The Game Treatment 游戏综述

So you've shown your high-concept document to a number of producers or potential investors, and now one of them wants a meeting to hear more about it. (It can take quite a while before you find a producer who's interested enough to give you the time. Be persistent!) For that meeting, you'll normally bring along the key members of your development team and do a PowerPoint presentation showing the main features and concept art for the game. It would also be good to have some prototype code running that you can show; producers want proof that you can deliver. But after the meeting is over, people's memory of what you said will start to fade and get mixed up with impressions of other developers' pitches for their products. To keep your game fresh in the producer's mind, you need to leave something behind to remind them of it.

你已经向一些制作人或潜在投资人展示了你的高概念文件，现在他们中的一位希望与你会面，进一步了解你的文件。(在你找到一个有兴趣给你时间的制作人之前，可能需要相当长的一段时间。要坚持不懈！）。在会议上，你通常会带上开发团队的主要成员，做一个 PowerPoint 演示，展示游戏的主要功能和概念图。你最好还能展示一些正在运行的原型代码；制作人希望证明你能完成任务。但会议结束后，人们对你所讲内容的记忆会开始模糊，并与其他开发者的产品推介会印象混在一起。为了让制作人对你的游戏记忆犹新，你需要留下一些东西来提醒他们。

This is where the game treatment comes in. A treatment is a longer document, typically 10 to 20 pages long. Again, it's a selling tool whose function is to show off your idea in the best possible light. The text and images should echo the images you used in the PowerPoint presentation. It should be attractively produced: printed on good-quality paper and bound in a report cover with a clear transparent front so people can see the picture on the title page. You want the treatment to say "Pick me up!" to anyone who sees it lying around, and it should be substantial enough to discourage throwing it away.

这就是游戏综述的作用所在。游戏综述是一份较长的文件，通常有 10 到 20 页。同样，它也是一种销售工具，其作用是以最好的方式展示你的创意。文字和图片应与 PowerPoint 演示文稿中使用的图片相呼应。它的制作应具有吸引力：用优质纸张印刷，装订在报告封面上，封面透明，以便人们可以看到扉页上的图片。你希望这种处理方式能让看到它的人觉得“把我拿起来！”，而且它应该足够厚实，让人不忍心把它扔掉。

Take copies of the game treatment to the meeting, but don't hand them out at the beginning—people will flip through them instead of paying attention to you. Hand them out to everyone after the meeting is over so that they'll have something to take away with them. And be sure you bring enough copies for everyone—the more that are floating around the publisher's offices, the better.

带着游戏综述的副本去参加会议，但不要一开始就分发，因为大家会翻阅副本而不会注意你。会议结束后再发给大家，这样他们就有东西可以带走了。而且一定要给每个人带足够的副本——在发行商的办公室里分发的副本越多越好。

What follows is a template for a game treatment. We don't have room to include an entire sample game treatment document here, but where it's helpful, we've included an excerpt from a hypothetical game treatment called Psychic Warriors to give you an idea of how it might read. Bear in mind that these excerpts are only partial, just to give you the flavor.

以下是游戏综述的模板。我们没有足够的空间在此收录整个游戏综述文件的样本，但在有帮助的地方，我们收录了一个名为《超能战士》的假想游戏综述文件的节选，让你了解它阅读起来的感受。请注意，这些摘录只是部分内容，供你参考。

Title Page 扉页

The title page includes the game's title and a short tagline to indicate what it's about. As usual, it should also give the author's name, the date, and any necessary copyright or confidentiality information. Don't overemphasize this material, however; you want it to look attractive and fun, not like a legal document. If at all possible, include a big color picture.

扉页包括游戏的标题和简短的标语，以说明游戏的内容。按照惯例，扉页还应注明作者姓名、日期以及任何必要的版权或保密信息。不过，不要过分强调这些信息；你希望它看起来吸引人、有趣，而不是像一份法律文件。如果可能的话，请附上大幅彩色图片。

Psychic Warriors Supernatural Combat Against the Forces of Evil 超能战士与邪恶势力的超自然战斗

—Jeff Haas and Ernest W. Adams August 16, 2005

杰夫·哈斯和欧内斯特·W·亚当斯 2005 年 8 月 16 日

Executive Summary 执行摘要

Like the features list in the high-concept document, this is a one-page bulleted list of the most important things to know about the game. In effect, it copies all the best points from later in the document onto the first page. It doesn't matter that the text duplicates that found elsewhere; that's why it's called a summary.

与高概念文档中的功能列表一样，这是一份单页的项目列表，列出了游戏中最重要的内容。实际上，它是将文档后面的所有要点复制到第一页。即使文字与其他地方的内容重复也没关系，这就是它被称为摘要的原因。

Psychic Warriors is an exciting new 3D action game from Foo Bar Productions. With an original and compelling storyline, Psychic Warriors combines paranormal and real-world combat against humans and huge morphing monsters. The psychic + military combat theme is not found in any product currently on the market.

《超能勇士》是 Foo Bar Productions 公司推出的一款激动人心的全新 3D 动作游戏。《超能勇士》的故事情节新颖而引人入胜，它将超自然现象与现实世界中与人类和巨大变形怪兽的战斗结合在一起。通灵+军事战斗的主题是目前市场上任何产品都没有的。

Game Overview游戏 概述

This is the first major section of the document, and it discusses what the game itself will be like. It is broken up into several subsections.

这是文档的第一个主要部分，讨论的是游戏本身的内容。它分为几个小节。

High Concept 高概念

The high-concept statement is identical to that in the high-concept document. You can include a little more introductory material here, however.

高概念说明与高概念文档中的说明相同。不过，你可以在这里加入更多的介绍性材料。

Diablo meets The X-Files in 3D.

《暗黑破坏神》与 3D 版《X 档案》的结合。

A new threat has appeared on the streets of America: a mysterious drug code-named Indoctrinol. No one sent to investigate it has ever come back, and it's clear that something sinister is going on. To neutralize this menace, you're given command of a super-secret team of four psychic warriors—psychically talented and superbly trained individuals drawn from the Special Forces of the U.S. Armed Services.

美国街头出现了一种新的威胁：一种代号为 Indoctrinol 的神秘药物。被派去调查它的人都没有回来，很显然，这其中一定有什么蹊跷。为了消除这一威胁，你被委派指挥一支由四名超能战士组成的超级秘密小队——他们都是来自美国陆军特种部队，拥有超强的心理天赋，训练有素。

Genre 类型

This is similar to the genre statement in the high-concept document. Because this document is a little longer, you can afford to go into more detail—a short paragraph, if necessary—perhaps referring to other games that this game is similar to.

这与高概念文档中的类型说明类似。由于本文档篇幅稍长，你可以写得更详细——如果有必要，可以写一小段——或许可以提及本游戏与其他游戏的相似之处。

• Mission-based small-squad action/tactical game combining psychic and real-world combat with a variety of weapons against humans and huge morphing monsters. 以任务为基础的小队行动/战术游戏，结合精神和现实世界的战斗，使用各种武器对付人类和巨大的变形怪物。

Hooks 钩子

A hook is any element—graphical, auditory, gameplay, storyline, theme—that will attract the player to the game and, you hope, keep her there. In effect, this section is the answer to the question "Why would anyone buy this game?" Don't throw in the kitchen sink; choose your five or six best features to emphasize here.

钩子是指任何元素——图形、听觉、游戏玩法、故事情节、主题——都能吸引玩家进入游戏，并希望能让她留在游戏中。实际上，这一部分就是对 “为什么有人会买这款游戏？”这个问题的回答。不要把所有的东西都扔进厨房水槽；选择五六个最好的特点在这里加以强调。

Psychically skilled characters go beyond usual military weapons. Many opportunities for exciting special effects here. There are no current competitors in this arena.

有特异功能的角色超越了一般的军事武器。这里有许多令人兴奋的特效机会。在这一领域目前还没有竞争对手。

Third-person, squad-oriented perspective permits simultaneous control over the team. This allows for interesting tactical behaviors such as covering fire and performing leapfrog maneuvers, which are more difficult to control in first-person games.

第三人称小队视角，允许同时控制整个团队。这样就可以进行有趣的战术行为，如火力掩护和蛙跳动作，而这些在第一人称游戏中较难控制。

Morphing enemies add visual variety and an element of suspense—is that a human or a monster in disguise?

变形敌人增加了视觉多样性和悬念元素——那是人类还是怪物的伪装？

License 许可证

If this game will use licensed property, indicate which one and how the game will exploit the features and public recognition value of the license. What you choose to include here depends a lot on the nature of the license. For example, in a driving game featuring sports cars, you'll want to emphasize the performance characteristics of the actual car brands you've licensed. In a game based on a movie, you should talk about the characters and locations that appeared in the movie.

如果游戏将使用许可财产，请说明是哪一种，以及游戏将如何利用该许可的功能和公众认可价值。此处应包含哪些内容在很大程度上取决于许可证的性质。例如，在一款以跑车为主题的驾驶游戏中，你需要强调你获得授权的实际汽车品牌的性能特点。在根据电影改编的游戏中，你应该介绍电影中出现的人物和地点。

Gameplay Highlights 游戏亮点

This section is a further list of elements that describe the experience of playing the game. Include anywhere from 10 to 20 different items. You don't have to present detailed lists of characters, places, or objects at this point; just say what sorts of things and features you want to include in the full design.

本部分进一步列出了描述游戏体验的要素。包括 10 到 20 个不同的项目。此时你不必详细列出角色、地点或物品；只需说明你希望在完整设计中包含哪些事物和功能即可。

• Very large variety of animations, to allow for a vast number of specialized activities. 动画种类繁多，可进行大量专门活动。

• Many different richly detailed environments from around the world. 来自世界各地的多种不同的、细节丰富的环境。

• Intelligent situation-based movement by AI-controlled characters, implementing proper tactics and muzzle discipline. 由人工智能控制的角色可根据情况进行智能移动，执行适当的战术和枪口纪律。

Online Highlights 在线亮点

If the game will include an online or multi-player element, it will be useful to break it out into a separate section. Online play adds a whole new dimension to the game (unless it's online only, of course!) and brings its own challenges and rewards to both the publisher and the players.

如果游戏包含在线或多人游戏元素，最好将其单独列出。在线游戏为游戏增添了一个全新的维度（当然，除非只有在线游戏！），并为发行商和玩家带来了自己的挑战和回报。

• Cooperative multi-player play via Internet, LAN, or modem. 通过互联网、局域网或调制解调器进行多人合作游戏。

• Web server offering matchmaking/team-assembly service (à la BattleNet), tournaments, chat areas, and bulletin boards. 网络服务器提供匹配/组队服务（类似于 BattleNet）、锦标赛、聊天室和论坛。

• Unique missions available online that are not provided in the retail product. A scoring system will allow for competitive team play. 在线提供零售产品中没有的独特任务。计分系统将使团队竞技游戏成为可能。

Technology Highlights 技术亮点

This is where you talk about the great technology that your game will include, particularly anything innovative. If you're planning to license a game engine from a third party, name it here and indicate what it brings to the project. Don't go into programming details unless you're sure you audience will understand them; instead, discuss how the software will enhance the game. Technology doesn't necessarily mean only programming, either. Include anything that uses or requires advanced technology.

在这里你可以介绍游戏中包含的先进技术，尤其是创新技术。如果你计划从第三方获得游戏引擎的授权，请在此点名并说明它能为项目带来什么。除非你确信观众能够理解，否则不要谈论编程细节；相反，要讨论软件将如何增强游戏的功能。技术也不一定仅指编程。只要是使用或需要先进技术的内容都可以包括在内。

• Morphing polygonal enemies. Humans transform into hideous zombies and other monsters as they run at you. 变形多边形敌人。人类在冲向你时会变成狰狞的僵尸和其他怪物。

• Voice-recognition of commands in single-player mode. In multi-player mode, players can talk to other team members live using speakers and a microphone. 单人模式下的语音识别指令。在多人模式中，玩家可以使用扬声器和麦克风与其他团队成员进行实时对话。

Art and Audio Highlights 艺术和音频亮点

If there are any special details about the art or audio that you want to include, do so here. Many games now feature soundtracks by pop or rap groups, or dance tracks by famous DJs. These are obviously big selling points for the product, so be sure to mention them prominently. Likewise, if your art or animation includes anything special or unusual, point it out.

如果你有任何关于美术或音频的特别细节，请在此处填写。现在很多游戏都有流行音乐或说唱组合的原声带，或者著名 DJ 的舞曲。这些显然是产品的一大卖点，因此一定要在显著位置提及。同样，如果你的美术或动画包含任何特殊或不寻常的东西，也要指出来。

• Motion-captured animations drawn from ex–Delta Force personnel (for characters), actors, dancers, and gymnasts (for enemy humans and monsters). 动作捕捉动画来自前三角洲部队人员（角色）、演员、舞者和体操运动员（敌方人类和怪物）。

Hardware 硬件

As in the high-concept document, state your target platform. If it is a personal computer rather than a console, also state the minimum configuration required to play the game.

与高概念文件一样，请说明目标平台。如果是个人电脑而非游戏机，请说明玩游戏所需的最低配置。

Production Details 制作细节

If you're writing a treatment as part of a pitch to a publisher, it's essential to say not only what the game will be like, but who will develop it and when, and what it will cost to develop. Good game ideas might be common, but good development teams are rare; the publisher will want to see evidence that you have the resources and experience to get the job done.

如果你正在撰写作为向发行商推介的一部分的综述，那么不仅要说明游戏会是什么样子，还要说明由谁来开发、何时开发以及开发成本是多少。好的游戏创意可能很常见，但好的开发团队却很少见；发行商希望看到你有资源和经验完成工作的证据。

Current Status 现状

Start by letting the publisher know where you are now. If you have actually begun some prototype work or proof-of-concept work, say so and indicate what features it contains. If the game is still no more than a gleam in your eye, leave this section out.

首先要让发行商知道你现在的状况。如果你确实已经开始了一些原型工作或概念验证工作，请说出来，并说明它包含哪些功能。如果游戏还只是你眼中的一个闪光点，就不要写这一部分。

Completed prototype demonstrating military (but not psychic) game features. Includes:

展示军事（但非通灵）游戏功能的已完成原型。包括：

• 3D landscape with moving water and foliage, bridges, buildings, vehicles. 三维景观，有移动的水和树叶、桥梁、建筑和车辆。

• Player characters with visible differences, motion-captured animations, variety of movement modes. 具有明显差异的玩家角色、动作捕捉动画、各种运动模式。

Development Team 开发团队

List the names and qualifications of your key people. Indicate what role each will play in the project. Don't include their entire résumés; nobody will read all that. Instead, give a one-paragraph synopsis of each person's history, including who they've worked for, in what position, and what games they already have credited to them. Include their education only if it's relevant and recent; producers are much more interested in knowing that someone has shipped a successful product than in where he went to school.

列出主要人员的姓名和资历。说明每个人在项目中将扮演的角色。不要把他们的简历都写进去，因为没有人会看完所有的简历。相反，只需用一个段落简要介绍每个人的履历，包括他们曾为谁工作过、担任过什么职位、有哪些游戏是他们的功劳。制作人更想知道的是某个人曾经成功地推出过一款产品，而不是他在哪里上的学。

Don't include more than about six people here. If you have a big team, list only your managers and star performers.

这里不要包括超过 6 个人。如果你有一个庞大的团队，请只列出经理和明星员工。

Budget 预算

Budgeting game development is a black art indeed and is far beyond the scope of this book. At this point in the process, without a signed contract, it's not worth trying to figure out a detailed budget—you can't know what everything will cost until you and the publisher have agreed on what all the game will include. However, you can give a rough estimate of how much you expect to spend overall. This lets the publisher know approximately how big your ambitions are. If you say $500,000 here, they'll know you're talking about a small project; if you say $5 million, they'll know you want to build a blockbuster.

游戏开发预算的确是一门黑色艺术，远远超出了本书的范围。在这个过程中，在没有签订合同的情况下，不值得去计算详细的预算——在你和发行商就游戏的所有内容达成一致之前，你无法知道所有的花费。不过，你可以大致估算一下你预计的总体花费。这可以让发行商知道你的野心大概有多大。如果你在这里说 50 万美元，他们就会知道你说的是一个小项目；如果你说 500 万美元，他们就会知道你想制作一部大作。

At this point, nobody will hold you to whatever number you put down; it's only a guideline. The number that really matters will be the one in the contract.

在这一点上，无论你写下多少数字，都不会有人阻止你，这只是一个指导原则。真正重要的数字是合同中的数字。

Schedule 时间表

As with budgeting, there's no point in scheduling tasks in detail until you know what they're going to be. However, you can offer a proposed ship date for the product and some key milestones here, if you want to. Again, this information just serves as a guide to the publisher to indicate how ambitious the project is. The real schedule will be the one built into the development contract.

与预算一样，在知道任务内容之前，详细安排任务是没有意义的。不过，如果你愿意，可以在这里提供产品的建议发货日期和一些关键里程碑。同样，这些信息只是为出版商提供指导，说明项目的雄心有多大。真正的时间表将是开发合同中规定的时间表。

Competition 竞争

The section on competition was optional in the high-concept document, but at this point it's essential. A publisher will want to know what other games this product will be going up against in the marketplace, and how to position yours to beat them. Bear in mind that you're talking about a time 12 to 24 months in the future, depending on how long it will take to build your game. Games that are already on the market are unlikely to be its competition unless you expect their publishers to issue sequels or updates to them. The competition you need to list are the games that are under development at the same time as yours. Because they won't be advertised yet, you'll have to read the trade press and industry web sites to find out what features they're expected to include.

在高概念文件中，关于竞争的部分是可有可无的，但此时这却是必不可少的。发行商会想知道这款产品在市场上会遇到哪些其他游戏，以及如何定位你的产品才能打败它们。请记住，你所讨论的是未来 12 到 24 个月的时间，这取决于制作游戏所需的时间。已经上市的游戏不太可能成为竞争对手，除非你希望它们的发行商发行续集或更新。你需要列出的竞争对手是与你的游戏同时在开发中的游戏。因为这些游戏还没有做广告，所以你必须通过阅读行业媒体和行业网站来了解它们预计会包含哪些功能。

For each competing product, list its name, who makes it, what machine it's for, and when it's expected to ship, along with a summary of its key features. Then indicate clearly what will make your game different from it and, above all, better.

对于每种竞争产品，列出其名称、生产商、适用机器、预计发布时间以及主要功能摘要。然后明确指出你的游戏与它的不同之处，尤其是更好的地方。

Game World 游戏世界

In the last major section in the document, you can include anything else that's likely to get your reader fired up about the product. You've already discussed the gameplay, technology, and general features of the game, so this is the time to include background material that draws the reader deeper into your world.

在文件的最后一个主要部分，你可以加入任何其他可能让读者对产品产生兴趣的内容。你已经讨论过游戏的玩法、技术和一般特点，因此现在可以加入背景材料，让读者更深入地了解你的游戏世界。

Backstory 背景故事

If your game has a story and characters, then presumably something has happened that created the game's primary challenge. Tell your reader briefly what happened in the days (or geologic ages, depending!) leading up to the beginning of the game.

如果你的游戏有故事和人物，那么就可能发生了一些事情，从而产生了游戏的主要挑战。请简要地告诉你的读者，在游戏开始之前的几天（或地质年代，视情况而定！）里发生了什么。

The appearance of Indoctrinol has thrown America's national security apparatus into a panic. Everyone sent to investigate it has disappeared, including the elite Delta Force and Seal teams. It's clear that something special is called for. Searching the entire U.S. military, the government has found four—only four—superb soldiers who also have latent psychic abilities. After a few days of training, they're sent on their way: strangers to one another on a mission to the unknown.

Indoctrinol 的出现让美国的国家安全机构陷入了恐慌。所有被派去调查它的人都失踪了，包括精英三角洲部队和海豹突击队。很显然，需要采取特别行动。在搜索整个美国军队后，政府发现了四名——只有四名——超级士兵，他们还拥有潜在的通灵能力。经过几天的训练后，他们被送上了路：彼此陌生，前往未知的地方执行任务。

Objective 目标

What is the player's overall objective, the thing she is trying to achieve to complete the game? This doesn't have to be the "true" objective, however—the player can find evidence of a deeper and more serious problem as he plays.

玩家的总体目标是什么？这不一定是“真正的”目标——玩家可以在游戏过程中发现更深层次、更严重的问题。

Follow the trail of Indoctrinol back to its source, and wipe it out. This will take you to locations around the world, operating undercover to perform missions against Third-World dictators, drug lords, terrorists, organized crime, and anyone else who has anything to do with Indoctrinol.

追踪 Indoctrinol 的踪迹，找到它的源头，并将其消灭。这将把你带到世界各地，秘密执行任务，打击第三世界的独裁者、毒枭、恐怖分子、有组织犯罪团伙以及任何与 Indoctrinol 有关的人。

Characters 角色

If you've already defined the game's characters and they are important enough to help sell the game, include their names, pictures, backgrounds, and special abilities here.

如果你已经确定了游戏中的角色，而且这些角色的重要性足以帮助推销游戏，那么请在此处列出他们的姓名、照片、背景和特殊能力。

Paul "Mayhem" Jackson 保罗·“混乱”·杰克逊

Psychic ability: Shield. Can project a protective shield around teammates.

精神能力：护盾。可以在队友周围投射一个保护罩。

Weapons: Chain gun, grenade launcher. Mayhem is a heavy-weapons expert.

武器：连环枪、榴弹发射器。“混乱”是重型武器专家。

Armor: Very heavy, which makes him relatively slow-moving.

装甲：非常重，移动速度相对较慢。

Personality: Angry and ruthless over some event in his past.

性格：因过去的某些事件而愤怒且冷酷无情。

Mission or Story Progression 任务或故事进展

Lay out the game's narrative arc as far as you know it. Document the twists and turns that the story might take, and indicate the way in which the player's success or failure will affect her progress through the game. For example, if the story is linear and the player must accomplish each scenario in order to proceed, say so; if it is branching, say that and explain how the player goes down one branch or another. Don't write a novel—this isn't the design script—but rather provide an outline for a novel, listing the key events in the plot.

根据你的了解，列出游戏的叙事弧线。记录故事可能出现的曲折，并说明玩家的成功或失败将如何影响其游戏进程。例如，如果故事是线性的，玩家必须完成每个情节才能继续，那就这么说；如果故事是分支式的，那就这么说，并解释玩家如何沿着一个分支或另一个分支前进。不要写小说——这不是设计脚本，而是提供一个小说大纲，列出情节中的关键事件。

In the single-player game, missions will progress from easy to hard as the team follows the drug back to its source. Initially dealing only with human drug dealers on a local scale, they will eventually take on smugglers, distributors, and manufacturers of the drug.

在单人游戏中，随着小组追踪毒品的源头，任务将由易到难。起初，他们只在当地范围内与人类毒贩打交道，最终将与毒品走私商、分销商和制造商交手。

In later missions, it will become clear that there are demonic creatures among the humans, for reasons that are not initially clear. They will remain in human form for as long as possible, but when attacked hard enough, they will morph into their original demonic forms, huge and terrifying.

在后面的任务中，我们会发现人类中存在恶魔生物，原因最初并不清楚。它们会尽可能长时间地保持人形，但一旦受到足够猛烈的攻击，就会变形为原来的恶魔形态，巨大而可怕。

To combat these creatures, additional psychic training and nontraditional weapons will be provided to the team as the game goes on...

为了对付这些生物，随着游戏的进行，还将为团队提供额外的通灵训练和非传统武器……