作者：Tom Curtis

PopCap熱門策略游戲《植物大戰(zhàn)僵尸》罕見地完成了一項使命——成功地將休閑玩家引進這種一般只有硬核群體才會感興趣的游戲。該游戲開發(fā)者George Fan在2012年GDC大會上分析了它能夠吸引廣泛用戶群體的原因，并重點指出低調(diào)而完整的新手教程所發(fā)揮的作用。

他認為，“假如新手教程處理不當……游戲中的其他元素也就不可能引導我媽這類用戶通關(guān)?！?/P>

他分享了設(shè)計更有效而有趣的游戲新手教程的10點建議。

1.讓新手教程融入游戲中

Fan表示，“我們致力于淡化新手教程的‘指導’色彩”，多數(shù)玩家喜歡立即玩游戲，如果游戲迫使他們先掌握一些內(nèi)容，他們很可能就會失去玩游戲的興致。

“我有意淡化新手教程與游戲內(nèi)容的界限……雖然人們喜歡學習，學習也具有內(nèi)在的趣味性，但有時候我們得富有技巧地修飾它?！?/P>

“我們可以將教程與游戲無縫融合在一起……我們應該以潛移默化的方式引導玩家，不要讓他們意識到自己正在接受指導?！?/P>

2.不要讓玩家光“看”不“做”

“執(zhí)行操作是讓玩家在游戲中獲得學習的最理想引導方式”，文本教程內(nèi)容當然可以傳達更多信息，但讓玩家“做”些事情往往更為有趣。

《植物大戰(zhàn)僵尸》的首個關(guān)卡就體現(xiàn)了這一特點，它為玩家指明植物向右射擊，僵尸向左行進，讓玩家通過自己動手并查看操作結(jié)果，了解其需知的一切信息。

“玩家只需要玩游戲，就能掌握一切情況，我們不需要刻意告知情況?！?/P>

3.擴展引導游戲機制

Fan表示PopCap認為玩家并不需要立即領(lǐng)悟一切游戲機制，如果將教程擴展至整個游戲，這種做法將更有效果。

“我們在《植物大戰(zhàn)僵尸》中的做法很保守，我們緩慢而逐漸引進邊緣機制”，即使像金錢這種基本概念也會等到玩家闖過10關(guān)后才出場。

而針對Zen Garden模式這類最復雜的游戲元素，PopCap直到游戲?qū)⒔猜暡帕钇淞料?。因為在這個時候，玩家已經(jīng)有了許多經(jīng)驗，并且更原意掌握一些新的游戲機制。

“我剛開始玩游戲時，我學習新內(nèi)容的積極性并不高。但深入玩游戲之后，我就會更有繼續(xù)投入其中的意愿。”

4.不要讓玩家重復操作

有時候，玩家完成一次操作就能掌握游戲機制?！八麄兛吹阶约旱牟僮鹘Y(jié)果，基本上就能領(lǐng)會該操作的含義”。

在《植物大戰(zhàn)僵尸》中，F(xiàn)an通過在地面投擲錢幣，并在其上設(shè)置一個巨大的箭頭，為游戲引進了金錢的概念。玩家點擊錢幣后，馬上就會理解如何搜集地面上的物品。

在游戲的其他環(huán)節(jié)中，有些圖標會以不斷閃爍的方式，促使玩家點擊并領(lǐng)會該操作的意義。

5.使用簡潔明了的語言

“不管是什么時候，最好只讓屏幕最多顯示8個字，我有時也會破例，但這確實是我們應該追求的理想狀態(tài)”。

plants-vs-zombies-level-1-tutorial(from gameusabilitythoughts）

例如，游戲中就使用了“點擊并拾取種子袋”這種簡潔且便于玩家理解的描述。Fan稱開發(fā)者應該使用最簡練的措辭來傳遞核心理念。

“這會讓玩家更愿意先看文字內(nèi)容，然后玩游戲”。

6.盡量不出現(xiàn)突兀的信息

Fan建議，如果在游戲過程中需要呈現(xiàn)文本內(nèi)容，開發(fā)者最好使用不會暫?；虼驍嘤螒虻谋粍臃绞絺鬟f信息。

“我每次在游戲過程中呈現(xiàn)信息時，都會盡量讓它以被動方式體現(xiàn)出來，這樣就不會干擾玩家的游戲操作。”

7.靈活呈現(xiàn)信息

Fan認為開發(fā)者不但要讓玩家知曉如何玩游戲，還要顧及已知曉如何操作游戲的玩家情緒。

在測試《植物大戰(zhàn)僵尸》時，他發(fā)現(xiàn)有些玩家不知道息應該將植物放在屏幕左側(cè)，為解決這個問題，他植入了一個信息提示系統(tǒng)。該系統(tǒng)只會為“操作失誤”的玩家提供建議，而其他玩家卻不會看到這些提示。

“我們必須讓操作正確的玩家覺得自己很聰明……通過靈活的信息設(shè)置，我們能夠讓游戲在覆蓋硬核游戲群體的同時，也兼顧像我媽這種休閑玩家”。

8.不要頻繁出現(xiàn)無用信息

“另一注意要點就是不要出現(xiàn)嘈雜的信息。我們都需要避免玩家因其他事情而轉(zhuǎn)移注意力……我們應強調(diào)玩家需關(guān)注的內(nèi)容”。

Fan鼓勵開發(fā)者設(shè)置富有啟發(fā)性或娛樂性的文本信息——要刪繁就簡，否則就可能失去玩家。“如果我們接二連三地向玩家拋出無關(guān)緊要的信息，這看起來就像是謊報軍情，也會導致玩家關(guān)掉游戲”。

9.使用圖像傳遞信息

明智的視覺設(shè)計是一種傳遞游戲系統(tǒng)信息的必要工具，在《植物大戰(zhàn)僵尸》中，每一個角色外觀就會體現(xiàn)其自身功能。

例如一般的“射豆槍”植物，就有一個發(fā)射炮彈的大嘴，從它的名稱就能看出這一特點。Fan表示游戲中的鐵柵門僵尸、咖啡豆等其他角色也幾乎都遵循了同樣的原則。

10.結(jié)合人們所掌握的常識

Fan最后解釋道，《植物大戰(zhàn)僵尸》使用這種看似極為常規(guī)的名稱和假設(shè)條件的原因——這歸根結(jié)底還是與視覺設(shè)計有關(guān)。

Fan稱他從塔防游戲中得到靈感，他想設(shè)置靜態(tài)的“塔”，這樣玩家很快就會明白為何植物不能移動。而僵尸則行動緩慢，這樣才會與游戲的單屏界面相稱。

當玩家看到角色以自己能夠理解的方式行動時，他們就會更愿意進入游戲世界，即便游戲機制乍一看有些可笑。

這種原則甚至也運用到了游戲中最微妙的系統(tǒng)。例如，游戲中的貨幣系統(tǒng)，使用的是錢幣和寶石，這可以讓玩家快速理解其價值。Fan本來還想使用大腦元素，但玩家并不理解這種元素的價值。

“這些設(shè)計決策看似微不足道，但如果你掉以輕心，可能就會產(chǎn)生令人困惑的結(jié)果”。

Fan用一句話總結(jié)了自己的演講，“將這些經(jīng)驗運用到你的游戲上，你也可以制作出一款像《植物大戰(zhàn)僵尸》一樣容易上手的游戲?！保?SPAN style="COLOR: #ff0000">本文為游戲邦/編譯，拒絕任何不保留版權(quán)的轉(zhuǎn)載，如需轉(zhuǎn)載請聯(lián)系：游戲邦）

GDC 2012: 10 tutorial tips from Plants vs. Zombies creator George Fan

by Tom Curtis

PopCap’s hit strategy game Plants vs. Zombies accomplished a rare feat — it made casual audiences interested in playing a strategy game, a genre often reserved for only dedicated, hardcore players.

At GDC 2012 on Friday, Plants vs. Zombie creator George Fan explained why the game reached such a broad audience. The biggest reason, Fan argued, was its unobtrusive yet thorough tutorial.

“If the tutorial hadn’t been done well… then the other elements of the game wouldn’t have mattered in getting [someone like] my mom to play through,” he said.

To illustrate his point, Fan outlined 10 tips for making game tutorials more effective and more fun.

1. Blend the tutorial into the game

“We strive to make it not feel like a tutorial at all,” Fan said. Most players want to jump right into playing the game, and if they feel like they need to study before they begin, they’re likely to lose interest.

“I go out of my way to never call any sections of my game the tutorial… humans like learning and leaning is inherently fun, but sometimes we have to trick them.”

“Now we can seamlessly blend the tutorial in the game, so why don’t we?… [We should] teach players without them ever even realizing they’re being taught,” he said.

2. Better to have the player “do” than “read”

“The best way for a player to learn is to actually perform actions in the game,” Fan said. Text-based tutorials can certainly communicate a lot of information, but actually doing something will always prove more fun.

Plants vs. Zombies illustrates this approach in its first level, which demonstrates to players that plants shoot to the right and zombies move to the left. It teaches them everything they need to know by letting them go hands-on and see the results for themselves.

“The player learns all of this by simply playing the game, and we didn’t have to tell them any of it,” Fan said.

3. Spread out the teaching of game mechanics

Fan explained that PopCap realized players don’t need to understand everything right away, and if the tutorials are spread throughout the course of the game, they can prove much more effective.

“In Plants vs. Zombies, we were quite conservative…we introduced peripheral mechanics very slowly,” Fans said, pointing out that even basic concepts like money don’t come into play until the player completes 10 levels.

For the most complicated elements of the game, such as the Zen Garden mode, PopCap chose to delay their introduction until near the end of the game. At that point, players have invested themselves in the experience and are thus more willing to learn about new mechanics.

“When I first start playing, I only have a certain willingness to learn things. But as I play it and become invested in the game, I have more of a willingness to learn,” Fan said.

4. Just get the player to do it once

Sometimes, players can pick up on mechanics after performing an action just one time. “Once they see the results of their action, that’s often all it takes for them to understand that action,” Fan said.

In Plants vs. Zombies, Fan introduced players to money by dropping a coin on the field with a giant arrow over it. Once players clicked it, they instantly understood how to collect the items from the field.

In other parts of the game, icons would blink on and off, encouraging players to click them and learn what they do. “I have to thank Fisher Price for this. I looked at how a pre-schoolers brain works, which is just to press the bright shiny object — and it worked, so I guess we never really grow out of that,” he said.

5. Use fewer words

“There should be a maximum of eight words on the screen at any given moment,” Fan said. “I do break [that rule] from time to time, but it’s a good thing to shoot for.”

Fan’s game, for instance, uses descriptions such as: “Click on a seed packet to pick it up.” It’s brief, it’s simple, and players understand it easily. Fan said that developers should think like an “eloquent caveman,” using only terse phrases to communicate key ideas.

“It makes the player more likely to read it, process it, and play the game,” Fan said.

6. Use unobtrusive messaging if possible

When a game needs to display text in the middle of a gameplay session, Fan suggested that developers use passive means of communication that don’t pause or otherwise interrupt the game.

“Whenever I display a message in the middle of a game, I try to express it in a passive manner so the player doesn’t have to stop what they’re doing.”

7. Use adaptive messaging

While it’s important to make sure players understand how to play a game, Fan said developers should also try not to baby the players that understand what they’re doing.

When playtesting Plants vs. Zombies, Fan discovered that some players didn’t understand that they should put their plants on the left side of the screen. To fix this problem, he implemented a system what would give tips to players who we’re “doing the wrong thing,” while other players wouldn’t see any tips at all.

“We need to give players the chance to feel smart if they’re already doing the right thing… By using adaptive messaging, we can make sure people like my mom are covered, while also covering [the most hardcore players].”

8. Don’t create noise

“Another reason to be frugal with your messaging is so you don’t create noise. We’re always competing with other things a player could be doing… You need to be aware what your player should be focusing on,” Fan said.

Fan encouraged developers to make all of their text either enlightening or entertaining — cut out all the excess, or risk losing a player altogether. “If we bombard them with one irrelevant message after another, it’s like being the little boy who cried wolf, and the player will tune out,” he said.

9. Use visuals to teach

Smart visual design can prove an essential tool in teaching players about certain game systems, and in Plants vs. Zombies, Fan made sure that each character visually represented its function.

The standard “Peashooter” plant, for instance, has a giant mouth for spitting projectiles, and its name further suggests what it’s capable of. Fan said this technique applied to nearly all other characters in the game, from the shielded Screen-Door Zombie to the energizing Coffee Bean.

10. Leverage what people already know

Finally, Fan explained why Plants vs. Zombies uses such a seemingly random name and premise — and it all comes down to visual design.

Drawing inspiration from tower defense games, Fan knew he wanted to use stationary “towers,” and players immediately understand why rooted plants are unable to move. Zombies, on the other hand, are known for moving slowly, making them a perfect fit for the game’s single-screen fields.

When players see the characters behave in ways they understand, they become even more likely to buy into the game world, even if it seems ridiculous at first glance.

This approach applied to even the game’s most subtle systems. Fan made sure that the game’s currency system, for instance, used coins and diamonds, ensuring that players understand their value. He could have used something like brains, he said, but players wouldn’t understand that they needed to save them up.

“These decisions seem insignificant, but if you’re a little off, it can lead to a confusing experience,” he said.

Concluding his talk, Fan told developers, “Take your games and apply these lessons, and you can make your game as easy to play as Plants vs. Zombies was.” （source:gamasutra）