Multiple Upcoming Games, Movies Based On Jordan's Wheel of Time

Today film studio Red Eagle Entertainment announced plans to establish Red Eagle Games, a studio that will produce games based on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. The games will be developed alongside movie adaptations of the series, which Red Eagle announced a few months ago. They'll be working with Universal on the films. "[Red Eagle producer Rick] Selvage said in an interview that the game company will make a series of games that will be co-launched with the movies. In addition, Red Eagle Games will make a massively multiplayer online game based on the Wheel of Time universe." Wheel of Time fan site 'Dragonmount' recently spoke with Selvage about the movie plans.

Comments

But Can They Do It Justice?

[eldavojohn]

I am surprised as I haven't been following this news since Jordan's death. I will say I am excited as I picked up Eye of the World for a quarter at a used bookstore in high school. I've been a huge fan ever since but have often wondered if there is any possible way a game or movie can do this series justice.

Wheel of Time has such extensive (sometimes laboriously so) plot lines running in tandem and across multiple characters that may not cross for thousands of pages. Can this be set in film successfully? The introspection of the characters when you're seeing things from their points of view ... the political games ... the extensive dream sequences ... keeping the dream world and waygates straight ... so much they could get wrong!

In truth, I wondered the same of George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire & Ice series recently licensed by HBO. I guess we'll see if they can do that series justice as well.

As for the games, I was a bit disappointed with the 1999 version which was basically a Hexen engine playing as an Aes Sedai in one of the Ajahs. A visually pleasing game, though. I certainly hope they do better with The Wheel of Time MMOs & don't dish me another buggy clone like Lord of the Rings or Warhammer.

Red Eagle & Universal, please don't screw this up! Disclaimer: I am a Perrin fan.

Re:But Can They Do It Justice?

[sqlrob]

I remember reading a review of the demo, apparently of someone who hadn't read the books. "Pretty fog effects. Why am I taking damage?" This was in Shadar Logoth. When I played, the reaction was slightly different - "Fog? RUN!!!!".

This game was why I got a 3D accelerator, but it was delayed many, many times. Fun, I finished it, but nothing memorable.

Re:But Can They Do It Justice?

[Verteiron]

The single-player mode of the old WoT game was well-scripted and made good use of effects, but was not otherwise particularly memorable (except for Shadar Logoth, which was creepy as hell and scared me multiple times). The MULTI-player, though... incredible. There was an insane amount of depth to it, because everything (except balefire of course) had a counter. The "TING" sound of a Seeker or Decay locking on to me still makes me twitch. When you'd hear it, you'd start running like mad, trying to find the right shield to absorb it, or better yet, reflect it back at the caster, and all the while it was chasing you, moving faster and faster... then you found someone dropped a Legion right on top of the Unravel. GAH!

Good times.

Re:But Can They Do It Justice?

[butalearner]

Honestly, if they try to turn the book's events into a game, it will probably tank, as per usual. RJ was painfully meticulous in his description of events in the book, and developing a game within such strict limitations will not succeed, at least not with the fans who've read the series on multiple occasions.

What they should really do is set a game earlier than what is described in detail in the books, say when one of the false dragons was around. That way there is plenty of conflict, but the game designers have much more leeway on the events and story in the game.

Re:But Can They Do It Justice?

[Miseph]

Or, even better, run each Age for one year. Give a certain number of random players the potential to become the Dragon, but don't tell anyone who they are, ESPECIALLY the people who might be. Players who are in at the beginning of the Age have a better chance of being the Dragon, ta'veren (although I suppose it would also make sense if ALL players were ta'veren), or at least having some special plot role (ie. they could end up like Moirraine, finding the Dragon or other key players by virtue of their awesomeness), but players who join in partway through benefit from a world which is less of a clusterfuck in terms of nobody having any clue what the hell is happening and being able to just drop in on whatever side they like and have at the powers that be.

Obviously, certain things would have to be put into the game to ensure a given Age goes off interestingly, like reliable ways for people to find the Dragon (or at least potential Dragons), compelling incentives to form in-game factions to support Dragons and ta'veren, and ways to ensure that the "randomly" selected players are unlikely to simply fall off of the planet's face.

I'd also be a big fan of a full reset at the beginning of each age, perhaps with perks given to previous high-level characters, but nothing that cannot be overcome by a talented newcomer. of course, I also just get sick of the perpetual suck of not being one of the first hundred people to sign on and always getting stomped by people who will always be bigger and badder just because they've been around longer.

Realm: Moonrunner Char: Mithrilvar

[negRo_slim]

Red Eagle Games will make a massively multiplayer online game based on the Wheel of Time universe.

Because if there's anything the PC gaming market really needs, it's another MMO.

Re:Realm: Moonrunner Char: Mithrilvar

[PotatoFarmer]

On the other hand, can you think of any other book series so perfectly suited to the MMO genre? At least the developers can claim that the endless grinding through repetitive content, thousands of minor characters nobody cares about, and people constantly coming back after being killed is true to the source material.

Featuring

[Arramol]

Featuring exciting braid-pulling and skirt-smoothing mini-games!

Loot The Copyright!!!

[Ostracus]

"Jordan is barely even cold, the 13th book hasn't been published yet, and everyone is already clambering to get wrist deep into his creative work and exploit it."

Good thing we don't have life plus 70 years so the heirs could defend his "property".

Re:How Many Movies?!?!

[butalearner]

Considering that books 6-10 describe what happens over a span of about 3 days, there won't need to be nearly so many movies.

Re:How Many Movies?!?!

[ronwolf]

You're kidding right? Most of those later books can be compressed into about 14 paragraphs.

Re:How Many Movies?!?!

[Random BedHead Ed]

I wonder how many movies there are going to be? Hopefully I'm still alive when the last one comes out(if they ever wrap the series).

They'll probably start out with a clear story arc and a plan to make six or seven very good films that wow audiences, then just belt out a few extra ones that focus largely on minor characters that viewers don't care about while ignoring the compelling story that got everyone interested in the first place. Universal will then go out of business when there's only one movie left to make, and Paramount will take over and expect us all to believe their conclusion is a valid part of the series.

(If you can't decide whether to mod this funny, mod it insightful or just stomp off and cry into your pile of dead-end hardcovers, you must be a disgruntled Robert Jordan fan.)

You can't finish the game

[Anonymous Coward]

Unfortunately the game is impossible to finish, because it dynamically generates more and more new mini-games, side quests, and bosses as the player gets closer to the end.

Re:how?

[xstonedogx]

Easy.

Jordan goes on and on about setting. Not a problem for film.
Jordan repeats himself over and over regarding character interactions. Easily condensed.
Jordan constantly writes about his characters pulling their braids, smoothing their skirts, etc. They can all do those things at the same time while the story is moving along.
Jordan has described the internal processes of wielding the One Power a million times. In film they'll just replace it with a fancy CGI or call it "metachlorians" (credit a poster above).
Jordan thinks any character ever seen in a book needs a name. They can save about 5 hours just by not naming all their extras.
The last four or so books in the series will probably fit on a single page of the script.
And finally, Jordan didn't finish. There's a good 30 minutes out of the film right there.

Re:How Many Movies?!?!

[filthpickle]

Thanks for the laugh.

I made it thru Crown of Swords...but mainly because of being too stubborn to admit to myself that I was getting sick of it. Had to do a cross country road trip several years later and got the audiobook for Winters Heart thinking I would catch up that way...

Somewhere in Kansas in the middle of the night I decided that it was so tedious and boring that I threw it out the window in disgust. I admit that it might have had something to do with driving thru Kansas...you can't do that alone and stay sane.

I think I reached a point where I just DESPISED every female character in that book.

It would be a miracle if they did it justice

[IdahoEv]

Because "doing it justice" would mean somehow designing a game where the the more you play, the further away end gets!

That would require some impressive new technology, to say the least...