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Biblically Themed RPG Discussed
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to an RPGRadar interview with the creators of biblically themed PC RPG Eon Of Tears. This title, which the makers stress is not "..an edutainment title or a game under the pro-Catholic banner" is set to "show known events in a new, fantasy light." The main concept behind this early-in-development Evillusion-developed RPG is that the player will "...get a shot at the biggest events in the Bible: unleashing the ten plagues of Egypt, seeing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, leading the conquest of Canaan, or performing some of the miracles as Jesus Christ", and it's intended that your game actions affect your playable characters - "..a player that acts evil most of the time won't get to play Jesus, but Judas instead, or a Pharaoh's troop commander instead of Moses."
This seems like a pretty lame idea to me. I just can't see how it would work. Christians will probably be offended, and non-Christians probably just won't be that interested.
I didn't know Ned Flanders was even interested in computer games.
Now, what does it take to become the biblical figure 'Lot' and have my hot daughters get me drunk and have sex with me in a cave.
What? Don't call ME sick, its in the bible!
Photos.
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Gentlemen...BEHOLD!
-Dr. Weird
This'll never work. We already know what happened.
And people still don't get it.
The message on the other side of this sig is false.
On The Simpsons, in the episode where Maude Flanders dies, Bart was ordered my Marge to cheer up Rod and Todd. Bart wanted to play video games, and the only one that the Flanders boys had was "Billy Graham's Bible Blasters" when you had to 'convert the heathens'. By shooting them, they turned into Christians. ;)
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10. Hey buddy, stop whining that you can't come back! Resurrection only happens in the Hindu RPG.
9. Wow! I just found the flying-nun habit! Now I can fly over the mountains.
8. That does it, I refuse to play this anymore; it does not fit with Baptist doctrine.
7. "That wasn't Lot's wife. That was MY wife!"
6. Quick, tell me. Is a gander a goose, or another species? I've got to fill this ark right away
5. Way k00l, if you can walk on it, water is no obstacle anymore.
4. Who turned everyone in this domain into pillars of salt?
3. Ark of the Covanent does 56 points of damage
2. Who died and elected you Pope?
1. I didn't kill you; I just sent you to Heaven
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
But I'm more of a 6-week-Roman-orgy & throwing-christians-to-the-lions kind of guy. I guess I won't be Jesus either... but hey - who wants to (relive) wander(ing) around in the desert with a bunch of nerds...
--
"we live in a post-ideological world..." - Billy Bragg.
... a player that acts evil most of the time won't get to play Jesus...
So if you go into the temple to open a can of whoopass on the moneylenders, is that good or evil?
mods metamodded as "Unfair"
..show known events... From the Bible, which ones are those then?
"Watch the skies, keep watching the skies"
If someone gets to play Jesus, and does something bad, does that player automatically become Judas? That doesn't make sense to me. It's hard enough wanting to be interested in a Bible video game without the added frustration of having the rug pulled out from under you by contstant character changes.
I mean, we know what happens at the end. Unlike other RPGs, where the ending may not be what we expect. I mean, is it really gonna let you do different things like have Noah just goof and not build the ark. Then, die with everyone else when the world gets flooded. Or, have Adam say, "No thanks, I'm good." When Eve offers the fruit from the tree of knowlege? Probably not.
One way I could imagine the game is like Eternal Darkness. Play a different person in a different time period.
1. As Adam, name everything differently as you wish. See the ramifications in the future, during other adventures. IE, name females 'chick' instead of 'women'.
2. As Noah, round animals from all around the world. Possible FPS action with arrows or tranquilzer darts.
3. As Moses, flee Egypt. When the red sea parts, start a 'Metroid-esque' counter, so you know how fast you gotta get outta there.
And on and on.
What, me Tweet?
Why not make an Islamic-based Religous RPG? Go through years and find how they de-evolved
Why not pull your head out of your ass. if you don't like it, don't buy it.
Massively Multiplayer Christian Role Playing Game:
"But I'm Moses..."
"Peter hasn't logged on in ages."
"I'm YAD: Yet Another Disciple. When can I be someone cool?"
"Satan is the biggest PKer evar!!!!11"
You know, that won't work. I'll have to wait and see how Star Wars: Evercrack does.
If I had something intelligent to say, I would have said it.
This post was not offtopic; don't mod what you can't read.
I consider myself a Christian and there's certainly some great material from the Bible to build a video game around, but that title has got to go. It's like they're TRYING to live up to the Catholic=depressing stereotype from the movie 'Dogma'. I'd much prefer a title that evokes the spirit of forgiveness or spiritual fulfillment, and I'm sure Generic Gamer X (whatever he believes) would as well.
From hell's heart I fstab at /dev/hdc
If you play evil, and are cast as a minion of the Pharoah or as Judas... do they let you win?
If so, I am all over this game.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
Hm. Reading through the posts, it occurs to me that people are dogging the concept of this game before even trying it. I dunno, I'm just not a natural born cynic I guess, but I try not to evaluate products or people before having had a chance to play with them. ;)
.02, and I honor refunds.
Has anybody tried it? Or are you allowing your conclusions of what the Bible is cloud your objectivity? Maybe each should be evaluated on their own merits; not by accepting pre-conceived notions, but by examining the source material. This seems to work for me in a lot of areas aside from theology and/or game evaluation.
That's my
We all get along together like tornadoes and trailer parks.
The comment about doing evil things preventing you from playing Jesus makes me wonder: how many Jesuses were they planning to allow?
"I'm a 10th level Jesus, just got my first disciple! How do I get him to go aggro again?."
Sig under construction since 1998.
and if so are you the whore the church turned her into or one the disciples and Jesus' wife?
As opposed to finding how Catholicism "de-evolved"?
i'm just suprised the makers of the game will allow you to make evil choices. it just may be me, but i thought christianity taught people how to make good choices, etc etc. it seems like the game flow would be more forced to reenforce teachings and there only be pseudo-choices that lead you to one inevitable ending, neo.
Oh, so they want to "show known events in a new, fantasy light."
For a lot of people, that's not a "new" light in which to view events like the parting of the red sea, the Creation, etc. etc..
The Bible is a collection of stories gathered over thousands of years, some drawn from different cultures and myths of earlier religions. The different elements of the Creation story are almost all drawn directly from the Creation myths of cultures that existed long be Judaism. Some of them certainly had some basis in fact, somewhere along the way... but not most.
No, the Song of Solomon is not about Jesus' loving relation to the Church. It's poetry that was included because of its cultural value. No, there was no flood that wiped out ALL LIFE on Earth except what was in Noah's boat (though there may have been a big flood).
I have no problem with people seeking wisdom in the Bible; there's a lot of stuff in there, and some of it is bound to be helpful. Jesus (from what we can tell) had some interesting ideas.
Ah, that's enough ranting. Anyway, I can't imagine a way to cast this game to make it acceptable to any mass audience. People tend to be very specific about their faith -- and some will be offended by the idea that some gamer can play Jesus, some will be offended by variations in the game from the "official" script, and some will simply shy away from religious overtones.
There are only 10 types of people: those who understand decimal, those who don't, and, uh, 8 other types I forget.
As a personal note I was raised Baptist, Trained Catholic ( Jesuit schools) Ordained Anglican, been a boardmember on a few Methodist churches and commities. OK now that I have established some of where I am coming from :
First the above post is not flamebait.
Second it is self-contradictory as he complains that a game such as this trivializes the Bible ( which I agree) and then says "The rest of the bible is unprovable".
Thirdly There is the suggestion that Christianity has devolved ( vis his suggestion of the same for islam) I belive this to be true from his perspective but while chritianity had gone through many changes Christianity has not, rather it is the fullfillment of Judaism. as Jesus never claimed to be a Christian but did prove Himself to be ha Moshiach ( the Messiah, in greek the Christ).
Finally Now the games/ gaming company itself. This company seems to be playing up on the heretical "Word-Faith" movement, who have brought us such memmorable tennants as the bible code, and belive it be it. As with any mythos there is a lot that can be explored, my issue with it is that quite honestly people are easily confused between myth/fantasy and reality/truth in story telling, and that it guises itself in a veil of truth while being false.
With that i think I will start my first log entry feel free to drop by my page here on slashdot later today or early tomarrow to see it and comment.
Fortunately I wont let my Karma run over my Dogma
Bad Panda! No Bamboo for you! In matters of importance ACs will not be responded to. Want to say something critical,OK
"show known events in a new, fantasy light."
I thought it was all a fantasy anyway?
I think they meant that if you made evil choices earlier in the game you'd become Judas rather than Jesus (and probably predominantly evil choices at that). If you performed evil acts as Jesus, it'd probably just lead to a different ending rather than to changing characters.
-PainKilleR-[CE]
I'm surprised that the knee-jerk reaction here has been so negative. Although "themed" or inspired RPGs are usually a disappointment (and I expect this one to be no different) the idea to base something off of the Bible is not a bad idea. There is a reason why it is easily the most popular book of all time (and sells quite well even today). The stories are time proven classics and many recognizable by nearly everyone, Christian or not. Christian / Biblical themes are very powerful and are well used today - love, sacrifice, redemption, etc. I, for one, think that if properly done and with a little bit of literary license you could make an amazing game - even with the player already knowing the conclusion.
http://www.talknerdy.org
a player that acts evil most of the time won't get to play Jesus
So if I act really, reealy Evile(tm) can I play Satan?!
Market that option in the game and I'm sure sales will go up.
Lets see, we've had Black & White, and the upcomming Jason vs Freddie sounds a lot like Jason vs. Goliath. So are we looking at the next big gaming hit here: "Satan vs. Jesus" ?
"Engineers do the work of man, Physicists do the work of God"
The biggest problem is going to be people who get angry at the idea of changing or trivializing the bible, as seen in other posts. The reason for this is that games like this one seem to give no more credance to the Christian bible than most people would to stories about the siege of Troy. The developers of this game are (probably) about as concerned of Lucifer in hell or God in heaven as they are of being blasted by Zeus for not pouring libations.
Once you get past the idea that it might or might not be real, Christian mythology is filled with plots that can be taken and turned into darn good yarns or games.
This game seems alright. I think I'll get a copy.
Hoist Number One and Number Six.
Has anyone thought of checking the site to see what description they have for the game. I did and here it is:
;)
Eon of Tears, a biblical-fantasy RPG, is based on the premise that there is a Bible Code that gives a special power to those who can harness it. The main objective is to learn how to decode it and understand its power. After going through different periods of time, from the very Creation to the End of Times, learning the true meaning of the Bible and facing all kinds of creatures, you have the ultimate choice of using that power to help save the world or destroy it.
In EoT, players will accomplish several quests in order to accumulate special powers and wisdom. The game will offer a chance to learn and reflect on life, death, and destiny. Eon of Tears is aimed at a mature audience, offering a mix of Survival Horror through its gameplay and traditional RPGs with its actions.
Looking at that, the game sounds like it might well be a damn good romp. If they don't fall into the dumb it down trap and look to make something that's visually impressive, has coherent controls and isn't too preachy or boring in terms of story they might have gold. For a moment, upon looking at that description, I had a slight flash of Eternal Darkness(which I loved), though similarities are minor.
And to answer a previous questioner, it seems that you will be able to be evil and win the game, so to speak. Personally, I'd like to see an end game cinematic for general world destruction. Might they actually play out the events that lead up to the biblical end of days? If so that could get delightfully graphic.
Kalen D'arrie
This entire concept leaves this image in my head of Ranier Wolfcastle as Jesus with a machine gun and flamethrower shouting in ancented English "Ressa-a-rect me nooow you da-ty coooomie pharose!"
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
It sounds fun and i mean that in all seriousness. If this isnt aimed at making me a bible thumper thats great, the bible taken as JUST A STORY is pretty intresting, the wiping out of man kind, parting sea's with holy powers, saving a people, fucking the first virgin EVER (!) and the thing about being jesus, christ (pun intended) come on folks, all the bitches love jesus. Good story makes an RPG most of the time, right?
Just today I was thinking that there is supposedly a tree of life (not the one Adam and Eve ate from, the 2nd "uber-tree") still growing in the heaven. Why not make a futuristic shooter with Deus Ex-style nanotech and cool weapons? In it you will go to the heaven to take the tree of life by force from God, fighting all sorts of scary angelic creatures (seraphims, cherubs, etc.). Sounds like a winning idea to me...
Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
The Buddhist RPG would have resurrection too, but the only way to win the game would be to break the cycle of resurrection by unplugging your computer.
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THis is actually sort of an interesting Idea really. Although I suspect like most "christian" software the intent wouldn't be to create an enjoyable game but rather preach a message which seems a waste because the only people that are going to buy the game already agree with the Jesus stuff.
THis sounds a bit like the game play that was intialy planned for "Eternal Darkness".
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
>>>You accidently wrote "unprovable" instead of "contradictory and fantastical".
No, I didnt mistake it. Contradictory in the english versions, yes. I've never read the original manuscrpts so I cannot state those are as you say. Only if proof is found to validate certain events that are "Mystical", they will be believed only by the belivers of this faith.
For example, if a nebula/dwarf was found that exploded at 1 AD, would be proof that a star supernova'ed. However, Chinese records show no unnatural phemonon in the sky. Nor do most other cultures who kept star charts.
And to answer your other question, Yes. Catholics put sciences back by 500 or so years by demanding that obsolete views were the chrchs sanctioned and ONLY views. That goes against what I believe as a scientist. I also believe that Islam has stayed at the same level of socieial acceptance as they were in 1400 AD. But evn then, they accepted other religions. Now, they lack even that tolerance.
They're even worse than Chinese with religous matters, as the Chinese believe religion "Is the opiate of the people". Of course, the do accept Buddhaism(?) as much of the population acceps it, and they have non-violence teachings.
Yours are better than mine!
How about "yo d00d. I'm Moses_287 because Moses_1 through _286 were already taken"
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Finally, an MMORPG that you type "OMG!" and you actually get a response from G.
In Poland someone wrote a game called Ja Jestem (in polish) (I am) based on biblical stories. It is non-violent adventure game in polish, and it was sold in more than 10000 copies (at least producers says so). The game had poor reviews in newspapers, but i haven't heard any Christian who would be offended by the idea (some of them were offended by quality of the game).
Let he who is without sin cast the first Magic Missile.
The responses to this story disappoint me. It shows why very few - if any at all - games ever address spirituality within the context of a video game.
That's sad, because it's an issue I'd like to see more of in gaming. I was thrilled when I read that Sid Meier's dream game (or was it Will Wright?) is recreating the missionary journey of Paul the Apostle.
What do the one-liner quips and kneejerk "The Bible isn't true" prove? Only that it may not necessarily be the gaming industry that's immature, but rather the recipients. Shame on you, for not seeing above your own isolinear views and beliefs to see the potential artistic creativity that could very well ensue if that same attitude didn't exist, be it towards Christian religion or otherwise. It's plainly much more shallow than anyone attempting a spiritual/religious oriented game.
I remember when oldmanmurray.com actually existed, one of their favorite games was that Christian first person shooter. Ironic that they were obviously more mature than most of the posters here.
I've always wanted to do that, since I look to the bible for 'right behavior'
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Goliath II(Nelson) throws a fish skeleton out of the window.
As the fish skeleton hits the ground...
David (Bart): "No!...Jonah!"
Actually the guests were the angels that visited, and it was customary that you treat your guests better than your own family.
The message on the other side of this sig is false.
For example, if a nebula/dwarf was found that exploded at 1 AD, would be proof that a star supernova'ed. However, Chinese records show no unnatural phemonon in the sky. Nor do most other cultures who kept star charts.
The star of Bethlehem was miraculous in nature, I think, some sort of moving light, and not an ordinary celestial body as you suggest. The star pointed out a particular building to the Magi, which an ordinary star or celestial body would not.
Catholics put sciences back by 500 or so years by demanding that obsolete views were the chrchs sanctioned and ONLY views.
That's not true. First of all, the Church kept European civilization alive in the West after the fall of the Roman Empire. Second, the Church preserved much ancient knowledge that would otherwise have been lost (sort of like in "A Canticle for Leibowitz"), and even organized it into a more useful form. Third, many scientists were Catholic clergymen, so in this sense the Catholic leadership sped up scientific progress (for example, the Big Bang idea came from a French priest, I think). Fourth, the only example of what you suggest that I can think of is Galileo, and he had no conclusive proof of what he claimed. His theory had already been suggested by others, but he got in trouble for insisting that it be accepted as a fact when in was still only hypothetical at that time. It was only about two hundred years later that parallax showed that the earth moved in its orbit against the background of stars. Once there was proof, heliocentricity was accepted.
In the middle ages the catholic church was too busy killing people (inquisition, albigensian crusades) in europe to do any science other than how to torture people who didn't buy into their heresies.
The Church did not kill people. It was the various states in question that did so, because heretics were considered a threat to the state. This is especially true in the case of the Albigensians.
Paul wasn't interested in teaching popular topics. He taught things the way he believed it was, and so do I - males were created first, and the female was created for the man. Men should always have authority over women (unless a man gives the woman authority - in which case it is still ultimately under a man's authority).
Why should we apologise for Paul's teachings? Just because you don't agree, or because equal rights movements are popular today, doesn't mean they are correct.
Paul certainly did not hate women. The early Christians were much more accepting of woman than most others. I heard of one time when female children were "thrown away", so the Christians would take them and raise them up. Just because we believe men were created above women does not mean we think they (you?) are worthless. Not even close. It said that God created woman as a partner comparable to man. Something comparable is not worthless.
Your statement is just a blanket insult that veils a misunderstanding or deliberate distortion of Paul's teachings in an effort to discredit Christianity, which I am guessing you have a particular bias against.
I see you've managed to miss the entire point of that part of the Bible. *shrug* No skin off my back.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
I found the scripture I was looking for.
... in a very brutal and terrible way.
Psalm 137, verses 8 and 9. From the NIV:
8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you
for what you have done to us-
9 he who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.
In context, it's a little better than I remember it being. My recollection was that this was supposed to be the word of God, or at least the word of a prophet. Instead, the Psalmist is retelling a story of how the Jews' captors tormented them and asked them for songs of joy, and how they had no songs of joy, because they were in exile. Their only joy was in hoping that someone would someday avenge them
I was brought up to believe, "All scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching," etc (2 Tim 3:16, give or take translation). So, it was easy for me as a young adult to read this and be horrified that the Psalmist was inspired by God to wish for the death of the Babylonian infants.
I maintain my belief that the vengeful God of the OT is no model for any kind of morality.
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The Greek letter Chi, the first letter of the word "Christ" -- "Christos" is identical to the letter "X."
The Greek abbreviation for "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior," in Greek, "Iesous Christos, Theou Huios, Soter" ends up spelling the Greek word for fish IChThUS hence the use of that icon.
Don't feel bad; a lot of contemporary Christians don't know Greek, and are kinda blank on history and see this usage as a slag when in fact it's a widely-used and entirely respectful abbreviation. I have several close relatives who are extremely devout, daily students of the Bible who thought that the fish symbol was primarily because of some disciples' occupations and a choice turn of phrase by the Big I.X.