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3D游戏编程领域专家撰写的启迪性文章之一

<P>It should be clear that the CyberSkipper model is not relevant to
the baseball market alone.  The same principles that drove the
success of CyberSkipper in the baseball market are equally applicable
in other sports markets.  Nor is the concept relegated only to
sports.  Dynamic data events are being generated in virtually every
area of human endeavor, and are now being reported with a consistency
that they never were before.  Inventure already has projects underway
with respect to the financial markets and the weather, and there are
many other sets of dynamic data, and many ways to use such data in a
variety of game contexts.</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>WHAT WAS DONE: </P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	Innovations In Game Design</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>Prior to CyberSkipper, baseball fantasy/forecast games
(Rotisserie&#153; style games) always have required game players to
make their strategic plays by selecting individual baseball players
from among a large set of possible baseball player choices (generally
all of the players in both Major Leagues or all the players in one of
the two leagues).  In these prior games, once each game player had
formed his or her fantasy "team," each game player automatically
earned the same value in game points as other game players who
selected the same baseball player -- based upon the baseball player's
actual real life on-field performance.  </P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>Different prior fantasy/forecast games have counted different
statistical categories to determine the value of player performance,
but they have always counted and weighed the selected categories the
same for every game player who has selected a particular baseball
player.  In all prior baseball fantasy/forecast games, therefore, the
key game objective was to select the right group of (20 to 30)
players out of the very large pool (300 to 600) of available baseball
player selections .  The variation within game play was created by
the fact that game players inevitably end up selecting different
groups of players who generate different statistics and therefore
different game results. </P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>CyberSkipper turned the Rotisserie&#153; style fantasy/forecast
game model on its head.  </P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>Instead of the past practice of treating the on-field results of
each baseball player the same for each game player and generating the
variation necessary to make the game competitive by having each game
player "own" different baseball players, CyberSkipper created varied
outcomes for many game players by permitting them to make a wide
variety of different strategic forecasts with respect to each of a
small number of players.</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>The first critical innovation in CyberSkipper is that all game
players must play with the same very limited number of baseball
players (10-15), all of whom play for the same team.   Game players
cannot choose broadly among all Major League baseball players, but
must restrict their choices to the players of a single Major League
team.</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>This is an imposing game constraint, because if the same rules as
in all prior Rotisserie&#153; style games were applied in such a game
environment, there would not be enough variation to create
competition among large numbers of players, because many game players
would choose the same baseball players for their "team" and would end
up with the same game score.   On the other hand, it is this very
constraint that makes CyberSkipper attractive to so many players.
Because of this constraint,  players do not need a working knowledge
of baseball players beyond those who play for their favorite team.
This opens up the game to a much wider group of players, but how is
it made into a competitive game?  </P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>The second critical innovation in CyberSkipper is that, in
distinction from all prior baseball fantasy/forecast games, a single
baseball player can be utilized in CyberSkipper in many different
ways.  Despite its apparent simplicity, CyberSkipper players are
offered the opportunity to select among 51 different strategic plays
for each of the limited number of available baseball players. This
means that in CyberSkipper, the limited number of available baseball
players actually can be selected in many millions of different
strategic combinations. </P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>The different "strategic selections" for each baseball player are
generated by selecting a limited number of players for zero, one or
two categories out of five common baseball statistical categories
(runs, hits, rbi, Hrs, and multiple-hit games), and CyberSkipper adds
a third critical innovation.  A game player may select categories for
a baseball player as "risk" categories, in which the score from a
particular category is doubled (at the risk of losing points if the
baseball players fails to generate an entry above zero for that
category).  Through this mechanism, the amount of variation available
in each game player's use of a particular baseball player is
dramatically increased. </P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P> Variation in these game player moves is increased by the fourth
critical innovation in CyberSkipper.  Game player selections can be
instantaneously changed at any time during the baseball season,
allowing each player to constantly completely revise and update his
or her selections.  In all prior fantasy/forecast baseball games,
changes were rigorously constrained by rules limiting "roster"
moves.</P>

<P>Finally with respect to game design, the fifth critical innovation
in CyberSkipper is that all play takes place on bright, colorful
graphical interfaces that invite participation and immerse you in the
baseball experience. Major competitors that have taken their
Rotisserie style games to the Web have presented them in a way that
has been singularly  unattractive, even to the most devoted of "Roto"
fans.  Their games look like spread sheets, and it's no wonder that
their families wonder why Dad doesn't "get a life." CyberSkipper
draws the family into the game.</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	Innovations In The Player Interface</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>The CyberSkipper cgi program runs two small server-based playing
grids on which a limited number of playing squares create a very
large number of options and opportunities for play.   Each square in
the grid is assigned a particular value in the game, and the player
interface program does the following:</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	1) it keeps track of the value of each square -- a value which
varies according to the type of baseball event that is being tracked
(such as hits or runs scored), and according to the position of the
batter in the batting order.  This means that a square can be worth
as little as 1 and as much as 8 (times the number of times an event
recurs) -- under normal game conditions;</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	2) it reports to players the scoring rules by way of a help
function accessible through the grid;</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	3) it changes the "values" of the squares  when a game player
decides to place particular emphasis on a specific square (through
the selection of the square as a "risk " square), so that individual
squares range in values from as little as 1 to 16 (times the number
of times that an event recurs);</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	4) it enforces a relatively complex set of CyberSkipper playing
rules by automatically closing off those portions of the grid that
can no longer be played, once certain moves have been made.  For
example, the playing grid automatically closes off a five column row
as soon as two columns have been selected, and closes off a nine row
column as soon as three rows have been selected.  This guides the
game player to compliance with the rules, while leaving the game fun
to play;</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	5) it records and sends to the database, on a completely
flexible timetable that permits asynchronous play by competitors, the
selections made by thousands of remote players who access the program
through the Web;</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	6) it permits the development of "friends leagues" in which
game players easily can organize and track competition at personal,
family, or community levels;</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	7) it allows players to respond each day to subtle changes to
the lineup made by the Major League team's real life skipper; and</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	8) it provides direct links to additional information that
educates and informs players about strategic moves within the game.
For example, players can obtain very specific statistical information
about the performance of hitters against the pitchers that they will
face each day.</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	Innovations In Database Construction And Management</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>Inventure has created a robust database designed specifically to
serve the need of a multi-player Web game that is based upon a daily
dynamic input event.  The specially programmed database performs the
following functions:</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	1) it holds all asynchronously posted selections in its
database, and permits players to make any changes desired, right up
until game time each day during the season;</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	2) it closes off entries automatically at game time;</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	3) it records in its database the outcome of the real life
Major League games on which CyberSkipper is based as soon as that
information is provided to it, automatically incorporating the data
sent to it from a third party without human intervention;</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	4) it compares the real life results with the plays of all
competitors in a process called "closing;"</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	5) it calculates and records all game results according to
CyberSkipper rules and automatically returns those results to the
individual players pages, to the central tally of overall, contest,
league and daily results, and to selected subsets (such as Friends
Leagues) of the overall database.  All this occurs shortly after the
end of each Major League game;</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	6) it publishes on the Web in standard format all results set
forth above, adding the new scores to the running totals in each type
of contest: daily, short-term, league and overall; </P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	7) it awards, and places on the home page of each winning
player, graphical "trophies" symbolizing the victory; and</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>	8) it resets itself and begins gathering selections for the
next game.</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>HOW CYBERSKIPPER WAS BOOTSTRAPPED</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>When one begins the process of designing a multiplayer game for
publication on the Web, it is critical that he or she concede that
the design should conform to the audience, rather than the other way
around.  </P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>If you want to make a profitable game, you must be ready build it
for an audience.  It is romantic to think: "If you build it, they
will come."   This sentiment is not, however, realistic in a world
where there are hundreds of competitors seeking to win the attention
of your potential players.  You must think of the people who are
going to play your game as an audience, and must consider that while
it will be relatively easy to present your game out there on the Web,
it will be hard for you to reach your audience, no matter how good
your product might be, if you do not design with that objective in
mind. </P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P> 	The Appropriate Platform</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P>

<P>Before construction of CyberSkipper began, Inventure identified a
specific audience that it could serve with a very specifically
designed game, and which it was convinced was present on the Web.  It