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A Game of Thrones RTS Game Released, RPG On the Way
Game development studio Cyanide launched their real-time strategy interpretation of George R. R. Martin's acclaimed fantasy series A Game of Thrones yesterday. You can see a trailer and a few screenshots if you're so inclined. Cyanide also confirmed one of their other offices is working on a completely different RPG based on the series as well. It's still a ways out, but they say it will be "Mass Effect-style," and will pick up at the start of the first book. "True to the style of Martin's books, it will tell the story of two different characters, switching back and forth between them as their tales move alongside the events of the first book (and occasionally intersect with one another). None of the characters from the book will be playable, though the game's protagonists will cross paths with plenty of familiar faces over the course of the game."
A book, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Game_of_Thrones
a HBO tv series http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/
and a game.. http://www.agot-genesis.com/
Book 5 recently came out (august I think), it's book 5 of 7, 2 are not written yet with agot being the 1st book.
Just thought i'd recap a bit, I wish there was more than books for the other 4, as they do progress the story line quite nicely (I have yet to read 5 though).
That doesn't seem like enough. What will you do when those two characters are killed brutally and unexpectedly?
True to the style of Martin's books, it will tell the story of two different characters, switching back and forth between them, with short 6 year pauses in between. Basically when each cut-scene ends, you'll have to replay the game from the beginning so you can remember where you're at. Just like the books.
The other one looks better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hftnySHVnF0
meaning, run, shoot shoot (without the adequacy of a fps), then talk talk (without sufficient interaction), run, shoot shoot, talk talk ?
non-interactive interactive bastardized movie you mean.
but maybe if they made it like 1, there can be at least some input from the player side in terms of gameplay.
Read radical news here
Screenshots have emerged, showing glowering men in armour and maps with recognisable landmarks on them, such as The Wall, which isn’t a prog rock album but an actual wall that’s covered with ice. I know that because I’ve read the first book. Now, just one week before release, there’s a trailer for the game.
What the heck.
When only a WEEK before the game's release, all you get is a no gameplay trailer, that usually is a good hint that this isn't that amazing of a game.
I'm not a fan of Game of Thrones in the first place, but I can imagine that only superfans will get this and this is largely made to cash in on its HBO success.
That doesn't seem like enough. What will you do when those two characters are killed brutally and unexpectedly?
This happens all the time in video games, revert to a saved game. :-)
Yes I get the reference to the books which are atypical in that the casualty rate of main characters is quite high.
If it's going to really capture the essence of the books, it's going to have to have insane amounts of mutilation and absurdly gruesome and completely unfair death, to the point where it would not only completely piss off all the players, but be the target of mass protests.
It would be amusing if they actually did that, but well... I'm bettin' it's going to be just another bog-standard vaguely medieval RPG with some locations slightly resembling those in the books and a bit of name-dropping here and there...
We live, as we dream -- alone....
The writeup of the video linked to in the summary raises some good points. I have yet to see any in depth game play for this, or a review of the mechanics. It makes me wonder if the game itself will be any fun. I even have suspicions that the studio knows the game isn't that great and is hiding it from us, hoping that the franchise drives sales. I'd wait for some real buzz on this before dropping any time or money into it.
When it comes to games, "doing it right" involves polishing the gameplay, not the graphics. If you want to be wowed by CG, go to a movie.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
There's nothing wrong with characters being dicks as long as they are entertaining dicks. You know, like Archer. And you're supposed to *want* to slap the shit out of Joffrey, so...
I liked Peter Dinklage as Tyrion and think Tyrion is probably the most interesting (and complete) character in AGOT. Ned Stark and Arya Stark were good too, both in the book and on the screen. Gregor Clegane should have been CG'ed - the way he is described in the book is essentially impossible in a real human. Arya's 'dancing' instructor was decent, too. The rest I could take or leave, mostly leave. I didn't like Aidin Gillen as Petyr Baelish at all.
I think this is a bad trend, first started in the Battlestar Galactica reboot. The idea that tension is achieved by a lot of frowning and verbal threats, that minutia is the same as character development, that plot direction and consistency doesn't matter as long as you keep them talking talking talking and present one unresolved minor threat after another, keeping viewers hoping against hope that somehow they will eventually be shown how it all ties together. As this seems more and more unlikely as time goes on. It sucks. It's not interesting. And more importantly, it's crappy writing. Any character can make a bad decision, but like the "coincidence rule", behaving like a moron is a characteristic best used sparingly, lest your audience stop caring.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
This was my most favorite part of the series. Don't like a character? He's gonna die eventually, probably in a horrific bloody way. Though I guess even if you do like a character they tend to die anyway...
All the world's a CPU, and all the men and women merely AI agents
The last book took six years to write. The first one was started in 1991 and published in 1996. Not exactly a "quick" buck...
That should have been, "minutia and endless repetition".
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I usually play The Game of Thrones every morning before I take a shower.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
the games are being developed by cyanide studios, known for treating their customers like shit.
this game in particular comes with a limited installation allowance and no way of getting more.
other common practices of cyanide are to put their games on sale right before announcing new versions with no way of upgrading later.
GRRM is absolutely a great author. His characters have substantial depth to them. Even the "villains" aren't really villainous, they just have their own goals and motivations that put them at odds with the characters you happen to be rooting for. His pacing is steady without getting dull. His plot has twists and turns without ever sucker punching the reader the way inferior writers do. And the overarching themes -- particularly regarding honor and duty -- are rock solid.
If you don't like his book, that's fine. Everyone's entitled to an opinion. But I think you're really short-changing him by suggesting that his magnum opus (written over the course of decades) is a quick money-grab.
So, in that respect one could say it's like the game, without the do-overs...
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Well, I haven't watched the HBO interpretation, but there's not supposed to be sorcery for the early parts of the story. In the entire first book, sorcery is only used once, and that's very close to the end. A big part of the storyline is that when the dragons died, magic faded out of the world, and when the dragons return, so does the magic.
There's not dearth of swordplay or strong, cunning characters in the books though, so if that isn't making it on to the screen, the writers are beyond incompetent. You could pretty much make each chapter an episode and have a good, exciting show.
Waaah! Everyone likes it and I don't! Listen to me!
Damn Martin for making believable characters that I can't like because they're all assholes. How dare he insert that much realism into his characterization?!
semantics are everything!
I think a bigger problem is the huge number of people that can't even get the book to launch.
While it's somewhat true to the books to kill off the game so early on, it might not be worth your $40 for the experience.
That sound you hear is crickets chirping in response.
Look, I don't care what your mom says -- life is not a soap opera.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I was very disappointed when I heard an RTS game was on the way - not because I knew it would be bad, but because I knew it could be a lot better:
While watching the HBO series I started reading up on the books (ah, Wikipedia) and it gradually struck me that the SoFaI-verse seems very suitable for a Total War game. I'm no expert (of the series) but you've got a number of different factions/Houses, a nice campaign map, armies in the thousands, interesting rebel possibilities, some pretty castles to have battles with, lots of diplomatic possibilities, and some characters to throw in (as Generals, princesses, spies etc.). But, sadly the franchise is now licensed out, which will make it unlikely, and any mod will probably be clamped down on.
I think that he's an extremely good author. "Dying of the Light" was a very impressive novel. "Fever Dream" is also very strong. And the Wild Cards series was a lot of fun. I generally don't get into medievalist fantasy, but I've been impressed with the GoT series: it is intricately plotted and not predictable, with convincing characters who have some emotional depth. Considering how slowly the larger plot arc advances, I'm wondering if he plans for it so support him for the rest of his life (not that I begrudge him that; I'm just worried that he'll die and leave it unfinished). His prose isn't flashy or particularly poetic, but it conveys vivid images and is not repetitive. His dialog is good (as evinced by the fact that it works on the screen as well as on the page; a lot of written dialog sounds foolish when spoken by a live person).
As far as being a "sell out," if that's what he's done, it's on the best terms I've ever seen. The TV series was the most careful and faithful adaptation of a fantasy novel that I've encountered to date. It is virtually a scene by scene adaptation. The sets and costumes are pretty much exact. I've only seen one issue of the comic book, but it looks like the same will hold there. Either he has found adapters who genuinely respect his work, or else he has gotten a great deal of creative control. Writing can be a chancy living, and most writers, particularly of genre fiction do not make a great deal of money. Martin has been at it a long time, it seems terribly petty to begrudge him taking advantage of an opportunity to profit from his work.
I hope the game is better than the TV series. I tried to follow that for awhile but finally gave up in disgust. An R rated soap opera, the only connection to sword and sorcery being that the characters do medieval cosplay while they go on and on about nothing in particular. Every character is an absolute dick with the possible exception of Sean Bean's character and the younger daughter. The rest desperately need to die violently and it's frustrating to see them still breathing at the end of the episode.
Life is too short for mediocre television, and it was that in spades. That doesn't mean A Song of Ice and Fire is bad, just that the implementation is General Hospital with leather jerkins and occasional nudity.
Not that I'm opinionated or anything.
Have you read the books? I'd guess not, since ASOIAF is not sword & sorcery. Yes there's a bit of magic in it, and it permeates the world, but it's thus far not been a big factor in the story. It's a story about people and all the horrific ways they die.
I have a really hot sister....
He probably doesn't realize that political machinations are more universal, more entertaining, and a better test of writers, directors, and actors. I've read the first four books (waiting for paperback for number five) and the TV show did a great job of translating.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
He can't figure out why everybody had a giant party on the evening of December 31, 1999 either.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
-1 for the RTS (unless it has a good story), +1 for the RPG
Since when do RTS really have to have a story? It's a fucking strategy game. You don't need a story, you just need decent mechanics.
If your playing RTS's for the story, you are gaming wrong.
Be seeing you...
http://www.caps-clothings.com/
You know, it's not necessary to buy HBO just to be depressed. If I wanted to be depressed, I'd just stay at work.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
With a RTS its not all about graphics, there are usually lot of issue such as what would you prefer more units or better looking units? and this is a game that wants to appeal to fans of the TV show who may not have high-powered GFX cards. War of The Ring was a solid RTS game based on a movie and Game of Thrones is a book and a TV show.