原作者：Blake Hester 译者：Willow Wu

自1961年以来，桌上RPG游戏Strat-O-Matic Baseball一直被视为策略游戏界的标杆。对Trip Hawkins来说，这个游戏让他成功地迈出了漫长职业生涯的第一步。Strat-O-Matic Baseball让他发现了对模拟生活的热爱，他乐于扮演英雄角色。他会研究数据，模拟那些比较接近现实的场景。

现在他已是花甲之年，最广为人知的身份就是EA创始人。他跟世嘉公司合作过，利用世嘉MD(世嘉五代，美国叫Sega Genesis)打开美国市场，与任天堂相抗衡。他协力开发了John Madden Football。再后来他成为3DO的合作创始人。最初他用可动人偶创作游戏，之后他发现自己对体育以及模拟游戏的热爱，再后来他向世人分享了他的第一次破产经历，在学校中继续修炼技能，最后成为了业内举足轻重的人物。

今年的早些时候，我们约到了Hawkins，听他说说他是怎么进入这个行业的，他从失败中学到了什么，还有这些年他为什么还在玩Strat-O-Matic。

Trip-Hawkins(from gamerzones.com)

鸟人

Hawkins成长于电视黄金时代，但是他对电视并不感兴趣。他说，从很小的时候他就喜欢桌游，还有跟他兄弟一起玩虚构游戏。

“当我在玩游戏的时候，我所在的处境是充满变数的：我需要做出选择，这个选择通常就会决定事件的结局是什么样的。其他玩家的游戏策略会影响我的选择，反之亦然。”Hawkins说，“这些东西对我来说相当有吸引力，我能感觉到整个人清醒了很多，甚至好像能听到我大脑运作的声音……让我的思维开阔许多——真的是有种焕然一新的感觉。”

从小他就自称为艺术家，Hawkins说他真的对角色扮演非常入迷，而且在不久之后他们兄弟俩就开始自己创作游戏，那时候他们才5岁。最初的游戏命名为“鸟人”，它并不怎么复杂，道具就是可动人偶。他们把三四种不同的玩具组合起来，创造了一个关于英国士兵对抗罗马帝国的故事。他们给游戏写了一连串事件，还给游戏角色做了配饰。

“我们并没有把玩具直接就用到游戏中，而是对它们进行了一定的改造，包括非主流式造型。我们想要以一种新的方式去使用他们，这就是我们那时的游戏设计原则，”他说。

大概10岁的时候，又有两个新东西让Hawkins着迷：橄榄球和棒球。作为一个喜欢为剧情设定参数的人，Hawkins说他很高兴“可以管理球队中的资源，比赛的时候会用到战略性的框架，有趣的决策，还有许多扮演领导人和英雄的机会”。

“我是一个挺厉害的战略思想家。我很喜欢在故事中扮演英雄。所以，在我12、13岁的时候，我就已经能够有意识地去思考那种奇幻题材故事，并且是从游戏设计的角度去思考，”他说。

把一个橄榄球或者是棒球扔给朋友，假装是他们的英雄，这样的场景对Hawkins这个喜欢研究策略、喜欢模拟真实的人来说还是不够的。“就像是‘不对不对不对，我想玩的是有骰子、卡牌、图表的策略游戏，能来个全垒打或则是触地得分，成为球场上的英雄，’”他说，“但我并不希望它是无厘头的，我要它是合情合理的。我不要抛个硬币就或者转个转盘就决定了。’”

然而事实证明这种游戏太难找了。Hawkins说他试了好多体育模拟游戏，看看能不能符合他的需求，但是所有游戏都无一例外地在短时间内被淘汰。直到1967年，他发现了Strat-O-Matic Baseball。

Strat-O-Matic是一款由Hal Richman创造的桌上（现在是线上）模拟游戏。游戏中每张卡牌代表着不同的球员，上面印着球员能力等级，还有行动对应的骰子点数。每年更新一次球员卡片。玩家需要为他的球员制定团队策略以及个人策略，骰子的点数直接决定了击球手或者是投手的表现。跟同类游戏相比，Strat-O-Matic在设计上更加有深度，细节更加丰富。游戏特色还包括：短打、盗垒，投手、外野手、击球员都能有所表现。这游戏自1961年发行以来，对职业棒球大联盟球员、讲解员、还有游戏设计师都有着深深的影响。

对于Hawkins这个痴迷于创造拟真情景和策略的人来说，Strat-O-Matic是百里挑一的好游戏。他对这个游戏欲罢不能。

“说真的，这个游戏真的是天才之作。我对这个游戏充满了敬意，一直玩到了现在，”Hawkins说，“我年年都在玩这个游戏，已经连续玩了50年了。”

虽然Hawkins很喜欢Strat-O-Matic Baseball，但在那时候他却是个橄榄球铁杆球迷。所以，当他发现这个游戏公司还有一个模拟橄榄球游戏，他肯定会去玩，但是结果有点让他失望。“我非常了解橄榄球，所以我不喜欢这个游戏。我的感觉就是‘这游戏不是在模拟橄榄球啊。这就是游戏设计师做了一大堆决策，然后集合成这个抽象的东西，这跟真实的橄榄球一点都不像，’”Hawkins说，“我玩了这个游戏，然后很快我就意识到‘什么玩意这是，我能做出一个比这更好的橄榄球游戏。’

“这就是我职业生涯的开端。”

Hawkins开始深入研究Strat-O-Matic的游戏，琢磨球员卡牌，学习概率和统计学方面的知识。接下来的几年，他就开始设计他自己的游戏，利用索引卡片制作原型，跟朋友玩自己做的游戏。当他发现了有价值的东西，他就向他的父亲借了5000美金作为启动资金，在他们家的大厅制作游戏，最后真的有了成品。

那就是Accu-Stat Football，跟Strat-O-Matic的构架很像，这是Hawkins的首个商业版本游戏。他的家人对这个职业选择并没有什么特别的反应。“有一天我在客厅整合Acc-Stat游戏，我妈妈就坐在沙发那边，她看着我，叹了口气，说：‘我一直希望你能做些对社会有益的工作，’”他说。

Accu-Stat最后因为资金问题失败了。但这并不意味着这次经历对Hawkins来说就是完完全全的浪费。“游戏失败了，我意识到了两件事：1.我喜欢当个创业者，做自己喜欢的事情；2.要相信自己的信念，坚持下去，”他说，“我十分享受当一个创业者，我可以创新，我可以自己做决定。遭遇失败的感觉真的让我很痛苦，我的好点子、创新都被否决了，以失败告终。然后我明白了：‘好吧，在我做下一个游戏之前，我得学习学习怎么才能做出一个好游戏。’”

大概就是在这个时期，Hawkins开始注意到技术变革。重头戏就是电脑的崛起。就如他所说的，他觉得人们认为类似Accu-Stat或者Strat-O-Matic这样的游戏太麻烦了，还要自己研究数据，估计只有死忠粉才会喜欢。如果有台机器能够帮玩家算的话，那就省了好多事情了。比如一台个人电脑就可以了，这台机器能把游戏和电视结合在一起。这个想法为他的职业生涯指明了一条前进的路：制作电脑游戏。

但是在Hawkins实现梦想的道路上，他遇到了一个障碍。虽然他念的哈佛大学有各种各样的计算机选修课，但是当时并没有专门的计算机科学系。Hawkins不得不考虑选择其他系，其中有两个他觉得是比较接近的替代学科：应用数学和经济学。但是他对这个选择感到很无奈。

想要制作电脑游戏却没有对应的专业，这貌似陷入一种了穷途末路的困境，直到他听到了一种名为“特殊专业”的东西。哈佛大学跟其他很多大学一样，允许学生开设个性化专业。这一下就激起了Hawkins的兴趣。既然哈佛大学没有他想要的专业，那就自己设立一个。但是做起来并没有那么容易。

“他们当时大概是这么说的，”他重述，“‘那么，我们的40个系你都不喜欢？行啊。如果你愿意付出双倍的努力，如果你愿意为了设立这个专业不惜一切代价，如果你愿意尝试去招募研究生、教师来帮助你，而且这些人都拿不到学分，拿不到经费，你得让这些人自愿牺牲时间来当你的导师、辅导员，帮你批阅论文。如果我们拒绝的你的申请，你还是可以从你以后要修的那个院系那里要到一封信，如果那个院系的院长在信中说他们不想要你呆在这个系，认为你不适合在这个系学习——那么，好的，我们会考虑让你设立那个特殊专业。好好努力吧。”

然后他就去做了。

回报

1976年，Hawkins以优异的成绩从哈佛大学毕业，获得了游戏策略与应用理论学位。他说这是世界上最早的游戏专业学位。这么说或许有点不准确，但他在课堂上做的事绝对不是研究游戏。

游戏理论和游戏是两码事。游戏理论是从数学角度研究决策者之间的冲突与合作。这在好几个领域中都可以加以应用，例如生物学、经济学、心理学，在Hawkins所热爱的电脑科学领域中更加有用。

“学校中的计算机课程资源很充足，我一直都有去上课，只要是我觉得有益的课程我都会去听，各个领域的都有，”他说，“我修了伦理学课程、统计学课程还有社会学课程。我只能说，‘好极了，我有好多想学的东西，这些知识能够帮助我创造出我理想中的模拟游戏。’”

在他学习期间，Hawkins经常研究各种模拟项目，这些项目模拟的是未来的某个特定事件，例如第三次世界大战、核武器控制。事实证明他的研究是成功的。“我还因此得了一些奖”他说。

（Madden 18距离初版游戏发行大概有30年了，它现在就是橄榄球游戏设计的先锋代表。——EA）

这些努力让Hawkins对电脑的了解逐步加深，为他建立公司打下了良好的基础。哈佛大学不允许他从学术角度创作游戏，但他在那时已经搞懂了电脑的工作原理，在脑中计划着怎么才能把这个生意做起来，怎么才能把这些知识应用到游戏中，也就是他一直以来想做的：制作体育游戏。

然后这就是他所做的：

Hawkins在1982年创立了EA。1988年，他合作设计了初代John Madden Football游戏，直到今天这个系列依然还活跃于游戏产业中，仍有新作发行。从某种意义上说，他的人生就像是绕了一个圆，起点是Strat-O-Matic，终点是Madden。

经历了各种考验和磨难，Hawkins最终创立了他理想中的游戏公司，制作了他所热爱的游戏。他始终放眼于未来，锲而不舍，最后成为了行业的先锋人物，尽管他的家人以前并不看好这个职业。

“我想最终我还是可以向我妈证明这份工作是对社会有价值的，”他说。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

A look at how Strat-O-Matic Baseball inspired one of the game industry’s most successful figures

Since 1961, Strat-O-Matic Baseball, a tabletop role-playing game, has been a staple of the strategy game world. For Trip Hawkins, it inspired the first step in his long career. In it, he found a love of real-life simulation and playing the hero. He could crunch numbers and play out scenarios that, to him, felt based in reality.

Now in his sixties, Hawkins is best known for founding Electronic Arts, helping reverse engineer the Sega Genesis, co-designing John Madden Football and helping create the 3DO. But he became a staple in the game industry after creating his own games with action figures, discovering a love for sports and simulation, self-publishing his first financial failure and carving his way through his own collegiate career.

We caught up with Hawkins earlier this year to talk about how he got started in games, what he learned from failure and why he’s still playing Strat-O-Matic all these years later.

THE BIRDMEN

Hawkins grew up in the time many consider the golden age of television, not that that interested him much. From an early age, he says, he was attracted to playing board games and imaginary games with his brother instead.

“[When] I was playing a game, I was in a dynamic situation where I had to make choices and the outcome depended on those choices and it was interacting with the strategy of the other players,” Hawkins says. “That was all quite fascinating to me, and I just realized I was more awake, my mind was buzzing and … it was getting me to think more — and that was a real turn on.”

Calling himself artistic from an early age, Hawkins says he was heavily into role playing, and it wasn’t long before he and his brother began creating their own games around the age of five. One of the first was a semi-complex game involving his action figures called “The Birdmen.” In it, they would combine toys from three or four different genres, crafting a story about English soldiers holding out against the Roman Empire. They wrote episodes for the game and made their own accessories for the characters.

“We didn’t accept the standard toys to be used in the standard fashion; we invented new ways to use them. And there [were] game design principles involved in that,” he says.

It was around the age of 10 that Hawkins discovered two new passions: football and baseball. As someone enjoying creating parameters for stories and narratives, Hawkins says he appreciated that there were “resources to be managed and there were strategic frameworks and interesting decisions and opportunities for leadership and heroism” in each.

“I’m very much a strategic thinker. And I’m very much drawn to being a hero in a narrative. So by the time I’m 12 [or] 13, I’m already thinking consciously about that kind of fantasy and thinking about it from a game design standpoint,” he says.

Throwing around a football or baseball with friends, pretending to be their heroes, proved insufficient for Hawkins, who craved strategy and, as he learned, realistic simulation. “It was like, ‘No, no, no. I want to play a strategy game with dice and cards and charts where I really do get to be the hero, and I get to hit the homerun or catch the touchdown pass,’” he says. “‘But I want it to be authentic. I want it to be a legitimate solution. I don’t want it to just be [flipping] the coin or spinning a dial.’”

That game, though, proved hard to find. Hawkins says he tried numerous times to find a sports simulation game that scratched his itch, but came up short every time. That is, until he discovered Strat-O-Matic Baseball in 1967.

Strat-O-Matic is an annual tabletop — and now online — simulation game created by Hal Richman. In it, an athlete is represented by one game card, each printed with ratings and result tables for die roll amounts. A player will make strategic and personal decisions for their players and a roll of die determines how a batter or pitcher will perform. Compared to similar games, Strat-O-Matic has a much more thorough and detailed design. It also includes features such as bunting, stealing bases and fairly distributed outcomes across the pitchers, fielders and hitters. The game’s been noted as an influence for major league baseball players, announcers and game designers since its first publication in 1961.

For Hawkins, someone obsessed with creating realistic scenarios and strategies, Strat-O-Matic was the cream of the crop. He was obsessed.

“It was pretty much a work of genius, frankly. I have so much respect for this game that I still play it,” Hawkins says. “And I have now been pretty much continuously playing this game every year of my life for 50 years.”

Yet despite loving Strat-O-Matic Baseball, Hawkins himself was a bigger fan of football at the time. So, naturally when he found out the company also had a simulation football game, he had to play it, but was disappointed with what he found. “[Because] I knew a lot about football, I didn’t like it. Because I realized, ‘Wow. This thing is not really a simulation of football. It’s an abstraction where the game designer made a bunch of decisions that in fact are not authentic to real football,’” Hawkins says. “I played the football game and basically pretty quickly realized, ‘Heck, I can make a better football game than this.’

“That’s when my career really started.”

Hawkins began deeply studying the Strat-O-Matic games, pouring over player cards, learning about probability and statistics. Over the next couple years, he says, he began designing his own game, building a prototype on index cards and playing it with his friends. When he felt he had something worth shipping, he borrowed $5,000 from his father for funding, assembled his game in his family’s living room and shipped out the final product.

This was Accu-Stat Football, similar in vein to Strat-O-Matic, and it was Hawkins’ first commercial release. It was a career choice that didn’t exactly thrill his family. “One day while [I was] assembling the Acc-Stat games in the family room, [my mother was] sitting on the sofa, and she [looked] at me and she sighed and then she said, ‘I had always hoped you would do something more socially redeeming,’” he says.

Accu-Stat was a financial failure. That’s not to say, though, it didn’t give Hawkins invaluable experience. “[When the game failed] there were two things that I realized: one was I loved being an entrepreneur and doing my own thing; believing in, and betting on, my own ideas,” he says. “I realized I enjoyed the innovation as well as the independance of being an entrepreneur. And it was completely miserable feeling like a failure and feeling like my great idea, my creative thing, had failed and been rejected. And I realized, ‘OK. Before I do it again, I’m going to learn a lot more about how to do it correctly.’”

It was around this time that Hawkins started to notice a shift in technology. Mainly, the rise of computers. As he tells it, he felt that the people who thought games like Accu-Stat or Strat-O-Matic — which required their players to do their own number crunching — were “super geeky,” and players would be far more apt to play if a machine did it for them. If anything, a personal computer might combine two worlds, that of games and that of television. This realization, he says, basically forth set the path for what he wanted to do with his career: make computer games.

But Hawkins had one obstacle standing in the way of realizing this dream. While the college he was attending, Harvard University, had various computer courses offered as electives, it didn’t have a computer science department at the time. Hawkins was forced to choose between what he felt were the two closest replacements: applied math and economics. A choice he wasn’t thrilled about.

Wanting to get into making computer games, this seemed like the end of the road, he says, until he heard of something called a “special concentration.” Harvard, like many colleges, allows for students to create individualized majors. This piqued Hawkins’ interest. If Harvard wouldn’t offer a major in the field he wanted, he would create his own. But that decision came with jumping through more than a few hoops.

“Here’s what they basically said,” Hawkins recounts. “‘Alright. You don’t like our 40 departments? Fine. If you’re willing to do twice as much work, if you’re willing to jump through a ton of hoops, if you’re willing to attempt to see if you can recruit graduate students and faculty members who are going to get no credit and no funding to help you and get them to volunteer their time to be your tutors and mentors and thesis readers and advisers — and you can also get a letter from the department that you’re going to settle for if we say no and that letter from that department head says they don’t want you in their department and [don't] think you fit in their department — yeah, then we’ll consider letting you have your special thing. Go for it.’”

He went for it.

REDEMPTION

Hawkins graduated Harvard in 1976 Magna Cum Laude with a degree in strategy and applied game theory. He calls it the the world’s very first degree in games. Which is kind of a misnomer, because by no means was he in class working on games.

Game theory has little do with games as most think of them. It’s a mathematical study of the conflicts and cooperations that come up between decision makers. It has applications in biology, economics and psychology, as well as, more in-tune with Hawkins’ interests, computer science.

“Basically there were enough computer courses that I was always taking one, and I was kind of blending the types of courses I thought [would be beneficial],” he says. “I took a course in ethics. I took a course in statistics. I took a course in sociology. I was basically saying, ‘Yeah. There’s a bunch of stuff I want to learn about that’s going to help me make the kind of simulations that I want to make.’”

During his time studying, Hawkins often worked on creating simulation programs predicting certain outcomes involving, for example, World War III scenarios or nuclear arms control. His studies proved to be successful. “I won a couple of grant awards for those. I was actually mentioned by Herb York at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute that year,” he says.

Almost 30 years after the original, Madden 18 is on the cutting edge of football game design. 丨Electronic Arts

All of this work was to familiarize Hawkins with computers, to prepare him for the company he planned on founding. Even though Harvard wouldn’t allow him to create games in an academic sense, he was able to become aware of how computers worked, drafting in his head how he could turn this into a business, how he could get it all back to games, to what he really wanted to do: make sports games.

And that’s what he did.

Hawkins founded Electronic Arts in 1982. In 1988, he helped design the very first John Madden Football game, the first in the long-running series still being published today. In a way, it’s as if his life came full circle, starting with Strat-O-Matic and ending with Madden.

Despite trials and tribulations, Hawkins was able to found the company he dreamed of and make the game he was passionate about. He kept looking to the future, and ended up becoming a pioneer in a media he was once scoffed at for believing in.

“I think in the end I proved to my mother it was socially redeeming,” he says.（source：polygon ）