Fanstratics月报#4#2020-12

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter04，以下由Cyrus翻译。

• Fanstratics Faction #1: Allegiant.
• FST第1个派系：Allegiant
• This first faction should be unsurprising to most. They are the Allegiant; loyal, faithful, and steadfast in devotion. Inspired by medieval Knights, and their chivalric code, this predominantly Human faction makes their homes on the Grasslands. Despite having a moderate lifespan, they are the eldest culture on the continent, and oddly predisposed to forgetting older life lessons. Anyone familiar with the ‘Castle’ from HoMM3, should feel very much at home with the Allegiant. Currently, the Troop representing this faction is the Cavalier, which can be viewed in the Fanstratics Gallery.
• 第一个派系应该不出大多数人所料。它是Allegiant：忠诚，忠实而又忠贞。这个人类为主的派系受中世纪骑士和骑士准则启发，在草原上安家（这个草地是大写，应该是指地名或地形）。尽管他们种族的寿命不短也不长，但他们是大陆上最古老的文化，而且奇怪的是，他们有忘记古老生活训导的倾向。熟悉英雄无敌3中城堡城的人应该会对Allegiant感到一见如故。目前，代表这个派系的部队是骑士，可以在FST画廊中看到。

• Is Fanstratics connected somehow to the lore of M&M or H3 series, or it will be a completely different universe? (adamnavel)
• FST的时空设定是否与魔法门系列或者英雄无敌3有关，还是不同时空？
• Ubisoft owns the legal copyrights to Might and Magic and Heroes of Might and Magic, so I have no choice but to place Fanstratics (FST) in its own unique universe. In previous newsletters, I described Fanstratics as ‘different but familiar’. It will look different, with different characters and different lore, but anyone who has played HoMM3, should feel very much at home with its game play mechanics.
• 育碧拥有魔法门和英雄无敌的版权，所以我们别无选择，只能把FST放在属于它自己的独特世界里。在之前的月更中，我把FST的设定描述为“不同但熟悉”。它看起来会不同，有不同的角色和不同的传说，但是玩过英雄无敌3的人会对它的游戏机制感到非常熟悉。

• What features of Heroes III were cancelled before release? (ABC)
• 英雄无敌3在发售前有哪些功能被取消了？
• Truthfully, other than the controversial Forge faction, I would say 99% of what I wanted in the game... made it into the game. I don’t honestly remember cutting anything of real significance. When we shipped HoMM3, I was satisfied with the work we had done. Is there room for improvement and evolution? Yes. This is what I am attempting with FST.
• 说实话，除了有争议的铸造城，我认为99%的内容都是我想要的，并让它们进入了游戏。我不记得删减过任何真正重要的东西。当我们发行英雄无敌3时，我对我们所做的工作感到满意。那么有改进和发展的空间吗？当然。这是我们意图在开发FST时要做到的。

• How many different types of resources are planned for ‘Fanstratics’? (fen)
• 为FST计划了多少种不同类型的资源?
• Six resources are planned: Timber, Ore, Crystal, Incense, Quicksilver, and Gold. I trimmed the original seven down to six, with the intention to create a natural symmetry, and more rare resource competition, between FST’s 9 factions.
• 目前计划了六种资源：木材、矿石、水晶、熏香、水银和黄金。我将原来的7个减少到6个，目的是在FST的9个派系之间创造一种自然的对称和对稀有资源的争夺。

• Why did you decide to develop a new game now, 20+ years after the release of Restoration of Erathia? (Silent)
• 在埃拉西亚的光复发行20多年后，你为什么现在决定开发一款新游戏?
• This is a big question to answer, but I will try to be concise. When I left game development, I was burned out and unhealthy from years of stressful working conditions and crunch. I tried other professions, specifically, writing, stock options trading, and ultimately... foreign currency trading. It took years to learn how to profitably trade the currency markets, but once I figured it out, I suddenly had spare time on my hands. With this extra time, I began to crave a return to computer game development. Slowly, I started to reawaken my game design skills, when disaster struck. My foreign currency broker collapsed... and I lost everything. I no longer had a choice. It was ‘game dev or die’, and Fanstratics is the hill on which I have chosen to fight.
• 这是一个大问题，我会尽量长话短说。当我离开游戏开发时，多年的工作压力和压力让我精疲力竭，身体也不健康。我尝试过其他职业，特别是写作、股票期权交易，以及……外汇交易。我花了数年时间学习如何在外汇市场上赚取利润，但当我弄懂以后，我突然有了空闲时间。因为有了这些额外的时间，我开始渴望回到电脑游戏开发行业。当我开始渐渐重新熟悉游戏开发时，灾难来临了，我的外汇代理商破产了，我变得一贫如洗。我不再有其他选择，要么做游戏要么等死。FST就是我选择的战场。

以下是之前说的访谈的第12到23个问答（共58个）。

• Can you tell us more about the original version of AB with the Forge? What was the story and its key characters
• 你能告诉我们更多关于带铸造城的原始版本末日之刃吗？这个版本里的故事和主要人物是什么？
• Conceptually, the story went something like this… Following M&M7, Archibald`s former `Advisors` restored production to an ancient wonder called the `Heavenly Forge`. Using the Heavenly Forge, these Advisors could fashion any manner of artifact or technology. Creating a futuristic city (Forge) and an army composed of cybernetically enhanced creatures armed with high tech weaponry, the Advisors set out to conquer the world. Ground zero was Erathia. Following the Restoration of Erathia, Catherine musters the nation’s remaining forces to halt the techno-hordes of the Forge cities. If the line breaks, Erathia will be lost. With Catherine and Roland commanding the front lines, another hero is needed to search for Erathia`s last hope for survival; the fabled Armageddon’s Blade. For this sacred quest, Catherine chooses Gelu, the half-human, half-elf commander of the Erathia`s elite guerilla warriors: Forestguard. Gelu understands the importance of his quest. What he does not know is the truth of his origins. A campaign structure was in place, with Marcus responsible for putting it all together. To the best of my knowledge, the campaign story went something like this…
  1. Deyja solders with ‘strange equipment’ invade Erathia’s northern border. Catherine leads the charge to stop them.
  2. Gelu is enlisted to fight a shadow war on the Deyja-Erathian border.
  3. Roland leads an army to assist and reinforce Catherine’s position.
  4. Gelu is tasked with locating the pieces to construct Armageddon’s Blade.
  5. Gelu is tasked with finding a Grand Smith to fashion Armageddon’s Blade.
  6. Gelu, Catherine, and Roland lead the final push to destroy the Heavenly Forge.
  There was supposed to be an ending cinematic where Gelu drives Armageddon’s Blade into the Heavenly Forge, creating a blast wave destroying only the Forge towns and troops, leaving the land and its people cleansed of its influence. There were additional branch missions involving a Forge hero (so players could experience the Forge town), but I cannot recall specifically the story or mission details. I also had plans to divulge information proving Catherine and Gelu were related by blood. Ever notice both have red hair?
• 从概念上讲，故事是这样的……MM7之后，阿基巴德的前“顾问”恢复了被称为“天堂铸造厂”的古代奇迹的生产。这些顾问使用天堂铸造厂可以制造任何形式的宝物或者科技。他们创建了一个铸造城和一支由拥有高科技武器装备、控制性增强的生物组成的军队，开始征服世界。进攻目标则是埃拉西亚。在光复埃拉西亚之后，凯瑟琳召集了国 家剩余的力量来阻止铸造城的科技部队进攻。如果防线崩溃，埃拉西亚就会陷落。凯瑟琳和罗兰德指挥前线，所以需要另一个英雄去寻找埃拉西亚生存的最后希望：传说中的末日之刃。为了这个神圣的任务，凯瑟琳选择了格鲁，身为埃拉西亚精锐游击战士的半人半精灵指挥官：森林守卫。格鲁明白他的任务的重要性。他不知道的是他出身的真相。
  1. 迪迦军队带着“奇怪的装备”入侵埃拉西亚的北部边境，凯瑟琳带头阻止他们；
  2. 格鲁被招募去打一场在迪迦和埃拉西亚边境的影子战争；
  3. 罗兰德率领一支军队协助并巩固了凯瑟琳的战略形式；
  4. 格鲁的任务是寻找制造末日之刃的碎片；
  5. 格鲁的任务是寻找一个伟大的铁匠来重铸末日之刃；
  6. 格鲁、凯瑟琳和罗兰德领导了摧毁天堂铸造厂的大决战；
  在剧情结尾，格鲁将末日之刃插进天堂铸造厂，制造了一股冲击波，只摧毁了铸造族的城镇和军队，让土地和人民摆脱了它的影响。另外还有一些支线任务是关于铸造族英雄的（所以玩家可以体验铸造城），但是我记不清具体的故事或任务细节了。我还计划泄露一些信息来证明凯瑟琳和格鲁有血缘关系。有没有注意到他们都是红头发?

• Were the five side campaigns and their protagonists different, and to what degree?
• 在前后两个版本的不同方面上，5个阵营和他们的主角有什么不同吗?
• No, the five side campaigns were conceived completely separate from the main Armageddon’s Blade campaign, but there were adjustments after the Forge was cut.
• 不，5个阵营的战役是完全独立于末日之刃战役的，但是在铸造族被砍后进行了调整。

• What was the creature line-up of the Forge?
• 铸造城的兵种线如何？
• Concerning the Forge, this webpage gets almost everything right. What is missing are details for the Tier 7 troop, which was supposed to be dragon-like Mech. Personally, I got a kick out of Ubisoft’s April Fool’s concept art for the Pyro, Jump Soldier, and Tank.
• 关于铸造城，这个网页的内容基本正确。但它缺少7级兵的信息，本来应该是机械龙之类的东西（傀儡龙？）。对我个人而言，我挺喜欢育碧在愚人节放出的喷火兵、跳跃战士和坦克娜迦剑师的设定。

• Since the rise of an entire technological faction in Deyja is a very significant event, what was supposed to happen with the world later? What happens to the Heavenly Forge itself after Kastore and his allies are defeated?
• 既然在迪迦的科技派系崛起是一个非常重要的事件，那么接下来的世界会发生什么呢？在Kastore和他的盟友被打败后，天堂铸造厂本身发生了什么?
• As you can determine from the original story synopsis, in the end, Armageddon’s Blade was supposed to wipe the world clean of all Forge influence. Basically, the world was restored to its pre-Forge state.
• 正如你可以从最初的故事大纲中确定的那样，最后，末日之刃理应是用来清除世界上所有铸造族的影响。基本上，世界恢复到了铸造族出现前的状态。

• Is there a chance that the original maps for the campaign or their texts remain somewhere? It’d be interesting to know the actual plans and progress made by the team head as well as your personal thoughts on the matter.
• 战役的原始地图或文本是否有可能保留在某个地方？很想知道团队负责人的实际计划和进展，以及你个人对这件事的想法。
• Possible, but unlikely. Someone at Ubisoft, with access to the original game assets from the 3D0 auction, might be able to turn up something, but keep in mind, the working AB campaign maps were effectively ‘converted’. There was little reason to hold onto the old material, and if the original working AB campaign maps do exist, I suspect they are in an unfinished form. As for my personal thoughts… I think the cancelation of the Forge content, and its subsequent replacement by the Conflux content… was a blessing in disguise. My answers to subsequent questions reveal my reasons as to why.
• 有可能，但可能性不大。在育碧的一些人，在获得了3DO拍卖的原始游戏资产后，可能会找到一些东西，但请记住，开发中的末日之刃战役地图是有经过的“加密”的。没有什么理由保留这些旧资料，而且如果原始的末日之刃战役地图存在的话，我怀疑它们应该没有被做完。至于我个人的想法……我认为铸造族内容的取消，以及它随后被元素城的内容所取代……是因祸得福。我对随后问题的回答揭示了我为什么这么做的原因。

• David Mullich has mentioned different versions of the Forge town being pitched during the development: We did have some debate about what visual form this technology would take. I advocated more of a Jules Verne glass-and-brass look; others wanted a WWII look. Can you provide more information on these?
• David Mullich提到了在开发过程中关于铸造城的不同版本：我们确实在技术上对视觉设计进行了一些讨论。我更提倡Jules Verne的玻璃和黄铜造型；其他人想要一个二战风格的外观。你能否就此提供更多信息？
• I vaguely remember the initial conversation I had with David Mullich as to the competing visual styles. At the time, year 1999, when David dropped the name Jules Verne, I immediately thought of 20K Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, H.G. Wells, War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, etc. What was being proposed was art deco, and I had envisioned the Forge being a horrifying, corrupting, evil faction. To me, the WW2 option made more sense. Later, Phelan Sykes (HoMM3’s Lead Artist) showed to me a number of different books with ‘oppressive’ art deco architecture. Where David pointed to Jules Verne, Phelan pointed to the movie Metropolis. Phelan wanted a very gritty, very grungy, very squalid conception of what we today commonly call ‘steampunk’. After my conversations with her, I was sold on the direction. Weeks later, I began to realize, what Phelan had envisioned, and what the NWC art staff could deliver, were two very different things. Initial work on the Forge was not promising. After the Forge was canceled, I told David I had doubts about the ability of the NWC art staff to deliver on what Phelan had in mind. David thought, as it was with HoMM3, it would take a lot of effort and numerous revisions to get what we wanted, but he thought it could be done.
• 我模糊地记得我和David Mullich最初关于视觉设计比选的对话。在1999年，当David提到儒勒·凡尔纳时，我立刻想到了他的《海底两万里》、《地心之旅》，赫伯特·乔治·威尔斯的《世界大战》、《时间机器》等等。他们提出的是装饰艺术，我曾想象过铸造族是一个可怕的，腐败的，邪恶的派系。对我来说，二战的选择更合理。后来，Phelan Sykes（英雄无敌3的主美术）向我展示了许多不同的关于“压抑的”装饰艺术建筑的书籍。David想要儒勒·凡尔纳的风格，Phelan指的是电影《大都会》的风格(David想要儒勒·凡尔纳的风格，而Phelan更倾向于《大都会》的风格）。Phelan想要一种我们今天通常所说的“蒸汽朋克”，一种非常冷毅、非常古怪、非常肮脏的概念。和她谈话之后，我对这个方向很感兴趣。几周后，我开始意识到，Phelan所设想的，和NWC的美工所能提供的，是两件完全不同的事情。铸造城的初步设计工作并不理想。在铸造城被取消后，我告诉David我怀疑NWC的美工的能力是否能满足Phelan的设想。David认为，就像英雄无敌3其他内容一样，要得到我们想要的结果，需要花费很多精力和无数次修改，但他认为这是可以做到的。

• What is your opinion: would Forge work in HoMM3?
• 你觉得，铸造城能融入英雄无敌3吗？
• I believe so, but it would not be a trivial task. The Forge can work as a high power, high maintenance, low population, steampunk faction, but artistic execution is absolutely critical and the troop line-up could use conceptual revision. Provided the town and troops were visually exciting and inventive, and fit within the existing HoMM3 art style, I would hope most people would put aside any ‘cross genre’ reservations and simply enjoy the outrageousness.
• 我相信如此，不是一项轻松的任务。铸造城可以作为一个高功率、高维护费用、低人口的蒸汽朋克风派系，但美工的风格是绝对关键的，兵种线可以根据概念设计更改。我们所能提供的城镇和部队是视觉上令人兴奋和具有创造性的，理应适合现有的英雄无敌3艺术风格，我本希望大多数人会放下任何“跨流派”保守思想，并简单地享受这震撼的设计。

• Looking back on it after all these years, was it a concept that could have been realized well?
• 这么多年过去了，现在回过头来看，这是一个可以很好地实现的概念设计吗?
• In hindsight, was NWC capable of realizing the Forge concept? I have my doubts. I could have easily revised the troop line-up to deliver something more traditional, but in the end, my biggest concern was art. Phelan Sykes gets nowhere near enough credit for the work she did as Lead Artist. With David Mullich’s assistance, she, Scott White, Adam McCarthy, and George Almond, carried the NWC art staff to a level of quality they simply hadn’t reached before. With HoMM3, the NWC art staff overachieved. Unfortunately, when it came to the Forge, I think we simply asked of them something they simply could not deliver.
• 事后来看，NWC能够实现铸造城的概念设计吗？我对此表示怀疑。我本可以轻松地修改部队阵容，以提供一些更传统的东西，但最后，我最大的担忧是艺术。Phelan Sykes作为主美术所做的工作远远不够（这句是说Phelan Sykes作为主美，他的贡献怎么赞扬也不为过）。在David Mullich的帮助下，她、Scott White、dam McCarthy和George Almond将NWC的美工提升到了一个前所未有的水平。通过英雄无敌3， NWC的美工取得了优异的成绩。不幸的是，当涉及到铸造城时，我想我们确实对他们是强人所难了。

• And can it still potentially be done well by modders?
• 那你认为它能被mod制作者们完美制作出来吗？
• As for the modders, a small dedicated team with a clearly defined vision could certainly pull it off. My suggestion? Embrace the basic concept, but don’t be afraid to deviate from the original idea, or play around with the troop types. For artistic inspiration, I would point to Ubisoft’s April Fool’s concept art and the miniatures game Warmachine.
• 对于mod制作者们，如果有个有清晰愿景的小团队，那么他们肯定可以完成它。那我的建议是？接受基本概念，但不要害怕偏离最初的想法，或拘泥于最初的兵种线。至于艺术灵感，我会提到育碧的愚人节概念设计和迷你游戏Warmachine。

• Conflux was originally supposed to be the new town in the second expansion. What was the original idea for Conflux’s backstory and the expansion itself?
• 在第二个资料片中，元素城原本应该是一个新的城镇。关于元素城的背景故事和资料片本身，最初的想法是什么?
• Originally, the Conflux was little more than a high concept; Elemental troops in an Elemental town. Prior to Armageddon’s Blade, there was never any unique lore developed for it. Like the Forge, the Conflux was supposed to be a relatively self-contained endeavor, and I did not expect to address it until after the first expansion was finished. After the Forge was cancelled, the work on the Conflux was simply moved forward.
• 起初，元素城是个很烂大街的概念：元素城镇的元素部队。在末日之刃之前，它没有任何独特的背景设定。就像铸造城一样，元素城是一个相对独立的制作，我根本没有打算在第一个资料片完成之前去考虑它。在铸造城被取消后，元素城的开发只得提前。

• The released version of AB establishes the Great Conflux as the union of armies from the four Elemental Planes (plus the fifth and sixth element, thought and magic) that was sent by the Elemental Lords (called the elemental gods by Roland in the campaign) to help stop Lucifer Kreegan from using Armageddon’s Blade to burn the world of Enroth.
• 发行版本的末日之刃，设定了大聚流为被元素领主们（被罗兰德称为元素之神的角色）元素位面的军队联盟（包含第五元素思想和第六元素魔法），来帮助阻止路西法克瑞根用末日之刃毁灭恩洛斯世界。
• The Conflux itself is shown to be composed of elementals who respect mortals, but the reasons of the Elemental Lords themselves for sending them to Erathia’s aid are not made clear (which is highlighted by characters), only hinted at in AB and MM8 (the latter revealing that the Elemental Lords created the planet long ago, and that it’s destruction would victimize their plane), Roland wondering about it and harboring some distrust towards the Conflux heroes. Can you tell us more about the forming of the Conflux and it aiding Erathia against the Kreegans? My conception of the Conflux was relatively straightforward. Conflux Heroes and the associated Elemental troops were defenders of the natural world. When there is a threat to its continued existence, they make their presence known, assert themselves, and attempt to eliminate the threat. They have no allegiance to anyone or anything, other than the preservation of the world. Anything beyond this was developed after I departed NWC.
• 元素城本身由尊重凡人的元素组成，但尚不清楚元素之主派遣他们到埃拉西亚提供帮助的原因（已经由主角强调），仅在末日之刃和魔法门8中有所暗示（后者表明元素领主很久以前就创造了这个星球，而它的毁灭将损害他们的位面），罗兰德对此很纳闷，对元素城英雄有些不信任。您能告诉我们更多有关元素城的形成及其帮助埃拉西亚对抗克瑞根人的影响吗？我对元素城的设计相对简单。元素城城英雄和相关的元素人部队是自然界的捍卫者。当威胁肆虐时，元素就会显灵，声张正义，并试图消除威胁。他们除了维护世界之外，对任何人或任何事物都没有效忠。与这些无关的内容都是在我离开NWC以后才制作的。

• A key leader of the Conflux is Tamar the Wanderer, one of the Elemental Lords of Air, who seeks to gain knowledge and help those in need. He and his compatriots aid Erathia against the Kreegans, and Tamar uses his gift of premonition to warn her about important things regarding Roland, Gelu and Armageddon’s Blade. However, Tamar’s face is described as hidden, only his beard being visible, and it isn’t clarified whether he’s an air elemental, a human, a genie or something else. Can you tell us more about him?
• 元素城的主要领导者是流浪者Tamar，他是空气元素领主之一，他致力于获取知识并帮助有需要的人。他和他的同胞帮助埃拉西亚对抗克瑞根人，而Tamar利用他的预言警告凯瑟琳有关罗兰德、格鲁和末日之刃的重要事情。但是，Tamar的脸被是不可见的，只有他的胡须是可见的，所以也不清楚他是空气元素、人类、精灵还是其他东西。您能告诉我们更多关于他的信息吗？
• Human. This webpage gets the essentials correct.
• 人类。这个网页基本正确。