Firefly game optioned yet? by Tachyon

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Firefly game optioned yet?

POSTED BY: TACHYON
UPDATED: Wednesday, September 8, 2004 07:44
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Friday, September 3, 2004 8:27 AM

Firefly is obviously a natural for a computer game, a ship/first-person hybrid, why haven't we heard any news about exploitation of this avenue? I for one would buy it in a hot second, and I'd be itching to make one if I had the means.

What we need here is something like Freelancer or X2, but set in the Firefly universe. We need a first or third-person engine because most of the action is going to be face to face character driven conflict. We need a ship-conflict engine because flying around is the heart and soul of the outer rim frontier. Maybe we could depart from canon slightly and create a variety of other craft for the player to operate at various phases of the game, say if the plot circumstances compel the player to undertake certain actions apart from the Serenity itself.

Plotlines are obvious, such a game would focus on one or two main plots and a number of subplots where we might delve a little deeper into the factions of the rim, such as what happened to the Independents after their loss, who are the other political presences of the Rim, what it's like far beyond the rim where there are basically no people at all. The galaxy is an infinite badlands, and a lot of desperate stories can be placed there without them ever having to rub elbows with established/future plot threads.

So what's the word on this? With a movie coming out, there's going to be the publicity that makes stuff like this possible, and there are enough Flight Sim/Privateer/Elite/Freelancer/X2 fanatics around to make sure it's not just a cash-in if it does happen.

Joss, get on the ball, there's money to be made here. You've got to have tie-ins if you want your feature to be a financially successful event. A game is a golden match with the concept, and it would be a pity to pass up the opportunity.

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Friday, September 3, 2004 10:50 AM

GRRARRG

there must be somebody on here who's played Escape Velocity. It's a 3rd person game, but there's so much room to explore and develop. And it really is perfectly alligned for the plot of firefly - the whole point of the game is to keep flying, taking whatever jobs you can get (legal and illegal), taking on passengers, and sometimes getting caught in a developed string of missions.

I've never tried to make a plug-in, but maybe somebody would be interested in making one for Firefly. Shouldn't be too much trouble, since the mythology hasn't been developed that much - make the necessary changes about the government, add the planets that we know, add a couple ships, and leave the rest alone. Add a mission string about picking up a well-dressed passenger with a big box and an old shepard, and you've got our show.

Seriously, if anyone here has the know-how, it'd be great even to have a plug-in for Firefly class ships.

I mock you with my monkey pants

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Friday, September 3, 2004 12:21 PM

DAIKATH

I have thought about it before but Mal never gets new parts for Serenity so that woudl't feel right.

The thing wich struck me as Firefly were all the personalities and the relations between them. To me if you take that way it aint no Firefly, so unless there is a way to introduce those character, their stories and their growth to me it wont be anything but a Elite clone with a Firefly paintjob.

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Friday, September 3, 2004 1:52 PM

SERGEANTX

Quote:
Originally posted by Daikath:
I have thought about it before but Mal never gets new parts for Serenity so that woudl't feel right.

The thing wich struck me as Firefly were all the personalities and the relations between them. To me if you take that way it aint no Firefly, so unless there is a way to introduce those character, their stories and their growth to me it wont be anything but a Elite clone with a Firefly paintjob.

Well put Daikath. I can't imagine any of the games that are currently popular capturing anything at all like the feel of Firefly. Pretty much every game out there is, in one form or another, a superhero game. You're always playing some character with the abilities and equipment to mow down all opposition, if not in the beginning it's always where you end up.

Some older games actually focused on the whole Freetrader element, with players scoring cargo and speculating on trade goods. Something like that, with opportunities for crime thrown in, might fill the bill.

I'd also like to see a multiplayer game that actually stressed the 'crew' aspect that is so central to the series. I'm playing a MMORPG call Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates, that actually does this quite well. Players fill specific roles on a ship and must work together to achieve any kind of success.

Tone would be very important as well. The just-getting-by feel was a very refreshing part of the show and something that usually doesn't get stressed in a PC game. Usually you end up swimming in awesome weapons and pumped up stats that make you invulnerable to all but the nastiest villains. Remember that our crew of heroes, admirable as they are, were at a disadvantage fighting against an old lady on horseback.

Given that game manufacturers seem intent on marketing solely to fourteen year old boys, I really don't have much hope for any of the above coming to light, but I'd definitely take an interest if it did.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

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Friday, September 3, 2004 3:01 PM

LITTLEMANLOVESFIRE

Quote:

Given that game manufacturers seem intent on marketing solely to fourteen year old boys

I work in gaming, and I find that comment ill-informed and very outdated. Many modern games are rich, complex and artistic and certainly not the boobs, cars and guns games you're thinking of.

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Friday, September 3, 2004 3:18 PM

SERGEANTX

Quote:
Originally posted by Littlemanlovesfire:
Quote:

Given that game manufacturers seem intent on marketing solely to fourteen year old boys

I work in gaming, and I find that comment ill-informed and very outdated. Many modern games are rich, complex and artistic and certainly not the boobs, cars and guns games you're thinking of.

Really? Great! Which ones? I confess to not keeping up as well as I once did. It seemed that the games were all pretty much just rehashes of the same old stuff. I'd love to find something more. What do you have in mind?

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

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Friday, September 3, 2004 3:40 PM

SIGMANUNKI

As a programmer I've toyed with the idea of making a Firefly game. But a couple of things stop me.

First I have no story line. Second it takes a *long* time to make one. ie Vega Strike started at the beginning of 2001 and currently has 45 developers listed. That's a lot of man power to produce a workable project, which, again, I don't have. Lastly, it is extremly hard to make your code so general that people can just tack on a new mission/planet/city plus I/we would have to make those programs as well so people *could* make those add-ons.

Basically, it's a gigantic project that would be probamatic at best to start for just 1 or 2 people.

All that being said, I think that this universe would lend itself readily to a MMOG. Which is why I was quite excited to hear that there is a MUSH starting (from what they've said) within the next month or 2. Here's the link:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=17&t=6015

That'll have to do, at least for now.

----
"Canada being mad at you is like Mr. Rogers throwing a brick through your window." -Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

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Friday, September 3, 2004 5:17 PM

SERGEANTX

Sigmanunki,

Have you played Puzzle Pirates? Its a MMORG that would work great as a jumping off point for a FF game.

http://www.puzzlepirates.com

Anybody else played this one?

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

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Saturday, September 4, 2004 10:54 AM

CYBERSNARK

Quote:
Originally posted by Daikath:
I have thought about it before but Mal never gets new parts for Serenity

I'd imagine that after "Out of Gas" Mal goes through a phase of buying up every part and bit of tech equipment Kaylee glances at.

Let's face it, if Mal's anything like any of us, he'll spend the next little while frantically locking and double-bolting the proverbial barn door.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Saturday, September 4, 2004 11:11 AM

DAIKATH

Maybe, but we never see anyting like improved engines or weapons and new weapons are an integral part of the Elite gameplay.

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Saturday, September 4, 2004 1:15 PM

FIREFLEW

Quote:
Originally posted by SergeantX:

Really? Great! Which ones? I confess to not keeping up as well as I once did. It seemed that the games were all pretty much just rehashes of the same old stuff. I'd love to find something more. What do you have in mind?

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

Well, for starters - also, not all related to Firefly:

Deus Ex
Baldur's Gate 2
Morrowind
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Planescape: Torment - if you want a game to blow you away with a great storyline, great character progression, then seek this one out.

Only a few, there are many more - anyone care to add any choices?

___________________________________
Jayne: "Know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I beat you with till you understand who's in command."

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Saturday, September 4, 2004 2:11 PM

KINGOFKOINS

Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid 2
Max Payne 2
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Shenmue
Shenmue 2

--------------------------------
It's sickening how comforting the privacy of the mind can be.
"Bible's broken; contradictions, false logistics. Doesn't make sense." - River
http://stripe.filetap.com

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Sunday, September 5, 2004 5:48 AM

DAIKATH

There is always Worms World Party of course :), yhis one is of the Dreamcast version.

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Sunday, September 5, 2004 11:02 AM

SIGMANUNKI

Quote:
Originally posted by SergeantX:
Sigmanunki,
Have you played Puzzle Pirates? Its a MMORG that would work great as a jumping off point for a FF game.

Just check it out. Man they look like lego people, eh?

Seriously though, it is nice to see something inovative these days. All the games that I've seen (save this one) have the same old look, etc.

But it did take them about 2 years to put it all together for the first release with full time workers.

A Firefly game will always be in the back of my mind working in the background. Maybe someday it'll produce something, but right now - unfortunatly - I know that I don't have the resources to make it work.

----
"Canada being mad at you is like Mr. Rogers throwing a brick through your window." -Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

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Tuesday, September 7, 2004 9:06 AM

TACHYON

I think a Firefly game would use a plot device to put them neatly back where they started no matter what they had gone through to get to that point. I mean, sure, Mal can get rich or own a variety of ships towards a plot goal, as long as once that plot goal is accomplished, that wealth dissolves, the opportunities evaporate, and he and everyone else is back where they started from.

If the plot goal is to just get out of the circumstance alive, then that's reasonable, and it's not even very hard to write for. Any writer worth their salt can come up with any number of plausible reasons that modifications to the Serenity might need to be removed and discarded (uses a special ammunition that isn't available anymore, etc), or why any ancillary ships or cash might no longer be under the control of the player after the plot resolution.

Really, the heart of any game is going to be in the writing. I've been whiling away a few hours this weekend playing Star Control 2, re-released as a freeware game called "The Ur-Quan Masters", and that game really presses home the point. NONE of the graphics, NONE of the glamour of past games, but still fun, still interesting because of its intricate story and whimsical writing.

All you need is a compelling plot, good character dialog (up to the level that we're used to for the series) and you could even make a good Firefly game using the near-deceased "Adventure" format, the game itself is just the framework for the story, the body that the writing uses to get itself across to the viewer.

So, a concept, a story, an outline, a script of dialog trees and trigger events, and then the game itself is just a formality.

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Tuesday, September 7, 2004 11:37 AM

LINDLEY

Quote:

there must be somebody on here who's played Escape Velocity. It's a 3rd person game, but there's so much room to explore and develop. And it really is perfectly alligned for the plot of firefly - the whole point of the game is to keep flying, taking whatever jobs you can get (legal and illegal), taking on passengers, and sometimes getting caught in a developed string of missions.

I've never tried to make a plug-in, but maybe somebody would be interested in making one for Firefly. Shouldn't be too much trouble, since the mythology hasn't been developed that much - make the necessary changes about the government, add the planets that we know, add a couple ships, and leave the rest alone. Add a mission string about picking up a well-dressed passenger with a big box and an old shepard, and you've got our show.

Seriously, if anyone here has the know-how, it'd be great even to have a plug-in for Firefly class ships.

Working on it. Got the universe mostly done.

See my thread:
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=3998

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Tuesday, September 7, 2004 2:28 PM

FORRESTWOLF

May I just say that Star Control and Star Control 2 were some of my absolute favorite games ever?

I spent a LOT of time playing Star Con 1 during freshman year at college on a 286...ah...the good old days. I loved the Arilou; used to drive my friend nuts, who played the Ur-Quan (that fight used to take a very, very long time).

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Tuesday, September 7, 2004 5:03 PM

TACHYON

FYI Post:

Star Control 2 can be downloaded for free (Newly retitled "The Ur-Quan Masters") from this address:

http://sc2.sourceforge.net/

I've been playing through it and it seems pretty much complete! It even has multiplay for duels by sharing a keyboard. Feel free to email or message me with questions.

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Tuesday, September 7, 2004 5:58 PM

THATWEIRDGIRL

i love me some firefly, but i hope it doesn't go to game. When stories and characters are forced into a game environment, bad things usually happen. There are some great games out there. They just rarely are inspired by a movie, tv show, or comic book. those turn out bad. it's true. So I hope that gaming and firefly stay at the fan level. Plugins and such i like.

Sorry I'm such a downer. I am no expert, so take me for what I'm worth. I am not a big gamer girl, I just enjoy the occasional play. The last game I played was pikmin2. So I am not terribly cool either.

www.thatweirdgirl.com

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Wednesday, September 8, 2004 7:44 AM

TACHYON

I disagree, of course.

But I know what you're talking about, the dreaded "cash-in", which definitely happens more often then I really want to think about. *shudder*

But I argue that it's not inevitable. Lots of games match or transcend their source material. Look at "Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay" for example, the game has gone on to garner popular and critical kudos as an example of excellence, while the movie sank like a stone. (Vin Diesel owns the game studio, maybe that has something to do with it, hmm)

A game just need a strong creative vision to succeed, a managerial presence that knows how to separate the wheat from the chaff. It's definitely not a forgone conclusion that it would be a cheap cash-in that weakly represents the series and characters that we know and love.

I play a lot of games, and yes, I know the danger. But I also know that it's not inevitable. A good team can create gaming gold if they dare to succeed. They just need to focus, respect and love the source material, take the time needed to understand the themes and characters, then produce something that reflects excellence in every aspect.

It's possible, but it would have to be taken on faith, you've got to believe in it. Just like the movie - who knows how good it's going to be? You've just got to have faith.

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