC 2013, Andy Hull (lead programmer on Spelunky) says that every item, hazard and enemy in the game was designed to have multiple uses. The above example of the Yeti taken from his presentation clearly demonstrates this, allowing the player to experiment with their approach in different situations.

On a different note, modifiers are infrequently applied to the environment in order to provide an additional layer of challenge or mystery. Examples such as having limited visibility in the form of darkness or raised water levels filled with piranhas significantly hamper the pace of player progression. Between the extensive array of elements, deterministic layouts and a handful of modifiers, plenty of complexity in variation is provided to prevent gameplay from going stale.

4. Dynamic Ecosystem

The ecosystem within Spelunky lends itself to aid the player’s knowledge in their quest to survive such as; being able to lure dangerous enemies into traps, using a returning boomerang to push objects off a ledge or burn sticky cobwebs with a torch. Whilst the relationships of the game elements become familiar, a satisfying chain of dominos can be achieved when intended but it can also foster potentially hazardous and surprising outcomes when they are not. The oscillation between the two provides numerous scenarios where events range from familiar to unpredictable, making each play through unique.

5. Difficulty Management

Finally, Spelunky uses several techniques to help prevent players from quitting the game in frustration or exploiting a trivial challenge, some basic examples include:

When the player spends too long in a level, a ghost appears to push the player forward, denying space and limiting the amount of loot that can be acquired

When the player dies, a quick restart option allows players to gloss over their failure and head straight back into the action

When a game area is completed, an NPC called Tunnel Man provides access to a tunnel to skip levels if some resources are delivered to him

Additionally, the difficulty of each area in Spelunky doesn’t get progressively harder. The Ice Caves (the third area) are significantly less challenging than the rest due to the abundance of open space and relatively fewer traps. Two reasons that could explain this choice may be to provide a release after overcoming the tension of a challenging area but it could also be related to how players are conditioned.

It’s known from psychology that most people get good at the exact task that they are trained on. The pitfall of this is that humans suffer from the curse of specificity which prevents learning from being transferred to a similar, but not the same, task. In Spelunky’s case for example; when you’ve safely ventured through the Mines and have begun to overcome the Jungle, returning to the Mines becomes a colossal task due to the unfamiliarity with the challenges encountered, even if the gameplay is the same (a similar effect can be experienced in Dark Souls).

TL;DR

Spelunky is a prime example of a game where the design fully supports the core experience and whilst it may be considered extremely difficult or even unfair, there are plenty of decisions that have been made to keep the fun intact and limit player frustration.(source:gamasutra)


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