商业休闲游戏.docx

商业休闲游戏.docx

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商业休闲游戏

外文原文

CasualGamesasaBusiness

Unityisuniquelysuitedforuseasacasualgamedevelopmenttool.ThisarticlewilldiscusswaysinwhichUnitydeveloperscancapitalizeonthatandfindsuccessascasualgamedevelopers.

Author:

TomHiggins

Summary

Casualgamesarearapidlygrowingsegmentoftheoverallgamesindustry,andit'sasegmentinwhichasmallteamofdeveloperscanbecompetitiveandsuccessful.Thereareanumberofpublishinganddistributionoptionsavailablethatwillallowdeveloperstoquicklyintroducetheirgamestoalargeandwaitingaudienceofcustomers.Inworkingwiththosepublishersandportals,youasthedevelopershareintherevenuegeneratedbyyourgame.WithUnity,acareerasacasualgamedeveloperiswithinreach,it'suptoyoutogogetit!

1.Whatare"CasualGames"?

Theterm"casualgames"meansdifferentthingstodifferentpeopleasthetermisstillonlylooselydefinedatbest.Despitethat,theterm"casualgames"canstillbeusedtodescribearatherlargeandrapidlygrowingsegmentofthegameindustry.Casualgamestendtobethosethathavesimplergameplayandengaginggamedesign,theyalsotendtoofferuserstheabilitytostepinandplayagamewithinminuteswithoutrequiringanylong-termskillsdevelopmentorgamecommitment.Thegoalwithcasualgamesistoappealtoaswideofanaudienceaspossible,includingthosethathavenormallyfallenoutsidethetraditional"gamer"profile（anyoneoutsidetheteentotwentiesmaledemographic）.Aswithanydefinitiontherearegreyareaswherecertaingamesblurthelinesbetweencasualandserious,buthopefullythebasicgistofthedefinitioncomesacross:

small,funandeasytoplayseemtobethreecommonalitiesworthremembering.

2.WhyYouShouldMakeCasualGames

CasualgamesareanexpandingsegmentofthegamesindustrythatoffertheindividualUnitydeveloper,orsmalldevelopmentteamusingUnity,averycompetitiveopportunityforsuccess.Theincreasedchancesforsuccessarebasedonanumberoffactors,buthereareafewofthemorenotablereasons.

CompetitiveOpportunityCasualgamestendtobesmallerinscopeandmorelimitedintermsofgameplaycomparedtoconsoleorAAAdesktoptitles,andwiththatcomeslowerend-userexpectationsaboutthecasualgameexperience.Thosefactsleadtomuchlowertimeandresourcerequirementsinordertodevelopatop-tiercasualgametitle,puttingthemwithinreachofdedicatedindividualsorsmalldevelopmentteams.AvailableDistributionChannelsThereareavarietyofpublishersandonlinegameportalwebsitesthatyoucanusetopublishyourcasualgametitle.Thetruthisthatmostindividualsorsmalldevelopmentteamsdon'thavethemanpowerandexperiencetoeffectivelymarketandpromotetheirgame,nordotheyhavealargeexistingusercommunitiesattheready,theavailablepublishersandgameportalsdo.RevenuePotentialThecasualsegmentofthegameindustryisexperiencingrapidgrowth,it'sgonefromaside-showforthelargerconsolemarkettoamulti-billiondollarayearindustryonitsown.Thatgrowthhasresultedinacasualgamesmarketthatallowssmallteamsofdevelopers（1-3developers）todevelopatop-tiercasualgameinafewmonths（3-9months）,andapremierecasualgamecanearn$100,000USDormore.

Soasyoucansee,thecasualgamesmarketofferssmallerdevelopmentteamsagreatchancetobecompetitiveandprofitable.Belowyouwillfindsometipsthatwillhelpdevelopersrealizetheirownsuccessinthecasualgamesindustry.

3.TipsforCreatingSuccessfulCasualGames

Thereareentirecoursesandevenuniversitydegreeprogramsthatcoverthetopicofgamedesignandwhatelementshelpmakefora"goodgame".Thisbriefarticlewon'tattempttocoversuchabroadtopicasawhole,ratheritwillshareafewgeneralguidelinesthathavebeengleanedfromfirst-handexperiencesofdevelopers,publishersandgameportalwebsites.

ØThinkAboutYourTargetAudience

Thinkaboutyourgameanditsintendedaudiencewhenchoosingadistributionpath.Freebrowser-basedwebgamesappealtomalesintheirteensandtwentieswhotendtopreferaction,adventureordrivingstylegameswhereasdownloadedexecutablesappealtoanolderandincreasinglyfemaleaudiencethattendstopreferstory-basedorpuzzletypegames.

ØKeepitSimple

Makesurethegameisrelativelyeasytolearnandunderstand,yetstillchallengingtomasteroverall.Instructionsshouldbealmostignorableandkepttoaminimum,afewsentencesatmost.

ØMakeitFamiliar

Theuserinterfaceandcontrolsshouldbeasstandardaspossible.Don'timposealearningcurveonthosewantingtoplayyourgameasthatreducesthechancesofthemenjoyingtheexperience.

ØRewardYourPlayer

Keepplayersinterestedandengagedwiththegameexperience.Forexample,inanactiongameyoumightofferanewweapon,power-uporenemyevery30secondsorsoforthefirstfewminutes,theneveryfewminutesforthenextfivetotenminutes,andsoon.Orinastory-basedgameoffernewitemsorcharactermodificationsonsimilartimescalestokeeptheplayerinvestedinthestoryandthegame.

ØConsiderReplayability

Designyourgamesothatitisfuntoplayrepeatedly,trytokeepuserscomingbackformore.Youcandothisbyofferingalternategameplaypaths,differentweapon/itemselectionsforrepeatplayersorevencharacterdialogchoicesthatresultinuniquegameexperienceseachtimethrough.

ØReachForaWideAudience

Designforaswideofanaudienceaspossibleasitincreasesthenumberofpotentialplayers.Thiscanbedoneinmanyways,butyoucandefinitelyavoidreducingyouraudiencesizeandincreaseportal/publisherappealbyavoidingtheuseofbloodandgore,human-on-humanviolenceandprofanity.

ØFocusYourEfforts

Maximizeyourworkeffortandavoidspendingtoomuchtimeandresourcesonthingstheuserwilllikelyskipthesecondtimethrough.Forexample,don'tspendexcessivetimeonacomicbookopeningoracutscene,insteadfocusonthecoregameplayitself.Similarly,avoidspendingtoomuchtimeonartproductionvalue,thattimemaybebetterspentfocusedondevelopinguniqueandinterestinggameplay.

ØTestEarlyandOften

Haveyourgametestedbystrangersthatfallintoyourtargetuserbase,andhavethatdoneatvariousintervalsduringthedevelopmentprocess.Youshouldhavethemtestyourgameonallplatformsandtargetconfigurations（operatingsystems,browsersand/orpublishformatsforexample）.Itiscriticaltogetoutsiderstotestthegame,unpromptedandwithoutinstructions,whileyouwatchovertheshoulderstoseewhattheyenjoyandwhattheydon't,onlytalkwiththemafterthegameplaytestingiscomplete.

Pleasenotethattheabovearecertainlynotstrictrulesthatyoumustadhereto,rathertheyaregeneralguidelinesthatcanbeusedtohelpsteeryourowneffort.Learnfromtheprioreffortsofothersandusethatinformationasyoucarveoutyourownpathasacasualgamedeveloper.

4.HowtoMakeMoneyWithCasualGames

Therearealargenumberofwaysinwhichdeveloperscanmakemoneywiththeircasualgametitles,thisdiscussionwillfocusontheeasiestentrypointforcommercialgamesandthat'sworkingwiththeexistingpublishersandgameportalwebsites.Thereasonforthisisbecausemanyindividualsorsmalldevelopmentteamslackthetime,resourcesandexperiencetoeffectivelymarkettheirowngamestoalarge-scaleaudienceandmostlackalargeexistingcustomerbasereadytotrytheirlatestgame.Bothpublishersandgameportalwebsitesofferthosecriticalelements,developersinturnbringtheirtop-qualitygametothetableandtogetheryoucancreateandpublishgamesthatgeneraterevenueforyouthedeveloper.

ØBrowser-BasedWebGames

Freebrowser-basedwebgamesgeneraterevenuebasedontheadvertisingshowninconjunctionwiththegame.Asthecontentdeveloperyoureceiveapercentagethetotaladvertisingrevenuegeneratedbyyourgame.Developerstypicallyreceive20-40%oftheadvertisingrevenue,buttheexactpercentagesharedwiththedeveloperwillvaryforavarietyofreasons.Theprimaryreasonsthepercentagewillvaryaretheportalwebsitechosen,thetypesofadvertisingshownandwhetherornotyourgameisexclusivetotheportalwebsite.

ØDownloadableGames

Downloadableexecutablestypicallyofferfreetrialgameplayandthenhastobepurchasedtounlockthefullgame.Asthecontentdeveloperyoucanreceiveapercentageoftheadvertisingrevenueand/orapercentageofthesalesrevenuegeneratedbyyourgame.Developerstypicallyreceive20-40%oftheadvertisingrevenueand/or15-30%ofthesalesrevenue,butoncemoretheexactpercentagessharedwillvary.Theprimaryreasonsthepercentageswillvaryarebasedonadvertisingversussalesrevenueshareandwhetherornotthegameisexclusivetothatportalwebsiteorpublisher.

ØPremiumGamePlay

Additionally,bothbrowser-basedanddownloadablegamescanearnadditionalrevenueiftheyparticipateinanyportalwebsitepremiumfeatureofferings.Somewebsitesunlockadditionalgameplayforpayingwebsitesubscriberswhileothersofferend-usersvariouschallengeandratingsystemsorothercommunitybuildingfeatures.Participatinginthosesortsofprogramsquiteoftenprovidesadditionalrevenueshareand/orincreasedgameplaynumbers.

ØFixed-MediaPublishing

Gamespublishedasdownloadableexecutablesoronfixed-media（CD/DVD）throughpublishersmayormaynotofferfreetrialgameplayandtheyhavetobepurchasedtounlockthefullgame.Asthecontentdeveloperyoucanearnrevenueinafewways,eitherviasalesrevenuesharingorfromthepublisherfundingdevelopment.Therevenueshar