CaesarZX：
对于RTS游戏《横扫千军》的制作，Geoffrey Keighley的文章已经不足以全面讲述那段历史，而加入一个亲自参与此游戏制作的人物的视角，我们就可以看到一个更完整的横扫千军诞生史。 这篇连载作者是《横扫千军》美工总监Clayton Kauzlaric，他从去年9月开始在他自己的Blog上连载自己在Cavedog参与制作《横扫千军》 的经历。本连载由我与游戏编年史的主人无声畅游合作翻译推出。
第九章：新 窝（暂时为最终章）
无声畅游 译
好吧，在切入E3的正题之前，我还有许多珍闻轶事想跟大家说说……
97年E3开幕前的几个月是很难熬的。在开发TA的第一年，我平均每周工作65小时，但这一数字很快飞涨到75，85乃至100小时。而且这还不是哪一个人的问题，整个TA开发组皆是如此。老实说，游戏大部分的设计都是在所谓的"压榨模式"下完成的。
97年6月的一张截图，其中的界面是在最终版型之前的最后一个版本
随着新特性的不断加入和美工小组的不断扩充，先前那些临时设计的老久图象被迅速淘汰。各种单位也基本设计定型，Clay Corbisier， Mike Fisher与Keven Pun已为此工作了一整年。而我主要还是负责背景与界面设计。
这是一张早期的任务简报界面截图，可以看到还相当地粗糙，尽管在最终版中，它的布局没有大变，但我为它加入了更多的色彩与材质
1997年春，我们又请来了最后一批背景美术师。John Baron与Mark West一开始都以我提供的Bryce样板文件为基础，但他们很快就加入了自己的东西。John开发了一种便利的Photoshop动态文件，它可以使高度图与渲染图象自动协调一致。而在该技术出现之前，我还在使用一种既繁琐，又伤眼的低效系统。还有Steve Thompson与Casey Buree，为游戏渲染了大量的树木，岩石与其它室内装饰物品。
对背景美工师的支援却有些姗姗来迟，这使我们几乎没办法创建战役所需的定制化地图——这也是为什么TA最早的地图编辑器会含有那么多奇怪地形的原因，因为我们没有时间制作模块化的地图区域。虽然在随后的资料片与<王国>中，地图已不是问题，但我依然在想:若是能在原作中加入更多可重复的模块化地图就好了。在此，我还要再一次感谢第三方社区为TA作出的巨大贡献。
工作地点是我们在1997年初所面临的最大一个挑战。直到那时，TA小组的开发人员依然还散布在Humongous办公楼的各个角落里。随着过去几年 Humongous经历了戏剧性的飞速发展，那座位于Woodinville西郊商业园区的办公楼，已有越来越多的写字间为Humongous所占据，但这些办公间是如此地零散，以致于除了少数几位程序师外，其他大部分成员就像泼出去的水般，这里一个，那里两名，分布得稀稀拉拉。
这是Humongous的办公楼A，TA小组的成员们一开始就零星地分布在这里
直到Humongous租下了停车场对面的写字楼B里的一个套间后，这一局面才得以改善。TA小组的成员们终于能够聚在一起了!尽管空气里弥漫着一股怪味，地板也有些松垮，但我们至少拥有了一个属于自己的窝。这里的前任租户把他们所有的家具都留了下来，我们终于不必再趴在原来那种随处可见的折叠式宴会桌前工作了。
TA小组最终搬到了这座办公楼B里，我们的办公间位于B楼的第二层(在图中所示的另一边)，TA的收尾与TA:CC的开发工作就是在这里完成的
在我们楼下，是一座基督教福音教堂，他们经常在前厅区域搞夜间活动。当我们吃完晚饭归来准备继续工作时，我们不得不小心翼翼地掂着脚上楼，生怕打扰了那些正全神贯注读着圣经选段的孩子们。这种经历真是太离奇了。
TA很快不再是Cavedog的唯一项目。Amen:Awaking的前期开发工作已在北面几英里的另一个公务园区Canyon Park展开。Good & Evil也在TA项目启动的几个月后开工。一款名为Glider Wars的飞行射击游戏也同时开工，但很快又在TA初演前取消。
在TA推出之前，Cavedog在同时搞多个项目
作为一家成功的儿童软件公司，Humongous租赁的办公区间似乎永远也装不下其迅速扩充的规模。幸好楼下那间教堂非常仁慈，总把它的位置借给Humongous召开每周例会——因为此时公司的规模已超过150人。
办公空间的扩张既有好的一面，也有不好的一面。从好的方面来说，它能使大家聚在一起工作。窝再也不必像从前那样每周穿破一双鞋了。这在TA的最后冲刺阶段无疑起到了积极作用。此外，它还有助于加强开发组的整体形象。它的坏处却是让我们很难对Humongous产生归属感，甚至连Cavedog本身也不是铁板一块。Cavedog给我的真实感觉就是:它根本不像一家协调一致的公司而是几个毫不相干的独立部门的集合。事实证明，这种建队模式对公司的长远目标有害无益。
很快，我便无法再与Chris共享一间屋子了，因为我俩都有其他员工要管理，我们也没有再自发召开曾热闹一时的脑力风暴会议，将游戏搞定成了我们不得不完成的任务，这使TA的开发工作已不再是一种化学反应，而更像一种逃生行动。
到1997年年中，整个TA项目进程可谓已拉到了满弦。一旦忙完了E3，就将进入最后的冲刺阶段……
好吧好吧……接下去我一定会抽时间谈谈E3。真的，我保证。
全文暂告一段落
我与Clayton Kauzlaric本人Email联系得知，此连载尚未完成，他还会在以后的时间里在他的blog里完成整个史记。
感谢 无声畅游 的全力帮助，请光顾他的网站：游戏编年史 和**我的BLOG**
[indent]
Part 9: A New Cave
Okay. Before I get into the whole E3 thing I had some other odds and ends to cover…
The months leading up to E3 in 1997 were what you’d expect. For the first year of work on Total Annihilation I averaged 65 hour work weeks, but this soon went to 75. 80 and 100 hour weeks were common. This isn’t a big deal to anyone who has worked in games. This was universal with the whole team on Total Annihilation. It’s fair to say that most of the game was created in one type of crunch mode or another.
A screen From June of 1997. This was the last iteration before the look of the UI was finalized.
Features were flying in and my old temporary art was replaced at a steady clip thanks to our ever-growing art team. Units were in decent shape. Clay Corbisier, Mike Fisher and Keven Pun had been making them for almost year at this point. But I was still doing all the background and interface art.
An early, cheesy pass at the mission briefing screen. My layout would remain about the same, though the color and texture was much better in the final version.
By the spring of 1997 we finally added a few background artists and things picked up there as well. Artists John Baron and Mark West started with Bryce template files I supplied, but added plenty of their own ideas along the way. John came up with a handy Photoshop action file which aligned the height map to the rendered images more or less automatically. I was using a crude system with registration marks and basic eyeballing before this came along. Steve Thompson and Casey Burpee rendered a lot of trees, rocks and other planetary decor items.
Help with the background art came along a bit too late. We were barely able to create the custom maps needed for the missions, leaving very little time for modular map sections. This is why there are so many oddball chunks of terrain in the original Total Annihilation map editor. We did a better job planning the map assets for Core Contingency and Kingdoms, but I always wish we’d done more modular, reusable map segments for the original TA. Then again, there are tons of great tilesets thanks to the 3rd party community.
The biggest big change in early 1997 was to our workspace itself. Until then, the Total Annihilation team was scattered throughout the building occupied by Humongous Entertainment. Humongous went through a number of dramatic growth spurts over the years, and the company filled a series of rambling, segmented spaces at the Woodinville West business park as they took over more and more of the building. Except for a few of the programmers, most team members were sprinkled in ones and twos throughout the premises.
The Total Annihilation team was working in nooks and crannies throughout building A.
All this changed when Humongous nabbed yet another suite in building B, across the parking lot. The Total Annihilation team was finally in one place. The air had a strange stank to it. The floors were always kind of springy, but at least we had a cave of our own. The previous tenant had left all their furniture months before and never returned, so most of us finally stopped working on the ubiquitous folding banquet tables that have supported countless computers in the game industry.
The TA team was eventually housed here in building B. A suite on the second floor (other side of the building) is Where we finished TA and TA:CC.
A large space downstairs was occupied by an evangelical church whose weeknight activities often spilled into the lobby area. We would carefully tiptoe around groups of kids reciting bible lessons as we made our way back From dinner to continue work on a game about killer robots. The whole thing felt pretty surreal.
TA was no longer the only game in the works for Cavedog. Preproduction for Amen: The Awakening, was underway at yet another office park a few miles north in Canyon Park. Good & Evil was also in the works, only months after we started Total Annihilation. A flying shooter called Glider Wars had already been started and canceled before TA ever made its debut.
Before TA was out the door, Cavedog had all sorts of irons in the fire.
Humongous itself was doing great with its kid’s titles and was outgrowing office space faster than it could be leased. The church was nice enough to lend Humongous it’s space for its weekly company meeting since the company had grown to over 150 people by this point.
The new space had good and bad sides. It was great to have everybody in one place. I wasn’t wearing out a pair of shoes every week just checking in with the art team, and it was easier to pull together for TA’s last big push. This definitely helped to cement the team’s identity. The down side was that we didn’t feel as much a part of Humongous, or even the rest of Cavedog for that matter. I think the fact that Cavedog wasn’t so much one company, as a collection of separate fiefdoms would prove harmful to its long term success.
I was no longer sharing a dank little room with Chris, but there was almost no time for the spontaneous brainstorming that characterized our first year on Total Annihilation. We were both managing more people and the game had to get out the door. Working on TA at this point was less about chemistry, and more about just surviving.
The project had plenty of momentum by the middle of 1997. Once we got through E3 it would be time for the final stretch.
Ok… Next up, I’ll really talk about E3. Really.
CK
[/indent]