Ender's Game coming to Consoles/Handhelds/PCs. From the makers of Undertow!

vegeta_666

Fans of the modern classic sci-fi book Ender's Game know that, as the title suggests, the novel is full of games. In fact, the various games serve as the overall metaphor for themes of war and indoctrination that the book seeks to convey. So when Chair Entertainment (the developers behind Undertow) announced today that it had acquired the rights to adapt the book into a game, there was some just cause for trepidation. Such a wide variety of competing game types could make for a structural mess.

Luckily, Chair reportedly intends to focus the title on the one game most adaptable to a video game, the "Battle Room" aspect of the story. In the Battle Room of the novel, a set of various unit types take out enemy units in order to open the gate and pass through it to win the game, sot of like a control point. The parallels to Undertow are fairly obvious, especially given that the Battle Room is a weightless environment much like the near-weightless water setting. The game adaptation is planned for all next-gen consoles, handhelds, and PC... so pretty much everything.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3165692

It appears they have acquired the rights to the Ender's Game and, I can see how Undertow and the game played in the novel is similar. I didn't mind Undertow so I hope this can be good. Nonetheless, discuss away! I just hope they don't ruin it...

(Didn't see this posted yet so, sorry if it has been.)

OP will be updated as more information is released.

Shadowfire

As an aside, Chair Entertainment was formed (I believe) by Donald Mustard, of Advent Rising. Orson Scott Card worked on fleshing out the characters in the same game. So I guess they're working together again.

I mean, I wish they'd just do the other two Advent games and finish the fucking story, but this is cool too.

FreddyD

I thought Undertow was quality so I'm pretty psyched about this. I was wondering how the book would translate into a video game since I was in middle school.

Kagera

FreddyD wrote: »

I thought Undertow was quality so I'm pretty psyched about this. I was wondering how the book would translate into a video game since I was in middle school.

I can't wait to play the soapy shower fight or the schoolyard scrotum kick minigame.

I hope my character can be the guy with the holopad of large male genitalia. He was awesome.

Xenocide Geek

Kagera wrote: »

FreddyD wrote: »

I thought Undertow was quality so I'm pretty psyched about this. I was wondering how the book would translate into a video game since I was in middle school.

I can't wait to play the soapy shower fight or the schoolyard scrotum kick minigame.

I hope my character can be the guy with the holopad of large male genitalia. He was awesome.

i want to play a troubled youngster, who is manipulated by the government to wipe out an entire species!

can i do that in this game?

kaliyama

though why make the quote so nakedly from a PR person. Orson Scott Card can be a pretty lousy writer, but I don't see him demanding the game be "endlessly replayable"


The press release from "Orson":

"From the moment I started working with Donald Mustard and his team at Chair, I knew that these were the guys I wanted to do the first Ender's Game video game. It's not enough to slap the Ender's Game name on just any game - it has to be exciting, memorable, and endlessly replayable. Chair shares my understanding of this and I am looking forward to working with them to ensure the game is as authentically Enderish as possible."

Kagera

Xenocide Geek wrote: »

Kagera wrote: »

FreddyD wrote: »

I thought Undertow was quality so I'm pretty psyched about this. I was wondering how the book would translate into a video game since I was in middle school.

I can't wait to play the soapy shower fight or the schoolyard scrotum kick minigame.

I hope my character can be the guy with the holopad of large male genitalia. He was awesome.

i want to play a troubled youngster, who is manipulated by the government to wipe out an entire species!

can i do that in this game?

Only if between levels you get to play the puzzle game with the rotting giant corpse.

Xenocide Geek

i'm gonna have to reread the ender quartet, because i've completely forgotten what happens in the first book.

i'll just... skip children of the mind. nobody really needs to read that.

FreddyD

kaliyama wrote: »

though why make the quote so nakedly from a PR person. Orson Scott Card can be a pretty lousy writer, but I don't see him demanding the game be "endlessly replayable"


The press release from "Orson":

"From the moment I started working with Donald Mustard and his team at Chair, I knew that these were the guys I wanted to do the first Ender's Game video game. It's not enough to slap the Ender's Game name on just any game - it has to be exciting, memorable, and endlessly replayable. Chair shares my understanding of this and I am looking forward to working with them to ensure the game is as authentically Enderish as possible."

Orson is actually somewhat of a gamer. He expressed interest in a game before but he wanted to make sure that quality was the first priority.

Ah_Pook

on the one hand this is a pretty awesome idea in theory

on the other hand this is one of my favorite books ever and if its not good then my nerd rage will exceed all previous theoretical rage thresholds and create a new form of matter made entirely of concentrated rage

so i dunno, i guess i would say im cautiously optimistic

Cold Koala

Xenocide Geek wrote: »

i'm gonna have to reread the ender quartet, because i've completely forgotten what happens in the first book.

i'll just... skip children of the mind. nobody really needs to read that.

nobody forgets what happens in the first book.

Ender is a kid who is taken by the government because of his potential, and accelerated through the Battle School curriculum even faster than most of the Battle School genius-children. He ends up commanding the fleets that destroy the Buggers while being told it is a training mission.

jedijz

Umm, they're also developing Empire...

Raslin

All my dicks.

shryke

Xenocide Geek wrote: »

i'm gonna have to reread the ender quartet, because i've completely forgotten what happens in the first book.

i'll just... skip children of the mind. nobody really needs to read that.

Really, it's just better if you consider Ender's Game a standalone.

Dark Moon

They're going to make the game Ender plays on his console, with the giant and the eye scooping and the terrifying wolf children! They specifically mention in the book that it can be played forever without beating it - Card's cryptic reference to endless replay-ability can only mean that this is the case. Or perhaps it will just be a crappy minigame that they use to further the plot after every level. I do hope the former's the case!

Edit: After further review (initial reading) of the article, I have far less faith in my initial speculation and must concede that, alas, the latter is far more likely to be the case.

subedii

I cannot see how a game of this book would be good in any real sense, aside from maybe as an adventure game, which this isn't.

The closest I can think of is having you as a separate character competing and leading a team in the Battle Room scenarios. But the thing is, although the 'games' they played there could arguably be adapted to be action / strategy games on a console, the strength of the book was all in the characters, the settings, the questions and morality that surrounded it all.

I can't really see it becoming much more than a Zero-G version of Unreal Tournament. Even if the gameplay itself if good, I don't see that the scenario itself will be tied to the book in any strong sense. Or to put it another way, if they're basing this purely around the Battle School combat games, they could probably do just the same without the licence, because unless they're going to go out of their way to tell a real story with real character outside of that, there's no point to using the licence in the first place. Games are supposed to be fun, but the battle school wasn't, at least not for Ender.

Even leaving that aside and just talking about the gameplay surrounding the Battle Room itself, it's very doubtful that they'd offer you much scope for innovation, which was pretty much the core of Ender and Bean's strategies. To make it really work, you'd have to be allowed to do things that they didn't even think of themselves in the book, and to be honest, I doubt the game is even going to allow you to go even as far as the book did in terms of the tricks and strategies you could adapt.

Honestly, I would give up on a game adaptation of Ender's Game even sooner than a film adaptation (which at least seems plausible without as much of a likelihood of cheapening the themes of the book).

EvilBadman

Any post above this one not mentioning that

THE ENEMY'S GATE IS DOWN

is wrong.

subedii

EvilBadman wrote: »

Any post above this one not mentioning that

THE ENEMY'S GATE IS DOWN

is wrong.

It would be if I didn't suspect that they're going to be throwing that line at you every 5 minutes.

Algertman

Do you get to become Space Jesus?

Arch Guru XX

This is what I wrote in the other thread that appeared on this game:

"I'm curious to know what kind of game this is going to be. An fps is the first thing that comes to mind, but it would have to be pretty non-traditional. I think you would need to spend a lot of time on getting the physics right, so you can jump in any direction after grabbing onto a wall - maybe one button causes you to grab a wall/star while another causes you to rebound off the surface. Since you're using laser guns aiming should not be much of an issue but I hope they keep the idea from the book that the farther away you are the more diffuse your beam is, and the more time it take for a hit to register on an opponent. Oh, and it would be cool if they kept the location-based damage concept, so that you could have a leg or arm frozen but still contribute, but the change would also affect how you move in the room, and disabled bodies can be used as floating cover.

There is a lot of complexity to this project, I hope they get it right. At least they don't have to worry too much about level design, since they should all be the same room with various distribution of in-air obstacles.

Cautious optimism is my stance on this."

However, based on this thread, I'm guessing the actual game will be nothing like what I just described. Could someone give an overview of the gameplay style and game mechanics of Undertow, so that those of us who are unfamiliar with it get a sense of what this game might be like?

Nalouto

oh my GOD!

that is all.

they'd better not fuck this up.... really

the movie has me cautious as is..

NoelVeiga

First let me get out of the way that I think Undertow is a floating turd. You are supposed to see your characters in a videogame.

I don't have high hopes for Ender, but I stopped wanting an Ender game when Homeworld came out, so no big deal.

And, you know what? I don't think Ender's Game is the awesome novel everybody claims it is. It's certainly interesting, kinda fun and certainly not poorly written, but it never gets to shine.

Speed Racer

The game should be based on The Giant's Table.

Malach

I read EG when I was 15 for an English class, and by the time we were supposed to have finished it, I had already ready it twice. I think I've read it oh, 15-16 times at least in the nearly 10 years since. It just clicked with me, and I still have my original copy, goes with my whenever I go anywhere, sittin at the top of my bookcase now.

So I'm both excited and horrified. Didn't play Undertow, in fact, don't know anything about it. If this game was good, I'd be over the moon excited to play it. If it sucks, I'll be sad, but not really surprised. I kinda think things like that...are just better off left alone...oh well. Here's hoping.

xWonderboyx

I read the entire Ender series in a week (even the Bean spinoff series). This better be good.

TheMadjai

Mushroom Pie wrote: »

The game should be based on The Giant's Table.

The Giant's DRINK was only one part of The Adventure Game, which according to the book, is supposed to be a unique experience for every player. It adapts to your playstyle. Not unheard of, but it's infinitely more likely that this will be a Battle Room simulator.

However, the idea that this will be a FPS is also unlikely. Ender's job wasn't seeing how many kills he could rack up. He was a good soldier, but he was a better tactician. This will HOPEFULLY be a strategy game first, and a shooter second. Being able to command my army of 40 in an adaptable way is the draw to a game bearing Ender's Name.

Lord Yod

NoelVeiga wrote: »

And, you know what? I don't think Ender's Game is the awesome novel everybody claims it is. It's certainly interesting, kinda fun and certainly not poorly written, but it never gets to shine.

Your opinion is wrong.

Fartwinky

Lord Yod wrote: »

NoelVeiga wrote: »

And, you know what? I don't think Ender's Game is the awesome novel everybody claims it is. It's certainly interesting, kinda fun and certainly not poorly written, but it never gets to shine.

Your opinion is wrong.

indeed

NoelVeiga

TheMadjai wrote: »

Mushroom Pie wrote: »

The game should be based on The Giant's Table.

The Giant's DRINK was only one part of The Adventure Game, which according to the book, is supposed to be a unique experience for every player. It adapts to your playstyle. Not unheard of, but it's infinitely more likely that this will be a Battle Room simulator.

However, the idea that this will be a FPS is also unlikely. Ender's job wasn't seeing how many kills he could rack up. He was a good soldier, but he was a better tactician. This will HOPEFULLY be a strategy game first, and a shooter second. Being able to command my army of 40 in an adaptable way is the draw to a game bearing Ender's Name.

My guess is this will take you to the actual field somehow. The Battle Room is a nice setting for a novel, but it'd look too abstract, slow and uninteresting in a videogame, particularly when it's building up to managing fleets of capital ships in deep space. You want a visual representation of that early on the game, rather than kids in their pajamas playing Zero-G paintball for ten hours.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I read it's gonna be an RTS, but I can point to the source.

OremLK

subedii wrote: »

I cannot see how a game of this book would be good in any real sense, aside from maybe as an adventure game, which this isn't.

The closest I can think of is having you as a separate character competing and leading a team in the Battle Room scenarios. But the thing is, although the 'games' they played there could arguably be adapted to be action / strategy games on a console, the strength of the book was all in the characters, the settings, the questions and morality that surrounded it all.

I can't really see it becoming much more than a Zero-G version of Unreal Tournament. Even if the gameplay itself if good, I don't see that the scenario itself will be tied to the book in any strong sense. Or to put it another way, if they're basing this purely around the Battle School combat games, they could probably do just the same without the licence, because unless they're going to go out of their way to tell a real story with real character outside of that, there's no point to using the licence in the first place. Games are supposed to be fun, but the battle school wasn't, at least not for Ender.

Even leaving that aside and just talking about the gameplay surrounding the Battle Room itself, it's very doubtful that they'd offer you much scope for innovation, which was pretty much the core of Ender and Bean's strategies. To make it really work, you'd have to be allowed to do things that they didn't even think of themselves in the book, and to be honest, I doubt the game is even going to allow you to go even as far as the book did in terms of the tricks and strategies you could adapt.

Honestly, I would give up on a game adaptation of Ender's Game even sooner than a film adaptation (which at least seems plausible without as much of a likelihood of cheapening the themes of the book).

I generally agree with your statements, and I do think it'll be very difficult to make the battle room work (actually, a tactical squad-command game with Homeworld-style controls would be a lot more fun than a shooter of any kind).

However, I do want to take issue with the statement that "games are supposed to be fun, but the battle school wasn't"--there are a lot of games that are based on things that are a lot less fun than the battle room, and they've succeeded splendidly. I mean, take a look at the Call of Duty series--they've had great success bringing war, which is not at all fun, to your PC/console--and what's more, they made it as harrowing as they could.

Anyway, for me, this could be a good game, and I hope Chair is up to the challenge, but it's a big one. I know Card has mentioned before that he thinks games based on Ender shouldn't try to follow the whole narrative but should instead be smaller games based upon the different elements of the story (battle room, fantasy game, fleet command). So maybe this will be a collection of minigames or something.

Which is kind of frightening.

Dammit.

Malach

It ought to be, well, like Bully or something in that you're there in the school, you get to know your teammates. You train them, you manage them into the teams you want. Trade them. But not as Ender, as a random kid at the Battle School. Pick the name, pick the look, get drafted into an army based on...something, I dunno. And then you get to walk around, meet people, have interactions, follow orders, learn how to work with your Toon. Then you move up to Toon Leader and lead it, then you get to be a Commander and trade and come up with strategies and whatnot. Also, Online. something akin to Star Wars Battlefront or something, tons of NPCs and you're part of a Toon of other real players. Or maybe each person is a Toon Leader. But if the game isn't character driven, I'll be pissed. They should work their ass off and have 100s of characters, each and every one having their own personality and traits. You can get to know them all, learn all their skills and abilities. Which in fact shouldn't just pop up. Training your squads should include putting them through exercises, and by watching their performances you learn their skills.

Honestly, if they could make this, I'd be incredibly impressed. I don't see it happening, and anything short of everything I just said...why bother.