[游戏主题的图片]阐述主题在游戏设计中的重要性｜GamerBoom.com游戏邦

作者：Adriaan Jansen

他们都曾在观赏别人玩格斗游戏时萌发出两个设想，即这有什么快感呢？就像庞克格斗游戏玩者极难理解篮球管理格斗游戏或击剑格斗游戏的意义，消闲玩者也要学《现代文明》，《历史使命招唤》或者《星战》的快感所处。他们能将这种相似性归因于个人菜色的问题。当然也存在一种能满足所有类型玩者需求的格斗游戏，但起决定作用的并非格斗游戏动作游戏，而如果是格斗游戏主轴。主轴能让那些在字面看来很无趣的格斗游戏一瞬间富于恼怒，如《篮球艾根柏》。所以下列我将明确结构雕塑家如果重视格斗游戏主轴的许多其原因。

孕育出在主轴中的格斗游戏

对于我来说，主轴便是格斗游戏的气质所处。下列我将列举许多范例进行说明：

《现代文明》：玩者承担着三代国家君王。

《黑帮摩门教》：玩者承担着两个普通城市里的法西斯主义者。

《恶魔天才少年》：玩者承担着像James Bond（格斗游戏邦注：是一套小说和系列产品影片的主人公名称）似的恶魔天才少年！

《FarmVille》：玩者做为农庄街道社区的一部分，并拥有属于自己的农庄。

主轴将能呈现格斗游戏的感觉，以及格斗游戏最终的发展方向。绝大多数玩者都不会只因为喜欢格斗游戏动作游戏而优先选择格斗游戏，他们更愿意根据主轴去优先选择格斗游戏。这便解释了为何《侠偷猎赛车手4》做为这款极为出众的格斗游戏却仍然让绝大多数玩者感到沮丧的其原因。格斗游戏的主轴从法西斯主义转变到自然主义；而这却并非玩者们所期盼的文档。关于主轴必要性的另两个论点则是，如果只是面对文档结构设计，你该如何做才能让玩者继续玩这些看上去并非很有意思的血腥格斗游戏。让他们下列述文档为例：

*玩者可能需要耗费多个半小时在格斗游戏中探索行进，但却会在短短的2两分钟时间里赢下一大半格斗游戏。而格斗游戏也预设玩者无法重新读取之前的格斗游戏。

*为了长驱直入玩者能不做任何思索而到处乱走三四个半小时。

*非玩者配角在格斗游戏中承担着很重要的配角，但玩者却无法与他们进行直接的互动。

*格斗游戏中不存在明确的目标。

*你在格斗游戏中的主要行动只是行走和打斗，但这却不可能帮助你获得更多权利和能量。

这些文档听起来都并非很有意思吧？但像《骑马与砍杀》，这款深受许多玩者喜爱的格斗游戏便突出了中世纪8君王的成长史这一主轴，并将上述提到的格斗游戏规则用于强调格斗游戏感。《篮球艾根柏》也是两个典型的范例，即玩者基本上是通过阅读电子表格并观赏AI而玩格斗游戏。玩者一直在此寻找能让自己产生共鸣的主轴，并因此去判断哪些属于糟糕的格斗游戏。

主轴的魔力

两个好的格斗游戏主轴有何魔力？主轴的魔力主要表现在三个不同但却相互联系的方面：沉浸感，想象力和接受度。不言而喻，两个好的主轴自然能带给玩者更深刻的沉浸感。如果玩者能辨别格斗游戏中的各种事物，并清楚哪些格斗游戏规则对应哪些环境，那么他们心中的怀疑与不确定感便会大大削弱了。如此格斗游戏才能转变成两个真正的世界，并同时引出了想象力这一元素。

如果玩者能清楚格斗游戏环境和格斗游戏世界，他们便能轻松地填补其中的缺口。例如《骑马与砍杀》的缺口便是非玩者配角几乎不会发出任何声音，也缺少恼怒。当玩者知道自己身处两个中世纪环境中时他们便能轻松地填补想象缺口。玩者将在格斗游戏中扮演国王和勋爵等配角，所以当他们看到文档文档时便能想象到他们在谈论些什么。这也是许多老格斗游戏擅长使用的方法，即当格斗游戏中缺少足够的交流空间时。格斗游戏并不需要完整地呈现主轴，但却必须去诱发玩者的想象力并将其融入主轴中，而这时候就该由玩者的脑皮层去发挥作用了。在学习曲线中这些小细节也能发挥重要作用，因为人们总是会对某些特定的文档报以期盼。这也是为何许多玩者都能融入配角中行进的主要其原因。

主轴的最后两个强大的魔力便是能推动玩者去接受格斗游戏中各种糟糕的文档。如果格斗游戏主轴非常强大，那么这种古怪又无趣的格斗游戏机制便不会有多大影响作用。这时候玩者便能接受格斗游戏世界就是如此发展的这种说法。让他们再次以《骑马与砍杀》为例。格斗游戏中存在各种无趣的格斗游戏机制，如漫无目的地行走并莫名其妙地倒退回之前的过程，而因为强大的主轴让这些无趣的机制都能有效地融入玩者所喜欢的格斗游戏世界中。本来开发者如果创造出更有意思的机制，但现在即使是糟糕的机制也不会对格斗游戏造成消极影响了。只要能融入主轴中，玩者便会优先选择接受。

利用主轴

所以这将如何影响你的格斗游戏结构设计过程？这得看情况而定了，但不管怎样他们都必须牢记，主轴并并非格斗游戏的唯一推动力，但却是呈现格斗游戏环境的重要工具。让他们以《特殊行动：一线生机》为例，看看这款格斗游戏是如何发挥主轴的作用。《特殊行动》拥有两个不同的主轴：愚蠢的射手以及PTS综合症。格斗游戏中玩者一直在标准射击与可怕的战争这两大主轴间转换着。虽然玩者很容易因为这种环境转换而感到疑惑，但却能因此基于不同角度去看待格斗游戏。这便赋予了格斗游戏两个全新的含义。所有格斗游戏机制和故事都在突显着这些主轴，并推动着它们彼此间的相互作用。从这个范例他们能看出主轴在格斗游戏中的重要作用。

创造这款出众的格斗游戏不一定需要主轴（格斗游戏邦注：如《宝石迷阵闪电战》这类型格斗游戏），但突出主轴却能帮助格斗游戏更贴近用户。进一步了解你的格斗游戏动作游戏与主轴间的关系能帮助你明确格斗游戏中哪些文档太过古怪，或缺少吸引力，并帮助你创造出接近自己设想的格斗游戏。当格斗游戏结构设计中开始出现缺口时，你便需要思索哪些格斗游戏机制更适合格斗游戏主轴，而并非一味地添加那些只有快感的机制。能与格斗游戏主轴和动作游戏产生共鸣的机制才是好机制。就像在Abbey中他们始终坚持将主轴摆在最重要的位置上。每次当他们察觉到某些文档不符合主轴设置时，他们便会删除或替换掉它。这就意味着有时候他们将会删除或换掉整个格斗游戏机制。但同时他们也必须留意，主轴并并非那般神圣，有些玩者可能根本就不在乎他们优先选择了怎样的主轴。（本文为格斗游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：格斗游戏邦）

Theme is Everything!

by Adriaan Jansen

Ever looked at someone playing a game, and thought:What could possibly be fun about that? It could be a game that hardcore gamers seem to have a grudge against, like football managers or a horse game. If you’re more of a casual gamer, you’re more likely to say this about hardcore games like Civilization, Call of Duty or Starcraft. You might put this difference down to a matter of taste. There is a kind game for everyone. This is true, but I think the thing that decides this is not the gameplay, but the theme. Theme can even turn games that look dull and boring on paper into blockbusting powerhouses, like Football Manager. So here are some reasons why you as a designer should absolutely care about theme!

The game is in the theme

To me, the theme is the fantasy your game draws on. To clarify, here are some examples:

Civilization: Being a leader of a nation throughout the ages.

Saint’s Row:? Being the ultimate anarchist in a normal city.

Evil Genius: Being a James Bond movie-type evil genius!

Farmville: Be part of a farming community, and owning your own farm.

The theme describes what the game should feel like, and ultimately how the game itself should be. Players mostly don’t pick games based on the sole quality of the gameplay, they pick games based on theme. It explains really well why a lot of gamers were disappointed with GTA 4, even though it’s a great game. The game switched from an anarchist theme to a realistic gritty theme. That’s not what some GTA fans were expecting. Another proof for the importance of theme, is how people can keep playing those horrible games that don’t look much fun if you would just look at the design on paper. Take these things for example:

This game takes hours to make progression, but you can lose half or more of that progression in 2 minutes. By default, you cannot reload to old save games.

You can walk around for hours almost thoughtlessly without doing anything fun in order to make progression.

NPC’s play an important role in this game, but you can’t interact with them on a personal level.

There is no clear goal.

Your most prominent actions are walking and fighting, and both hardly progress in power or possibilities.

Doesn’t sound much like fun does it? It’s Mount & Blade, a game that a lot a players simply loved. The theme of being a medieval lord is just fantastically well brought, and a lot of these gameplay rules described above just put emphasis on what the game should feel like. Football Manager, which is basically reading spreadsheets and watching the AI play the game, is another good example. Player look for themes that resonate with them. You are best defined by what ‘bad’ games you play.

Theme Magic

How does the magic of a good theme work? It mainly works on three different but coherent levels: immersion, imagination and acceptance. It’s almost self evident that a good theme allows for deeper immersion. If a player knows what to identify with, and knows how to put the gameplay rules in a certain context, it will simply help him in maintaining the suspension of disbelief. It allows the game to transform itself into a world. Obvious stuff, right? This is where imagination kicks in!

If a player knows the context and the world, he will easily fill in gaps. An obvious gap in Mount & Blade for example, is that the NPC’s have almost no animation and sound. Chances are not a lot of people cared. The gamers could easily fill that gap since they knew they’re playing in a medieval world. There are human? kings and lords, and if they see a text they can imagine them talking. It’s how old games worked too, when there was no room for speech. Games don’t need to give a perfect representation of a theme, but they must spark the imagination of the player into embracing the theme, and let the cortex do all the work. This little detail also helps in the learning curve, since people expect certain things. It’s the reason why a lot of gamers already know that you can walk around with your character.

The last type of magic is another powerful one, namely the acceptance of bad things in your game. If the theme is strong, you can get away with oddities or unfun mechanics more easily. The player can accept that this is how this world rolls.? Let’s take Mount & Blade as an example again. All those boring mechanics, like walking and losing most of your progression, fit well into the world that the player wants to be in. It could have been made different, it could have been made more fun, but it certainly isn’t hurting the game right now. It fits in theme, and therefor, the player accepts it.

Working with themes

So how should this affect your game design process? It depends, but keep in my mind that theme is not only a boost to your game, but also a powerful communication tool to give context. Since we’re all up in the Spec Ops: The Line craze over here in gamemaking land, let’s take a look at how they used their theme. Spec Ops has two different themes: The ridicule of shooters and PTS Syndrome. During the game it shifts theme between standard shooting and the horrors of war. The switch in context is confusing and confronting to the player, and it forces him to see things in a different perspective. This gives the game a whole new meaning. All mechanics and the narrative reinforce those themes and how they interact with each other. It’s a great example of how theme can make a great difference.

You don’t need theme necessarily to make a great game (see bejeweled), but it certainly helps getting closer to a part of your audience. Taking a closer look at how your gameplay resonates with your theme might give you a clue about which parts of your game are odd or not engaging, and help you to create a game closer to the fantasy you’re trying to create.? When holes in the game design start to show up, try to think about mechanics that fit well in the theme rather then just fun mechanics. Judge them carefully, and think of them as incomparable. Mechanics that are resonating with theme and gameplay are always winners. Here at the Abbey we put theme in a central place. Every time something feels odd or off in regard to the theme, we try to remove or replace it. This can even mean that whole mechanics disappear or need to be replaced. Take heed though. Themes are not a holy grail, and some people are impervious to the theme you select.(source:GAMASUTRA)