'It's simple because it's analog” is a big misconception. Session report introducing the advantages and disadvantages of paper prototyping [CEDEC 2024]

At CEDEC 2024, a game developer conference, a session ``Modern Values ​​and Weaknesses of Paper Prototyping'' was held by game journalist Masaaki Tokuoka .

　Paper prototyping is the act of creating a prototype using an analog method when creating digital content. It is often used in game development, and has created new value in recent years, but there are also various problems lurking there. Let's report on a session where the current state of paper prototyping was discussed.

Paper prototyping is generally used for user interface (UI) design in web design, but in the game industry there seems to be a strong tendency for it to be used not only for UI but also for the entire game design. Although it has "paper" in the name, recently there have been an increase in the number of products that do not use paper. Using
"Tabletop Simulator"
, it is possible to do things like "paper prototyping in a digital space," and it seems that there are also methods such as using figures to check the positional relationships of characters.

Games that support analog games with electronic devices have existed for a long time, and it is also possible to think of current paper prototyping as such ``analog games with digital support.'' Paper prototyping in current games is mainly used in

educational settings
and production sites. A well-known successful example of its use in educational settings is the incubation program ``Sweden Game Arena'' developed by the game design department of Skövde University in Sweden.

First-year university students who have never actually developed a game don't know what kind of game they want to make, and even when they start talking about what kind of game they want to make, they remain in the realm of imagination and are reluctant to start working on it. There are many cases where this is not the case.

Paper prototyping is said to be effective in making it easier for these students to express their passion and letting them check whether their ideas are worth the challenge.

Even in Japan, paper prototyping classes are being held at vocational schools. It seems that confident students often have their noses broken, but Mr. Tokuoka said, ``Being aware of how boring your ideas are is a path you have to take.''


制作现场的纸质原型以多种方式用于制定游戏规格。

​除了UI、关卡、规则验证等之外，最近以“模拟游戏的基本设计”为目标的游戏也有所增加。这似乎是因为最近的游戏越来越多地包含纸牌游戏和五六风格的迷你游戏。

此外，目标也很广泛，包括战斗系统的基本设计、角色动作的基本设计（有时使用图形来完成）以及经济模型验证。

纸质原型有时用于调试目的，而不是纯粹的游戏开发。例如，在玩家角色通过获得各种技能来成长的系统中，当检查玩家的能力是否适当提高时，唯一“随机组合技能”的部分是卡牌等模拟方法，而不是卡牌。方法是利用调试工具进行实际验证。

这样看来，目前游戏开发中的纸质原型一般都是用来“弥补工程师资源的缺乏”。

如此看来，纸质原型之所以开始在各种场合使用，除了弥补工程资源的不足之外，还有

“与独立游戏的良好兼容性”
，以及“与模拟游戏的比较”。 “与市场利益相匹配”。 如果你将独立游戏视为从创作者独特的角度表达某个主题的游戏，那么模拟游戏设计的基础知识“夸张和省略”是非常兼容的，而纸质原型设计则变得很有用，因为一种“夸大和省略”的手段。

4Gamer读者会知道，模拟游戏市场近年来一直很活跃。 TRPG的受欢迎程度不断提高，基于TRPG《龙与地下城》的《博德之门3》成为2023年度最佳游戏。此外，《杀戮尖塔》的克隆版已经形成了某种类型，而数字集换式卡牌游戏仍然很受欢迎。
在这种情况下，纸质原型就成为了开发流行类型游戏时不可忽视的方法。

当然，纸质原型有其弱点。当然，由于它是一种“接近模拟游戏”的方法，因此它与动作游戏不兼容，并且容易被上述“夸张和省略”的乐趣所吸引。
目前处于抢先体验阶段的《王座陨落》显然在早期开发中大量使用了纸质原型，但“由于模拟而造成的限制”比预想的要大，正在进行的工作一度被放弃。

德冈先生还提到了其他典型问题，例如“20%壁垒”，即“只有大约20%的模拟游戏在转换为数字游戏时才有趣”，以及“20%壁垒”理论，其中指出“只有大约 20% 的模拟游戏在数字化后才有趣”，以及“掷骰子”和“抽牌”。他引用了“物理噪音”，这让人们相信游戏本身的乐趣在于游戏设计，以及游戏的个性化，除非原型的创作者在场，否则乐趣无法实现。




此外，纸质原型确实具有“简化系统”的优点，但它很难利用数字游戏的优势，即“通过将复杂的计算变成黑匣子来减轻玩家的负担”并简化它们。”它有一些方面。

总之，德冈先生说，“掷骰子很有趣，所以如果你要掷骰子，一定要在数字环境中进行”，建议积极使用数字支持，了解纸质原型的局限性，并且不要太执着，他指出这很重要。随后他总结道，有必要认真思考“模拟游戏的乐趣是什么，数字化应该夺走什么？”。

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