游戏预制作阶段17个步骤编辑本段回目录
可以说，《Particulars》这款游戏的开发史真是太长了：这个项目始于2011年中期，在筹资过程中曾被搁浅，在其他项目完成时继续处于被搁置状态，直到2013年才被重新提上日程。
我现在可以高兴地宣布这款游戏基本上已经结束前期制作，将于下周投入制作阶段。
本文是对这款游戏预制作阶段的回顾，这其中并无明显的先后排序，因为我们有许多事项是同时进行。
步骤1：制作原型。
prototype(from gamasutra)
particulars_playbook(from gamasutra)
步骤2：证实这款游戏的市场潜力。我们这个项目有申请并融资超过10个月（一般来说，这个步骤应该少于10个月，但事实就是如此……）
步骤3：想出游戏的支柱。也就是你的游戏中不可或缺的成份，它们是你在开发过程中的基础。要知道它们很可能会在开发过程中发生变化（游戏邦注：重要的是，每个支柱都要分别用两句话解释它们在游戏中的意义）。
步骤4：制定预制作阶段的其余计划。这包括时间表和交付内容，因为每款游戏预制作阶段的交付内容都有所不同。你第一次做这件事时可能会忽略一些事项或者做得过头了，但你可以在这个过程中掌握经验。
步骤5：创建基本的游戏引擎。这个时候你就应该绘制一个UML图表，而不是等到制作最终的预制代码评审时才着手准备这件事。
步骤6：制作一些技术原型。
technical prototypes(from gamasutra)
步骤7：制作一个游戏开发时间表。我们的时间表包含一些“不费太多时间的零碎环节”。
步骤8：预算。这是一个“一次设置，永远修改”的东西。如果可能的话，要确保你的资金来源以免陷入财政赤字。
步骤9：要确保你已经制作了设计文档。这个项目让我认识到设计文档的宝贵价值。它更易于让人们提高工作效率。我们的文档以游戏支柱为起点，使用2-3段关于核心机制的描述，设计过程和视觉/风格/主题的描述。
步骤10：这里还要制定一个销售计划。这一点非常重要。我们费了一番功夫列出了我们在此的设想，这样我们可以在游戏发售时与实际情况进行对比。
步骤11：制作关卡设计工具。我的一些关卡设计工具真的很棒。
editor(from gamaustra)
步骤12：确定一些概念艺术、音频和叙事内容。确保所有的主要风格已经定型。另外也要完成一些UI设计。
concept art(from gamasutra)
步骤13：制作一些样本关卡。这个环节可能充满趣味。它实际上可以检测你传授游戏理念的能力。找些人来玩游戏，这就是所谓的玩法测试。
particulars-ingame(from gamaustra)
步骤14：想好游戏流程。这可以是叙事、关卡、章节等等，最好绘制出草图。
步骤15：管道、线程、程序、资产/功能列表。这些都要有。它们都会发展变化，所以要有一个起点。不要忘了制作一个测试计划，以及一个版本控制流程。
步骤16：要认识到有些环节会融入制作阶段。有些音频和美术资产仍然有待完成。你有足够的时间以“代码/制作关卡/制作资产”模式完成其余内容，所以你仍可处于制作阶段。这个项目的音频极为简单，你可以花一周时间来完成这件事。
步骤17：撰写一篇关于预制作过程的文章，最好采用简单、分步描述的格式，不要虚构其中的步骤。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，作者：Paul Sztajer）
The 15 Steps of (Particulars) Pre-production
by Paul Sztajer
The following blog was, unless otherwise noted, independently written by a member of Gamasutra’s game development community. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Gamasutra or its parent company.
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I think it’s fair to say that Particulars has had a particularly long development history: the project started in mid 2011, was put on hiatus while funding was found, continued hiatus while other projects completed and is finally rearing its physics-soaked head again in 2013.
I think it’s also fair to say that I’m both a little addicted and a little over that particular pun.
So I’m pretty excited to say that this game is almost out of Pre-Production and will be, as of next Monday, in Production.
This is an overview of the preproduction of the game, and at some point the ordering becomes a bit moot as we do many of these simultaneously. Feel free to ask questions in the comments.
STEP 1: Make a Prototype. Or 3. You probably only need 1 though.
STEP 2: Prove that there’s a market. Or, in our case, apply for and get funding over a 10 month period (in general, this step should take less than 10 months. But if it does…)
STEP 3: Figure out the Pillars of the game. These are the things that your game couldn’t do without, and they form the basis of everything else you do. Note that they can, and likely will, change during development.
Particulars is a Minimalist Meditation on Chaotic Flows
(importantly, each of those pillars have a separate, 2 sentence definition that explains what they mean in the context of this game)
STEP 4: Figure out a plan for the rest of Pre-Production. This includes timelines and deliverables, coz the pre-production deliverables for each game are different. The first time you do this you’ll miss things and/or put too much in. But that’s how you learn.
STEP 5: Build the basic game engine. Hooray! You should also draw a UML diagram at this point, rather than waiting till you’re doing a final pre-production code review (whoops).
STEP 6: Make some Technical Prototypes. Oooh, pretty… (yes, all our tech prototypes were around graphics)
Screen Shot 2013-02-11 at 3.41.34 PM Screen Shot 2013-02-12 at 10.46.35 AM Screen Shot 2013-02-12 at 10.42.20 AM
STEP 7: Make a game development timeline. Ours is full of “Holy crap that’s not a lot of time” bits.
STEP 8: Budget. This is a ‘set up once, tweak forever’ thing. Where possible, make sure you take into account when money comes in so you don’t run out of cash.
STEP 9: Realise you should have made design doc already. This project has made me realise the incredible value of a design doc. It’s just so much easier to get people up to speed. Our one opens with your pillars, and shortly afterwards has 2-3 paragraph descriptions of the Core Mechanics, Designed Progression, and Look/Feel/Theme of the game.
STEP 10: Oh, there’s a marketing plan as well. Really important. We made a fair effort to outline what assumptions we were making here, so that we can actually compare that to reality once the game releases.
STEP 11: Make your level design tools. Love me some good level design tools.
STEP 12: Get some Concept Art, Audio and Narrative. Make sure you cover all major styles. Also get some UI design done as well.
Panel 6-7_finalparticulars-conceptingparticulars ui design ui design 2
STEP 13: Make some sample levels. This part can be lots of fun. Ideally it tests your ability to teach the game as well. Get people to play it. You know, that playtesting thing.
STEP 14: Figure out the Progressions of the game. Narrative, Level, Chapter, whatever you have. Just have a draft of them.
STEP 15: Pipes. Lines. Procedures. Asset/Feature Lists. Have them. All of them will evolve, so its mostly about having a starting point. Don’t forget to have a testing plan, and a procedure around versioning.
STEP 16: Realise that some of this is going to bleed into production. Oh noes! Some of the audio and art is still being worked out. You have enough to go into full-on ‘code/make levels/make assets’ mode for everything else though, so you can still be in production. And the audio for this project is being deliberately simple, so you can afford to lose a week on that. It’s not a blocker. (Note: Audio may be a blocker for your project).
STEP 17: Write an article about your pre-production process. Hopefully it’s in a nice, simple, stepwise format, and it doesn’t lie about how many steps there are.（source：gamasutra）
