作者：Brandon Sheffield

在Necrosoft Games我们总是花费很长时间去完成一些工作。这不仅是因为我们需要不断优化游戏以达到我们所希望的状态，同时还因为我们需要同时运转多个项目以维持生计。我们的开发方法和其它工作室有点不同，即我们是分阶段去开发并发行游戏。我们的一般开发/发行规划是这样的：

原型阶段：

理念–>粗略原型–>粗略优化原型–>努力赚钱的项目

然后如果我们赚到了一些钱，我们便会进入开发/发行阶段：

有时候是粗略发行（面向较小平台）–>版本1,25（较小平台）–>版本1.5（较小平台）–>版本2.0（较大平台–完成，这一版本也是游戏的“真正愿景”。）–>版本2.1（移植，较小平台–只要人们愿意给我们钱，这一阶段便会一直持续下去）

为什么我们要这么做呢？因为我们拥有一个平台或发行商能够为我们每个游戏版本买单，这也是确保我们工作室能够生存下来的原因。但这些钱其实并不多，并且在这整个过程中我们面对的是多款基于不同阶段的游戏，所以我们不得不在每个项目间来回穿梭，确保我们在将游戏带向一个全新平台前能够更好地完善它们。

在我们最近面向iOS和Android发行的《Gunhouse》中我们便是这么做的。这款游戏最早于2014年年初发行于PlayStation Mobile上，然后在2014年秋天发行于Windows Phone上，并在2015年初发行于亚马逊设备上。在那之后我们计划通过更多完善将其至少再移植到一个全新平台上。基于所有的这些版本，只有iOS/Android是我们自己掏钱的。我们使用了将游戏带到全新平台所赚取的收益去推动其它项目的进一步发展。这便是Necrosoft Games在没有任何大型热门游戏诞生时还能继续存活4年的原因。

我希望这些内容能让全新开发者了解项目是如何以及为什么半途而废，并让更多已经建立起来的开发商对此感到认同。

所以，基于我们较古怪的开发风格，并且有关我们不是在2016年“开始”开发所有的这些游戏的声明，以下便是我们在2016年并未到达最终版本的前5款游戏。（同时我们也并未放弃任何理念。我们只是在寻找其它表现它们的时机。所以如果最终你们看到这些游戏展现在眼前时也不要惊讶！）

1.《Oh,Deer！》

当前状态：发行了版本1.0,版本1.25尚未完成。

《Oh，Deer！》是一款关于在前往外婆家的路上一边听着Motohiro Kawashima的音乐一边努力击中或避开更多小鹿的游戏。我们在游戏处于Alpha测试阶段将其发行在PlayStation Mobile上，并提及了游戏是“未完成的”。我们还在2015年的E3大会上公开了游戏，并提及它是PSM平台上最后的游戏之一，并且我们很高兴收到了一些正面的反馈。

而PSM发行只是我们对于这款游戏的一个计划。我们创造了非常有效的核心机制，但游戏现在只拥有一条5英里的跑道，会让人觉得有点像是“分数挑战”赛车游戏。而游戏的完整版本可能会包含更加血腥或较为轻松的选择（游戏邦注：即当你撞击或避免更多小鹿时），并且你也可以拥有关于旅行车的定制选择等等内容。这便需要我们投入更多资产，并且我们还想要从头开始重新创造游戏引擎。

为什么它还没完成，那接下来呢：

《Oh，Deer！》是一款看起来很简单的游戏，但pseudo 3D却需要花费许多时间。虽然我们非常希望游戏的第一次发行便是最终版本，但最终我们却只完成了愿景的1/3而不得不只发行半成品内容。从经典游戏开发模式来看，我们不仅超出了规模也超出了预算。但毕竟我们发行了人们所喜欢的内容，这才是真正重要的。

因为资产创造需要投入大量时间（游戏邦注：高端像素图像很费时），并且我们也缺少足够的资金，所以我们不可能马上完成这款游戏。但游戏的核心已经很明确了，所以它才能获得人们的认可。我们敢保证的是，即使游戏很短，但却让人觉得那就是一款完整的游戏。虽然对于我们来说它其实并不完整。

现在我们正致力于这款游戏的1.25版本，并且我们将基于一些额外功能将它带到另一个平台上。虽然现在我还不能说出具体的平台，但在几周内我们便会公开。不幸的是因为缺少投资者，我们将不能实现2.0版本的游戏。但如果我们能那么做，我们便想要重新创造引擎，编辑器并让整体内容显得更亲和。

2.未命名的策略游戏

当前状态：粗略完善原型

（原型名为“gunhat”。）这款玩家对抗玩家的策略游戏是我自己的一次设计练习。我想知道我们能够创造出的最小的策略游戏是怎样的？最初它是作为一款带有额外复杂性的石头剪刀布游戏。游戏的核心机制最终变成匹配经典的中国等级元素，并伴随着一些额外的修饰内容。

实际上，我们已经获得了一些粗略的图像，我们也拥有稳定的PVP机制以及一个简单的单人玩家模式。即从游戏机制来看游戏即将完成了，但却还有很多需要修饰的内容。

为什么它还没完成，那接下来呢：

最初我们创造这款游戏是想要为游戏原型申请一些补助资金。我们知道自己可以快速完成这一创造，所以便选择了这样的游戏。但就像往常那样，这款游戏和一开始相比变得更加复杂，并且所需要的人力也越来越多。所以我们才决定在此设置单人玩家组件，尽管这样的设置较为简单。

而最终导致我们搁置了这一项目的原因主要有两个。首先，当我们从Junkboy那获得一些模型图像时，我们意识到这款游戏将比看起来的更加复杂。他所提供给我们的图像就像“真正的策略游戏”那样，而实际上我们所创造的只是“小型策略游戏”。所以我们没办法将游戏创造成那样。

其次，我们的赞助落空了，我们所接触的热情的发行商改变了主意并决定只赞助来自更大工作室的百万元项目。所以我们不得不暂时放下这款游戏。毕竟资金还是最关键的。

但是！我们仍然希望能够尽快复苏这款游戏，因为我们已经准备好使用Junkboy的图像去创造更大型的策略游戏了。

3.《Demon School》

当前状态：完成50%并伴随着粗略优化的原型

我们都对这种项目充满期待。这是一款更大型的策略游戏，主要是受到Junkboy为较小的策略游戏所创造的图像的启发。我不想泄露太多有关这款游戏的信息，但我想说的是它拥有非常清楚的策略理念，贯穿不同游戏玩法层面的故事，一些不断发展的元素以及将让所有人感到惊讶的超酷编曲。当然还有许多其它内容！这算得上是我们非常期待的一个大型项目！

为什么它还没完成，那接下来呢：

这是一款非常早前就开始开发的游戏！同时因为我们忙于开发《Gunhouse》以及完成《Oh，Deer！》1.25版本而耽搁了它的开发。有趣的是我们所创造的演示版本有效吸引了发行商的注意。当看到图像，听到音乐并感受到游戏氛围时，发行商马上便清楚这是关于什么的游戏。这对于我们来说也是个长久的教训。像《Oh，Deer！》和《Demon School》都能通过一张简单的截图告诉你它们是关于什么。这能够与发行商形成真正的共鸣。

像《Gunhouse》和《Gunsport》等我们的其它游戏都需要在你理解你所看到的内容前解释给你听。这不能形成有效的共鸣，并且会呈现更大的挑战。这便是我们所获得的教训。所以便有了你们所看到的《Demon School》，虽然游戏的战斗系统还不能有限呈现出来，但一旦你看到这款游戏，你便清楚它是关于什么。

不幸的是，如果没有足够的发行商投资或我们从其它游戏中赚取的收入，《Demon School》便不可能完成。但因为发行商的反应都不错，所以我们都保持着乐观态度。同时当我们致力于这款游戏时我们也希望能够专注于做这件事，这便意味着我们必须去改变生活方式。这的确是一个重要决定！

4.《Gunspot》

当前状态：完成75%的版本2.0

《Gunsport》是我们的一款2对2带枪的朋克排球游戏，我们是在2013年年末开始创造这款游戏。我们已经断断续续致力于这款游戏很长一段时间，不过在2016年花在它身上的精力却不多。这是一款竞争类游戏，所以需要经过更多完善与优化。这便意味着我们必须抛弃我们先发行粗略版本然后在全新平台上优化它的方法。我们需要尽可能地去呈现完善后的版本。因为这是一款PVP游戏，而我们又没有许多测试者，所以我们只能面对一些失衡的情况。

为什么它还没完成，那接下来呢：

在2015年末我们与发行商分道扬镳了，所以我们的工作也变得更加艰难。我们没有足够的资金，我甚至已经投了3万美元自己的钱到游戏中，我们真的濒临“死亡”。而通过承包工作与坚持不懈，我们最终能够坚持下来并发行了完整的一款作品（即《Gunhouse》），这对于鼓舞士气与赚取收益非常重要。

但最终《Gunspot》还是需要我们投入更多的精力。

1）一开始有些游戏内容很难理解。到处都需要优化，而这又是我们的发行商所看重的。

2）在某种程度上，优化后的原型比我们之后看到的更有趣。

3）我们的net代码真的是个灾难，即在一年的工作后需要一些新人重新开始创造。

所以基于所有这些可怕的工作，再加上没有足够的资金，你便能理解为什么游戏会被耽搁了。但我也很开心我们所做的这一切，因为这能让我们有更多时间去考虑这款游戏。我们将能够进行一些用户测试，去优化核心内容并重新带回游戏乐趣，同时也能去完成所有还未完成的美术任务。我们是使用从其它移植和承包工作所赚取的收益去执行这些工作。这听起来我们似乎非常重视《Gunsport》的成功，也的确，我们希望能够尽所能创造出一件最棒的作品。

所以尽管游戏还在缓慢前进，但我们已经完成95%的美术创造了，并且也有些人将帮助我们完成net代码。

除此之外，当我们开始创造游戏时，很多当地多人游戏也不断涌现出来。这是一种疯狂的时代思潮。虽然一开始你会觉得作为其中的一份子很酷，但随后你便会遭遇各种失败。所幸现在的我们已经离开了这种思潮，并且我们的游戏都是那种“有时才会出现的游戏”。

不管怎样我们都在向前发展着，在如何将游戏带到玩家面前我们拥有特定的计划，我们也确保着在线代码的有效运行。我们即将看到这条漫长的隧道尽头的光亮了。

5.《Magicops》

当前状态：粗略优化的原型

《Magicops》是一款对抗型益智游戏，就像90年代那些备受喜爱的游戏《Tetris Battle Gaiden》，《Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo》或《Puyo Puyo~n》一样。这是一款拥有升级道具，角色，与完整的故事的益智游戏。它是伴随着太空中具有魔法的女孩开始，这些女孩将被训练成银河中的警察。游戏的美术风格是受到《Dirty Pair: Project Eden》的影响，并且带有一个特殊的组合机制。

很幸运地这款游戏拥有一个不错的开始。在GDC大会期间我和Mariel Cartwright（参与了《Skullgirls》和《Indivisible》的创造），Shane Marks（即将成为Necrosoft Games的程序员）以及Daniel Rosenfeld（《我的世界》背景音乐制作人）一起坐在宾馆的房间里玩《Tetris Battle Gaiden》。我说了自己非常想要创造一款这样的游戏，并马上跟他们描述了《Magicops》。Mariel说道：“我想要为这款游戏创造图像。”Shane说道：“我可以负责编程！”Daniel也说道：“我想要制作音乐！”

而因为我已经拥有了游戏机制的原型，所以这些做起来会简单些。

为什么它还没完成，那接下来呢：

当你拥有一群具有才能但同时也非常忙碌的人去致力于你的游戏，你将面对一个大问题：毕竟拥有才能的人总是非常忙碌！所以我们不能占用Mariel太多时间并且Daniel也有自己的工作要做，同时我们也没有足够的资金去负担如此多的时间投入。我们像一些发行商宣传了这款游戏，但却没人能够成为我们的伯乐。

虽然我们想再次致力于这款游戏，但是所有人都有太多其它工作了。至少需要等到Lab Zero的《Indivisible》以及我们自己的《Gunsport》问世之后。

不过令人高兴的是，你们已经可以听到Daniel为游戏所创造的所有音乐了。在他的《2 years of failure》唱片中的“90s”附录便是《Magicops》的音乐的最初版本。

挑战2017！

如果一切进展顺利的话，你们将在2017年看到我们发行一些较小游戏内容，或者至少是一个更大型的内容。但我不能承诺我在这一年不会再写一篇这样的文章。毕竟电子游戏的制作不简单！而关于这篇文章最可怕的地方便是这只是“前”5款游戏而不是全部。如果你们也和我们一样面对着同样的问题并尝试着去完成自己的项目，我们将对你们深深地鞠上一躬。

（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）

Top 5 games we didn’t finish making in 2016

by Brandon Sheffield

We at Necrosoft Games take a long time to finish things. And it’s not only because we’re polishing our games into our purest vision of what they could be, though we do try. It’s more because we’re always keeping a lot of plates spinning in order to say alive. Our development methodology is a bit different from other studios in that we develop and release our games in phases. Our typical development/release schedule looks like this.

Prototype phase:
Idea→rough prototype→ rough-polish prototype→ try to get money the project

Then, if we’ve found some money, we go to the development/release phase:

Initial, sometimes rough release (small platform)→ Version 1.25 (small platform)→ version 1.5 (small platform)→ Version 2.0 (large platform – finished. This version is the “true vision” of the game.)→ Version 2.1 (port, small platform – this can continue as long as people give us money)

Why do we do this? Because we get a platform or publisher to pay for every single version of our games, and this is what keeps our studio alive. But these are small amounts of money, and with multiple games in different stages of this process, they cause us to bounce back and forth between each project, making each one a little better before we release it on a new platform.

We did this with our recent iOS/Android release of Gunhouse. It was first released on PlayStation Mobile in early 2014, then Windows Phone in Fall 2014, then Amazon devices in early 2015, before we finally put it on iOS/Android a few weeks ago in 2016. We are planning to port it to (at least) one more platform after that, with more slight improvements. Of all of those versions, only the iOS/Android one was self funded. We use the leftover money we get from bringing our games to new platforms to help push all our other projects a little further down the runway. This is how Necrosoft Games has continued to exist for 4 years without any big hits.

If anything, I hope this gives newer devs some insight into how and why projects can fall by the wayside, and makes more established devs nod in agreement. You’re not alone!

So, with our odd development style in mind, and also stating that we didn’t *start* all these games in 2016, here are our top 5 games that didn’t make it to that final version this year. (Likewise, we also never give up on any of our ideas. We just find another time and place to put them out. So don’t be surprised if these games eventually do make it out there!)

1) Oh, Deer!

Current state: version 1.0 released, 1.25 in progress.

Oh, Deer! is a game about hitting or avoiding as many deer as possible, on the road to grandma’s house, with music by Motohiro Kawashima (Streets of Rage 3). We released it for PlayStation Mobile as Oh, Deer! Alpha, alluding to its “unfinished” nature. We put the game out during E3 2015, making it one of the last games on the PSM platform, and we were happy to see it get an overwhelmingly positive reception. Then PlayStation Mobile shut down, and nobody but the, shall we say, “X number of people” who bought it at that exact time can even play the thing now.

That PSM release is only part of what we wanted to do with the game. We got the core mechanic pretty solid, but it only has one stretch of 5 mile track, and is sort of a “score attack” driving game. But the full version is meant to have either bloodier and grizzlier, or and lighter and more unicorn-y track options arise when you hit or avoid more deer, as well as customizable options for your station wagon, and a whole bunch of other stuff. That requires a huge number of assets, and frankly we want to rebuild the engine from the ground up.

Why isn’t it done, and what’s next:

Oh, Deer! is a simple-looking game, but pseudo 3D takes a lot of work to get right. We fully intended for the first release of this game to be the final one, but we wound up completing about 1/3 of our vision, and had to release. We overscoped, and underbudgeted, in classic game developer form. But we released something people like, and that’s what counts!

It was largely the time consumed by asset creation (high end pixel art takes ages), combined with lack of funds, that made us unable to finish that right off the bat. But the core of the game is there, and solid, which is why the reception was good. We made sure that, even if it’s short, it feels like a full game. But for us, it remains unfinished.

We’re working on version 1.25 right now, a relatively straightforward port to another platform with a few extra features. I can’t say where it’ll go yet, but in a couple weeks all will be revealed! Unfortunately, without a Real Investor, version 2.0, our true vision of the game, is not possible. But when we do it, we want to redo the engine from scratch, make an editor, and essentially make the whole thing more human-readable.

2) Unnamed tactics game

Current state: rough-polished prototype

(Prototype name: “gunhat.” It’s important to name your prototypes something you won’t get attached to!) This PVP tactics game was created as a design exercise for myself. I wondered – what’s the smallest tactics game we could make? It started out as a simple game of rock paper scissors with added complexity. The core mechanic boils down to matching the classic Chinese hierarchy of elements against each other, with some additional modifiers.

As it stands, we’ve got some quick, rough art, we’ve got the PVP mechanic solid, and a rough single player mode. It’s nearly done on the mechanics side, but there’s lots of window dressing, and – dare I say it – “juice” to be added.

Why it isn’t done, and what’s next:

We initially made this when we were thinking of applying for some grants that required a prototype. We knew we could make this fast, so it seemed a good candidate. As usual, the game got a little more complicated as we started making it, and the requests from the people we were pitching got larger and more involved. This is what led to us putting in a single player component as well, though it’s rough, and not as expanded as we intended.

Ultimately what put this project on the backburner was two things. First, when we got some mockup art from the awesome Junkboy, we realized… uh-oh, this game needs to play as complex as it now looks. The art he gave us just screamed “real tactics game,” when we were actually making “tiny light tactics game.” There was no way we could make *this* game look like *that* art.

Second, the grant fell through, and the very enthusiastic publisher we were talking to changed their mind, and decided to only fund million dollar projects from bigger studios. So this got put in the storage locker. Money is the killer!

But!! We’re hoping to revive this game soon, as we prepare for our larger tactics game, which resulted from that Junkboy art. It will look nothing like the current iterations. And so it goes!

3) Demon School

Current state: 50% finished with rough-polish prototype

Wooo, we are excited about this one. This is a much larger tactics game, inspired by that junkboy art for the smaller tactics game. I don’t want to give away too much about it, but it has a kind of neat tactics idea, a bunch of story across two different gameplay layers, some raising elements, and a suuuuper cool composer that will surprise probably everyone. And lots of other stuff! This is a big project that we’re really looking forward to!

Why it isn’t done, and what’s next:

This one is basically super early! Also it’s been extremely slow going as we do things like release Gunhouse, and finish Oh, Deer! version 1.25, et cetera. Got to pay the bills! But what’s interesting here is the demo we did make really attracted publishers. Looking at the art, hearing the music, and feeling the vibe, publishers “got” what this was right away. This has been a continued lesson for us. Oh, Deer! and Demon School are both tell you basically what they are from a single screenshot. This has really resonated with publishers (hell, kotaku mailed us when they saw us tweet a teaser image).

Some of our other games, like Gunhouse and Gunsport, require explaining before you know what you’re looking at. That resonates less, and presents a much greater challenge. We’ve learned from this, and Demon School is pretty much the result. The battle system isn’t in a state to be shown right now, but when you see it, you get it.

Unfortunately, without significant publisher investment, or us striking it rich on one of our other games, Demon School just won’t ever get finished. But since publisher reactions have been very positive, we’re optimistic. Also, we’d really like to be only working on one thing when we do this, which means we’re going to have to change our way of life. Big decisions!

4) Gunsport

Current status: 75% of the way to version 2.0

Gunsport is our 2v2 “cyberpunk volleyball with guns” game, which we started back in late 2013. We’ve been working on it for some time, off and on, with more “off” in 2016 than “on.” It’s a competitive esports sort of game, so requires a lot of polish and care. This means we’re ignoring our usual method of releasing a rough version, then polishing it up on new platforms. We’re going straight for the polished version, as best we can. I mean, since it’s a PVP game and we don’t have scads of testers, our best effort is probably going to be a bit unbalanced anyway! Nature of the beast.

Why it isn’t done, and what’s next:

We split with our publisher in late 2015, which made it pretty tough to keep working. We had no more funding, and I’d already put something like $30k of my own money into it (which was 120% of the money I’d started the company with), and we were one month from dead. Through contract work and perseverance, we managed to keep going and release a finished product (Gunhouse), which was important for our morale and cashflow.

But ultimately, Gunsport needed a lot of work, in a few arenas.

a) Some of the game was difficult to understand at first. Plenty of polish needed all round, and this was one of the big points our publisher made.

b) In some ways, the polished prototype was more fun than what we wound up with later (we’re working hard on that!)

c) Our netcode was a disaster and needed to be restarted with someone new after almost a year of work.

So with all these daunting things in our way, plus no actual funding for the game, you can understand why we might put it on the backburner. But I’m actually happy we did, because it gave us time and space to think about it. We were able to do some user tests, try to polish the core and get that “just one more” kind of fun back in there, and also finish up all the art tasks that hadn’t been done yet. We did this using the money we got from the other ports and contract work. It might sound like we’re banking hard on Gunsport’s success – really, we just want to make the best thing we can, no matter how we do it.

So, while the game has been proceeding incredibly slowly during free moments, 95% of the art is now done (did I mention that properly detailed pixel art is extremely time consuming!?), and we have someone lined up for net code.

On top of that, when we started making the game, a lot of local multiplayer games were coming out. It was this crazy zeitgeist, and at first, it was cool to be a part of it. Then it all started failing, and you couldn’t give a couch multiplayer game away for free, basically. So now, I’m happier we’ve passed the zeitgeist by, and these sorts of games are “a game that comes out sometimes,” rather than a “thing” as such.

Anyway. We’re marching forward, we have a specific plan for how to get the game in front of people, and we’ve got our online code in the works. We begin to see the light at the end of this particular tunnel.

5) Magicops

Current status: rough-polished prototype

Magicops is a vs puzzle game, in the vein of 90s favorites like Tetris Battle Gaiden, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, or Puyo Puyo~n. (Okay, maybe that last one is just a personal favorite.) This is the kind of puzzle game that has powerups, characters, story, and the whole nine yards. It stars magical girls in space, who are training to be intergalactic police, with an art style influenced by Dirty Pair: Project Eden, and a unique combo mechanic. I mean… don’t you want to play that!? I want to play that. Maybe it’s just me!

The game had an auspicious beginning – Mariel Cartwright (Skullgirls, Indivisible), Shane Marks (soon-to-be Necrosoft Games programmer), and Daniel Rosenfeld (C418 / Minecraft) and I were sitting in a hotel room during GDC, playing Tetris Battle Gaiden. I talked about how much I wanted to make one of these, and basically pitched Magicops on the spot. Mariel said “I’d like to do art for that.” Shane said, “I could code that!” Daniel said “I’d love to do music for that!”

And so we were off to the races. This was made even easier by the fact I had a prototype of the mechanic on-hand, from a former attempt to make a similar game.

Why it isn’t done, and what’s next:

Well, there’s a big problem when you get a bunch of talented and busy people to work on your game; talented people are busy! So we couldn’t get a lot of Mariel’s time and Daniel had his own things to deal with, and on top of that there was no funding coming from our end, so we couldn’t afford to put in that much time either. We pitched it to a half dozen publishers, but nobody was giving us those Contract Eyes we were looking for.

We’d like to work on this again, but everyone has so much to do that it won’t be for a while. You’ll have to wait for Lab Zero’s Indivisible, and our own Gunsport to be out, at the very least!

On the bright side, you can listen to all the music Daniel made for the game. Everything in his “2 years of failure” album that has “90s” appended to the front was initially a sketch of a Magicops track, as we casted around trying to find the vibe (which we never quite did).

Challenge 2017!!

If all goes well, you’ll see a couple small releases, and at least one larger one from us this year. But I can’t necessarily promise I won’t have another article like this to write in 2017! Video games are hard!! Perhaps the scariest thing about this article is this is indeed the *top* five, not everything. To all you out there facing similar issues trying to finish your @$!#@(%) projects, we at Necrosoft Games salute you!(source:gamasutra)