魔法之烛
The Magic Candle

Mindcraft Software, 1989
MS-DOS, Apple II, C64 和 NES

Mindcraft Software, 1989
MS-DOS, Apple II, C64 and NES

魔法之烛(The Magic Candle)是那种很少见的 RPG,就像《创世纪 5(Ultima V)》《叛变克朗多(Betrayal at Krondor)》和《博德之门 2(Baldur's Gate II)》一样,从背景故事、NPC 互动、到谜题、探索、战斗都面面俱到。《魔法之烛》做的可以说得上全面又稳健。

背景故事是“邪恶的恶魔/法师/军阀威胁要征服整个世界,只有你能阻止他”这种老掉牙的情节的变种。区别在在游戏中恶魔开始就被封印在‘魔法之烛’中,但传言魔烛正在融化,你的任务就是想办法阻止其继续融化,防止恶魔脱困。你只有有限的天数来做到这一点,这取决于你选择的难度。

因此,时间紧迫。分配时间是该游戏区别于其他 CRPG 游戏的特点。从旅行、赚钱到训练技能、记忆咒术都需要花费时间。例如,如果你为你的施法者准备了一场为期三天内的船舶航行,那么他在这三天内就能记忆不少法术。

The Magic Candle is one of those rare CRPGs, along with Ultima V, Betrayal at Krondor and Baldur's Gate II, that does everything right. From background story, NPC interaction, puzzles, exploration and combat, Magic Candle does it all well, and the end product is a well-rounded, solid CRPG.

The background story is a variation of the tired old “evil demon/mage/warlord is threatening to conquer all the world and only YOU can stop him” plot. The twist is that, in this game, the evil demon starts imprisoned in a magic candle, but said candle is melting. The goal of the game is to prevent the candle from melting down and the demon from escaping. You have a limited number of days to do so, which is different based on the difficulty setting you choose.

So time is of the essence in Magic Candle - literally. The logistics of time management is one of the things that sets the game apart from so many other CRPGs. Everything takes time, from travelling to memorising spells, working for money and training skills. So while on a ship voyage that takes three days, your spell casters can memorise lots of spells, for example.

《魔法之烛》由曾制作《神戒传奇(Rings of Zilfin)》的阿里・阿塔别克创立,该公司以魔法之烛三部曲与《围攻(Siege, 1992)》而闻名。

Mindcraft Software was founded by Ali Atabek, who previously created Rings of Zilfin. The company would be best known for its Magic Candle trilogy and for Siege (1992).

你的任务就是找到阻止魔烛融化的方法,然后收集所需的物品。

Your goal to search for a way to stop the magic candle from melting, and then collect the various items required to do so.

游戏里还有另一特性——队伍拆分。你可以分出一个小组去探索地牢,另一组到世界另一端的城镇里赚钱,还能留下一个在旅馆里背诵法术。通常情况下,你会希望所有的角色都在地牢里,但在探索城市时,让一个角色(最好是具有高魅力的角色)负责探索,而其他人则负责赚钱、休息、训练或记忆法术,这是一个好主意。为解决游戏中的某些问题,适当的拆分队伍也是很重要的。

《魔法之烛》看起来就像是老版《创世纪》,在一张鸟瞰大视角的地图上控制自己的队伍与角色。地图分几类:陆地,堡垒,城镇,地牢。战斗基本都在地牢中发生,如果你在陆地上,它将切换到一个单独的战斗地图。

战斗系统进行了深化,成为更好的回合制系统之一。它并不复杂但却足够吸引人,例如你可以食用多种蘑菇来获得加成,能够躲避攻击(如果没有被阻挡在两侧),以及能够用一支箭射穿几个敌人。这听起来简单,但是在战术安排上很有趣。怪物种类有着传统的巨魔或兽人之类,也有着诸如 hraffels,、zorlims、bargs 等原始奇特的类型。(译者注:hraffels,、zorlims 、bargs 三种在游戏中的怪物名字,游戏本体是日语,译者并不了解,在此致歉。)

游戏的另一个重要部分是与 NPC 之间的对话,包含着许多如何阻止蜡烛燃尽的线索。你需要阅读大量文本(或屏幕截图)。NPC 有着类似《创世纪 5-7》中的时间表,有时候找到他们就是个挑战。他们中有些人从头到尾都不会离开自己的房子,你还需要敲门,可如果你不叫他们的名字,他们是不会开门的。

Which brings us to another novel thing in the game – splitting the party. It's possible to have some characters exploring a dungeon, while one character is making money in a city in another part of the world and yet another character is memorising spells at an inn in a different town. Usually you'll want all you characters present in dungeons, though, but when exploring a city, it can be a good idea to have one character (preferably one with high Charisma) do the exploring, while others make money, rest, train or memorise spells. The party splitting is also important in order to solve some of the problems in the game.

Magic Candle looks like an old Ultima game, where you control a party or a character on a top-down map. There are several types of maps – the overland map, the castle and town maps, and the dungeon maps. Combat either takes place directly on the dungeon map, or it switches to a separate combat map if you are on the overland.

The combat system is among the better turn-based systems. It's not very complex, but has many unique features, like different kind of mushrooms you can eat to get various combat bonuses, the ability to sidestep attacks (if not blocked on the sides), and the ability to pierce several enemies with one arrow. It's quite simple, but also quite tactical and fun. The monsters are a mix of generic types like orcs and trolls, and original, exotic ones like hraffels, zorlims and bargs.

An important part of the game is talking to NPCs to find clues on how to stop the candle from burning down. Lots and lots of note-taking (or screen-capping) is needed. NPCs also have schedules like in Ultima 5-7, and finding them can sometimes be a challenge in itself. Some of them won't even leave their houses and you have to knock on their doors, but they won't open unless you address them by their names.

《电脑 RPG 游戏史(The CRPG Book Project)》原书信息

英文原版主编:Felipe Pepe
原项目网址:https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/
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这本书历时四年,由 119 名志愿者共同完成。

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