下一代（二）：遊戲

遊戲。

從小學開始，我們發現他很喜歡玩遊戲，而且常常花樣翻新。比如他擴展了Uno，設計了很多新的牌張和新的規矩和玩法，用打印機印出來，製成新的Uno set，帶到學校去和同學一起玩。那時候周末經常有很多同學來我家玩遊戲。學習上，他也相對領先。同時他天然有一種當“老師”的激情，經常和同學交流學習心得。學校老師和同學都很喜歡他。

還有就是電子遊戲和電腦遊戲，他也玩而且很入迷。我也玩，因為不玩的話就感到和孩子少了共同語言。有時候和他一起玩，邊玩邊聊天，也蠻開心的。

下麵是我以前寫的一篇文章

我家男孩很小就開始玩遊戲。三歲還是四歲的生日禮物是一台任天堂連帶一個遊戲盒。不是我買的哈，是朋友送的。

後來慢慢地遊戲機，遊戲盒／遊戲盤就多起來了。最多的時候大約有四五十個遊戲盒，遊戲盤。三，四年級時他開始玩電腦遊戲，比如Diablo，這個是限製級的遊戲，不過那時候遊戲還沒有明確標級，我糊裏糊塗地也就放任他玩了。

不僅他玩，我也玩。我覺得兩個人一起玩比較有共同語言，而且也便於管理。比如說馬上要吃晚飯了，他在玩遊戲，媽媽在那邊喊話：馬上開飯了，別玩了。他回話說，好好好，等我打完這一級，save了game就來。老爸一聽覺得有貓膩，就過去了：不行，打完這一級還要好長時間呢，你往右轉，那邊有一個save box，趕緊save了準備吃飯。內行話，他沒有理由拒絕，就停了。

後來電腦遊戲玩多了，開始game modding（遊戲改編），主要是Diablo和AOW。這就有點編程的意思了。工程浩大啊！大陸海洋，城市道路，一百多個角色，情節。那時我們全家都是他的試驗員（主要是我）。

高中學了編程開始學寫遊戲軟件。不過打遊戲也一直沒停過，基本是自己控製的，所以我也搞不清楚每天花了多少時間。

上大學時剛分配好宿舍就和室友商量好了，遊戲機電視機等等，你帶什麽我帶什麽。

上大學後、工作後就不知道他在遊戲上總共花了多少時間了。隻知道他在編程上花了不少功夫，估計打遊戲就不會太多了。不過他對遊戲的熱情一直不減。網上有遊戲的event，他會告訴我們一起上網看。有時候我們（各自在不同的地方）看Awesome Games Done Quick，裏麵有幾個遊戲，super mario，zelda，final fantasy 等等，都是他和我一起玩過的。那一次遊戲活動是為醫學和動物保護籌款，他也捐了（聽到直播時主辦方報出他的名字）。

聽說有孩子玩遊戲上癮而誤了前程的。我慶幸孩子從遊戲中悟到了計算機和創造性（見他的大學申請短文（附件）。或許和我和太座都是學理工有關。我本人學過物理，應用數學，工程理論。第一個工作是在大學CS係。或許潛移默化使他喜歡上了CS。

 

附件：大學申請短文之一：

Computer Games: A Way to Create

            I am a computer game nut. The CD cases of old games such as Diablo II, Age of Wonders, and Morrowind decorate my shelf like a long row of plaques and trophies. Video and computer games are an irreplaceable part of my life now, familiar old companions.

            However, probably not in the way that anyone would expect. It has been years since I have played any of these games. Ironically, I spend very little time playing compared to the time I spend editing and adding features to them.

My first real experience with game editing, or “modding”, as it is called in the online community, was with Diablo II. Even as I battled demonic hordes by flinging shards of fire and ice across the sands of the Horadric Valley, I could imagine a hundred ways to improve the game. I had a deep appreciation for Blizzard’s efforts to balance the game, but I noticed that over eighty percent of the skills available to a character were learned once and then discarded without ever being used. The valley itself was far too easy compared to the preceding locations, and from a game-play perspective, the gold coins that characters collected were absolutely worthless.

Before long, I discovered and quickly became part of the “Phrozen Keep” online modding community. For about a year, I spent hours each week working with spreadsheets and images, altering numbers, rebalancing the game, and adding items, skills, and creatures. I never released my modifications, but my friends clamor for them.

Although Blizzard, the makers of the game, never officially supported the modding community, they unofficially appreciated it for the additional popularity it drew. In fact, their final bug-fixing patch to the game also unlocked a vast portion of the internal code to allow easy editing! Partly as a result of the interest that it drew to the Diablo II community, many of the computer games in the following years shipped with official game editors, when few had done so before.

            I have also edited Age of Wonders, a conquest-based strategy game and I am currently producing a custom dungeon for Deadly Rooms of Death (DROD), an extremely intricate puzzle and logic-oriented game with a wacky sense of humor. Since I learned Java only a year and a half ago, part of my enthusiasm for creation has flown into my Java programming. So far, in Java, I have written a program for playing Go, a basic particle simulator, and usable graphics, geometry, and computational packages.

            The attraction of a new game is anything but the entertainment, action, or fantasy escape that the game might provide. For me, each game is a springboard for inspiration and a potential framework that can be sculpted into something fresh. I don’t play video games… I build upon them.