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Well, good ones anyway.
Right, lets make a start on this, I haven't read a good book from start to finish, ever. I've spent my life playing video games and thinking that I could get as good a narrative from games as I could from Holywood movies, or even from books themselves. However, recently, something strange happened.
I started reading Lord Of The Rings, mainly because of the number of people berrating the film for not being accurate enough to the books. Fair enough I thought, it's time to run the test of the three big formats of education for todays youth. Yes, before I get castrated from some angry thirty-something with kids that school is the be all and end all of education, your wrong, and I'll write a post to kiddies tomorrow explaining my views on education, look for it about the same time tomorrow in the Life forum.
Well, anyway, most of us will have seen Lord of the Rings at the film, and yes it is spectacularly amazing. The sort of film that makes any budding 3D/CG artist have nightmares because their latest 3D model looks no where near the standard required of an actaul professional product. In it's own right the film is very good, it has drama, it has suspense, and it has plenty of swords and sorcery. You just get the feeling that something bigger and better should be driving the film from one set-piece trap to the next, just somewhere hiding under the surface is a compelling narrative just waiting to brek out and describe the scene in all it's utmost glory.
If anyone owns the DVD and have watched the special features, especially the documentaries where some of the actors claim that the sets in the film are everything they imagined, and even more, then they are blighted by holywood, or have a severe lack of imagination. You se the imagination cannot be curbed by boundaries, it just cannot be dictated by budgets, deadlines or physical locations. The imagination can create anything the person so wishes to invisage. The book has much, much more detail regarding the narrative, and yes, for the non-reading holywood (soon to be Nintendo) generation, you just need to realise that your brain is a powerful thing.
Ideas, thoughts and amazing feelings race through your head when your reading a book. You attach more to the characters, because the characters are portrayed by you, not Elijah Wood, Frodo is in your head, he looks like you think he looks, and he sounds like you think he should sound. When he's scared, he's only as scared as you need him to be, he's just as inquisitive as you need him to be, and he's just as intelligent as you would have him be. Yes, the book pushes the story along, it gives you the setting, the scenario and the context, but a good book lets you imagine the threat and the level of danger, something a visual representation just can't.
This is where games take us to the next holwood level. Games make you think, but not on the same level as books. Like films, they give you all the visual stimuli, they don't leave anything to the imagination. Games make you think about simple problem solving, or at best they tax the physical responses and hand-eye coordination of an individual, but they still will never match a good book in terms of driving the imagination, and this is where budding games creators should take note. You will not be able to come up with original ideas for making a game, simply from watching films and games, those are other people's dreams and ideas.
To be truely original, you must develop the imagination, taking pointers and inspiration from captivating authors.
Right, lets make a start on this, I haven't read a good book from start to finish, ever. I've spent my life playing video games and thinking that I could get as good a narrative from games as I could from Holywood movies, or even from books themselves. However, recently, something strange happened.
I started reading Lord Of The Rings, mainly because of the number of people berrating the film for not being accurate enough to the books. Fair enough I thought, it's time to run the test of the three big formats of education for todays youth. Yes, before I get castrated from some angry thirty-something with kids that school is the be all and end all of education, your wrong, and I'll write a post to kiddies tomorrow explaining my views on education, look for it about the same time tomorrow in the Life forum.
Well, anyway, most of us will have seen Lord of the Rings at the film, and yes it is spectacularly amazing. The sort of film that makes any budding 3D/CG artist have nightmares because their latest 3D model looks no where near the standard required of an actaul professional product. In it's own right the film is very good, it has drama, it has suspense, and it has plenty of swords and sorcery. You just get the feeling that something bigger and better should be driving the film from one set-piece trap to the next, just somewhere hiding under the surface is a compelling narrative just waiting to brek out and describe the scene in all it's utmost glory.
If anyone owns the DVD and have watched the special features, especially the documentaries where some of the actors claim that the sets in the film are everything they imagined, and even more, then they are blighted by holywood, or have a severe lack of imagination. You se the imagination cannot be curbed by boundaries, it just cannot be dictated by budgets, deadlines or physical locations. The imagination can create anything the person so wishes to invisage. The book has much, much more detail regarding the narrative, and yes, for the non-reading holywood (soon to be Nintendo) generation, you just need to realise that your brain is a powerful thing.
Ideas, thoughts and amazing feelings race through your head when your reading a book. You attach more to the characters, because the characters are portrayed by you, not Elijah Wood, Frodo is in your head, he looks like you think he looks, and he sounds like you think he should sound. When he's scared, he's only as scared as you need him to be, he's just as inquisitive as you need him to be, and he's just as intelligent as you would have him be. Yes, the book pushes the story along, it gives you the setting, the scenario and the context, but a good book lets you imagine the threat and the level of danger, something a visual representation just can't.
This is where games take us to the next holwood level. Games make you think, but not on the same level as books. Like films, they give you all the visual stimuli, they don't leave anything to the imagination. Games make you think about simple problem solving, or at best they tax the physical responses and hand-eye coordination of an individual, but they still will never match a good book in terms of driving the imagination, and this is where budding games creators should take note. You will not be able to come up with original ideas for making a game, simply from watching films and games, those are other people's dreams and ideas.
To be truely original, you must develop the imagination, taking pointers and inspiration from captivating authors.
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Neo Elimin@tor 2015 wrote:
> "Eyes of the Dragon" is what your on about, I thouht that
> was a very interesting one since he did it for his daughter, since she
> wasn't into Horror stories.
Sorry, don't have a clue what you are on about, as I'm on about the Bear And The Dragon Tom Clancy book, I doubt anyone's daughter would be interested in a story involving china invading russia...maybe :P
Gormenghast Stryke ? Isn't it the most tedious thing ever ? The Tv series totally sucked as well ! In my opinion of course. Having said that Sum Of All Fears made a crap movie as all but the basic plot lines were ripped out of it....idiots. Now Rainbow Six, that'd be a good movie if done well...
~~Belldandy~~
> "Eyes of the Dragon" is what your on about, I thouht that
> was a very interesting one since he did it for his daughter, since she
> wasn't into Horror stories.
Sorry, don't have a clue what you are on about, as I'm on about the Bear And The Dragon Tom Clancy book, I doubt anyone's daughter would be interested in a story involving china invading russia...maybe :P
Gormenghast Stryke ? Isn't it the most tedious thing ever ? The Tv series totally sucked as well ! In my opinion of course. Having said that Sum Of All Fears made a crap movie as all but the basic plot lines were ripped out of it....idiots. Now Rainbow Six, that'd be a good movie if done well...
~~Belldandy~~
Belldandy wrote:
read Bear and the Dragon (or whatever it was called)?
"Eyes of the Dragon" is what your on about, I thouht that was a very interesting one since he did it for his daughter, since she wasn't into Horror stories.
read Bear and the Dragon (or whatever it was called)?
"Eyes of the Dragon" is what your on about, I thouht that was a very interesting one since he did it for his daughter, since she wasn't into Horror stories.
Latest book I read - Gormemghast, by Mervyn Peake. Love that book.
Stryke wrote:
> Heh, you call Stephen King easy (true) and claim that Clancy books are
> great? Read a proper book.
Like ? At least they're imaginative - in their own way - and different, plus they flow well, read Bear and the Dragon (or whatever it was called) ? Well I bet money you'll see something similar in the next 10 years...
Anyways, enlighten us all with a "proper" book Stryke, and don't say Lord Of The Rings...
~~Belldandy~~
> Heh, you call Stephen King easy (true) and claim that Clancy books are
> great? Read a proper book.
Like ? At least they're imaginative - in their own way - and different, plus they flow well, read Bear and the Dragon (or whatever it was called) ? Well I bet money you'll see something similar in the next 10 years...
Anyways, enlighten us all with a "proper" book Stryke, and don't say Lord Of The Rings...
~~Belldandy~~
Ant wrote:
> Reading a compilation of two Red Dwarf novels at the moment,
> brilliant. I must get my hands on "The Last Human."
>
> Also just finished "From The Corner Of His Eye" by Dean
> Koontz, and I advise everyone to read this and not his latest one,
> which isn't particularly good.
>
> At Christmas I'm getting "Prey" by Michael Crichton, can't
> wait. {:)
Have you read Watchers? First Dean R Koontz book I read and I other than Lighting nothing else he wrote comes close to it
> Reading a compilation of two Red Dwarf novels at the moment,
> brilliant. I must get my hands on "The Last Human."
>
> Also just finished "From The Corner Of His Eye" by Dean
> Koontz, and I advise everyone to read this and not his latest one,
> which isn't particularly good.
>
> At Christmas I'm getting "Prey" by Michael Crichton, can't
> wait. {:)
Have you read Watchers? First Dean R Koontz book I read and I other than Lighting nothing else he wrote comes close to it
Elimin@tor wrote:
> You'll be suprised I am a 15 year old young adult
I am surprised, I didnt think you were legally considered an adult until you were 18? :)
> You'll be suprised I am a 15 year old young adult
I am surprised, I didnt think you were legally considered an adult until you were 18? :)
Ant - Last Human is far, far away from the standard of the other books. It has a storyline and stuff. Ewww.
Clancy sucks, read Rainbow 6 and just went 'eh?'. Terrorists attack, they get shot, someone tries to kill every with a virus, get left in a forest...
Currently reading :-
Down and Out In Paris And London - George Orwell
The Prodigy - Hermann Hesse
Clancy sucks, read Rainbow 6 and just went 'eh?'. Terrorists attack, they get shot, someone tries to kill every with a virus, get left in a forest...
Currently reading :-
Down and Out In Paris And London - George Orwell
The Prodigy - Hermann Hesse
Belldandy wrote:
> > My fave writer is still Tom Clancy though, I swear the guy has a
> flipping crystal ball hidden away because he's getting a lot of things
> quite accurate
--
Heh, you call Stephen King easy (true) and claim that Clancy books are great? Read a proper book.
> > My fave writer is still Tom Clancy though, I swear the guy has a
> flipping crystal ball hidden away because he's getting a lot of things
> quite accurate
--
Heh, you call Stephen King easy (true) and claim that Clancy books are great? Read a proper book.
The Glorious Teng wrote:
> Steven Kings books are essentially easy,
>
> **
>
> And that's a bad thing why?
Because to anyone who has watched a season of the X files or more than a few films then it's painfully obvious what is going to happen most of the time. You wait for a twist....for anything...and it never comes. Stephen King's books sell, but you have to wonder who to, Anne Rice can do tons better stuff - certainly more imaginative - as can Todd Grimson - anyone who likes Vampire novels should get Stainless, tis great ! - and Chris Carter has more talent, if only he'd written books !
My fave writer is still Tom Clancy though, I swear the guy has a flipping crystal ball hidden away because he's getting a lot of things quite accurate, I wish he'd follow on to Rainbow Six though.
~~Belldandy~~
> Steven Kings books are essentially easy,
>
> **
>
> And that's a bad thing why?
Because to anyone who has watched a season of the X files or more than a few films then it's painfully obvious what is going to happen most of the time. You wait for a twist....for anything...and it never comes. Stephen King's books sell, but you have to wonder who to, Anne Rice can do tons better stuff - certainly more imaginative - as can Todd Grimson - anyone who likes Vampire novels should get Stainless, tis great ! - and Chris Carter has more talent, if only he'd written books !
My fave writer is still Tom Clancy though, I swear the guy has a flipping crystal ball hidden away because he's getting a lot of things quite accurate, I wish he'd follow on to Rainbow Six though.
~~Belldandy~~
Reading a compilation of two Red Dwarf novels at the moment, brilliant. I must get my hands on "The Last Human."
Also just finished "From The Corner Of His Eye" by Dean Koontz, and I advise everyone to read this and not his latest one, which isn't particularly good.
At Christmas I'm getting "Prey" by Michael Crichton, can't wait. {:)
Also just finished "From The Corner Of His Eye" by Dean Koontz, and I advise everyone to read this and not his latest one, which isn't particularly good.
At Christmas I'm getting "Prey" by Michael Crichton, can't wait. {:)
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