Poll: I think there should be a Firefly/Serenity game

[Eipok Kruden]

Firefly was a tragedy in my mind and in the minds of the fans. It aired on Fox, but the episodes were aired out of order, so Fox canceled it. Three years later, Serenity came out. Serenity showed that Fox actually listened to the fans. Well, I think that if enough people want a Firefly game, it just might happen. Firefly is set in a massive and intelligent universe. It's like the wild west mixed with pirates. The Wild West on land and the Caribbean in space. It's a great opportunity for a video game. I think Firefly would make a great mmorpg. What does everyone here at the escapist think about a Firefly game?

 

[brabz]

I really enjoyed the movie and series(own all of it on DVD), but can't see it as an enjoyable MMORPG. Maybe a story-driven action game with different paths, but I feel like you'd take away all of the threat and fear of the Reavers attack if you simply point and click to handle them.

I'd prefer some sort of 28 Days Later approach with the Reavers, and you'd have to hide and handle them in small numbers to avoid being overwhelmed.

 

[Eipok Kruden]

Well, I mean something like EvE in space, and a Third Person Shooter on the ground. You would have other players in your crew if you're a captain, or you'd be in someone's crew. You could also be a businessman. Maybe own a station, a planet, small business, or just be a simple trader. If you're a captain, you'd decide where you and your crew would go, but your crew would be able to voice their opinions and help you decide the next best course of action. And for the reavers, I think their actions should be random. Each group of reavers would have their own AI. Every reaver should have individual AI. They would act like animals. If they aren't hungry, they'd leave you alone, but if they are hungry... I don't want to get into the details. The point is, you would die very very painfully or you would become a reaver. All the reaver attacks would be random. They would be completely computer controlled. As for the alliance and other organizations and such, they would be controlled by players. If there aren't enough players, the devs would use AI. Not NPC's like most mmorpg's, but AI. By the time a game like this is fully realized, if ever, AI will be much more advanced.

 

[brabz]

That makes a bit more sense then, could definitely be an interesting game. Only qualm is that I don't recall the Reavers being able to infect people. I thought they were the small portion of the population that went batshit crazy instead of calming to the point of not trying to live anymore.

 

[Eipok Kruden]

Well, remember that episode of Firefly when reavers attacked that ship and forced this guy to watch? Well, he watched the reavers rape his friends and family, eat them alive, and wear their skin. The only way for him to deal with that was for him to become it and accept it. He became a reaver because he couldn't cope with what he saw in any other way. That's what i mean by becoming a reaver. But it would only be able to happen if your character witnesses the brutal rape and death of the people around him. The larger the crew is, the more people can become reavers.

Unless you can kill off the reavers or get away, you'll either die brutally or become a reaver. Also, I'm not sure how you'll come back after you're dead. Well, it should be cloning. Like those two clones that Mal did business with. I forget their names. It would be like Star Wars Galaxies or EvE Online. When you die, you come back as a clone.

 

[Geoffrey42]

I love the property, and think it would make a horrible game.

 

[meatloaf231]

I really think that would make a terrible game. The universe just doesn't work for games.

I think there was an MMO in development at one point though.

 

[jthm]

I think it could work (not the becoming a reaver by watching the rape and murder of your crew ) but the game concept of existing in the same universe. The trouble is it wouldn't work well because the show, much like Buffy really only succeeded because of excellent individual stories and chemistry between the main actors. In an MMO the story suffers because it isn't all about you. Maybe as single player epic written by Whedon starring the voice talents of the original cast, but even those don't translate all that well (if GB is good I'll be wrong, but until then). I think a new TV show would be far better and new movie would be a close 2nd. Of course a new show and a new movie would be best.

 

[Eipok Kruden]

Well, the chances of Fox continuing Firefly or making another movie based in the Firefly universe are slim to none. I think a game is actually more likely. Besides, the universe of Firefly is pretty deep. I don't see why people couldn't have a good time playing a game set in that universe.

 

[Gapperjack]

Firefly was a tragedy in my mind and in the minds of the fans. It aired on Fox, but the episodes were aired out of order, so Fox canceled it. Three years later, Serenity came out. Serenity showed that Fox actually listened to the fans. Well, I think that if enough people want a Firefly game, it just might happen. Firefly is set in a massive and intelligent universe. It's like the wild west mixed with pirates. The Wild West on land and the Caribbean in space. It's a great opportunity for a video game. I think Firefly would make a great mmorpg. What does everyone here at the escapist think about a Firefly game?

I agree with you, even if you're wrong on a handful of points.

Serenity was released through Universal, not Twentieth Century Fox. Whedon didn't want to work with Fox again after the Firefly fiasco.

Not sure where the whole pirate thing came from? Firefly is a Space Western, straight and plain. The setting is post civil-war, the Reavers are the Native Americans (based on the view of them back then, not what we know now), the dangers of raiders in space is just based on the dangers faced from bandits on long journeys across the plains. There really isn't any pirate era influences, and I've never come across anything from cast or crew to suggest that.

The Firefly verse does work as an RPG setting. I've played three year-long table-top campaigns with a homebrew game system and it worked really well. There's enough unknown about the verse that it leaves room for interpretation by a developer, with enough diversity to provide interest to a player.

It would work very well as an MMORPG, but would have to be very different to the current MMORPG approach. I think a first-person RPG (ala Deus Ex) would work quite well, with realistic (or semi-realistic) weapons damage to discourage frequent gunfights. The best situation would be to have things work so the majority of combat is PvP and fist-fights.

If you look at the series and film, there's very little killing. I think for a game to work, they'd have to encourage this outlook. Make gun damage realistic, and have unlawful killing rewarded by having the authorities come after the player who does it. So, someone could be a cold-hearted bastard and try and kill other players, but on the whole if he tried that in a populated area, he'd find himself tracked down and killed like the dog he is. Try it on a central world and he could watch how fast his face explodes as every Alliance officer in the vicinity guns him down.

Incidentally, there was a studio who bought the rights to develop one, but there's nothing concrete on that since 2006. The studio is called Multiverse, but they never said they would develop it. They bought the rights to do so, and were looking for someone else to actually make the game.

There's a few Firefly mods for Freelancer and some for other games. There's one for Neverwinter Nights here: http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=4030

 

[Eipok Kruden]

Thanks for correcting me.

 

[RabbitJunk]

YES YES YES 100% YES they realy need to do something with that franchise and make it into something. A video game based on that will probly do good in my opinion. (sry for caps)

 

[Reaperman Wompa]

Could work as an MMO, or like KOTOR. Have to be done well, by either fans or people who understand how to stay original.

Hard to convert from the movie/tv series, you would have to figure out how to make it fair and how to do characters properly.

Might Work. Will never be done though.

 

[kinch]

I dunno. One of the things that I enjoyed so much about the series and movies was the amazingly snappy dialogue and witty banter. The characters are just... well, great. An MMO game would lose that, and would just be another "space sim" game with a few gunfights thrown in when you go down to terra firma.

 

[Albino Ninja]

I would love to see one. I could be done, especially in MMO form, or perhaps even just an RPG. An action game could continue the series and you could find out things that people wanted to know, like the history of the shepherd.

 

[Eipok Kruden]

I would love to see one. I could be done, especially in MMO form, or perhaps even just an RPG. An action game could continue the series and you could find out things that people wanted to know, like the history of the shepherd.

Yea How come Book knew all those things about the Alliance and crime and all those things. Oh, remember when that bounty hunter came to the ship in the last episode? He said Book wasn't a shepherd. I think he was right, but what was Book? Joss should have answered that in Serenity.