《怒海戰記》Ubisoft 新加坡工作室技術總監 Kris Kirkpatrick 採訪，水是工作室的重點

在近日的臺北電玩展2023中，尼未亞有幸采訪了Ubisoft 新加坡工作室技術總監 Kris Kirkpatrick，當中問了不少和他們接下來即將發佈的《怒海戰記》相關的問題，整體采訪如下：
We’re lucky to have interviewed Kris Kirkpatrick, the Lead Technical Director, Art of Ubisoft Singapore, and we’ve asked several questions regarding their upcoming title,”Skull and Bones”. The interview is as of follow:

1. 《怒海戰記》有著非常寫實的海面物理模擬效果，不知道製作組是怎麼在存在延遲的多人場景下保證模擬的準確性?
   Skull and Bones seems to feature hyper realistic sea surface physics, what did the team do to ensure that the physics and simulations stay accurate in multiplayer environments, where delays and latencies exist?
   
   A:水的物理模擬效果是本作的著重點，也是我們工作室的著重點。 多年來，對於 Skull and Bones，我們一直希望提高系列的質量，以打造最好的遊戲。
   關於多人遊戲體驗的話題，多人游玩裡對於每個玩家的公平性都非常重要。 像水這樣非常混亂的功能，我們必須確保它對所有玩家都是一樣的。 所以我們的波浪是帶有確定性的，波浪的每個位置和高度對於服務器中的每個玩家都是相同的，否則整體體驗會很奇怪，這是第一要務，也是我們所謂“把錢花在刀口上”的地方。
   Water physics is heavily focused on, and it’s the focus of our studio. For many years, and for Skull and Bones, we wished to push the quality of the series to make the best game possible.On the topic of the multiplayer experience, that’s a very good question because it’s very important that it’s fair for everyone. Features such as water, which is very chaotic and all, we needed to make sure that it’s the same for all the players. So our waves are deterministic, the waves, every location and heights are all the same for every player in the server, otherwise it’ll be really weird, and that is the number one priority and where we’re spending our money.
2. 你們曾提到遊戲的船隻根據浮力（buoyancy）和拉力（drag）會有不同的性能差異，例如航行距離或者航行速度，那麼遊戲中有沒有一個你們心目中的完美造船公式呢?
   It was mentioned that the ships will have varying performances due to differences in buoyancy and drag, such as sailing distance or sailing speed. In your opinion, is there a perfect formula to shipcrafting?
   
   A:造船是指在物理行為的意義上嗎？ 這真最後還是要看迭代、遊戲測試的來回進行。 並且基於它們的大小和質量，我們需要確保我們的船隻給人的感覺是真實的。 就像在水上，水上的模擬需要有很多的參考數據，很多的嘗試，才能把它做好，所以真的沒有完美的公式。 奉獻和努力是我們的答案。 物理程序員和設計師一起工作，使操作感覺正確並且調整得恰到好處，這是工作室裡大家共同努力的結晶。
   Shipcrafting, in the sense of the physics behaviour? That really comes down to iteration, and playtesting, and back and forth. We need to make sure that our ships are realistic, based on their size and their mass. Just like iterating on the water, there’s a lot of reference, a lot of trial and error, trying to get it good, so there really is no perfect formula. Dedication and hardwork is the answer. The physics programmer and designers worked together so that the controls feel right and tweaked just right, it’s a collaboration of effort to make all that work together.
   
3. 對你來說，哪一些航海機制是你自《刺客教條》系列的海戰之後最滿意的改動?
   In your opinion, what are the mechanic changes from Assassin’s Creed’s Marine Battle system that you are most satisfied with?
   
   A:首先，第一個想到的是我們為玩家提供選擇，這是我們第一次在任何遊戲體驗中的第一次。 例如，在船隻的尺寸、船隻的特殊點、武器的定制、裝備組合、預設方面，你可以控制大砲，把任何你想要的東西都帶到你的戰鬥中，這對戰鬥系統來說是一個非常重大的變化 ，“你選擇你想要的戰斗方式”。
   The first one that comes to mind is that we’re offering choices to the player, for the first time in any of our experiences. For example, in terms of the ship size, the perks of the ship, the customization of the weapons, loadouts, presets, you can control the cannons and wherever you bring whatever you want onto your battle, that’s a very significant change to the combat, “you choose how you want to fight”.
   
4. 如果從未玩過海戰類遊戲，新手玩家在進入遊戲的時最應該先關註什麼?需要在教學關卡裡逗留很久嗎？
   For players who had never played any marine battle genre games,  what do they need to take note of before entering the genre?Do they have to spend a lot of time in the tutorial?
   
   A:我們希望每個人都可以享受這款遊戲，所以我們並不會期望所有玩家都玩過以前的遊戲，但如果可以的話務必去試看看之前推出的那些遊戲。 這是一個獨立的體驗，我們在操作和整體體驗的便捷性方面投入了大量精力。 對於那些想要精通遊戲的人來說，它也有著它複雜的層面，但對於任何人來說，上手和玩遊戲仍然非常容易。
   正式進入遊戲的時候應該能讓讓玩家知道應該理解和獲得的資訊，但事實上，海戰是一個很獨特的東西，市面上并沒有很多相識題材的遊戲，所以需要一些時間來適應它的操作，但我們已經付出很多努力以確保盡大家能夠輕易地適應玩法。
   We want this game to be accessible to everyone, so we’re not expecting you to have played previous games, but please do if you can. It’s a standalone experience, we’ve put a lot of effort into the controls and the experience being accessible. There’s complexity for those who want to master the game, but it’ll still be easy enough for anyone to pick up and play.
   The onboarding game should give them an idea of what they should know, but indeed, naval is a unique thing, not a lot of games have it, so it’ll take some time to get used to it, but we’ve put a lot of effort to make sure that its smooth to get used to as soon as possible.
   
5. 在一望無際的海洋上探索的體驗肯定和在陸地上探索有著很大的差異，請問製作組打算怎麼讓船上的航行體驗時刻刺激著玩家向前航行?
   On the vast and seamless sea, exploration will surely be very different from the landed gameplay. What did the development team include in the game to make the sailing exploration exciting and encourage the players to explore more?
   
   A:這是一個很好的問題，因為我們遊戲的一大支柱是探索的快感，所以我們希望玩家感到興奮，發現新東西。 所以我們的世界是無縫的，它是巨大的，但我們的遊戲中也有著地球曲率之類的東西，這實際上意味著事物可以超越地平線。 要是知道了這一點，將會給人一種不知道接下來會找到什麼的期待。 剛開始的時候看起來像公海，但是隨著航行，會出現更多的東西，比如島嶼，沙灘，船隻，給人一種不斷發現新事物的感覺。而其中最重要的是動態天氣系統，在海上，風暴有可能會突然襲來，各種無法預料的危險和讓玩家驚喜的刺激。你永遠不知道你即將會發現些什麼，這很有趣吧？
   A good question because one of the big pillars of our game is the thrill of exploration so we want players to be excited, discovers stuff. So our world is seamless, it’s massive but we have stuff like earth curvature that actually means things can come over the horizon. Just knowing that, you don’t know what you can find. It looks like open sea when you start, but as you sail, there will be more things such as islands, beaches, ships, there’s a sense of discovery, and on top of that is the dynamic weather system, a storm can hit, there’s all sorts of unforeseen dangers and excitement that surprises the players.You’ll never know what you’re gonna find, and that’s fun right?
   
6. 本作實地取景和取材的時候有遇上什麼很有趣的，還是很貼切遊戲氣氛的事情嗎？
   While gathering data and references from the real world, did anything interesting or very befitting of the game’s vibe happen?
   
   A:印象中並沒有什麼特別的事情，但是這遊戲裡對世界、時間段、生物群落、文化、種族，這些一切的背後都有著大量的研究。 我們當時在尋找世界各地的所有事物和地點，汲取靈感，我們試圖將世界的多樣性表現在玩家在遊戲中將會發現的各種東西，野生動物，食物，這一切一切都在體現出印度洋所蘊含的多樣性。
   Nothing specific comes to mind, but there’s been a ton of research into the world, the time period, the biomes of the world, the cultures, races, everything. We’re looking at all the things that were around the world and locations, taking inspiration and we’re trying to represent a lot of diversity, in the world and what you’ll find, wildlife, food, everything, so there’s a lot of diversity in the Indian Ocean.
   
7. 在出海的時候遇上糟糕天氣想必是最累人的事情了，但航行和戰鬥中肯定會時常遇到，那麼身為船長，我們可以怎麼利用天氣系統來為自己創造更多優勢?
   Terrible weather is every seafarer’s nightmare, and as the captain, what can the player do to utilise the weather, creating advantages for themselves?
   
   A:這是遊戲的另一個很酷的地方，我們之前提到過的動態天氣，它可能是一種優勢，也可能是一種障礙。 例如，玩家的船上裡裝滿了貨物，而暴風雨來襲，這會讓他們處於危險之中，並迫使玩家決定要做什麼。 還有風，所以也許如果你是一個非常熟悉水性的水手並且你曾經戰勝風暴和狂風的話，那這些阻礙也可能成爲你的優勢。 暴風雨中的能見度不是很好，所以這會對戰鬥和一切產生影響。 遊戲中的世界給人感覺充滿活力並不斷地提出許多挑戰，導致玩家改變他們正在做的事情或嘗試不同的船或裝備組合，或者在適當的時候逃跑，我們想為我們的玩家提供很多選擇。
   That’s another cool aspect of the game, so we’ve mentioned about the dynamic weather earlier, it can be a strength or a hindrance. For example if you have a cargo full of stuff, and a storm hits, so it puts you at risk, and it forces the player to decide what to do. Also there’s the wind, so maybe if you’re a very good sailor and you’ve bettered the storm and the winds that can help you engage. The visibility isn’t really good in the storms so that will have an effect on the combat and everything. The world feels alive and presents many challenges, causing the players to change what they’re doing or try a different ship or loadout, or run away, we want to give lots of options to our players.
8. 最後有什麼想對有著對海賊遊戲非常期待的玩家說的嗎?
   Is there anything that you would like to say to the gamers who are excited for the game?
   
   A:我為在期待這款遊戲的玩家們感到非常興奮，這太棒了，我們迫不及待地想把它送至玩家手中，我希望他們喜歡遊戲裡海面模擬的表現，我們期待每個玩家都能上船一起玩，並告訴他們：“大家海上見！”
   I’m excited that they’re excited, and that’s fantastic and we can’t wait to get it in their hands, and I hope they enjoy the water, and there’s so much more to it so we’re excited for everyone to play it and tell them all, “Catch them on the ocean! See you on the sea man!”

關於Kris Kirkpatrick:

Ubisoft 新加坡工作室首席技術美術總監 Kris Kirkpatrick

17 年前，Kris 在加拿大溫哥華開始了他的技術美術職業生涯。

他的職責範圍很廣，包括建立流程、最佳化美術資料的產生、開發動態破壞系統功能，以及水體技術模擬與算繪。

在過去 11 年裡，他一直在 Ubisoft 新加坡工作室工作，參與了《刺客教條3》、《刺客教條：黑旗》、《刺客教條：叛變》、《刺客教條：梟雄》等多部作品開發，最近則是帶領《怒海戰記》的技術美術團隊。

About Kris Kirkpatrick:

Kris Kirkpatrick, Lead Technical Director, Art, Ubisoft Singapore

Kris began his Technical Art career 17 years ago in Vancouver, Canada.

His responsibilities have covered a wide range of topics including building pipelines, ensuring optimal art data production, feature development on dynamic destruction systems and water tech simulation and rendering.

For the past 11 years he has been at Ubisoft Singapore working on multiple titles such as Assassins Creed 3, AC Black Flag, AC Rogue, AC Syndicate and recently, lead the Technical Art team on Skull and Bones.