玩家角色的概念（Player Character Concepts）

本想写篇关于角色设定的感想，于是顺手把这篇文章给翻译了，E文水平有限，很多地方可能翻译得面目全非，附原文在下面，如有错误之处，请达人指正，欢迎讨论。 by Harvey Smith 翻译：怡红浪子 所谓“角色”（character)，是指让一个人能够区别于另一个人的所有属性的总和。尽管这是一张符合某个人物特征的列表，但它也同时也是一张不符合该人物特征的列表。一个角色是一个小说化的人物，一个虚拟的存在。更确切的说，一个游戏角色是一个用来玩游戏的工具；一个通过它把游戏世界对玩家存在的反应展示给玩家的方法。 本文将探讨电脑游戏上的关于角色的概念，并集中研究那些代表玩家的角色（玩家角色），而不是由AI或者脚本驱动的角色(非玩家角色，即NPC）。作为这次研究的结果，许多写在这里的文字都来自于游戏中心论而不是戏剧论的立场。 机械化特征和小说化角色的区别 在一个电脑角色扮演游戏（CRPG）中，玩家角色通常由游戏及其体系的外部元素组成。例如，我的角色可能是“来自KERBASH的一座雪山上的村落”，而你的可能“已经从GNIL的地下山脉洞穴中旅行而上”。通常，这些特征的类型并没有在游戏中机械地表达出来，他们仅仅是作为额外的小说化的素材存在于玩家的想象当中——即背景故事。这样的元素是非常有用的，它们能帮助玩家暂时搁下心头的疑虑并让他们更易于沉浸入游戏之中，它们能进一步提升一个既定游戏的设计目标。有人会说只对某些特殊类型的游戏来说这样的细节才有更大的关联，但在许多情况下，在游戏里为玩家扮演的角色和他正尝试着要完成的事情提供一些小说化的背景将有助于他理解和享受游戏（在开始时，游戏总是一个陌生的，抽象的事物）。背景故事可以通过调用玩家的想象力来增强玩家的体验。这些小说化的元素提供动机的背景并且通常提供一个驱动玩家的行为的命令。 例如，“登月者”（Lunar lander)这款游戏全都是关于火焰推进器，用刚够长的时间，并给予漂移和重力，来使一个宇宙飞船登陆——它实际上全都是关于按一堆按钮和观察一个发光点。但是后一个听起来并不如何有趣，尤其是当和前一个（“我是个太空人”那个版本）比较时。玩家（正在紧盯着一个显示器，用两个指头按按钮）当然不真的是太空人，但作为人类，如果没有艺术幻想的话，我们现在应该在哪呢？（我想，应该被困在一个无聊的世界里。）背景故事帮助玩家更充分地沉浸入游戏中，让游戏成为一次更独特的，更为主观的体验。 其他游戏也都依赖角色特征，对于游戏的机械特征来说，角色特征更加重要。例如，一个角色可能速度为15，这允许他能以一个特定的速率移动。当然，在许多情况下，一个游戏允许玩家决定角色的速度——玩家可以自行决定应该多大限度地运用这项机械特征。这也是人物塑造的一种，在电脑游戏的背景中，并且在某些方面，其对玩家的影响比小说（背景故事）更大。将角色戏剧化地设置为一个孤儿对游戏玩法的影响肯定比不上将角色设置为能够高速运动。（尽管令角色成为孤儿最终可能对玩家的体验产生更大的影响，这取决于游戏剧情对玩家的影响大小。） 在“毁灭战士”（DOOM）中，游戏的小说化背景仅仅拥有一个单薄的骨架，而目的主要是做两件事。第一，毁灭战士的背景故事增强了这款游戏的恐怖元素，因此增强了玩家恐怖感和危机感，使得该体验更加令人全神贯注。第二，游戏的背景对玩家开始时他的所在，他的身份以及两个玩家之间的关系做了简要的交代。和其杰出的游戏玩法元素相比，玩家是一艘宇宙飞船以及有些人打开了地狱之门等这些背景在许多方面都显得关系甚小。例如： ·玩家的移动速度和他有多少时间注意一个怪物射来的火球并且躲开它直接相关。 ·玩家在被踢出游戏之前，可以承受一定数量的伤害值，并且他的武器有一定的射击间隔。 ·得到特定的游戏力量增加物品会改变这些机械的特征。 这些机械特征属于游戏中的角色特征，并且和玩家角色的小说化人物相比，它们很可能和玩家对毁灭战士的体验更有关联。这并不是说机械特征总是比小说化的背景更加相关——在神秘岛（MYST）中，反过来才是对的。（尽管我相信游戏的机械特征和规则和一个娱乐软件应用越有关联，其越能被称为一款真正意义上的“游戏”。） 大多数游戏，一旦你查看就会发现，使用角色特征和小说化的背景以及游戏玩法相关联，因为那将给予游戏开发者两套有力的工具，他们用之（满怀希望地）实现游戏中的乐趣。这两套工具是游戏的交互和怀疑的中止。在许多情况下，两个工具之间的接缝是模糊不清的。 在游戏“十三支局”（bureau 13)的电脑版本中，玩家必须从8个左右的人物中选择一到两个。他们中的每一个都拥有不同的“游戏力量”。其中一个角色可以呈现出一种雾化形态，因此可以进入其他角色不能到达的地点躲开敌人。但是这个角色也是由他的背景所定义：他是一个拥有个人背景故事的吸血鬼。这个角色的机械能力以及他的小说化背景和玩家对游戏的享受都有关系——前一个相对于游戏的玩法和谜题，后一个相对于玩家的想象力和对故事的沉浸。在这里两者（机械特征和角色特征——译者注）之间的路线是灰色的，也就是说，你可能认为机械特征是由小说化的背景暗示的——但是角色能够轻易地成为一个魔仆，拥有变成雾气，外星人，或者其他什么的力量。雾化的游戏力量和游戏玩法直接相关，而吸血鬼的背景只是一个和小说化背景相关的结论。使用吸血鬼的身份可能会让角色的机械力量更容易获得——假设玩家知道吸血鬼通常擅长做什么——它也将设置玩家期待。例如，如果有一个玩家也认为吸血鬼应该从银中获得三倍的伤害力，然而在游戏中银质武器的设置并没有考虑到此项，玩家就可能会感到失望，因为他的期望被阻挠了。 Player Character Concepts The term "character" is a summation of the attributes that make one person different from another. As much as this is a list of traits included in an identity, it is also a list of traits that are excluded from an identity. A character is a fictional identity, a mock entity. More specifically, a game character is a vehicle for playing the game; the means through which the game shows the player the game-world's responses to his presence. This article explores the concept of character as it relates to a computer game, focusing on characters that represent the player (player-characters), rather than characters driven by AI or scripts (non-player-characters). As a result of this focus, much of what is written here comes from a game-centric, rather than dramatic, standpoint. Mechanical Vs. Fictional Character Differentiation In a computer role-playing game (CRPG), player-characters are often composed of elements external to the game and its systems. For instance, my character may "hail from the snowy mountain villages of Kerbash" while yours might have "journeyed up from the depths of the under-mountain caves of Gnil." Often, these types of characteristics are not expressed mechanically within the game; they exist solely as extra fictional material for the player's imagination - back story. Elements like these are useful in that they help the player suspend disbelief and facilitate immersion into the game - they can further advance the design goals of a given game. It could be argued that these types of details are more relevant for specific types of games, but in many cases, having some fictional context for what the player represents in a game and what he is trying to accomplish will help him understand and enjoy the game (which is an alien, abstract thing to begin with). Back story can enhance the player's experience by engaging his imagination. These fictional elements provide motivational context and often an imperative that drive the player's actions. For instance, the game Lunar Lander was all about firing thrusters for just long enough, allowing for drift and gravity, to land a spacecraft. Except that Lunar Lander wasn't really about landing a spacecraft - it was actually all about pushing a couple of buttons and watching a glowing spot. But the latter doesn't sound like much fun, especially when compared to the former - the "I'm a spaceman!" version. The player - staring into a monitor, pushing buttons with two fingers - is of course not really a spaceman, but where would we be, as human beings, without our artful illusions? (Trapped in a dull world, I think.) The context helps the player immerse himself in the game more fully, to make the game a more personal, subjective experience. Other games rely on character traits that are weighted more toward game mechanics. For instance, a character may have a speed of 15, which allows him to move at a particular rate. In many cases, of course, a game allows the player to make decisions about the character's speed-the player can decide how heavily to invest in this mechanical trait. This too is characterization, in the context of the computer game medium, and in some ways it has a stronger impact on the player than fiction (the back story). Establishing fictionally that a character is an orphan has less impact on game play than establishing that the character has a high speed. (Though making the character an orphan might have more impact ultimately on the player's experience, depending upon how compelling the player finds the game's fiction.) In Doom, the game's fictional background is merely a thin skeleton of a structure, meant to do essentially two things. First, Doom's back story enhances the game's horror elements, thus increasing the player's sense fear and peril, making the experience more gripping. Second, the game's background gives the player some starting context for his location, his identity, and the relationship between the two. The fact that the player was a space marine and that someone had opened a portal to hell was in many ways less relevant than the game's excellent game-play elements. For instance: The speed at which the player could move was directly tied to how much time he had to note an imp's incoming fireball and dodge it. The player could take a specific amount of damage before being kicked from the game, and his weapons refired at a particular rate. Finding certain game power-up objects altered these mechanical traits. These mechanics are in-game character traits, and they are probably more relevant to the Doom experience than the fictional identity of the player-character. This is not to say that mechanics are always more relevant than fictional context-in Myst, the opposite is true. (Though I believe that the more relevant the game mechanics and rules are to an entertainment software application, the more purely it can be categorized as a "game" in the true sense of the word.) Most games, once you look at them, use character traits related to both fictional context and game play, since that gives the game developer two powerful sets of tools with which to (hopefully) achieve fun. These two tool sets are game interactivity and suspension of disbelief. In many cases, the seams between the two tools are faint. In the computer version of the game Bureau 13, the player had to choose two agents from a set of eight or so. Each of these had different "game powers." One character could assume an ethereal form and thus enter otherwise inaccessible spots and elude enemies. But this character was also defined by his history: He was a vampire with a personal back story. The character's mechanical abilities and his fictional background were both relevant to the player's enjoyment of the game - the former to game play and puzzles, the latter to imagination and story immersion. The line between the two might seem gray here-that is, you might think that the mechanics were implied by the fictional context - but the character could have just as easily been a genie with the power to become ethereal, or an alien or whatever. The ethereal game power is directly tied to game-play, while the vampiric history is a decision tied to fiction context. While using the vampire identity might have made the character's mechanical powers more accessible - assuming the player knows what "vampires" are traditionally capable of doing - it also sets up player expectations. If, for instance, the player is someone who also thinks vampires should take triple damage from silver, yet the game's silver weapons do not take this into account, the player might be disappointed, since his expectations have been thwarted.