英雄无敌7制作人Q/A

从2012年起Gary Paulini接替Erwan Le Breton成为H6和魔法门10的制作人，现为英雄无敌7游戏制作人，Stephan Winter是魔法门10和英雄无敌7的外包开发商Limbic Entertainment GmbH的CEO，以下内容由Ravenpaw翻译。

• How long have you been working on Might & Magic Heroes VII?
• [Gary] The discussions about the project started in late 2012. Around March 2013 we began Might & Magic Heroes VII pre-production with Limbic Entertainment. We are now roughly 15 months into production.
• 英雄无敌七的开发工作已经做了多久了？
• [Gary]项目的讨论在2012末就已经开始啦。大概在2013年3月份左右，我们和Limbic开始了英雄无敌七的预开发。现在算下来差不多有15个月了。
• What was your main motivation for developing Heroes VII?
• [Gary] Might & Magic Heroes VI was a good game, but not without its flaws. To create the Heroes game that the fans want we decided to start anew, with an experienced studio (Limbic Entertainment) and a tried-and-tested technology (the Unreal Engine 3). Our main ambition with this game is to deliver the best Heroes experience ever and to do so we felt that first and foremost we needed to go back to the very essence of Heroes. Now that we have a solid game architecture combined with the depth of the Might & Magic universe, we know we can tell players captivating stories and deliver to our fans the Heroes game they all deserve.
• 你们开发英雄无敌七的主要动机是什么？
• 为了做出让玩家满意的英雄无敌游戏，我们决定重新开始。和一个经验丰富的工作室合作（Limbic），使用成熟的开发技术（虚幻引擎3）。我们的对这款游戏的最大期待，就是它能给玩家带来前所未有的体验。为此，我觉得当务之急是要回归英雄无敌游戏的精髓。现在，游戏本身的构架已趋于完善，还有宏大的魔法门世界背景。我相信我们能向玩家展现出引人入胜的剧情，带给玩家们值回票价的一款游戏。
• Can you tell me more about the studio in charge of the development of Heroes VII?
• [Gary] Limbic Entertainment is the development studio currently working on Heroes VII. They are based in Germany, close to Frankfurt. They have been working with Ubisoft Partners for many years and in that time we`ve managed to establish a great collaboration with their talented team of multicultural developers. The team is very experienced, it has a good understanding of the Might & Magic IP, and it is really passionate about strategy gaming and Heroes titles. Limbic worked first on Heroes VI post launch and then went back to the roots of the franchise with “Might & Magic X – Legacy” which was released in January 2014. During the development of this classic Might & Magic game, a second team of Limbic developers was formed to start working on Heroes VII.
• 你能详细谈谈负责开发英雄无敌七的工作室吗？
• [Gary]LimbicEntertainment是负责开发英雄无敌七的工作室。它位于德国，靠近法兰克福。Ubisoft与这个工作室已有多年的合作，并在这个过程中，和工作室中各个文化背景下那些才华横溢的开发组员建立了良好的合作关系。这个开发组经验相当丰富，并对英雄无敌的神髓有深入的理解，还对策略游戏和英雄无敌这块招牌怀满热忱。Limbic最先参与了英雄无敌六的后续开发，并在2014年1月份发行的“魔法门十–传承”的开发中对这个游戏系列进行了全面的了解。在这款经典的魔法门游戏的开发过程中，Limbic成立了第二个小组专注于英雄无敌七的开发。

• What are the main features you have updated in the formula?
• [Stephan] Basically, our goal is to take the best out of the previous Heroes titles and build Heroes VII from there. Of course we’re also bringing in new features or new ideas without compromising the spirit of Heroes, such as more interactions on the Adventure Map allowing more strategies. For now we won’t delve too much into the details but we have brought in hundreds of small improvements which will help to perfect the formula. All in all we believe that we have the perfect mix of proven features, adjusted ones and new ones. Another important development change is that we are developing Heroes VII with the Unreal Engine 3. This enables us to focus on game architecture, features, gameplay and narrative instead of worrying about the underlying technology. In addition, one of the main parts of our vision for this new Heroes title is to empower our players wherever we can. To do so we have designed powerful yet accessible tools to put at their disposal. Our fans have repeatedly requested these features, and we consider these tools as being part of meeting their expectations. Finally to bring this concept even further, we have designed a unique community platform—spoiler ahead!—allowing our fans to create avatars, access info, influence the game, create and share content, and get rewards.
• 目前的游戏模式有加入什么新的功能吗？
• [Stephan]基本上，我们的目标是取其英雄无敌前作中的精华来打造英雄无敌七。我们肯定也会加入些新的特色和想法，但前提是不能破坏英雄无敌的精髓，比如在冒险地图上加入更多的互动功能，以此加强策略性。目前我们还不能透露更多细节，但我们已经做了上百个小改进来让游戏模式更加完美。总的来说，我相信我们做到了把现有，改善过的，和新的游戏特色完美地结合在了一起。开发方面另一个重要改动就是我们是用的虚幻3引擎来开发英雄无敌七。这让我们可以专注于游戏构架，特性，模式和剧情，而不用去操心底层技术细节。此外，我们对这款新的英雄无敌的愿景之一就是竭力给玩家更多的主动权。为此我们设计了功能强大但易于上手的工具供玩家使用。粉丝们已经多次提出这个要求了，所以我想应该提供这类工具满足他们的期望。最后再把这个话题扯远点儿，我们打造了一个独到的交流平台–前方剧透！允许玩家们自己制作头像，获取信息，改善游戏，分享心得，还可以获得嘉奖。
• What did you learn from the previous Heroes’ installments Ubisoft developed?
• [Stephan] From a developer perspective, Limbic Entertainment learnt that Heroes games are challenging productions. The nature of these games is that they are made of multiple layers of gameplay which have to fit each other. In a Heroes game you have to make sure at every single stage of the production process that the adventure map and the combat map, along with the economic and the RPG dimensions constitute a coherent structure. Such challenges make working on such a game very exciting!
• [Gary] We also learnt (the hard way, let’s face it) that we should invest more time in tools for our players to create content, but also for our development teams to maintain an effective level of support once the game is released. With Heroes VII we have anticipated those needs and we are ready to offer both to players and developers the means to make their wildest ideas a reality in the game.
• 你从Ubisoft开发的前几代英雄无敌系列中学到些什么呢？
• [Stephan]从开发者的角度来讲，Limbic意识到了开发英雄无敌系列是极具挑战的工作。这类游戏的本质就是它们由多种游戏模式组成，并且相互之间要能紧密地结合。在英雄无敌游戏中，你要确保每一个场景里面，冒险地图和战斗地图，以及经济和RPG元素能协调在一起。这些挑战让游戏的开发也变得更加刺激。
• [Gary]我们还（从惨痛的教训中）学到了我们应该投入更多的时间来开发游戏工具。这不仅能让玩家自己独创内容，也能让开发组在游戏发行后对其提供更有效的跟进。

• What Heroes VII story is all about? What is your main inspiration?
• [Stephan] The story of Heroes VII depicts the civil war that changed the ruling dynasty of the Holy Empire. The Empress’ murder has left an empty throne, a realm in flames and too many hungry rivals intent on claiming it. Our main character Ivan, the Duke of Griffin, is the only one who may restore peace and prosperity. On his way to claiming the throne, Ivan will learn what it means to become a true leader - including all the tough choices and consequences it implies - with the help of “The Council”. “The Council” consists of six councilors who have their own agendas, have their own backgrounds, and have their own goals. Each councilor represents one of the playable factions and with each campaign Ivan will learn about these factions, their uniqueness, and eventually how they can impact his own quest to the throne. We obviously do not want to spoil the Heroes VII story, but you will know more soon!
• 英雄无敌七的剧情讲诉的是什么？你的灵感来自哪里？
• [Stephan]英雄无敌七的剧情讲诉的是影响神圣帝国统治王朝的内战。君主惨遭不测，众人对王座虎视眈眈，战火燎遍整个国度。我们的主角Ivan,狮鹫大公爵，是唯一一个能重建和平与繁荣的人。在他通往权力的道路上，Ivan会明白一个真正的领导者意味着什么–艰难的抉择和随之而来的后果–这少不了“影会”的帮助。“影会”由六个顾问组成，每个顾问都有自己的暗线，背景，目的。每个顾问代表了一个游戏中的势力。在每个战役中，Ivan都会对这些势力，它们的特色有所了解，并明白它们最终会如何影响他通向权力之路。我们并不想剧透的英雄无敌七剧情，但是多少还是会有些新消息放出的。
• You mentioned councilors. What is their role and how do they shape the game experience?
• [Stephan] Each councilor represents one of the six unique factions. During the Heroes VII campaign each of them will tell Ivan ancestral stories that shaped the fate of their people. Each councilor’s story results in an important lesson Ivan will learn that will help him fight his way to the throne and face his destiny. The interesting thing with the councilors is that the game campaign is structured around a Hub allowing the player to play the 6 different campaigns in the order of his choosing.
• 你提到了顾问。他们扮演怎样的角色？如何影响游戏体验？
• [Stephan]每个顾问代表了一个独特的势力。在英雄无敌七的战役中，每个势力都会告诉Ivan他们种族世代流传下来的故事。每个顾问的故事对Ivan来说都是珍贵的一课，教他如何走上权力之路，面对自己的宿命。关于这些顾问很有意思的一点就是，游戏的战役结构就好似围绕着一个轴心的转盘，玩家可以自由选择6个战役的顺序。
• With the game announcement at GamesCom, we heard about The Shadow Council. What is The Shadow council all about? And to which extent does it differ from the “classic” council?
• [Stephan] The Shadow Council concept is probably the biggest community empower ment we have ever done. Starting today we would like to invite fans, players and people new to the Heroes franchise to join us and live a unique experience which will influence the game`s development. There are decisions to be made that will forge the final game experience forever, and we put some of these choices into your hands. As an example we picked four factions we want to have in the game but we offer you the power to vote for the two remaining factions. It’s a huge decision that deeply impacts th e game development, affecting everything from the story line to the environments to the available creatures and their abilities. Beyond this “Voting” feature, The Shadow Council is a unique platform where you will be given the opportunity to get the latest info on the game, interact with the community and the dev team, play and progress to level up and unlock exclusive rewards. More info on The Shadow Council will be available soon! So please don`t miss the opportunity to join The Shadow Council and actively participate in the game`s development--ultimately helping you to play the Heroes game of your dreams! To join The Shadow Council you simply have to visit www.mmh7.com website and log-in with your Uplay account.
• 游戏在GamesCom公布后，我们已经听说了影子议会。影子议会到底是个啥？它在多大程度上有别于“传统的”议会？
• [Stephan]影子议会的概念可是掌握在玩家手中，这可能是迄今为止我们与玩家的最大规模合作。从现在我们想要邀请粉丝，新老玩家加入我们，留下一段独特的经历，并促成游戏的最终开发。有些会影响游戏最终体验的决定仍有待确定，其中一些，将由你来选择。例如，我们决定了最初的四个势力，但是将最后两个势力的决定权交予你的手中。这是对游戏有深远影响的重大决定，包括剧情，背景，生物和特技。除了这个“投票”活动外，影子议会也是一个独特的平台，让你有机会获得游戏的最新资讯，和玩家群体，开发组相互交流。试玩，体验并获得专属的奖励。关于影子议会的更多信息将会在近期放出。所以不要错过加入影子议会的机会，还要积极地参与游戏的开发哦–这让你能玩到接近于你自己梦想中的英雄无敌游戏。要加入影子议会，你只需要访问www.mmh7.com并用你的Uplay账号登录。

• Why did you opt for a co-creation development process?
• [Stephan] We are not developing in an ivory tower. We have many team membe rs who are either active community members themselves or have been board lurkers for many years now. In 2012 when we worked on the patches for Heroes VI we followed all the discussions from the Heroes community including those related to the faction choices, the random map generator, simultaneous turn gameplay, the skill wheel, the map editor and many oth er topics. All these discussions already had a huge influence on Heroes VII pre-production, but we wanted to bring the concept to the next level. In the end we came with this idea of “The Shadow Council”, a platform dedicated to the players by gathering feedback from the whole
• Heroes community. In this way we get continual inspiration, helping to nurture the production.
• 为什么你会选择集体参与的开发方式？
• [Stephan]我们不能闭门造车啊。我们的很多组员要么自己就是论坛的活跃分子，要么就是资深潜水员。在2012，当我们忙于英雄无敌六的补丁时，我们看了论坛上的所有讨论，包括对游戏种族的选择，随机地图生成器，同步回合，技能轮，地图编辑器和其他很多话题。这些讨论对英雄无敌七的预开发真是有很大的影响。但是我们想把这种合作进一步深化。最后就有了“影子议会”这么一个想法，一个交付于玩家的平台，用于搜集整个论坛的反馈。这也带给我们源源不断的灵感，对开发带来莫大的帮助。
• What are the advantages and drawbacks of such a development process?
• [Stephan] The main advantage of such a process is that we are con stantly challenged by fans. We always need to question ourselves about decisions, design choices that have been made, iterating and reinventing the way we conceived games. On our side it also pushed us to be as transparent as possible about on-going decisions and stuff we are working on. The main drawback is that we have to constantly anticipate what`s going on. Depending on the feedback we receive we have to adapt our development schedule. As a consequence we need to be as flexible as possible to limit the impact on both project timing and budget. Another frustrating aspect of this process is that given the huge amount of opinions we have to deal with, we can’t simply answer every request. That’s why we consider the voting feature as the most democratic tool to take into account players’ opinion.
• 这样开发的优点和缺点都各有哪些呢？
• [Stephan]最主要的好处就是我们时刻面临来自玩家的挑战。我们需要不断地自审那些已经决定下来的设计方案。不断地返工那些已经做好的部分。从我们的角度来讲，这也迫使我们对即将做出的决策和进度保持尽可能的透明。最大的坏处就是我们要不停地查看反馈。根据反馈调整我们的开发日程。其结果就是我们必须尽可能的灵活，让预算和开发时间的影响降至最低。另外一个恼人的方面就是我们收到的意见太多太多了，根本无法一一回复。这也是为啥我们觉得投票是最公正地反映玩家意见的方式。
• Will Heroes VII propose an online multiplayer experience?
• [Stephan] Of course! Skirmish and Duel modes are already in! Ah and by the way, Hot Seat mode is still there! More stuff about multiplayers mode will be revealed soon.
• 英雄无敌七会加入在线多人体验吗？
• [Stepan]当然啦！遭遇战和对决模式已经提上日程！另外，热座模式也不会少！更多的多人游戏的消息很快就会放出。