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Book+game sold as a package?
Author
Ok, would this work? Write a book, hopefully a good book. Give it a tragic ending. Make a game that starts out at the same place as the book, but the PC has come back in time somehow, and has to act differently to avert tragedy.
I dunno, just a random though I had...
Cool Idea, the only problem I see is that I''d really wanna play the game, and I might just skip the book if the plots were very similar.
Use the WriteCoolGame() function
Works every time
Use the WriteCoolGame() function
Works every time
The key must be where you change the action in the book to the action in the game. Presumably there are a number of defining events in the story. For example you introduce the characters and the situation - the story starts to unfold - key event (1) takes place - then (2), (3) , (4) and so on.
At which stage does the game start to alter the plot? I would think it would have to be fairly early on as otherwise the player is just running through the storyline. Also the transition would have to be seamless so that the player might be unaware for a few minutes that the storyline had actually changed.
At which stage does the game start to alter the plot? I would think it would have to be fairly early on as otherwise the player is just running through the storyline. Also the transition would have to be seamless so that the player might be unaware for a few minutes that the storyline had actually changed.
my 2 cents:
i think it would be better if the book and game were related, but not actually the same. rather than the person playing the game to change the story from what happened in the book, the game should be a sequel to the book (or a prequel), or use the same characters and world, but have different events.
--- krez (krezisback@aol.com)
i think it would be better if the book and game were related, but not actually the same. rather than the person playing the game to change the story from what happened in the book, the game should be a sequel to the book (or a prequel), or use the same characters and world, but have different events.
--- krez (krezisback@aol.com)
I can think of a couple of instances where a full length novel was packaged along with a PC game. This was usually the case when the PC game was based on the book, and was written by a fairly well-known author (Like Piers Anthony's Companions of Xanth. *shudder*) or at least based on a well-known franchise (Like the gold-box Buck Roger's Games).
Even more numerous are short to medium length graphic novels, short stories, or epic poems (Yes, epic poetry!) along with a game. This thing was a lot more common in the earlier days of gaming than it is now. You think it's bad when programmers draw, try programmer-composed epic poems, with game hints worked in. Ick.
It makes a nice 'bonus' material, but, let's face it, you buy a game to play a game. When I want to read a book, I buy a book and not a game.
It might be nice if they both were published separately, though. Much like how a movie's soundtrack is used as a form of advertisement of the movie (or vice versa, depending on the relative qualities of film and soundtrack)
Edited by - cheesegrater on November 28, 2001 1:59:37 PM
Even more numerous are short to medium length graphic novels, short stories, or epic poems (Yes, epic poetry!) along with a game. This thing was a lot more common in the earlier days of gaming than it is now. You think it's bad when programmers draw, try programmer-composed epic poems, with game hints worked in. Ick.
It makes a nice 'bonus' material, but, let's face it, you buy a game to play a game. When I want to read a book, I buy a book and not a game.
It might be nice if they both were published separately, though. Much like how a movie's soundtrack is used as a form of advertisement of the movie (or vice versa, depending on the relative qualities of film and soundtrack)
Edited by - cheesegrater on November 28, 2001 1:59:37 PM
American McGee''s Alice came with a a little booklet that was supposed to be sort of a background story. Some of the things the characters in the game say makes a lot more sense if you read this little booklet. You can still play and enjoy the game without bothering, but you do get a bit more out of it.
Background stories are common enough. I think one that''s less about what happened in the past and more about what happens under different circumstances would be more original. Me, whenever I play a game that comes with some background stuff, I usually go right into playing and then when I''ve had enough for the day and if I''ve been hooked, then I read the background story.
It''d certainly work and could be very popular if you can hook your audience on the characters and story. The trick I think would be setting it up so that people could read the book before, during, or after the game. (i don''t think publishing it seperatly would work at all.
Background stories are common enough. I think one that''s less about what happened in the past and more about what happens under different circumstances would be more original. Me, whenever I play a game that comes with some background stuff, I usually go right into playing and then when I''ve had enough for the day and if I''ve been hooked, then I read the background story.
It''d certainly work and could be very popular if you can hook your audience on the characters and story. The trick I think would be setting it up so that people could read the book before, during, or after the game. (i don''t think publishing it seperatly would work at all.
How about this: Write the book from one side of the story(good guy or something). And have the game based around the opposite character perhaps archnemisis or something ande try to change the outcome of the ending. I think it might be neat to see both sides of the issue and perhaps play either char.
In the old Indianna Jones games, the little book that came along was your father''s diary, and you had to decipher it alongside the game in order to make the right decisions at key points.
So you might extend that idea, have the book be that story of something that happened a long time ago, written in a language made up of symbols that the player has to collect in order to decipher the book itself.
It''s true that in general you would buy a game to play a game, but I think that as long as the game is written well, this might be a very strong catch-point for players who are willing to work for their games.
George D. Filiotis
Are you in support of the ban of Dihydrogen Monoxide? You should be!
So you might extend that idea, have the book be that story of something that happened a long time ago, written in a language made up of symbols that the player has to collect in order to decipher the book itself.
It''s true that in general you would buy a game to play a game, but I think that as long as the game is written well, this might be a very strong catch-point for players who are willing to work for their games.
George D. FiliotisAre you in support of the ban of Dihydrogen Monoxide? You should be!
The perfect examples of how this should be done are the first two graphic Zork games, Return to Zork and Zork Nemesis.
RTZ came simply with a letter(in the manual's inside cover), telling you that you've won a trip to a beautiful valley and detailing the various activities it has to offer, such as boating, caving, & so on. When you start the game, it plays a nice movie then cuts instantly to the place you were supposed to visit. However, the whole area has been corrupted by evil magic, and is now highly dangerous. The beauty of the letter is that some of the things you do in the game correspond to those it describes, but are now very different. The boat ride takes you one way through rapids into a deadly marsh maze; caving, well, most of the game is set underground, but rather than relaxing on holiday you end up battling all kinds of monsters and dangerous situations. You get the idea.
Nemesis is even better, however. Packaged with that game is the diary of a previous adventurer who has already set out into the forbidden lands, and has described the game locations but failed to actually accomplish anything, finally meeting a grisly death in the game map's central location, a dangerous temple posessed by a demon. The player must start the game (with even less ceremony than RTZ), beginning in the place where his predecessor met his fate. You must then play the game, taking the same route as the adventurer, only backwards, start where he finished and then go back to the places where he failed.
By reading the diary of one who failed, the player will get a sense of what he is about to undertake, but the diary and the hypotheses within it are sufficiently inaccurate that the game and it's puzzles are still made no easier.
These are near perfect examples of how a games included documentation should be.
One other example comes to mind - Alone in the Dark 3. Packaged with that is a faux newspaper clipping, detailing events which culminate in the start of the game (together with a few sarcastic references to the previous games)
I can think of a few other freebies that games had too. One text adventure, probably not Zork but still set underground, came with a lump of rock (whee!).
Brian Moriarty's Trinity came with a model sundial, a replica of the whole game world's magnificent centerpiece (play the game and see, it's mind bogglingly beautiful)
I agree with those who say that these things are far from essential, but they are a nice touch and any designer with a sense of fun should try to do something like it, although I think a whole novel is a bit exceessive.
These things can be profitable though. I think I saw a company on the internet once that sold replica props and set pieces from Cyan's Riven, for a quite insane amount of money! We're talking thousands of pounds, if I remember correctly.
Edited by - Captain Insanity on November 30, 2001 1:54:08 PM
RTZ came simply with a letter(in the manual's inside cover), telling you that you've won a trip to a beautiful valley and detailing the various activities it has to offer, such as boating, caving, & so on. When you start the game, it plays a nice movie then cuts instantly to the place you were supposed to visit. However, the whole area has been corrupted by evil magic, and is now highly dangerous. The beauty of the letter is that some of the things you do in the game correspond to those it describes, but are now very different. The boat ride takes you one way through rapids into a deadly marsh maze; caving, well, most of the game is set underground, but rather than relaxing on holiday you end up battling all kinds of monsters and dangerous situations. You get the idea.
Nemesis is even better, however. Packaged with that game is the diary of a previous adventurer who has already set out into the forbidden lands, and has described the game locations but failed to actually accomplish anything, finally meeting a grisly death in the game map's central location, a dangerous temple posessed by a demon. The player must start the game (with even less ceremony than RTZ), beginning in the place where his predecessor met his fate. You must then play the game, taking the same route as the adventurer, only backwards, start where he finished and then go back to the places where he failed.
By reading the diary of one who failed, the player will get a sense of what he is about to undertake, but the diary and the hypotheses within it are sufficiently inaccurate that the game and it's puzzles are still made no easier.
These are near perfect examples of how a games included documentation should be.
One other example comes to mind - Alone in the Dark 3. Packaged with that is a faux newspaper clipping, detailing events which culminate in the start of the game (together with a few sarcastic references to the previous games)
I can think of a few other freebies that games had too. One text adventure, probably not Zork but still set underground, came with a lump of rock (whee!).
Brian Moriarty's Trinity came with a model sundial, a replica of the whole game world's magnificent centerpiece (play the game and see, it's mind bogglingly beautiful)
I agree with those who say that these things are far from essential, but they are a nice touch and any designer with a sense of fun should try to do something like it, although I think a whole novel is a bit exceessive.
These things can be profitable though. I think I saw a company on the internet once that sold replica props and set pieces from Cyan's Riven, for a quite insane amount of money! We're talking thousands of pounds, if I remember correctly.
Edited by - Captain Insanity on November 30, 2001 1:54:08 PM
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