Author Topic: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.  (Read 5884 times)

Boutch

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I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« on: July 04, 2011, 10:48:57 AM »
I have been thinking about a game for quite some time now. When I checked my Twitter and saw that Brandon was in talks I got VERY excited.

The best way that I can see a Mistborn game working is building an Assassins Creed type sandbox game. I think that AC2 and Brotherhood actually have a Mistborn feeling already. Mistborn would need a looser, yet more precise feeling to it, and to incorperate allomancy and it'd be half done. One example of this would be (for those who have played it) the inclusion of something like the "ice jump" from inFamous 2 as a steelpush jump. Projectile throwing via steelpushing and pulling, etc.

I think that the game could be amazing in this format. What else do you guys think could work? Have you heard any rumors? Peter, can you please talk Brandon into a PS3 release for the game?

Inkthinker

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2011, 06:24:29 AM »
I'll tell you for nothin', that sort of decision is not likely to be in Brandon's hands. It's up to whomever licenses the property to determine platforms for release.

Jason R. Peters

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2011, 12:38:41 PM »
As an avid gamer and an avid reader, I can honestly say:

I have yet to see a game based on a book that I thought was any good.

It always sounds very cool in concept and then doesn't deliver any of the experiences of the book. These is a particular problem with the concept behind MMOs:

EVERYONE wants to be a hero. EVERYONE wants to be Gandalf or Kelsier or Vin.

Well, when there's thousands of people trying to be that hero, none of them stands out.

And in single player games, they just seem to cheapen plot for the sake of puzzles or platforming or other repetitive play which in no way delivers the mysticism of the stories.

Morsker

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2011, 01:45:03 PM »
As an avid gamer and an avid reader, I can honestly say:

I have yet to see a game based on a book that I thought was any good.

It always sounds very cool in concept and then doesn't deliver any of the experiences of the book. These is a particular problem with the concept behind MMOs:

EVERYONE wants to be a hero. EVERYONE wants to be Gandalf or Kelsier or Vin.

Well, when there's thousands of people trying to be that hero, none of them stands out.

And in single player games, they just seem to cheapen plot for the sake of puzzles or platforming or other repetitive play which in no way delivers the mysticism of the stories.

I wouldn't describe MMO that way at all, as it encourages group play, and almost all of them specialize characters into classes that depend on each other. In Mistborn terms, it's more like the group of Mistings on Kelsier's crew than Vin's single-handed heroics.

I share your experience of never having seen a book-to-video-game conversion that I liked, but there's a first time for everything, and Brandon's magic systems seem particularly suited for gaming. I wouldn't be upset by puzzles, platforming, or other repetitive things though, because that's just the framework on which a game is built. As an analogy: I wouldn't complain that D&D is repetitive because it makes me roll dice so much.

Inkthinker

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2011, 04:36:07 AM »
The mechanics of Allomancy are particularly well-suited to adaptation for gameplay, but who knows what they'll make of it. The 8 base metals aren't too hard to work out Pewter strength, Copperclouds to hide from enemies, Bronze to detect them, Zinc and Brass to Riot and Soothe, Tin senses, Atium of course... oddly enough, Steel and Iron might be the hardest to implement exactly as they are in the books, since choosing one of a dozen lines in the middle of action using a control pad or even KB&M could get confusing very easily.

Personally, I'd like to see them create an original story, something that takes place maybe between books 1 and 2. I'd even prefer that you not play as Vin or Elend or anyone from the books, but that instead they be NPCs or even just cameos... as much as I love Mistborn (and I've proven it), I think it's not so well-known or popular that you NEED to stick with the story characters, and in fact there's a wide range of benefits to putting the player into a new character with their own story to tell and adventure to experience.
 
« Last Edit: July 08, 2011, 04:41:08 AM by Inkthinker »

Squallor

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2011, 02:00:58 PM »
I agree with Inkthinker, the game would be a lot more interesting to me if you weren't one of the main plot characters. It might be fun if the game were more in line with an MMO, and the user could only select certain Misting types, and you could build up thieving crews and the like.

Though if that were the case it might be difficult to convince players to select something other than Thugs and Coinshots... there would have to be some more powers created from the other metals to actually be useful in something other than a one off situation...

rcfleming

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #6 on: July 08, 2011, 02:10:00 PM »
You don't need to be a main character at all . . . we have a world that's basically been the same for about 1000 years so the game could easily take place hundreds of years before the fall of the Lord Ruler.

edit: Hell, one of the previous House Wars could be pretty cool as well. There's a lot of story to work with that doesn't have to be in the book time frame  :)

happyman

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #7 on: July 08, 2011, 04:39:26 PM »
You don't need to be a main character at all . . . we have a world that's basically been the same for about 1000 years so the game could easily take place hundreds of years before the fall of the Lord Ruler.

edit: Hell, one of the previous House Wars could be pretty cool as well. There's a lot of story to work with that doesn't have to be in the book time frame  :)

One of the Mistborn RPG's I know of (I haven't played myself; I'm an awful roleplayer) used this very idea (house war) as its framing device.  I think it would also be a very good idea for any mass-produced game.  Mistborn and Mistings would be used often enough to make the missions interesting, and the trouble with the main characters and the books would be completely sidestepped.
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Inkthinker

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #8 on: July 09, 2011, 05:20:11 PM »
I wouldn't suggest an MMO, they're complex and difficult to manage, and honestly I think the world of Scadrial needs a lot more build-up to be suitable for something like that. I'd rather have a directed, focused game with an entertaining narrative and well-designed action centered around a single Mistborn than to open the floodgates and try for everything and then some.

If fans are interested in more wide-ranging MMO-style opportunities, I suggest checking out the tabletop RPG later this year.

clockworkspider

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #9 on: July 12, 2011, 05:32:26 AM »
I think something similiar to the Bioshock series would work best (in terms of player-environment interactions).

At the very least, you'd probably want to take a few cues from it, especially for iron & steel.

If that makes any sense at all...
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Inkthinker

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #10 on: July 12, 2011, 02:53:56 PM »
Part of the problem is that with Push and Pull, Brandon described the effect very clearly, so it's up to the developer to match that effect as closely as possible. Anything else diverges from the source, and will turn off the source fans you need to form the initial nut.

The problem in game mechanics is that you probably can't have a line pointing to EVERY potential source of metal in the environment... it creates too many variables, and is too difficult to control with a gamepad (sorry, but you can't make it a PC exclusive and pull in the numbers a dev will need, gamepad control is required).  Maybe there's a lot of lines, but only some are selectable (the rest provide the illusion that there's a lot of sources, but only a few are the "right" ones for that given moment).

Since most pads have dual analog sticks, I imagine that the left would control motion, and the right (at least when actively burning Iron or Steel) would select from a web of lines that emerge from the character. Then you pull a trigger or a bumper to Push or Pull. The physics action is relatively easy in comparison.

Jason R. Peters

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #11 on: July 12, 2011, 11:32:45 PM »
I think something similiar to the Bioshock series would work best (in terms of player-environment interactions).

At the very least, you'd probably want to take a few cues from it, especially for iron & steel.

If that makes any sense at all...

That makes sense. I would enjoy something along the lines of a plot-based action-oriented game in the style of The Force Unleashed, which would allow you to do interesting things with the environment with Mistborn powers.

That's one reason why I can't see this working as an MMO. I mean, if you're the reverse of a Coinshot (I forget the term), and there are no Coinshots in a particular fight, well, your powers are rather limited.

Traditional fantasy games won't work for Mistborn either, it isn't as if one person can call upon ice and fire and death and healing...the magic users are severely limited.

* Jason casts Coppercloud.
* Jason casts Coppercloud.
* Jason casts Coppercloud.

* Jason rerolls as a Coinshot.

ulysses sword

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #12 on: July 13, 2011, 04:25:18 AM »
My idea for how a Mistborn MMO could work:

Have the main setting in Luthadel
Make the players mistings in thieving groups
Have raids be on keeps of various influence and power, and the "wilderness" be city streets, with guards.
Have XP be in terms of either gold stolen, or notoriety gained.
A successful group would require more than just coinshots and thugs, balanced below, but might be limited to first four.
-Coinshots: mainly fighting class.  Steel could be controlled with "push objects away from self" and "push self away from objects" selector, with bracing yourself and not being able to push off of light objects handwaved away.
-Lurchers: Counters coinshots.  Could be given better mobility than them, as well as the ability to pull teammates precisely.
-Thugs: Pewter's poisonous effects could be played way up, as well as how fast it burns, to make pewter mostly viable only while fighting already.
-Tineyes: Scouting, maybe giving increased information on the enemy, including better critical hit chance (?) and accuracy with bows. 
-Soother: Debuff enemies with apathy, buff friends with focus.
-Rioter:  Debuff enemies with fear, buff allies with courage.
-Seeker: finds enemies, and IDs them.
-Smoker: hides from seekers.  Immune to debuffs, might give resistance/immunity to teammates as well to make more useful.

Pechvarry

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #13 on: July 14, 2011, 03:26:01 AM »
An MMO would probably work better in an Alloy of Law timeline.   Open "breeding" resulting in lots of mistings of both magic types means players could choose 1 of each type, perhaps allowing for a full mistborn with no feruchemy or a full feruchemist (whatever their mistborn equivalent is) with no allomancy. 

Not that I'm saying an MMO would be a good idea.  Far from it.

As a single-player platformer, I agree you need at least some degree of sandboxiness.

Inkthinker

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Re: I'm very keen to see the Mistborn video game.
« Reply #14 on: July 14, 2011, 04:17:34 AM »
Sandbox, absolutely. I want to explore a city like Luthadel from one end to the other.

But an MMO isn't a sandbox, it's a desert (in more ways than one). Frankly, unless you have "Warcraft" in your name, or a well-established IP in hand (like Star Wars or LOTR, something several times more popular and well-established than our beloved trilogy) an MMO is just not a good idea.