Making a game is not easy. Quite the contrary; it’s an incredibly difficult and daunting task. Game development typically takes teams of people, thousands of hours worth of labor, and hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of dollars.

制作 游戏并不容易。 恰恰相反; 这是一项艰巨而艰巨的任务。 游戏开发通常 需要团队成员 ， 数千小时的劳动价值 以及 数十万(甚至数百万美元)的资金 。

Potential developers spend years in school, build their portfolios, and start at the bottom just to have a chance to be on these elite programming teams. Not everyone has access to these resources, however. Some individuals want to create their dream without corporate interference, some want to develop because they’re passionate about the medium, some want to throw their hat in the ring to content with the big hitters, and others just want to have a hobby and enhance their skills. Several of the biggest names in the industry were developed by one person: Braid, Papers, Please, Spelunky, Stardew Valley, Undertale, and of course, Minecraft. These juggernauts were all created without being syndicated by big business, lines of code being written in the comfort of bedrooms and home offices, with free time being dedicated to these individual’s craft.

潜在的开发人员会在学校里度过数年，建立自己的产品组合，并从最底层开始，只是有机会加入这些精英编程团队。 但是，并非所有人都可以使用这些资源。 有些人想在没有公司干预的情况下实现梦想，有些人因为对媒体充满热情而希望发展，有些人想与大手笔打成一片，另一些人只是想拥有一种爱好并增强自己他们的技能。 该行业中的几位知名人士都是由一个人开发的 ： 辫子 ， 造纸 ，请 ， Spelunky ， Stardew Valley ， Undertale ，当然还有Minecraft 。 这些主宰者都是在没有大型企业联合的情况下创建的，将代码行编写在舒适的卧室和家庭办公室中，空闲时间专用于这些人的手艺。

I was able to sit down with an indie developer and ask a few questions pertaining to the difficulties and revelations of developing a game on your own, as well as discuss a little bit about the game he’s making and what inspired him to do so. His name is Arsalan Nadeem, and this is what he had to say about lending his own voice to the gaming development scene.

我能够与一个独立开发人员坐下来，并提出一些与自己开发游戏的困难和启示有关的问题，并讨论了自己制作的游戏以及激发他这样做的一些原因。 他的名字叫Arsalan Nadeem ，这是他在将自己的声音借给游戏开发领域时不得不说的。

什么是Mistral Hearts？ (What is Mistral Hearts?)

SUPERJUMPHi Arsalan! Thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to answer some questions for me.

SUPERJUMP您好Arsalan！ 非常感谢您抽出宝贵时间为我回答一些问题。

ARSALANYeah, no problem! Thank you as well for taking the time to interview me.

ARSALAN是的，没问题！ 也感谢您抽出宝贵的时间采访我。

SUPERJUMPTell me a little bit about your game!

SUPERJUMP告诉我一些您的游戏！

ARSALANMistral Hearts is a board game style RPG. Think Mario Party meets Dragon Quest. You and up to three other players take turns moving around a board map in which you will solve quests, fight monsters, and progress the story until either you win or lose the campaign. There’s a lot more to it than that but that’s the basic idea.

ARSALAN Mistral Hearts是一款棋盘游戏风格的RPG。 认为马里奥派对遇见了勇者斗恶龙 。 您和其他三位玩家轮流在棋盘地图上移动，在该地图上您可以解决任务，与怪物战斗并发展故事，直到赢得或失败竞选为止。 不仅限于此，这是基本概念。

SUPERJUMPWhat gave you the idea to make an RPG and how long have you been thinking about making a game like this?

SUPERJUMP是什么让您产生了RPG的想法，以及您考虑制作这种游戏多久了？

ARSALAN[Mistral Hearts] was initially an idea I had for a tabletop board game. But as I expanded on the ideas in it, I realized it would be too unwieldy as an actual tabletop game and would be more interesting as a video game. That way the computer can handle all the fiddly calculations and bookkeeping. As for how long, I started working on it a few months after I started thinking about the game seriously, which was over two years now.

ARSALAN [ Mistral Hearts ]最初是我制作桌面棋盘游戏的想法。 但是当我扩展其中的想法时，我意识到它对于实际的桌面游戏来说太笨拙了，而作为电子游戏会更有趣。 这样计算机就可以处理所有繁琐的计算和簿记。 至于多长时间，在我开始认真思考游戏的几个月后，我开始着手研究，这已经两年多了。

SUPERJUMPDo you have a coding/programming background?

SUPERJUMP您有编码/编程背景吗？

ARSALANNot professionally, no. I just learned coding through necessity. I used to make games on RPG Maker, where coding isn’t really required. But eventually, as my ambitions for what I wanted to implement expanded, I had to learn Ruby, which was the programming language for RPG Maker. Learning Ruby was a slow and painful process for me, but once I had that down, I learning other languages a lot faster. I still wouldn’t call myself a professional programmer by any means though.

ARSALAN不是专业人士，不。 我只是通过必要学习了编码。 我以前是在RPG Maker上制作游戏的，实际上并不需要编码。 但是最终，随着我对要实现的目标的野心扩大，我不得不学习Ruby，这是RPG Maker的编程语言。 学习Ruby对我来说是一个缓慢而痛苦的过程，但是一旦我失望了，学习其他语言的速度就会大大提高。 我仍然不会以任何方式称自己为专业程序员。

引擎盖下 (Under the hood)

SUPERJUMPWhat is your favorite aspect of the development process?

SUPERJUMP您最喜欢开发过程的哪个方面？

ARSALANI like the actual design aspect of it. As in, coming up with mechanics that go well together or provide an interesting challenge for the player.

ARSALAN我喜欢它的实际设计方面。 在这种情况下，提出可以配合使用的机制或为玩家带来有趣的挑战。

SUPERJUMPWhat is your least favorite aspect of the development process?

SUPERJUMP在开发过程中最不喜欢的方面是什么？

ARSALANThose long stretches of time where you need to just make a ton of art assets. Things like textures for buildings and roads, stuff like that. Initially it’s all fun and exciting but — especially if you’re working on a large project — the excitement gives way to a sense of “do I really need to make like 20 more of these?” haha.

阿尔萨兰你需要只是做一吨的艺术资产的这些时间很长一段。 诸如建筑物和道路的纹理之类的东西。 最初，这一切都充满乐趣和刺激，但是-特别是如果您正在从事一个大型项目-兴奋让位于一种感觉，“我真的需要再制作20多个吗？” 哈哈。

SUPERJUMPWhat made you decide to make a game completely on your own?

SUPERJUMP是什么让您决定完全自己制作游戏？

ARSALANIt’s not that I specifically want to make games on my own, but it’s just how I’ve always made games, aside from small collaborations here and there. I’m definitely open to working in a team for a full project in the future, but as of now I’ve been content for this to be a solo endeavor.

ARSALAN不是我特别想自己制作游戏，除了在这里和那里的小型协作之外，这就是我一直制作游戏的方式。 我肯定会在将来为一个完整的项目而在团队中工作，但截至目前，我一直对此感到满意，因为这是一项单独的工作。

SUPERJUMPWhat resources do you use? Unity, Unreal, etc?

SUPERJUMP您使用什么资源？ Unity，虚幻等？

ARSALANFor this project I’m using Unity as the game engine. [I also use] Blender and Photoshop mainly for the art assets, as well as Microsoft Visual Studio as the IDE for coding.

ARSALAN对于这个项目，我使用Unity作为游戏引擎。 [我也使用] Blender和Photoshop主要用于艺术品，以及Microsoft Visual Studio作为用于编码的IDE。

SUPERJUMPDo you do your own character/3D modeling? How did you learn how to use the software?

SUPERJUMP您是否进行自己的角色/ 3D建模？ 您如何学习如何使用该软件的？

ARSALANYes, and mainly through watching and following a ton of tutorials online through the years. Nowadays, you can learn pretty much anything online. Sure, it’s not as comprehensive as getting a formal education on it, but you can still get by, especially since in game design you need to know quite a wide variety of things. Not only that but there are tons of free art assets available to indie developers online. Sites like CGTrader and Turbosquid have a ton of 3d models you can use and tweak to get what you need. Unity and Unreal also have a lot of good assets on their respective stores as well.

ARSALAN是的， 多年来主要是通过在线观看和跟踪大量教程。 如今，您几乎可以在线学习任何东西。 当然，它不像接受正式教育那样全面，但是您仍然可以通过，尤其是在游戏设计中，您需要了解各种各样的知识。 不仅如此，在线开发者还可以使用大量免费艺术资产。 CGTrader和Turbosquid等网站拥有大量3D模型，您可以使用它们并进行调整以获取所需的东西。 Unity和Unreal在各自的商店中也有很多不错的资产。

SUPERJUMPWhat got you into creating games?

SUPERJUMP是什么让您制作游戏？

ARSALANPlaying a lot of video games and going “this is a great game but I also wish it did this other thing. And that other thing.” And so on, until getting the urge to just make a game myself. I imagine it’s the same for a lot of indie devs.

ARSALAN玩了很多电子游戏，然后说：“这是一款很棒的游戏，但我也希望它能做到这一点。 还有那件事。” 依此类推，直到有自己制作游戏的冲动。 我想对于很多独立开发者来说都是一样的。

SUPERJUMPIs this the first game you’ve attempted to release?

SUPERJUMP这是您尝试发行的第一款游戏吗？

ARSALANIt’ll be the first one I release commercially. Mostly I’ve made games for friends on RPG Maker, nothing too amazing but I’ve learned a lot doing it.

ARSALAN这将是我第一个商业发行的产品。 大多数情况下，我是在RPG Maker上为朋友制作的游戏，没什么太神奇的，但是我学到了很多。

SUPERJUMPWhat’s the most difficult aspect of making a game?

SUPERJUMP制作游戏最困难的方面是什么？

ARSALANAside from specific technical problems that arise, the main one for me has been maintaining scope. You need to be able to realize what you can and can’t realistically do. I think this is a common pitfall that a lot of us indie devs fall into. You can have the greatest ideas in the world but it’s not going to matter if your game never comes out.

ARSALAN除了出现特定的技术问题外，对我来说主要的问题是保持范围。 您需要能够意识到您实际可以做的事情和不能做的事情。 我认为这是我们许多独立开发者都陷入的普遍陷阱。 您可以拥有世界上最伟大的想法，但是，如果您的游戏从未问世，那将无关紧要。

SUPERJUMPWhat was your biggest blunder or set back while making the game, and how did you overcome it?

SUPERJUMP在制作游戏时最大的失误或挫折是什么？您如何克服它？

ARSALANI would say implementing online functionality was the biggest hurdle I had to overcome for this project, as it’s not something I had much experience in doing. Thankfully, due to the help of some knowledgeable friends, and lots of online help, I was able to get it working. It’s still something I’m wary of when playtesting and will definitely need some fine tuning in the future.

ARSALAN我想说，实现在线功能是我在该项目中必须克服的最大障碍，因为我没有很多经验。 值得庆幸的是，由于一些知识渊博的朋友的帮助以及大量的在线帮助，我得以使它运行起来。 在进行游戏测试时，我仍然对此保持警惕，将来肯定需要进行一些微调。

SUPERJUMPHow does a team of one person handle things like quality control, bug fixes, etc?

SUPERJUMP一个人的团队如何处理质量控制，错误修复等问题？

ARSALANBy pestering anyone you can to test play your game and giving you feedback. Since you can’t exactly hire a QA team as an indie dev, you just have to find other means. There are lots of communities online for game devs with members that will test play your game if you test play theirs. There’s also many discord servers you can join to help with things like this.

通过缠扰任何您可以测试的人玩您的游戏并提供反馈。 由于您无法完全聘请质量检查团队作为独立开发者，因此您只需要寻找其他方法即可。 有很多在线游戏开发人员社区，如果您测试游戏开发者的成员，他们会测试您的游戏。 您还可以加入许多不和谐的服务器来帮助解决此类问题。

SUPERJUMPHow do you handle deadlines? Do you keep yourself on a strict schedule, or do you sort of just go with the flow?

SUPERJUMP您如何处理截止日期？ 您是否按照严格的时间表进行工作，还是只是顺其自然？

ARSALANI think some sort of deadline/ scheduling is vital to gauge your progress and to make sure you aren’t falling behind on what you need to be doing. That being said, I find it difficult to stick to a strict schedule because game design is such an iterative process that it’s hard to map out months in advance exactly what I’ll be doing.

ARSALAN我认为某种截止日期/时间表对于评估您的进度并确保您不会落后于需要做的事情至关重要。 话虽这么说，我发现很难坚持严格的时间表，因为游戏设计是一个反复的过程，因此很难提前几个月就准确地规划出我要做的事情。

创作过程 (The creative process)

SUPERJUMPYou told me you handle all of the writing for the game as well as all the coding, do you have a system for that, as in is everything already mapped out and you go from there or are you writing more as more ideas pop in your head?

SUPERJUMP您告诉我您要处理游戏的所有写作以及所有编码，您是否有相应的系统，例如是否已经规划好一切，然后从那里去，还是随着更多创意的涌现而写作？你的脑袋？

ARSALANThe broad strokes of the plot, characters, and quest design are mapped out, but I leave things kind of open until I actually sit down and write them.

ARSALAN绘制了剧情，角色和任务设计的大笔画，但是直到我真正坐下来写这些东西之前，我还是保持开放的态度。

SUPERJUMPWhere did you learn to write cohesive stories?

SUPERJUMP您从哪里学到写有凝聚力的故事？

ARSALANI’ve always been fond of writing stories. Besides game design, it’s my favorite part of the process. I think writing stories is something you just naturally get better at the more you write. Reading is also essential to getting better at storytelling.

阿尔萨兰我一直喜欢写故事的。 除了游戏设计，这是我最喜欢的过程。 我认为写故事是你自然而然地会随着写得越多而变得更好。 阅读对于提高讲故事能力也至关重要。

SUPERJUMPDid you have any difficulty in knowing where the story was going to go next?

SUPERJUMP您是否有困难知道接下来的故事？

ARSALANYeah, especially since I like games that take player choice into account, it can be difficult planning out exactly how far you want the story to branch out. There’s always a balance to be made between having meaningful choices and maintaining a realistic scope for the project.

ARSALAN是的，尤其是因为我喜欢将玩家选择考虑在内的游戏，因此很难准确地计划出故事的延伸范围。 在做出有意义的选择与保持项目的实际范围之间始终要保持平衡。

SUPERJUMPDid you finish the entire story and then start with the development, or was it kind of a joint effort?

SUPERJUMP您是否完成了整个故事，然后从开发开始，还是某种共同的努力？

ARSALANFor this, the story definitely came after the general mechanics and idea for the game. As much as I like stories, I think for games, it’s a better idea to start with a good set of mechanics first. [This is] just my personal preference though.

阿尔萨兰为此，故事绝对是一般力学和想法赛后传来。 尽管我喜欢故事，但我认为对于游戏而言，最好先从一组良好的机制开始。 [这]不过是我个人的喜好。

给创作者的建议和首选平台 (Advice for creators, and preferred platform)

SUPERJUMPDo you have any advice for someone starting out in development, or considering making a game by themselves like you have?

SUPERJUMP您是否对刚开始开发的人有任何建议，或者考虑像自己一样自行制作游戏？

ARSALANI think you should definitely work on something that interests you. You don’t have to start with a 2D platformer as your first project if you’re not interested in them. That being said, maintaining scope is very important. For the first few projects I recommend doing basically short game demos that show off a few mechanics or game levels. That way you get used to the flow of making games before you start on an actual full project.

ARSALAN，我认为您绝对应该致力于自己感兴趣的事情。 如果您对2D平台开发人员不感兴趣，则不必将其作为第一个项目。 话虽如此，保持范围非常重要。 对于前几个项目，我建议基本上做一些简短的游戏演示，以演示一些技巧或游戏水平。 这样，您就可以在开始实际的完整项目之前就习惯了制作游戏的流程。

SUPERJUMPHow long until the game comes out?

SUPERJUMP游戏要等多久才能发布？

ARSALANI’m predicting a year, but you can never predict what life will throw at you, so there’s definitely a possibility that it will take longer.

ARSALAN我要预测一年，但是您永远无法预测会给您带来什么样的生活，因此肯定有可能需要更长的时间。

SUPERJUMPOk, last question. Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, or PC? If you HAD to play only one for the rest of time.

SUPERJUMP好，最后一个问题。 Xbox，PlayStation，Nintendo还是PC？ 如果您在余下的时间只玩一次。

ARSALANAs much as I love my Switch, I’m going to have to go for PC for sure.

ARSALAN尽管我非常喜欢Switch，但我肯定会不得不购买PC。

SUPERJUMPWell, thank you so much for giving me your time and answering these questions, Arsalan! I’m really excited to get a better peek at your game the closer it gets to release.

SUPERJUMP好，非常感谢您给我的时间来回答这些问题，Arsalan！ 我很高兴能在发布时越近越好窥见您的游戏。

ARSALANIt was my pleasure! Thank you for taking the time to interview me Jared.

阿萨兰这是我的荣幸！ 感谢您抽出宝贵时间采访我贾里德。

Keep an eye out for Mistral Hearts, hopefully releasing sometime next year!

请密切注意《 迷雾之心》 ，希望明年发布！

Hello everyone! Thank you for reading! Arsalan is a really nice guy and he’s working really hard on this game, and I hope you continue to check it out! He’s currently setting up a website and I will add a link to it once it’s finished.

大家好！ 感谢您的阅读！ Arsalan是一个非常好的人，他在这个游戏上一直在努力工作，我希望您继续检查一下！ 他目前正在建立一个网站，一旦完成，我会为其添加一个链接。

Jared McCarty

贾里德·麦卡蒂(Jared McCarty)