So, if you heard there was an Ender's Game video game coming out next week, what one thing would you desperately hope would be in the game? What experience from the book would you imagine and want to enact firsthand? If you had to pick just one iconic thing?
[disclaimer: There is NOT an Ender's Game video game coming out any time soon. I've just been kicking this around in my own head. I know what I would want, but perhaps I'm totally alone ...]
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I want *the* game. I don't recall what it was named. The fairy-land game that Ender kept playing, and ended up being a large part of Jane's initial personality.
But don't do it too well. We wouldn't want Jane/Skynet to take over quite yet. Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
Kind of obvious, but I'd like the battleroom.
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
Yup. The Giant.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Battleroom I think would be a must for the video game.
I think my special feature wouldn't be so much a specific game or task or what-not, but I would want to pick my charecter... and have the opportunity to pick Bean.
Hobbes Posted by littlelf (Member # 6145) on :
Well, since Lazar Tag already exists, I would have to go with the Giant's Drink, although I wouldn't want wolves running after me with the faces of children. I get that in the classroom every day.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I have no interest whatsoever in the Battleroom -- as we ALREADY have Quake mods for lazer tag and paralysis, and this would just be Quake with gravity turned way down.
I'm not particularly interested in the Giant's Drink, either, as I don't think the technology exists to make that responsive enough (or exploratory enough) to be truly revelatory.
I wouldn't mind an adventure game set on the station, or -- and here's my big request:
A strategy game, vaguely Homeworld-esque, replicating Ender's space combats (and the sim itself, of course.) I would LOVE to see the Little Doctor and actual physics incorporated into a RTS.
Posted by Slash the Berzerker (Member # 556) on :
I second Tom's post.
Battle room would just be zero G deathmatch.
Giants drink wouldn't make a lick of sense to anyone who hadn't read the book.
But the 3D RTS would appeal to a mass audience.
Posted by cRaZy ToM (Member # 6474) on :
the battle scene between the formics and the fleet. having ender and eban tell u what to do in the process
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
You could have a strategy where you are trying to manipulate battle school to make Ender the best commander ever. You have to push him, but not too far so that you kill him or break him. You could make it really sadistic and sick.
I can't think of anything else.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
As I think of it more, I think that any EG game would be a big dissapointment.
And thinking of a quake-type battle-room; that would be *really* boring waiting for the match to end so you could get thawed (or de-thawed, as my wife likes to say )
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
There is an inherint problem basing a video game on a book that was about a series of very impressive, futuristic video games...
Hobbes Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
quote: Giants drink wouldn't make a lick of sense to anyone who hadn't read the book.
Like all the stuff in Myst makes sense? In fact, that's the game that most reminded me of The Game in EG. But not enough. And it's not like the entire game was the giant's drink. That was just one of the many little bizaare puzzles. I'm going to agree with Porter's first post; that's what I'd most like to see.
Of course, I'm puzzle game people and most definitly not RTS people.
PS: if I were to find out about such a game only a week before it came out, I would have to thwack a lot of people. *thwacks Dog for good measure*
Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
It looks like the action gamers want the Battleroom and the strategy gamers want the Simulator. Not a surprise, those were the two I wanted, too.
The Fantasy Game would be a BIG deal to pull off right. I wouldn't want anyone to try it unless I really knew they knew what they were doing Also, a modern game would need to make some serious changes to the way the Fantasy Game worked. Severe death penalties and repetition have become very unpopular now that people play games to relax in the comfort of their own homes ...
Posted by ssywak (Member # 807) on :
Well, since everyone's already picked my faves (Battle Room and Simulator), I'll use my vote for...crawling around in the Battle School
...At your feet is a small pit breathing traces of white mist. An east passage ends here except for a small crack leading on. Rough stone steps lead down the pit...
Posted by Megachirops (Member # 4325) on :
plugh
Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
I think I would like either an RTS or an online flight game where one person was the commander and the others were pilots. And maybe a MMORPG of battleschool.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
video games have to make sense?? since when?
I would also vote for the Giant's Drink if it were coming out. Everytime I read the book, I try so hard to picture that game in my head over and over.
Farmgirl
edit: However, being over 40, I'm not exactly your target audience/buyer for any such game
[ April 23, 2004, 03:30 PM: Message edited by: Farmgirl ]
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Icky -- xyzzy.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
Bad Moose. Bad.
If there was one game, and assuming it could be produced well, it'd be the Fantasy Game (Giant's Drink, etc.).
But I'm an introspective weirdo like that.
Honestly, the other two options, Battleroom/Bugger Battles, have been done similarly before, and I just don't see what an EG take on them would add, IMO.
-Bok
[ April 23, 2004, 05:16 PM: Message edited by: Bokonon ]
Posted by I wield the H@MM35 (Member # 6449) on :
I would think a multi player, but battle school isn't big enough. I hope they don't ruin it like the harry potter games, but they need something like a battle school Animal crossing, with all the randomizations, like army, launch group, etc. It would be in a normal bs kids life, but with somany plot randimazations, it would have to be on a consol. If they could make something like that, then
Posted by alath (Member # 6150) on :
I third TomDavidson's post but I would also really like to see the mind game done.
Posted by The Wiggin (Member # 5020) on :
OK What I think would be cool would be to have a game where you go through life as one of several characters (to create as much replay value as possible with out killing the budget on character creation) such as having Ender start at a young age dealing with Peter and bullies like Stilson. And/Or you could do bean escaping the clean room and living on the streets of Rotterdam. And add several other main characters like coming up with a life for Alai or doing something with Val and Peter. Then as a final you could have a user made character starting from one of several locations and going through the world in life that are made from many randomizations. So the Created character is as different as each user and the main character fallow the book as closely as possible. Depending on how you play you get picked to be part of different armies and positions (with limitations for the main characters) and as a mini-game you can play the battle room to help your army and get a better position in an army.
Then as you move on to the higher schools you move onto the simulator (which is the largest part of the game since it would be the easiest part of the book to make a game) where as Ender you can command and chose from several objective as well as command a small force on you’re own. And other players could control a small force trying to complete certain objectives. And to make the simulator part more interesting as Ender you’re squad leaders have stats/abilities making certain ones better for certain jobs and if your not careful about seeing them in rotations they get fatigued and screw up more and more. As a squad leader you can have some kind of problem where if you don't do certain activities between battles you get fatigued and your squad has more trouble understanding you. And if you did an MMO game you could meet people and create teams that play against each other for ranking on the server (sort of like Starcraft where there’s one player story mode or multi player beat each other to a pulp mode).
Then as a bonus for finishing certain charters or goals (so you would get stuff either after finish one char or 10% of the possible objectives depending on how it was designed) you could unlock stuff like playing The Fantasy Game/Mind Game or one of the games in the game room or different ending like if you finish with one character you get to see the world blow up, with two you see the trial of Graff, with three your reunited with Val and with 100% and/or all characters (Which ever) you get to see Ender rescue the caconed Hive Queen and get to hear Ender read the Hive Queen as it scrolls the screen.
Well any way this is just one idea I’ve had and I’ve started rambling. If thing don't make to much since up above sorry but as I started writing more and needed to flush out idea I started moving stuff around.
Posted by Hazen (Member # 161) on :
A zero-g FPS would be amazing, it would be a pathbreaking game. Imagine sending someone spinning off into space, unable to change direction. It would have a lot of possibilities. On the other hand, to be done properly, it couldn't follow the book at all (Obviously the book wasn't designed with a video game in mind). It would need all sorts of different guns and items, and a larger variety of terrain and obstacle types. Otherwise, it wouldn't have enough variety to keep it interesting. One option might be to say that, after Ender left, Battleschool completely revamped everything. Give the players the option of playing something exactly like in EG, or of playing the "advanced version" with larger, more complex play areas, etc. You might even have open areas, where if the player goes off in the wrong direction they have no way of getting back. Obviously this would contradict the books, but it would be a lot more fun.
The space sim would make a good game as it is in the book. It would be a Homeworld clone, but I don't think people would mind too much- Especially if you got the team behind Homeworld to design it. In any case, an EG version would be unique enough to hold its own. Let the player go on either the Human or Bugger side. On the human side, give the player various lieutenants that are flawed in various ways (IE, if you keep them too busy too long they crack under pressure) but are capable of doing some of the work for the player. On the bugger side, the player would have to do everything, but it would be done with faultless precision. Give the Humans the little doctor, but give the Buggers more advanced ships. I'm sure that you can think of other things. The book gave little enough detail so that the game designer could go all out thinking of cool stuff.
The giant's drink game would work out well if you got the right guy (preferably a mildly deranged genius) to design it. A "life of character x" game might work, but it would be very difficult to pull off.
By the way, Ender's Game was listed as the number one licence that needed a game. So the market is out there.
Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
Wiggin, if you think Grand Theft Auto gets in trouble, imagine what the developers of an Ender's Game video game would face if they tried to recreate the Stilson scene ...
Posted by St. Yogi (Member # 5974) on :
I would personally prefer a game like the one Wiggin proposed. Ender's Game was such a great book, it needs a great game to do it justice. It has to be original, it has to be fun and it has to be as harsh as the book.
It would be great if your dad could write the backgrounds and the Battle School career of each of the characters in Ender's jeesh. The game would be an excellent opportunity to carry the story further.
Imagine choosing one of the lesser known characters of Ender's jeesh, let's say Vlad or something and then just follow him through his Battle School career finally ending up in the final battle against the Buggers. And then after that choosing another character and see the whole thing from their POV, essentially making it a completely different game. If you play as Bean you won't be a toon leader in Dragon Army, but if you play as Crazy Tom you are. If you play as Ender then again it's a completely different game.
I imagine that you have to finish the game with at least three people before getting to play as Ender or Bean though.
If your dad wrote it then imagine the possibilities. Every time you play it with a different character the game would be as different as Ender's Shadow is from Ender's Game.
I imagine that all of this is kind of too much to ask from a game but it would be cool. Kind of taking games to the next level.
I agree with Wiggin that replayability is essential here. I'm also intrigued with the idea of maybe creating your own character and going through a totally randomized career in the Battle School, fighting your way to the top of the standings. But that would have to be before Ender came to the school or something.
And as I said earlier it has to be as harsh as the book. The Stilson scene should stay. But of course from a marketing perspective that couldn't work. I guess the target audience would be too young to see the child prostitutes of Rotterdam or whatever else your father could cook up in regards to the different character backgrounds.
The thought of an Ender's Game game really fires me up because it could contain a lot of different games within the game itself. The fantasy game, the battleroom, the simulator and the Battle School itself.
So I guess that in my eyes(a gamer's eyes) they should wait with making the Ender's Game game for the same reason they've waited so long to start making the movie. Lack of technology. I don't think a game which does the book justice can be made with today's technology.
But of course if it doesn't get made now, then it probably won't happen. Ever.
Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
What if there were multiple games, each attacking a different aspect of the license?
Posted by St. Yogi (Member # 5974) on :
Yeah, that might be an idea.
Simulator: A homeworldesque game(without an up and down orientation) for the simulator. But unlike Homeworld there would be no resource management and no building new ships, only a specific amount of ships to use in each battle. I imagine that in a singleplayer campaign you should be able to pause the game and look at the battle from all sides and perspectives(just like in Homeworld). This of course wouldn't work in a multiplayer game.
Battle Room: For the battleroom game I think that it should be different based on whether or not you're a commander, a toon leader or just a soldier. Kind of if you're a commander then you'll have to kind of manage your army(Championship Manager style) as well as train them in a way of your choosing and still be part of the battle. If you're a toon leader then you have to command a small group, take orders from the commander as well as have duties as a soldier. And if you're a soldier then you have to follow the orders of your toon leader as well as the commander. Now the actual battleroom game would have to be first person (Quake style, I guess) with very comprehensive controls as well as the possibility of giving commands(maybe verbally through a microphone).
Of course you'd have to cater to the multiplayer masses as well, but I find it hard to believe that you'll find a enough people to play a real battle as well as stick around for long if they're frozen. And I doubt that people would follow the commands of various toonleaders and whatnot unless there was some kind of penalty system i you don't follow orders. Maybe you can decrease the army size as well.
Fantasy Game: Very hard to pull off. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like.
In my original post I just kind of thought about the storytelling possibilities. I think games should focus as much on story as gameplay.
Posted by Rohan (Member # 5141) on :
I always saw strategy as a major point of the book. Ender not only has to find new strategies to beat the othe armies in the Battleroom, he has strategies for dealing with people, creating bonds, staying alive against Bonzo, etc. If the Battleroom weren't a FPS, but instead something that gave you command control of strategy and placement, it wouldn't be boring. Of course, every game I've ever played that was billed that way wasn't flexible enough to accommodate my variations and ideas. My expectations have been corrupted by books like, well, EG. Anyway, if the whole game were like that, where you have to choose on your own what to do, what's important, etc., maybe that would capture better the feeling of being Ender.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Rule of thumb: adventure games based on licensed properties suck.
In all of recorded history, there has been one exception -- Infocom's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- and ONLY because it was written by the best Infocom people and Douglas Adams, himself, and because it managed to follow the story from multiple viewppoints while deviating from it strongly enough that people didn't feel like they were merely reproducing the novel.
Unfortunately, I think most EG fans are exactly the kind of geeks who'd want to "reproduce" the novel -- which defeats the whole point of an adventure game. What, really, would an adventure game give the player to come up with on his own?
This is a question that a very talented game designer can answer satisfactorily -- but how many very talented game designers are still out there? I'd rather not see an EG adventure game at all than see one that's merely hackneyed.
The same thing goes for the Giant's Drink game.
Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
I like the mr_porteiro_head's suggestion regarding a Battle School management type of game. It can be a cross between Sims and Roller Coaster Tycoon. There are lots of sociological possibilities.
If that doesn't work, I want to see a Mortal Kombat sequence between Ender and Peter, where Ender rips out Peter's spine and does a little jig on the trail of blood.
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
I'd add an intra-game puzzle involving Ender, Peter, and Valentine (?) playing some sort of game (as kids, at home) prior to the onset of Ender's story.
fallow
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
I'd preface the movie-version the same way.
fallow
Posted by Xaposert (Member # 1612) on :
I have difficulty imagining an Ender's Game video game ever coming out good.
How about if we take space invaders, add the Little Doctor, and rename it Ender's Game?
Posted by tonguetied&tvvisted (Member # 6494) on :
That would be so cool.
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
Xap,
Why do you have difficulty imagining it could turn out good?
There's a lot of material. Action and puzzle-play.
fallow
[ April 27, 2004, 12:19 AM: Message edited by: fallow ]
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I also don't think an EG game could be anything but a dissapointment.
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
Oh yeah, the giant, I always wondered what it would be like to play that game...my own little private fantasy in which I get to kill a giant by digging into his eye...
Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
Luckily for you, Tom, they don't make any kind of adventure games any more, much less the kind based on movies. These days, it's children's action-platformers that everybody leaps to by default. I guarantee you that Ender's Game will get at least one of those
I also think that an Ender's Game game will automatically disappoint people, but only because people will build up a lot of unrealistic expectations for it.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I can't think of a single platform game for EG that makes any sense to me. Of course, that's partly because tooling around the Battle School strikes me as remarkably boring.
Posted by LockeTreaty (Member # 5627) on :
I've been thinking about how to make a Battle Room video game, and in my opinion the best method would be to make it a Gamecube game. Now before I get shouted out of the forum because I show support for Nintendo, I think that the Gamecube has an advantage over other systems in one important regard. Especially if the Gamecube does eventually go online.
The idea struck me that you could make use of the Gamecube's ability to use Gameboy advances as a way to see current stats of the soldiers in your army, and also you could delegate tasks to your toon leaders without ever having to pause the game to simply change objectives. With the four control slots of the Gamecube, this would allow for two players to play head on head both with a controller to control your own character and a gameboy to view your army and give overall commands. The system worked great for Final Fantasy Chronicles, although the game was horrendiously short. On the "adventure" mode you could play through as Ender, getting the perspective of common soldier, toon leader, and commander. I wouldn't include Ender's first battles where he never fired a shot for obvious reasons, but I believe that everything else should work out just fine.
Those are my two cents. But I wonder how it would look to create a simulator game for today's audience that according to the book is just supposed to be dots of light that represent ships traveling through space. I don't think any game that was that true to the book would go mainstream; therefore, not creating sales.
Posted by Xaposert (Member # 1612) on :
quote:Why do you have difficulty imagining it could turn out good?
There's a lot of material. Action and puzzle-play.
Running around space stations and zero-g fighting has been done more than enough. So has spaceship fighting. The mind games are only interesting in that they tell us stuff about the characters in the book. If you try to imagine the giants drink as a video game, I think it's clear that it would get old real quick. And most of all, almost all movie license games are more out to make money than be good games. I don't think the game designers will be given the time and budget to make a really great game.
But space invaders with Little Doctors - that could work!
But if they absolutely must make some sort of 3-D action game... I'd go with the battleroom, and try to think up some way to make it neat, and of course, multi-player. Ender's Game could aim for a Goldeneye I guess - and by that I mean a movie liscense game of an already established type that ends up being made so well that it is a smash success. It's a possibility, but unlikely.
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
Xap,
I dunno. Lots of things have been done before. That doesn't mean it can't be retooled, reinvented, etc. I don't imagine a game based on the battleschool settings (as written) would have to translate directly to a game setting. Crawling through airshafts/ducts is an old standby, but it works, doesn't it?
fallow
Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
quote:I can't think of a single platform game for EG that makes any sense to me. Of course, that's partly because tooling around the Battle School strikes me as remarkably boring.
[sigh] Welcome to my world. An entire branch of my company is devoted to solving this exact problem for every single kid-oriented movie that comes out. "How can we make a platformer out of this?"
This isn't because of some lack on our part. In truth, most kids' movies, by nature, suggest no good or unique gameplay mechanics, and their associated games have minimal budgets. So sticking to the tried-and-true is often the ONLY way to go.
LockeTreaty, the main drawback of the GameCube is the lack of online play. A multiplayer game works much better, and can be much larger in scope, if you get everyone on a different screen.
Personally, I think that Game Boy connectivity is a cute perk for loyal Nintendo users, and if you're making a game with Nintendo already, there's no reason NOT to include it. But isn't a good enough reason to pick one console over another, especially if the Nintendo console happens to be the weakest on the market.
A Simulator game would probably look more like Homeworld. Points of light from afar, kickarse ships up close.
Xap ... Space Invaders with little doctors? Sounds like a Flash game Think big, man!
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
The way to make the battleroom work:
Team building.
You have a set amount of team members, each with their own strengths, etc. As the game progresses you can train or trade members of your army to fit your battle style.
The problem (for programmers) would be making the characters 'real.' The team members would HAVE to have memories, real dislikes and likes-- so if you brushed someone off when they were a launchy, when they became a soldier, they definitely wouldn't be excited to be under your command.
BUT. . . I'm skeptical. If I were to buy a EG video game, it'd almost be purely because I'm a fan.
Posted by LockeTreaty (Member # 5627) on :
While it's true that the Gamecube doesn't currently utilize online gaming, its not true that it isn't in development. Ways to make the Gamecube go online are currently in devlopment by third party developers. I'm also under the impression that a game based on EG would take multiple years to make. With that assumption in hand it makes me think that the next generation of Gamecube will be in use by its completion, and since Nintendo has been trying to combinr there platform gaming with their portable gaming sytems sense the SNES, it leads me to believe they will continue and improve there dual, handheld and console, system. If you were look at a different system to support the game you would quickly find that the X-box would be inferior to the PS2, because the PS2 has more of a following but it competes for the same audience. And the PC while it has its diehard fans, lacks the interest of many casual gamers. But the main reason that the Game should land on the Nintendo system is because it plays for the young gamers, and it gets almost all of them. And as it has been seen, EG has been most taken in by younger readers. The game would find its audience on the Gamecube. Plus Nintendo has the most experience with 3D graphics taken from rotating camera angles of any console producer.
Posted by JaimeBenlevy (Member # 6222) on :
I think instead of playing as Ender you should make your own character and make the game an RPG so you can try to get your own army or become a toon leader and just try to make your way in battle school and possibly fight in the bugger war if you're good enough. I like that way because it tests everyone to see who would do good in battle school. Alss, make it internet enabled so you can fight your army against people from around the world.
Posted by Xaposert (Member # 1612) on :
quote:A multiplayer game works much better, and can be much larger in scope, if you get everyone on a different screen.
I'd have to disagree with that - the works better part. Games in which users all have different screens end up being far less social, and as a result often far less fun than split-screen multiplayer games.
quote:Xap ... Space Invaders with little doctors? Sounds like a Flash game Think big, man!
Yes... I suppose I forgot games have to be big and flashy these days. So, instead, just take my space inavders idea, make it 3-D with 360 camera angle rotation for complete view of the battlefield, add all sorts of confusing graphics that disrupt gameplay, insert some sort of cheesy storyline with long, slow-loading theatrical sequences during which the user doesn't do anything, and hire P Diddy to write background music. Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
The battle room would be important, is it is a huge chunk of the book, but it would be very hard to do. Perhaps make it RPG like where you gain skills as you play. I think Enders game would be a tough book to turn into a video game. I think the Alvin maker series would be easier to do, simply because his world is not restricted to one space station as Ender's is.
Also, most video games have you killing tons of people...until he wiped out the buggers, Ender only killed two people. It would be and interesting game if done right, but it would be very difficult to do.
Posted by D a r i u s (Member # 6551) on :
If I had the game I wouldnt want to be Ender, Bean or anybody else. I would want to play as just one of the genius kids up there for training. I'd want to be able to make my own decisions while having the story progress like in the book, except having the ability to become my own army commander or something like that. Basically I'd like to see ender and bean in the game and also follow the story as much as possible but not playing from Ender or Beans perspective.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I see a first, second and third invasion "worlds" in a game. First invasion would have the terror of hand to hand combat with buggers in Earth environments, ending with the cleansing of Eros (was that in the first invasion?)
The second invasion would be somewhat of a puzzle game, figuring out which ships to blow up to stall the fleet. You work from the outer Solar system back toward the earth in that one, with the stakes getting higher. This assumes that there is hierarchy within the bugger hive mind. And with each attack they get a little better at hiding.
The third invasion is what is described as the battle simulator with MDDs, where you as commander become, in essence, the hive mind.
As for the fantasy game, I think a lot of the events in C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair are suggestive of the fantasy game. They are kind of lumped together in my brain. And some of the events toward the end of Voyage of the Dawn Treader. When things get really weird.
The roster building aspect of Battle school could be very interesting, especially in interactive online play.
P.S. My background is that I really like Tetris, Tomb Raider (though I prefer the worlds where you aren't mostly shooting humans) and my favorite Mario was 2.
[ May 18, 2004, 12:31 AM: Message edited by: pooka ]
Posted by Gosu (Member # 5783) on :
First of all, a battleroom game would never work. If you made it, then it would have to be a massively multiplayer online game, which costs a lot. But even if you did, there's no point because it would be such a limited game. Sure, there would be some strategy, but that's it. It would make nothing but an average game, and where do you think the prestige of Card's battleroom idea will go?
Secondly, the fantasy game is a brilliant idea but here's the catch: there are about ten ways to do it right, and a thousand to do it wrong. If you made it into just an RPG, it would be horrendous. If you made it with an ending, it would be catastrophic. You need to made the game shifting, and most of all, take out the stupid RPG stuff-an act that is extremely likely to not happen. But the important thing about the fantasy game was both exploration and puzzles. You need to keep creating both. Can it be done with the technology we have today? Perhaps, because Card says so. And yet, Card isn't creating the game.
The best option is to go with a simulator game. But again, there's a catch to this as well. Have any of you ever played StarCraft? Good game, right? Not really. Because it's a phenominal game; the best strategy game ever created. You see, many people don't realize this because they only see the game in the way it was supposed to be played as the programmers thought of it. The possibilities of that game, however, became endless. Some of you who've heard of BoXer, Yellow, or NaDa know this. But StarCraft was one game out of thousands. Can Ender's Game do the same? Are the odds worth it?
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
I want what Tom and Slash want... but multiplayer.
...however, Microsoft delivered that very game with Allegiance many years ago. And you know what? It never took off, because it was too complex for most people. It did, however, garner uniformly excellent reviews and a following so hardcore that the game -- now with the source code released -- is still played.
Posted by Pausanias (Member # 6586) on :
I'd wait and see what the film did with the look of battle school, then make a game based on the film. I'd make it look like the film and use the actors faces on the characters, to tie it in, and I'd have the players be Ender. And it would be in first person for most of the time.
But.
I'd have elements of team building in there. Earn the respect and trust of your army, which gives you access to more daring manoeuvres in the Battle Room. Make sure your army goes to practices to top up that respect and trust - and to pick up tricks and hints about your next battle. Pick the right soldiers to go into the toons based on their personalities versus the Toon leaders' personalities. The giant's drink game would be very very difficult to make into a game, since you already know the steps Ender takes to get to the end of it. Better to have the Battle School environment, see a little of that world, move around it and be in it, walk past other kids talking about who did what to whom in the battle room earlier, and eventually get to the stage where you walk past them, and they're talking about you.
I don't think the Battle Room would have to be / end up like Quake, particularly... the whole setup is different, with a large part of the tactics being deciding how much of yourself to flash for protection, in addition to zero grav (not just low grav). The stars will make things varied, and Bean would come up with extra kit and tactics provided you gave him items before practise sessions.
I think the whole deal could be really cool. but it comes down to the developer having the vision and the publisher being a little restrained in their deadline demands, being prepared to go three or six months over for a quality product.
So it's doomed then.
[ June 02, 2004, 06:29 PM: Message edited by: Pausanias ]
Posted by Enderwillsaveusall (Member # 6227) on :
quote:There is an inherint problem basing a video game on a book that was about a series of very impressive, futuristic video games...
haha hobbes that is the best response yet.
Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :
well, this thread hasnt been posted in a while and i think ill break the silence. The only game that i would consider worthy of EG is an online roleplay game where you are a kid trying to work your way through battle school.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Ooh! Can I be Bonso and try to kill Ender?
Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :
I guess if you name your character Bonzo and try to kill another person who named their character ender. Unless your tlkaing aobut i different game than the one i just mentioned.
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
Like Battle School Mafia? We should do that again. I'll try to be less evil this time. *crosses fingers*
Posted by Chris Kidd (Member # 2646) on :
As far as what could be skipped in the video game, I think I could ignore Peter and the squirrel.
Doesn't seem to be enough action for a video game.
Posted by julian (Member # 6540) on :
Farmgirl:
My answer is a little out of date, I'm afraid. But better late than never.
I'm also more than 40 (and more than 50) but I think video games DO have sense (and even solid arguments). At least some of them do.
The same with movies and books. Some make sense and some don't.
There are video games for all ages and for all kind of people. Graphic adventures, for instance, are almost unknown nowadays. But they still exist. Fewer but better. And I bet that a lot of people, not teenagers, not even young people, that think thay they don't like video games would change their mind if they know, let's say, "Syberia", "The longest journey" or the "Gabriel Knigght" or "Broken sword" sagas.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
OK, no one makes text adventures anymore (sigh)... but I'd love to see a text adventure version of the Giant's Drink. With words, so much can be left to the imagination... and if OSC were to help write it, it could be great...
Posted by Achilles_de_Flandres (Member # 6672) on :
I think I've heard somewhere on the net that they ARE making one about the battleroom. Probably just another rumor.
Posted by Gungnir (Member # 6689) on :
This is my first ever reply posted
Im sean from ireland age 13 huge fan of enders game
Ever since i read the first book i have thought of them making a game of battle scholl the could make it like say championship manager were u say u plan ur stratigies and u make change according to what u do.
Or maybe something like fllet commander with all the games in the game room and battle room similer to ender expirience but from the time when his father should have went. and then u fly the space ship in the final battle of the buggers wars. And ur in the ship that bean controls
make the battle room everything and the could wait till the playstation 3 to release it so it could be so lifelike u acculy thing u were there
Posted by Achilles_de_Flandres (Member # 6672) on :
If the technology will have a sudden boom (most likely not), and if the people who make it don't screw up, I think a Battleroom might work out. Maybe like a Campaign where you start as a Launchie (in the game it won't be too long, like say ten minutes) to get used to the controls and all. Then you are promoted to a randomly selected Army. When you get traded, your new captain promotes you to toon leader, and so on.
Ofcourse, the Third Invasion will be the same or better. Not as much chances of screwing up. But there are already some of these types of games in the market, not a lot, but some. Maybe they can find a way to make it break apart from the big bunch.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
What about a game from the perspective of the Hive Queen?
It would be more strategic and very interesting. At first, you just attack, but over time the "enemy" starts revealing itself as sentient and alien. Then he comes after you, and you have to defend yourself. And you can't win unless you manage to find a way to infiltrate their computer systems. And you have to sacrifice your Homeworld to win.
It would turn everything you know on its head, which would make for an exciting game.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
But anyone who knew the books would know the outcome and there would be no tension... you have to fight these wars even though you know that you ultimately lose them.
Posted by Conquester777 (Member # 6706) on :
that fantasy game would be neat.
and the battle room.
but the truth is, either one made in to a game would be a major disapointment, and I couldn't see it being any good no matter how much I love the books.
Unless you got the same people who make halo, perfect dark or james bond to do a battle room senario.
Or get the people who do banjo and kazooe, etc, to do the fantasy game....
and even then...
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
Well, first of all, if it were coming out next week, then we'd already know what it would have. We'd have already seen the screenshots, read the online previews, and we'd have already pre-ordered the thing.
But seriously, I find it hard to imagine how an Ender's Game . . . uh, game . . . would be any good. The portions of the book that the 'general public' (whoever they are) would expect out of a video game would be precisely the portions that are already hopelessly cliche. Military training. Flying around in space, shooting at aliens. Yawn. The aspects that made Ender's Game stand out from other SF stories of the type, the psychological aspects, wouldn't translate into a game very well.
As for those who want the Fantasy Game . . . well, maybe as a mini-game within the game. Not as the game itself.
I kind of like the thoughts about having a game where you play as a character you create and then try to work your way up through the Battle School, starting as a launchy and moving up, if you're good, to being the leader of your own toon. I think that of all the possibilties, that would be the most promising.
But, how would it end? Would the player take Ender's place in attacking the Bugger homeworld? Or would the player be one of Ender's pilots? It is Ender's Game, after all. If Ender himself isn't a part of it, then you'd have to call it something cheezy like "Orson Scott Card's Battle School".
Ultimately, I suppose I'll have to see the movie before I can know what I think would work best in the game. (Of course, it is going to be based on the movie. I doubt it would be marketable enough without being a movie tie-in. Sure, we OSC fans would buy it, if it looked promising enough; so would the seriously hard-core gamers who would buy it just because gaming is their life. But without having the movie first, who in that vacuous 'general public' demographic would care?)
Ultimately, though, I think the odds are not good that any EG game would be worthy of the name. Of course I hope I'm proven wrong there, since I love Ender's Game and really want to see a great movie and a great game made out of it. I'm just generally a cynic, though; you might as well know that about me right now. But as OSC himself would probably say, a bad game wouldn't erase the book. So I'm not worried . . . much.
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