Attic Entertainment, 1992
MS-DOS, Amiga 和 Mac
Attic Entertainment, 1992
MS-DOS, Amiga and Mac
要想了解“阿卡尼亚王国(Realms of Arkania)三部曲”对德国市场的意义,首先得追溯过往,谈谈上世纪 90 年代初德国 RPG 桌游的火爆程度。
那段时间,德国的《黑暗之眼(Das Schwarze Auge,The Dark Eye)》盛极一时,足以与《龙与地下城(Dungeons & Dragons)》分庭抗礼。高高的书架上摆满了与《黑暗之眼》有关的游戏书籍——小众的收藏品商店如此,街头巷尾的玩具店亦然。时至今日,《黑暗之眼》仍是德国最成功的 RPG 游戏作品,受万人追捧。
在发布几款小型电脑角色扮演游戏后,Attic Entertainment 获得《黑暗之眼》官方授权,着手开发一款尽可能忠实桌游原作的电脑游戏,万千玩家早已对此翘首期盼。
《命运之刃(Blade of Destiny)》伊始,玩家来到一块散发着中世纪斯堪的纳维亚气息的土地——索瓦(Thorwal)。在那里,兽人入侵,战火纷飞。要将兽人赶出家乡,玩家必须找到失落已久的命运之刃。不过,作为一款电脑游戏,玩家自然有线索来按图索骥——有一块地图能够指引英雄们找到命运之刃。这块地图分成多个部分,散落在广袤的土地上。得到一番提示后,玩家便要踏上冒险的旅程。
To understand the effect the Realms of Arkania trilogy had on the German market, one has to look back at the state of tabletop role-playing games in the early 90s in Germany.
Back then, Das Schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye) – the German answer to Dungeons & Dragons – was deep in its prime. Huge shelves of TDE books lined not only specialist hobby stores, but every toy store in Germany. Even today it remains the country's most successful RPG franchise by a great margin.
After cutting their teeth with a few small CRPGs, Attic Entertainment got the TDE licence and created a game that was as faithful to the tabletop game as possible – exactly what fans at the time wanted.
In Blade of Destiny, players are pitted against the threat of an invasion of orcs into medieval Scandinavia-lookalike Thorwal. To repel them, the heroes have to find the titular Blade of Destiny. Of course, this being a video game, there is a map leading to the sword; a map that has been split into many parts and strewn across the land. You get your first rough directions, then off you go.
通过游戏的序章部分后,玩家可以自行探索,主要是城镇与地牢两大场景。玩家以第一视角进行游玩,到达目的地后还可查看所在地区的 2D 大地图。
探索是游戏的重要环节。玩家所选择的探险路径会以红线的形式在地图标出,像极了《夺宝奇兵》里的印第安纳・琼斯(Indiana Jones)。旅程中常常会遇到 CYOA 交互式剧情,如“你是否愿意救助这位受伤的精灵?”,埋伏与随机遭遇战也是家常便饭。
一进入回合制战斗,游戏转为等距视角。角色根据自身的速度属性与盔甲负重,获得一定的行动点数。消耗点数,则可施展各类攻击、吟唱法术咒语、调整走位站位、使用背包物品等等。
至于背景设定与规则设计,《命运之刃》对桌游原作的还原度极高,哪怕是二十年后的今天,人们看了也会啧啧称奇。《命运之刃》开发团队与《黑暗之眼》开发者保持密切交流,原作的一切——从摇点生成角色属性、到技能设置、再到庞大的法术体系,都忠实桌游设定,只在一些细节方面有所调整,改动效果则有好有坏。
因此,玩家需要应付海量数据:14 种属性、52 种技能与 48 种法术,以及一系列与之相关的数据。每个法术都有对应的熟练值。技能更是包罗万象,从草药采集术、讨价还价法,再到古代语言习得,真可谓应有尽有。创建一个六人团队,可能会花玩家不少功夫。没错,面对大量可选技能,玩家很有可能在鸡肋技能上浪费宝贵的技能点。
《命运之刃》要求玩家具有微观管理能力,妥善安排角色的行李构成,上到食物淡水,下到穿衣搭配。到了北方,如果不想角色因染上风寒而卧床不起,御寒衣物必不可少。每每在路边扎营,玩家都要指定谁去打猎、谁去照顾病患,安排守卫轮班,确定睡眠时长等。
After the intro, you're free to do whatever you like. Exploring is split between towns and dungeons, seen in a first-person view, and a 2D overworld map where you choose your travel destinations.
Travelling is a big part of the game. Your journey is shown by an Indiana Jones-style red line on the map and occasionally interrupted by events presented in CYOA fashion – “Do you help the injured Elf?” –, as well as ambushes and random encounters.
For the turn-based battles, the game switches to an isometric view. Characters receive action points, based on their individual speed and how much armour they carry. These points can be used for everything from various types of attacks, to spellcasting, to movement and inventory management.
How faithfully the game adhered to the tabletop game's background and ruleset is still impressive after more than twenty years. The developers worked closely with the designers of TDE and everything from the dice-based character generation to the skill set and the huge spell list – was lifted directly from the tabletop game, with only a few concessions and adjustments (for better or worse).
Thus, you'll deal with an overwhelming amount of stats: 14 attributes, 52 skills and 48 spells, plus derived stats. Each spell has its own proficiency level, and skills cover everything from herb-collecting to haggling to ancient tongues. Creating the six members of your party can take a long time – and yes, it's very easy to waste points on things you'll never need.
The game also demands a lot of micromanaging, from food and drink to carrying suitable clothing for a northern climate if you don't want your heroes to be struck down with illness. And every time you camp on the road you'll have to assign who will hunt, heal the injured, the guard shifts, hours of sleep, etc.