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《Clash Royale》的成功与失败的原因

发布时间:2016-03-21 17:10:04 Tags:,,,,

作者:Ciro Continisio

那些认识我的人应该都知道,我并不支持免费游戏模式。但是当不久前《Clash Royale》(Supercell的最新游戏)面向全世界发行时,我决定再给这一模式一个机会。让人惊讶的是,我真的非常喜欢这款游戏!于是我便决定在此分析我认为《Clash Royale》是一款优秀游戏并超越同类型其它游戏的原因。

它是如何运行的?

简而言之,《Clash Royale》是一款简单的实时策略游戏,其游戏经济是基于桥牌建造的游戏层。在这里纸牌代表的是玩家可以在战斗中使用的单位,是不可购买的。如果玩家能够囤积更多同类型的纸牌,他们便可升级一个特定单位。

Screenshot(from gamasutra)

Screenshot(from gamasutra)

游戏场地

在游戏中,玩家需要通过摧毁对手的King’s Tower(游戏邦注:设置在中间位置)或比赛最后的大多数塔防去击败他们。他们可以通过将单位置于自己的游戏场地去做到这点。一旦设置好,单位便能开始移动并攻击它们所遇到的任何敌人。这看起来似乎与Ronimo的《剑与勇士》很像,只是是基于自上往下的游戏形式。玩家可以一直通过消费mana去补充单位。

这款游戏是免费的,即使用当下最典型的免费游戏模式,在游戏中没有一个领域是玩家花钱而到达不到的。如果玩家想要宝石(游戏中的硬货币)或货币(游戏中的软货币),他们便需要为此而花钱。货币让玩家能够购买全新纸牌并升级单位,而宝石则让玩家能够加快等待时间,这通常是发生在你想要开启宝库时。当玩家赢得每场比赛后便能够获得宝库,里面装着各种数量的货币,宝石和纸牌。

可感知的公平

就像许多RTS游戏那样,单位的优劣就如剪刀石头布一般,即没有一种单位是所向无敌的,但如果你能够有效使用一种或多种单位,你便能够轻松逆转它并继续发动攻击。举个例子来说吧,几乎不可击破的Giant需要来自Mini P.E.K.K.A.的3至4次攻击才会倒下,但是这一单位却对飞翔单位毫无抵抗力。而Archers虽然能够有效抵御飞翔单位但却抵抗不住Bomber等能够创造溅射伤害的单位。,

这种关联会让玩家觉得,即使单位是基于不同水平,他也不会觉得对手的胜利是因为他拥有一个级别3的Giant而你只拥有级别2的单位。虽然这么做较困难,但却是可行的。

这款游戏的比赛创造机制被划分成不同层面,并由不同比赛场所表现出来(游戏邦注:这同时也能打开不同纸牌)。所以如果你在一场特定场所中玩了几次比赛,你便会了解自己将面对多少纸牌,而你的对手级别也几乎与你相同,所以这将能够有效地传达公平感。

公平感是想要变成电子竞技内容的游戏必须具备的元素,开发者可以通过整合TV Royale,即一个让玩家能够观看其他玩家比赛成绩的屏幕而进一步强化这一元素。不幸的是,即使观看比赛很有趣,但是我却发现我所观看的玩家都是具有极高水平,所以我在此所学到的技能对于我当前所处的级别是毫无意义的。我认为Supercell应该基于玩家当前的级别对此进行调整。

Screenshot(from gamasutra)

Screenshot(from gamasutra)

除此之外,尽管游戏整合了机会元素(游戏邦注:即纸牌的分发是随机的),但实际上玩家只拥有4张可选择的纸牌,所以这种随机感便被大大削减了,即很有可能其中一张纸牌便是那张可能与你对手移动方向相反的纸牌。

一款需要等待的游戏

如果你未抽到一张合适的纸牌,还有第五个将提供给你纸牌的插槽。如果你拥有Elixir,你便可以选择另一张攻击性纸牌并快速发挥新纸牌的作用,即将其用于守卫自己。这便是为何管理Elixir如此重要,因为一旦你拥有所需的Elixir,你便可以尽快去使用合适的纸牌。大多数情况下,这将导致你难以抵御另一面敌人的攻击,所以如果你的纸牌的创造较为缓慢,你的塔防可能很快便会被Balloon等强大单位所占领。

我们经常能够看到各种等待时刻,即没有人能够操控一张纸牌15秒钟,他们必须等待那张与敌人移动方向相同的纸牌。在这种情况下,单位之间以及与战场的互动都很复杂,即它允许玩家在自己并不感兴趣的场所使用诱饵纸牌。当你的敌人操控一张昂贵的纸牌去阻碍你的移动时,你便能够在另一面使用一张二级纸牌对其塔防发动小规模攻击,并以此削弱对方的生命值。

举个例子来说吧,在比赛场所中间选择Skeleton Army并将其一分为二,如此其他玩家便可以选择一方进行防守。如果你拥有一些较廉价的Archers,你便可以使用他们去支持Skeletons去攻破对手的塔防,并给对方创造一个小小的打击。

你将会被吸引

我喜欢(并讨厌)《Clash Royale》的一部分原因便是其惊人的反馈和快速的游戏循环。

首先,这款游戏是建立在丰富的反馈基础上:你所采取的任何行动都是让人满意且具有多样性和各种惊人的音效(游戏邦注:特别是角色的声音都非常有趣)。这些都很棒,并且游戏规则也是基于现代游戏设计,即特别是手机/免费游戏。

其次,因为某些原因,游戏的3分钟比赛规则很酷。当比赛很短时,不仅胜利者能够感受到喜悦,失败者也不需要承受太久的痛苦。每次当你遭遇失败时,你便会觉得自己需要复仇,而因为比赛很短,所以你会觉得自己将对比赛更加迫切。

同时除了名气和部落外,你几乎不了解其它有关你的对手的信息。你们不能聊天,只能使用一个情感系统,你与其他玩家的互动都是标准化的,这里不存在独特性。同样地,任何对手都有可能在最后一秒击败你,所以我个人觉得最好“多玩几场比赛”去搞清楚情况,即使我可能在下一场比赛会面对不同的对手。

这款游戏同时也利用了其礼物机制作为吸引玩家回到游戏中的方法。这些礼物间隔都不远,所以当玩家在等待开启3个小时的Silver Chest时,他们便可以选择Free Chest(每4个小时会出现一次),并且离Crown Chest只有6个小时(每24个小时只会出现一次)。再加上玩家需要20个奖杯去获取一张新地图,所以这样的列表将不断延续下去。从根本上看来,每隔2个小时玩家便会接收到来自游戏的离线通知,并且玩家可以随时为了等待Chest的开启而尝试各种比赛。

是的,玩家没办法关掉离线通知。

有很多等待玩家开启的Chest

如果离开游戏一段时间,你便会感到疲倦,如感官上的超负荷或节奏过快。就像我便在玩了几场比赛后离开Free Chest12分钟时感受到这点。最终我更是毫无知觉地投入一个多小时于游戏中。

结论

正是在那时候我决定将这款游戏从手机上卸载掉。虽然我还是认为这是一款很出色的游戏并且是如何在触屏上创造一款RTS游戏的典范,但我还是觉得这款游戏因为使用太多无用技巧在浪费我的时间。沉浸于游戏2天后,我不想再投入更多时间而只是看到一些更高级别的单位了。我的年纪已经承受不了这些内容(笑)。

本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转发,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Three days with Clash Royale

by Ciro Continisio

As those who know me will already know, I’m not a proponent of the F2P model. Though when Clash Royale (Supercell‘s latest effort) was released worldwide last week, I decided to give it a spin. The surprising result: I really like the game! So I decided to make a small analysis of what I think makes Clash Royale a great game, and positions it above similar titles.

How does it work?

(If you already know how the game works, skip this section)

In short, Clash Royale is a simplified real-time strategy game, with its game economy based on top of a deck-building game layer. The cards represent the units that the players can use in battle, and are not consumable. The only purpose of hoarding more cards of the same kind is to level up a certain unit.

The game field

In-game, players have to defeat their opponent by destroying his King’s Tower (sitting in the middle), or the most towers at the end of the match. They do so by placing units (represented by 4 cards taken at random from the player’s deck) on their side of the playing field. Once placed, units start moving and attack any enemy they meet. It looks very similar to Ronimo’s Swords & Soldiers, only top-down. Units cost mana (the famous Elixir), which replenishes all the time.

The game is free, and as is typical with the F2P model nowadays, there’s no area of the game that players can’t reach in time without paying a single cent. Players are asked to pay if they want to purchase Gems (the hard currency) or Coins (the soft one). Coins allow the purchase of new cards and leveling up of units, while Gems allow the speed up of waiting times, which usually happen when you want to open a treasure chest. Chests are won after each battle, and they are full of coins, gems, and cards in various amounts.

A perceived fairness

As many RTS, units’ strength and weaknesses are dictated by a sort of rock-paper-scissor correlation, meaning that no unit is invincible but always has one or more units that if used correctly, will counter it with ease and move on to attack. For instance, the nearly-indestructible Giant is easily taken down by 3-4 hits from a Mini P.E.K.K.A., but said unit is very vulnerable against any flying unit, and so on. Archers are good against flying units but being a group (of 2), they suffer against units that do splash damage, such as the Bomber.

This relationship makes it so that even if units are of different level, you don’t feel like the opponent won just because he had a level 3 Giant while yours was level 2. It’s harder, but it can be done. Play the right card, and you’re in for an advantage… a second too late, and you’re in for trouble.

The game’s matchmaking is divided into tiers, represented by different arenas (which also unlock different cards). So if you have been playing a couple of matches in a certain arena, you already know many of the cards you’re going against, and your opponent level is roughly the same as yours, which helps the sense of this perceived fairness.

The fairness is a much needed component of the game trying to become some sort of e-sport, something reinforced by the incorporation of the TV Royale, a dedicated screen to watch recordings of other people’s matches. Unfortunately, even if matches are entertaining to watch, I feel they I was never compelled to watch more because they show very high-level tier players, thus making the tips I could learn meaningless for my current level. I think Supercell should adjust the matches’ level based on the current player level, or just a little above (to tease him into playing more? uhm…).

Additionally, even though the game incorporates chance (in the way cards are dealt to the player, they’re random), the fact that you always have 4 cards to choose from mitigates this effect, as it is quite possible that one of them is the right one to counter your opponent’s move.

A waiting game

And if you don’t have the right counter-card, there’s always a fifth slot showing the incoming card. If you’re not low on Elixir you can choose to play another offensive card and quickly bring into play the incoming card, and use it to defend. This is why managing Elixir is key, and it’s never too wise to play cards as soon as you have the needed Elixir. Most of the time, this will leave you defenceless against an attack on the other side, so if your card is one that develops slowly (as is any structure that produces units such as the Tombstone (with Skeletons) or the Barbarian Hut, you might have already lost a Tower to a strong unit such as the hateful Balloon (which rapidly deals HUGE damage to Towers if left unattended).

It is very common to see moments of wait when no-one plays a card for around 15 seconds, waiting to see which one will be the opponent’s “opening move”. In this respect, the way units interact with each other and the battlefield is so sophisticated that it allows the possibility of playing bait cards, by using them on the side of the field you’re not interested in. While your opponent plays a costly card to counter your move, you can play a second-class card on the other side to direct a small attack on his lonely Tower, wearing down some of its HP.

For instance, playing a Skeleton Army in the middle of the arena splits it in two, so that the other player has to choose one side to defend. If you have a couple of cheap Archers, you can play them on the side he is not covering to complement the Skeletons that make it past the Tower defences, and deal a small blow.

You’ll be hooked

Part of the reason I love (and hate) Clash Royale, is its amazing feedback and its fast game loop.

First, the game is obviously built on top of juicy feedback all around: whatever action you take is satisfactory and full of juiciness, effects, particles, and amazing sound effects (especially the character voices, they’re really fun). This is all good, and a rule in modern game design, especially mobile/F2P.

Second, the game’s 3-minute match formula is a cool one, because of a couple of reasons. When matches are so short, victories are sweet but losses are not that hard to take. Every time you lose, you feel like you need a revenge, and since matches are so short, you feel like you always time for one more.

Also, apart from their name and clan, you don’t really know much about your opponents. And since you cannot chat but only use a system of emoticons, your interactions with the other players are standardized, and lose uniqueness. As such, any opponent could be that guy that has just beaten you to the last second, and thus, I was personally feeling the need to play “just one more match” to set things straight, even if I was actually playing against another person.

The game also makes good use of all of its gifts as hooks to lure the player back into play. They are spaced very near to each other, so while you’re waiting for your 3-hours Silver Chest to open, it’s almost time for the Free Chest (spaced every 4 hours in time), and you’re just 6 hours away from the Crown Chest (which is available once every 24 hours. Plus, you only need 20 trophies (won in each battle) to get to a new map… and the list goes on. Basically, every 2 hours you’ll have an offline notification from the game, and every moment is good for just playing a couple of matches waiting for that Chest which is just about to open.

And yes, there’s no way to turn off the offline notifications.

There are a lot of Chests waiting to be opened

If you detach yourself from the game just a bit, you’ll feel the tiredness of such a sensory overload and relentless rhythm. It happened to me once that after playing “just a few matches” (I probably played 15), I was 12 minutes away from a Free Chest. In the end, I sunk more than an hour into the game without even realizing.

Epilogue

It is at that point that I decided to uninstall the app from my phone. I still think the game is a very good game and a good example of how to do RTS on a touch screen properly, but I feel the game is begging for my time using too many nasty tricks. Apart from 2 days of intense play, I don’t want to invest an enormous amount of time just too see a few more higher level units. I’m too old for this : )(source:Gamasutra

 


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