Books that might make good Games?

[AvatarIII]

I was thinking, about how the entertainment industry insists on making movies out of books and games, which often fall flat because books and games are too big to effectively cram into 2 hours; and turning movies into games, when it's impossible to spread 2 or 3 action sequences from a movie into a decent length game.
However books should be the perfect medium to be converted to games, Metro 2033 did it, amongst others, and I think people would be more accepting of a game to take liberties with a book for the sake of gameplay where turning a book into a movie people expect a perfect adaptation and will never get it. As well as the fact that games and books are much more likely to be centred around one character.
Also book spin-offs of games tend to be rather popular, why wouldn't it work the other way round? You could even keep both book and game canon within the same universe if done well.

So I thought it would be a good idea for a thread for people to pitch ideas for books that could be good games, even if liberties were taken, for example, expanding on one part of a book to be an entire game, or having a game in the same setting as a book but from a different character's viewpoint, a different era, or different location.

First the book that made me think of this thread

Terminal World - Alastair Reynolds. It has all the hallmarks for a brilliant open world RPG, interesting weapons, variety in enemies, and a twist that not all levels of technology work everywhere, it would be kind of like Fallout with touches of hard SF and steampunk.

Judas Unchained - Peter F Hamilton, a FPS set during the Prime Invasion, would probably play rather like Halo or Crysis, lots of potential for high tech weaponry, and places for the story to go.

any other ideas?

[Jesse]

Dune...

[AvatarIII]

Dune...

I can think of 5 dune games and none were particularly good, I guess the Westwood dune games are all right, but not really as adaptations of the source material. the original Cryo interactive game was all right too, but it's 2001 sequel pretty much caused Cryo to go bankrupt.... Any thing you want to add to your single word answer?

[UniqueScreenname]

I always thought that the Princess Bride would make a good game. In the book there were five different levels of obstacles to get into the Pit of Despair, instead of the simple "find the knot on the tree" bit. Expanding just that part - and being motivated by true love - would be enough to get me to play.

[Izawwlgood]

Starship Troopers. Based on the BOOK, not the film. Also, in that vein, Old Mans War, but, meh, same idea.

[AvatarIII]

Starship Troopers. Based on the BOOK, not the film. Also, in that vein, Old Mans War, but, meh, same idea.

I've never read the Starship Troopers book, but from what I have heard, you're probably right,

A game set in the Old Man's War universe though, would be very cool as an FPS or TPS, advanced super soldiers and equipment, a vast array of alien species, both ally and enemy. Good call.

[Izawwlgood]

Old Mans War blatantly ripped off a lot of stuff from Star Ship Troopers, and he acknowledged it, I think, by saying he was influenced by it. But yeah, the idea of a super strong soldier frame that is capable of bouncing around a combat zone with an absurdly large weapon, in telepathic communication with other soldiers, fighting all sorts of hostiles...

FWIW, as cool as the Spartan or whatever body frames from Old Mans War are, the power armor from Star Ship Troopers and their mechanism of battlefield delivery was WAAAAAAAAAY cooler.

[AvatarIII]

ok ok, i just asked John Scalzi on twitter what the chances of a game are, and he said that it is tied in with the movie deal... the movie deal with Paramount that is totally happening. http://www.deadline.com/2011/02/paramou ... tt-stuber/ https://twitter.com/?iid=am-37902443013 ... 3987075072

[Izawwlgood]

That's cool. It's a shame the other books were so much worse than the start.

[Adam H]

What about Hunger Games? I'm picturing a small first person sandbox game without much story. Just plop you in the arena and let you have at it. Multiplayer option, of course.

To set it apart from every arena FPS ever made, I'd think it would have to focus on survival elements like tracking, hunting, climbing, sneaking, creative kills, etc. I'm not sure if that would make a good game, especially with current technology, but it sounds fun in my head.

[SecondTalon]

Old Mans War blatantly ripped off a lot of stuff from Star Ship Troopers, and he acknowledged it, I think, by saying he was influenced by it. But yeah, the idea of a super strong soldier frame that is capable of bouncing around a combat zone with an absurdly large weapon, in telepathic communication with other soldiers, fighting all sorts of hostiles...

Well, yeah, but the book itself (Starship Troopers, mind) was about citizenship and duty to one's nation, and how certain facets of citizenship are only truly understood by veterans.

[Izawwlgood]

Sure, they're about different stuff overall, sort of, but both books follow a new recruit through the future equivalent of the marines, and how mankind uses technology (nanotech and genetic awesomeness instead of robotic suits) to level the playing field with powerful aliens. I seem to recall Scalzi, in the introduction of Old Mans War, writing something about how influenced he was by Heinlein, and how this was in many ways an homage to those writers that influenced him.

[Kizyr]

World War Z?

Unlike the usual zombie games, the focus wouldn't be on mowing down thousands of zombie hordes, but rather on escape and survival. I'm also thinking a more open sandbox-style game with different stages, where you're not one of the interviewed or discussed characters but rather someone surviving through different phases of the world war -- and perhaps in different places. So, the events you have to endure, escape, or survive would change throughout the game, and also depend on whether you're in, say, the USA, Mexico, Iceland, Germany, Russia, South Africa, Iran, India, China, Japan, or sailing on the Pacific.

Good thing they're not making a movie on that. It totally wouldn't work out. KF

[Izawwlgood]

Der, except there were a handful of chapters in WWZ about mowing down HORDES of zombies... I actually think the descriptions of metronomic firing was really powerful.

[Sheikh al-Majaneen]

Diamond Age could have potential.

[HungryHobo]

World War Z?
...
where you're not one of the interviewed or discussed characters but rather someone surviving through different phases of the world war

and as you play the narrator from bastion reads the relevant sections of the book. or even just the audio book.

That was one book where the audio version was fantastic. the interview style of the book worked amazingly well in that format.

Have starting gameplay mechanics like silent hill where you're not some uber space marine but rather some poor smuck who can barely swing a board, going about your normal life, then the outbreak begins and the game could progress as you flee between some of the areas of the book as a refugee. dodging zombies in the city, pushing your way onto a boat, discovering some fellow passengers who are infected, fighting your way down to seal the compartment where the infected have take over. battering bloated floating zombies off as they climb up the anchor chain. etc

[emceng]

I mentioned it in another thread, but I think the Malazan book of the fallen series would be great as an Edler Scrolls clone. Great back story, tons of races, magics, cool locales, etc.

You could also do a Harry Dresden game. A combo mystery and 3rd person magic shooter.