开发者释放自身能量编辑本段回目录
“你只能决定如何使用你所拥有的时间。”——Mother-effin-Gandalf
关于决定优先做什么事的争论是很有趣的。每个人认为重要的事都是不同的。抉择，是我们的生命能量与宇宙的混沌之间的对抗。你应该花很短的时间做许多件微不足道的事，还是花很多时间做一件难以置信的事？我应该写关于游戏制作的文章还是直接制作游戏？工作真的重要吗？
作为创造者，我们必须决定做什么事，什么时候开始，什么时候停止，什么时候放弃；可能最重要的是，当你把某种东西当成你的事业时，什么时候才能将它公布于众。
也许我创造的50%的艺术从来没有面向世人，因为是录制项目的一部分。我认识的几位AAA开发者离开了这个行业，因为他们花了好几年时间做的东西永远不会曝光。许多人就是这样盾隐好几年，最终默默地被人遗忘。
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所以，怎么才让人记住我？
作为创造者，我希望留下自己的创造足迹。但在一个如此拥挤的行业，被人遗忘实在是件容易的事。我如何对抗遗忘的力量？
作为独立开发者，我认为曝光自己是非常重要的。做法有很多。有些人会组织社团，鼓励玩家之间多交流。有些人会把制作工具向玩家和业界开放。还有些人选择原创大量内容。我和跟共用一间办公室的开发者们就分别使用了不同的方法。我们的办法说不上对或错，只能看合适不合适。
比如Jon Blow，他始终是公众的焦点，因为除了他的游戏，他还是一位直言不讳的游戏评论家。他发表言辞激烈的帖子，在公众当中引起轩然大波，然后又退回去做他的游戏，这样他的游戏就不至于在发布以前就被人忘记。
《The Witness》受到关注是因为Blow的网络和媒体宣传。他让用户感觉到它的存在。
我无法告诉你应该采用哪种办法，但我可以说无所作为绝对是错的。
我的经验
我的人气维持办法就是制作内容。我曾经尝试公布更多正在制作中的作品图片，谈论我的进度，我不太隐瞒我的工作。我努力塑造我的形像，希望以此吸引公众的目光。我喜欢远足，看日出日落，在自己的住所里跟着音乐跳舞，蜷缩在灯下一边喝热可可一边看书。这些体验对我而言是很重要的，所以我喜欢谈论它们，我想抒发自己的心情。所以我希望能更好地表达自我。
本文混合了我的情绪、经验和设计，因为这些才组成完整的我。我不求独一无二，只希望我所做的东西让我自己感觉良好，我希望我展示给别人的东西是我最擅长的，我希望将我的技术转化为对他人有益的东西。
当你腾出一个下午无所事事时，你会想些什么？如果你只是坐在公园的长椅或草地上，你的思绪会飞向哪里？你想旅行、玩乐器或者制作一台新电脑？你希望手中有一支笔可以画画吗？如果是我，我想到的是设计游戏机制或写诗。所以我就是这么做的，我总是从自己的技能出发考虑可以做什么事。
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《Distractions》
我最近的一次“显示自己的存在 ”尝试是制作一款名为《Distractions》的iOS应用。（我的视频发布在youtube上，当时我站在拥挤的公共场所，用墨镜挡住我充满血丝的双眼，介绍我的应用时，我很紧张，所以语速很快。）
《Distractions》纯粹是关于游戏设计。
*它是一系列原型，与美学、剧情和指南无关，只专注于玩法互动。
*我计划每4-6周用新原型更新一次，这样一年后我可能就有整整15款不同的游戏了。
*每一个原型（目前已发布4个）：
-必须有单一的计分机制（用于游戏中心的排行榜）
-必须是黑白色的
-完工时间应该控制在几天的全职内
这款应用对我来说是个成功。我花了几个月的业余时间才完成能运行的系统。我以零营销工作量获得4000次下载量。我使用排行榜追踪成绩，目前，这三四款原型的玩家已经在得分上超过我了，甚至有几个人得分相当高。
我开发《Distractions》主要不是为了赚钱。我确实有一个能让我小小的获利来源，然后用赚来的钱开发其他游戏，但我这么做是因为我想接受希望为我付费的玩家的好意。我赚了3美元，2美元来自跟我私下认识的人。
当然，这款游戏并不非常清楚。我不想花很多时间考虑如何教玩家机制，相反地，我把规则写出来，让玩家自己理解。我因此损失了很多玩家，但我制作出更多内容，相比于清楚，我更喜欢内容。
现在我能用游戏接触到的人超过4000，也就是说，这4000多人知道我的存在，如果他们不知道我的存在，可能就不会看到我的游戏。
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要点
我喜欢交互活动，我喜欢研究游戏的规则和系统如何响应玩家的行为。在这方面，我脑子里充满各种各样的想法。《Distractions》让外界看到我的努力。它吸收了我对游戏设计的一无反顾的热情，又将这股热情传递给其他人。
我的第4个原型叫作《Heisenberg》（游戏邦注：以德国物理学家Heisenberg的不确定原则为基础），有许多玩家评价它非常让人过瘾，以及原创性很强。游戏中有一套很吸引玩家的机制。玩家的反馈是无价的，让我觉得我的付出得到回报了。
就像艺术家评论彼此的作品，程序员一起工作，消费者/生产者的互动，我们的生活需要反馈，我们从交流中得到能量。把想法和作品公布于众可能是件令人惊慌的事，但作为独立开发者，把你的成果摆在公众面前，这是特别有意义的事。借此，你才能得到反馈，让你了解玩家的想法和反应。最重要的是，这才是你制作游戏的根本原因——让人玩你的游戏，对吧？
（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，作者：Randy OConnor）
Exposing Your Energy
by Randy OConnor
“All you can do is decide what to do with the time that is given to you.”-Mother-effin-Gandalf
Debates about prioritization are fascinating. Each person has different views on what’s important. It is the struggle of our life’s energy versus the slow entropy of the universe that we are a part of. Should you make tons of things that are decent with an occasional gem, or spend years working on one thing that’s incredible? Should I be writing about making games or just making them? Is work even really important?
We as creators have to decide how much to work on something, when to stop, when to quit, when to start, and perhaps most importantly in regard to making a career of it, when to present something to the public.
Maybe 50% of the art I’ve created (and that I like no less!) will never be publicly available because it was part of canned projects. Several former AAA-devs I know left the main industry because they spent years on stuff that will never be seen. YEARS. That stinks. So much is just tucked away and forgotten.
So, how will I be remembered?
As a creator, I want to leave a footprint. But it’s easy for people to forget I exist these days in this crowded industry. How do I combat that?
As indie developers, I think it’s important to expose your energy. There are different ways to do so. Some people foster a tight-knit community, encouraging lots of social interaction amongst their players. Others put their creative tools into the hands of players and the industry. And still others just produce lots of content. I share a small office with several indies, and each uses a different method. No one method is wrong, they can each be right.
Jon Blow, for example, remains in the public eye because, beyond his game, he is an outspoken commentator and critic of the industry. He appears, posts fiery thoughts, maintains a strong public image, and then goes back to a game that might otherwise be forgotten until release. The Witness has a lot of publicity because of Blow’s online and media presence. He exudes energy that we, as consumers, are receiving.
I can’t tell you which route to take, but I would say that doing nothing is the wrong route.
Here’s me.
I am refining my public presence, building it up through content. I’ve been trying to post more images of works-in-progress, talk about what I’m doing, I don’t hold things back as much. I’m trying to project my personality, hoping that appeals to people. I enjoy hiking, watching the horizon change color, dancing in my apartment alone for half an hour to music, and the warmth of curling beside a lamp with a book and hot chocolate. And as important as those likes, I enjoy talking about those experiences, I want to relate those feelings. So I’m trying to get better at doing so.
This blog is a mix of emotion and lessons and design because that’s who I am, and rather than fight to be unique, I’m working on that which feels good, trying to get better at offering what I want most to be skilled at. And hopefully that skill translates to something people want.
What do you think about when you set aside an afternoon to do nothing? If you just sit out at a park on some patch or field of grass, where does your mind go? Do you want to be traveling, playing an instrument, or building a new computer? Do you wish you had a pencil to draw? My mind goes to designing game mechanics or writing poetry. And so I’m trying to take that and run with it, to work on skills I’m always considering anyway.
Distractions
My newest attempt at “exposing my energy” is an iOS app called Distractions. (Note to self: start a youtube channel where I stand in crowded public places with sunglasses covering my bloodshot eyes as I explain in jittery, fast-paced speech the thrills and benefits of “exposing my energy”.)
Distractions is purely about game design.
-It is a series of prototypes that ignores aesthetics, story, and tutorials to focus only on gameplay interaction.
-I am planning to update the app with a new prototype every 4-6 weeks, such that after a year I might have a solid 15 unique games.
-Each prototype (4 have been released as of shipping):
-Must have a single-scoring mechanic (for GameCenter leaderboards),
-Must be black and white, and
-Should take no more than a couple days of full-time work to complete.
The app is very much a success in my book. It took me a couple months of part-time work to get the system up and running. I have had over 4,000 downloads with zero marketing (sans a few tweets and posts on Facebook). I use the leaderboards to track interest, and as of now, people have beaten my scores on 3 of the 4 prototypes, a few have gotten incredibly high scores.
Distractions is not about making money. I do have a “Tip Jar” IAP that gives me a dollar and removes the banners for my other games, but it’s there only because I wanted to accept any money that someone might possibly want to give me. I have made 3 dollars, 2 from people I know personally.
Sure, the games aren’t very clear. Rather than spend hours figuring out how to teach mechanics, I write out the rules and let players deal with that if they want. I lose plenty of players, but I produce more content, which right now is what I prefer over clarity.
There are now 4,000+ people I might reach in the future with other games, 4,000+ people who know I exist, and most would never have seen my games otherwise.
The Point
I love interaction, I like rulesets and game systems and how they respond to player input. There are so many ideas I have floating in my head. (How many ideas are floating in yours?) Distractions is exposing my efforts to the public. It is about embracing my love of game design without regard to anything else and then showing that love to others.
Already the 4th prototype, called Heisenberg (based on Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle), has had strong player response as being both addictive and pretty original. I have a mechanic that has attracted the attention of people. That response is invaluable and rewarding.
Just like the response of artists learning from other artists, programmers working together, consumer/producer interaction, we need back and forth in our lives, we draw energy from communication.
Getting your thoughts or work or anything out there can be scary, but as an indie I think it’s particularly important to push what you can into the public space. It gives you feedback, it gets players thinking and responding, and it’s what you’re making games for in the first place, to be played. Right?（source：gamasutra）
