Re: Doing research on Dune, need help!
Posted: 22 Sep 2011 03:40
Hello again! I see the discussion has moved on, let me catch up
Many writers place their stories in countries and cities they've never been at
The more research, the better the book. In my case it's even harder, since I'm a 'talented' (arguable) game designer but not that good at reading books or making art. I say, to each his own. With help from experts in fields I'm not good at, the game could be better in various aspects.
Naturally, this forum will be mentioned in the rulebook, perhaps some usernames that were the most helpful
Watching the TV shows gives me a general idea of what’s happening in a short time. As I said, time is of the essence. I hope that I’ll be able to get expert help and do a thematic game without needing to get exhaustive in my research. You may call that laziness if you like, it doesn’t feel like that to me.
I suppose it should be easy for you. If someone was doing research on board games, I’d be able to give him a wealth of information out of the tip of my hat
Mind you, there is a board game for Dune already, published in 1979 and soon to be reprinted rethemed:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/121/dune" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
as well as a Print and Play fan-made simpler version called Dune Express
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/ ... ne-express" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
See how your knowledge is extremely helpful? I was looking at the game from a design perspective and wanted a balanced faction. So the Fremen aren’t that (maybe Corrino could be that). Perhaps have the Fremen as a 2 Military, 1 Economic? As you said they harvest spice and trade with smugglers and bribe. It suits my design better
Bene Gesserit could be a novelty at 3 political, but I’m saving them for the expansion (or at least until a later stage of the design)
Why would I want to make a game based on a world I don’t know? Well, that’s how a game designer’s mind works. All designs start either from the idea of a theme to explore, where the mechanics are created to fit the theme, or from the idea of an original game mechanic, where the theme is derived from something fitting. When you have the second case, sometimes there is a situation where the theme simply doesn’t fit, or the game doesn’t make you feel the theme. It’s what we call a ‘pasted-on’ theme
I created a mechanic where different factions wage war (economic and political besides military) in a planet. I could have themed it after Avatar: the Movie, or Star Wars, or pretty much any sci-fi, but it would feel ‘pasted on’. I could even create a world of my own and avoid possible copyright implications. But even from what little I know of Dune, it was obvious to me that the mechanics are perfect for it. There is room in my design to make each faction unique in abilities, strategy and feel of play, so that when you play Harkonnen you’ll feel like a manipulative sadist and when you play Fremen you’ll feel like an elusive army of survivors
Though I expect that I can get all the help I need from this forum, would you mind giving me the link of the official forum as a backup plan?
I'm in sort of a deadline until October 31 and the game is still not in prototype form. I have been putting off making each factions' mechanics until I had a better grasp of what each faction represents. Your aid can help me get started early and have enough time to playtest and request art. The perfectionist in me screams that I need to read all the books if I am to honor a world with a rich background such as this, but I decided to take the easier root and ask for help from people who are experts already and this kind of help is probably a piece of cake for them!JustSomeGuy wrote:Maybe you should read the books. What's the rush?
Many writers place their stories in countries and cities they've never been at
The more research, the better the book. In my case it's even harder, since I'm a 'talented' (arguable) game designer but not that good at reading books or making art. I say, to each his own. With help from experts in fields I'm not good at, the game could be better in various aspects.Naturally, this forum will be mentioned in the rulebook, perhaps some usernames that were the most helpful
I suppose the initials are names? I’m afraid I’m not one of them. 28 winters hereOmphalos wrote:So, you want to write something based on Dune, but you don't want to read the original books? But watching TV shows counts as "research." Hmmmmmm.
...
On second though, is this KJA? Or maybe BH? Finally joined the web did you?
Seriously man (boy?); read the damn books and put some thought into what you are trying to do.
Watching the TV shows gives me a general idea of what’s happening in a short time. As I said, time is of the essence. I hope that I’ll be able to get expert help and do a thematic game without needing to get exhaustive in my research. You may call that laziness if you like, it doesn’t feel like that to me.
I’m serious about making a thematic board game. If I could put off reading the books for another time by getting expert help, I’d be obligedSerkanner wrote:Plus one. If you are serious about Dune ... read the six original novels.
I suppose it should be easy for you. If someone was doing research on board games, I’d be able to give him a wealth of information out of the tip of my hat
I’d like to be accurate to the books, so that players who have read them can get extra satisfaction, while those who haven’t can get a good idea and perhaps get motivated to read them.A Thing of Eternity wrote:Here's my thoughts - NOTE: these are for if you want to be accurate to the book.
Atreides and Harkonnen are basically tied for political and military power, except that Atreides only has support of the Houses, and Harkonnen is backed by the Emperor, so I guess the way you have it works because the Harkonnen definitely do have more political power at that time (because of the Emperor's backing though they also have more military than the Atreides).
Fremen should probably be 3 military, they don't trade very much (other than bribing the Guild), and they have zero political power. What they are is the most insane fighting force in the universe.
The Guild I think is fine the way you have it. They DO actually have some political power, they just choose to pretend that they don't. If they think their spice is threatened then they will not hesitate to mess with people (as they mess with the Emperor in Dune).
I would add the Bene Gesserit as a faction though, with starting points of 3 political.
Mind you, there is a board game for Dune already, published in 1979 and soon to be reprinted rethemed:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/121/dune" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
as well as a Print and Play fan-made simpler version called Dune Express
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/ ... ne-express" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
See how your knowledge is extremely helpful? I was looking at the game from a design perspective and wanted a balanced faction. So the Fremen aren’t that (maybe Corrino could be that). Perhaps have the Fremen as a 2 Military, 1 Economic? As you said they harvest spice and trade with smugglers and bribe. It suits my design better
Bene Gesserit could be a novelty at 3 political, but I’m saving them for the expansion (or at least until a later stage of the design)
I have few recollections from the movie (something good, from what I read). I have a general idea about the world (worms, valuable spice, sand people, need for water, other world nobles etc).A Thing of Eternity wrote:(T)rying to create anything around Dune makes zero sense without reading at least the first book, especially since the movie deviates from it in such crazy ways at certain points.
Why would I want to make a game based on a world I don’t know? Well, that’s how a game designer’s mind works. All designs start either from the idea of a theme to explore, where the mechanics are created to fit the theme, or from the idea of an original game mechanic, where the theme is derived from something fitting. When you have the second case, sometimes there is a situation where the theme simply doesn’t fit, or the game doesn’t make you feel the theme. It’s what we call a ‘pasted-on’ theme
I created a mechanic where different factions wage war (economic and political besides military) in a planet. I could have themed it after Avatar: the Movie, or Star Wars, or pretty much any sci-fi, but it would feel ‘pasted on’. I could even create a world of my own and avoid possible copyright implications. But even from what little I know of Dune, it was obvious to me that the mechanics are perfect for it. There is room in my design to make each faction unique in abilities, strategy and feel of play, so that when you play Harkonnen you’ll feel like a manipulative sadist and when you play Fremen you’ll feel like an elusive army of survivors
A Google search showed me this forum as a first choice. It looked as if this forum is filled with huge fans of the worldNekhrun wrote:Anyway, you should really go ask this question over at the official forum. When you're there, ask for Fantomas or arnoldo. They'll be more of a help then we could be.
Though I expect that I can get all the help I need from this forum, would you mind giving me the link of the official forum as a backup plan?
They're not mutual contemporaries with variations in a common attribute set, and can't be described as such in any way I can think of, unless you just pretend they're SIMPLY warring peers with the same TYPES of goals and resources.