For those of you who are interested, here is a Gamespy Preview of Advent Rising, the game our esteemed host is working on.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
There is also a trailer you can view on the game's site, here, at the download page. All I can say is...whoa.
[ August 12, 2003, 10:36 AM: Message edited by: TheTick ]
Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
They need a better narrator.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
I thought the same thing...maybe they didn't worry about it since that's most likely just in the trailer. I can't wait to see how this is going to turn out.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote: As the medium of electronic gaming achieves ever greater recognition, more and more artists from other established media will decide to dabble in the interactive arts. Such is the case with noted sci-fi novelist Orson Scott Card...
The reviewer (or previewer actually) doesn't know his gaming history.
[ August 10, 2003, 10:59 AM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
I do agree that it is something that will increase, but he certainly seems clueless about OSC's previous involvement with game development. Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Exactly Tick!
Just out of curiosity, how many SF authors can you think of that have lent their talents to the creation of a computer game?
The only ones I can think of right now are:
OSC: Loom, The Secret of Monkey Island, The Dig...any others?
Harlan Ellison: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream
Spider Robinson: A Callahan graphic adventure whose name escapes me.
Any others? Do I remember there being a Discworld game a few years back?
Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :
There were three Discworld games. Discworld, Discworld 2: Mortality Bites, and Discworld Noir. If you can find them, I recommend all three (well, I never played Noir, but I heard it's very good), although the first especially is incredibly hard.
Douglas Adams was integral in at least three computer games: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Bureaucracy, and Starship Titanic.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
I think the author of the piece is one of their xbox guys, so he may not know about these PC games. Here's hoping the authors with their hands in games increases...I want story and cool action!
Posted by cyruseh (Member # 1120) on :
I know that there was a shannarra game, and a xanth game, but I am not sure how much the authors actually worked on the game. And it was not like they had created a whole new story idea for the game.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Right, Douglas Adams! How could I have forgotten Infocom work! Back in the old C64 days I spent *hours* trying to get that damned bablefish in my ear before I finally figured it out!
What are the Discworld games like Squick? Are they graphic adventure, or RPGs, or what?
Do I remember hearing that Anne McCaffrey had a Pern based game of some sort?
Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :
I've played Discworld 1 and 2. They're graphical adventures with a completely mouse driven interface. Left-click will move you, talk to someone, pick something up, or, after you select it from your inventory, use an inventory object. Right click examines an object. You control Rincewind, who is voiced by Eric Idle and go about fixing things that the Archcancelor makes you. I'm not a big fan of Rincewind in the books, but he really shines in the games.
The first game kind of follows the plot of Guards! Guards! with the dragon and all and it's your job to get rid of it. The second is in the mold of the Death takes a vacation and you have to get him back into the business. As puzzles go, the first one has some really good ones and some really annoyingly obtuse ones. The second is a lot easier, but is still pretty challenging.
The atmosphere, however, is astounding. They capture Discworld, which you would expect because Pterry wrote most or all of the dialog. The voice acting is done by vetern comics, like Eric Idle. These games are worth it to watch someone play because they are that entertaining.
Posted by Geoffrey Card (Member # 1062) on :
Raymond E. Feist had input on the Krondor games. And didn't Anne McCaffery help make some sucky game a couple of years ago?
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Right, he was fairly intimately involved with the first one, wasn't he? Betrayal at Krondor or something like that?
I thought that I vaguely recalled McCaffery doing something, but I wasn't sure.
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
I can't believe I missed this thread. Yay for Gamespy.com and Dan's daily visits to it. Posted by jasonepowell (Member # 1600) on :
The Dragonriders of Pern was released a few years ago, but she didn't really have much to do with it aside from making sure it didn't break any future plot points.
Other writers who worked on games (not just sci-fi):
The guy who wrote Half-life and Half-life 2 is phenomenal, but he's not a famous author.
Crighton did Timeline a few years back as well, and that game totally stunk. Some great visuals (architecture), but boy was it boring.
Clancy was instrumental in developing Harpoon, Rainbow 6 and a couple of others (Hunt for Red October, Harpoon 2).
Clive Barker wrote and produced Undying, the scariest game ever made. Seriously, I can't even play it, it freaks me out so bad.
I know I'm missing a few biggies, but that's all my brain can come up with right now.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
I can't believe I forgot about Tom Clancy. Red Storm has put out a good number of excellent games. Rogue Spear with the Urban Ops pack is on my short list of favorite FPS's.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
Larry Bond was mostly responsible for Harpoon (a fun if not graphically astounding game), he is also an author of a few military novels.
Posted by Geoffrey Card (Member # 1062) on :
Noemon, from the way I hear it, Feist was lukewarm about the first game, but when he played it, he loved it so much that he wanted to be intimately involved with the sequel. Unfortunately, the developer got cold feet when the first game shipped, because its projected sales were really low, so they fired the lead designer to save money. Then when the game's sales skyrocketed, they came crawling back to him, and he was like, "Sorry, I've got another job now." So the sequels sucked.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
That's interesting Geoff. I'm sure that you know more about it than I do; I just vaguely recalled having heard something about it.
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I can't wait to see how this is going to turn out.
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