Interesting premise. I'd play it but I'd add some sort of morality factor to it as well. Perhaps something along the lines of Knights of the Old Republic. Mal does a good act, his crew and bystanders view him in a different light than say him executing an innocent person so he can get the job done. And of course his moral choices a would have long term affects on how the crew thinks and acts.

Simon | March 29, 02:38 CET

Something like KOTOR would be really good, I'd love a game where you get given a job, you then get on the ship (which is fully explorable) and then fly to the planet where the job is, or to wherever the stuff you need to pull off the job might be, once you've done the job you fly back and give Badger or whoever his cut, and he gives you another. That would just be the first few missions though, gradually some bigger threat would come in, and your main objective would become to try and defeat whoevers after you.

Have Mal for explory bits, River for piloting the ship and fighting, Jayne for bits where you've got to shoot the place up. Perhaps you could have to get something off someone or get them to help and you'd be able to use Inara to try and get it (using charm and contacts, GTA had enough problem when they put the other part of her job description in a game).

It could be great, but yes, it would need Joss or Tim to write it, and it would need all the cast to provide voices.

Ghost Spike | March 29, 02:49 CET

Yep! I'd very much pay to play that game!

GVH | March 29, 02:53 CET

To really get the Firefly feel, you have to screw with the genre in unexpected ways. For example, I'd allow cheat codes, but you'd have to deal with the consequences, i.e. a code for unlimited ammo would also get the Feds coming after you for gun running.

And Greg Edmondson must do the score.

C. A. Bridges | March 29, 03:03 CET

Why am I getting de ja vu? Different thread entirely but I drifted into this very topic.

...

The description in the OT link dismisses a very important element in what I want for any computer game dealing with Whedon's Firefly/Serenity universe: massive multi role playing online.

The storyline for the 'verse COULD be that immediately after the events of the movie, the Parliament launched a surprise assault on the crew of Serenity. They managed to escape, however in order to avoid detection they were forced to separate and move underground. So each member of the original crew is on a different planet.

Meanwhile, in response to the signal sent out at the end of the film from Mr. Universe's lair, the history of Miranda has become common knowledge, and the people who risked their lives to get that signal out to the general public have now become folk heroes. Think "JaynesTown" but on an interplanetary scale. The characters from Serenity & Firefly are not characters you can opt to play in this game. They're the ones you're trying to find for various reasons.

You play a character who also exists in this world. You're either a 'core' or a 'rim' character. Core characters are trying to find crew members from Serenity in order to turn them over to the authorities or a reward. Rim characters are trying to find crew members from Serenity in order to help them in varying ways, or protect them from Core characters.

[ edited by ZachsMind on 2006-03-29 02:14 ]

ZachsMind | March 29, 03:19 CET

ZachsMind: I think we all drift into the topic of how we can live in our favorite 'verse. I would have to get a computer game like this, even if I ended up complaining "but that isn't what I understood happened after Serenity!".

embers | March 29, 03:26 CET

...player characters could be anything in a wide range of professions and archetypes. Pretty much any kind of character seen in the tv series, expanding on into their imaginations, with descriptions focusing on the kind of role one would play on a ship. Those skills would carry over into the different worlds, each one being its own zone that players could explore, and visit by traveling in ships. Not everyone starts with their own ship. One of the many goals of the game would be to accumulate enough wealth and resources to get or make your own ship.

Teams and affiliations would grow and merge and split as a natural part of game play. You could explore the main plot arc of finding Serenity's crew members, or go off on your own tangent and trade with other players, make alliances and forge enemies, create items for sell, be a mercenary and offer your services to the highest bidder, join a ship's crew and go on anything from 'milk runs' to 'last stands' based on mission objectives that players accumulate from contacts. When a ship takes damage, engineers would become indispensible. A good medic on the ship keeps other players from dying repeatedly. Shepherds can inspire even the most dour of personalities, improving people's stats in their presence. Then there's gunhands, smugglers, rogues, etc. And that's just the rim! Core characters would have as many variant archetypes, and either would work directly with the Alliance, or simply living in an Alliance world. Playing a Core character would be dramatically different from playing on the Rim. Higher levels would mean more and more restrictions and complications in some ways, but greater freedoms and influence in other ways. You'd have to work within the confines of the rules of the Alliance to accomplish various goals, and often goals that were in direct conflict would cause a Core character to risk becoming an Outcast. Likewise, with effort a Rim character could assimilate into the Core planets in various ways and become a Prodigal. So you may start with one set of objectives but those objectives can changes and merge and multiply with gameplay, until you the player are not quite sure what you're trying to accomplish for whom and why.

Use fellow players to accomplish personal goals. Sell out your services to the highest bidder, or be a goody goody and do things for no financial gain, or a moonbrain and do things in order to be crazy or drive other people crazy.

Places open for exploration early on would include Persephone (Badger), Higgins Moon (Jayne), Sihnon (Inara) and Ariel (Simon). Other planets would become accessible through gameplay, some being harder in which to survive than others. Each of the major zones would have somewhere one of the characters from the series as a computer controlled NPC, and your character would have to gain access to that character by accomplishing missions that would get you ever closer (or further, or nowhere at all) towards the goal of the main plot arc. Of course the characters of River and Mal would probably not be accessible until near the end game. The possibilities are potentially endless.

ZachsMind | March 29, 05:15 CET

I'd love a PC game in which one could be inside the Serenity ship, and stuff. Ideally not a shoot-em-up game, though. Something a bit more creative would be good.

A game in which you were River, and could use your psychic senses to intuit some of the other characters' (bad guys) plans would be neat. And instead of guns, you could simply kick and climb and such.

Blade Runner spawned a fantastic adventure game. Something like that, with a narrative pushing you forward.

willbueche | March 29, 05:40 CET

"A game in which you were River..."

I'd prefer a game system where anybody could opt to be *like* their favorite character, but no one actually being THE character(s). You might start with each of the major characters of the series being like a prototype, but then players could imbue (sic) their own ideas and creative inspirations onto it. So if you wanted to play someone "like Jayne but not as gullible" then you could. I'm more interested in the idea of being immersed in the fictional reality Whedon proposed, then just stepping into the shoes of one of his characters.

Psychic phenomena exists in Whedon's 'verse, but it's very rare. A game where anybody could play River would mean suddenly psychics were as common as toilet paper. Having never played Star Wars Online, I can only imagine, but I have read that there were issues early on about how many people logged in wanting to be a Sith Lord. It's kinda hard to please thousands of subscribers, when there can only be two at a time. Psychic phenomena might could be something that some characters could attain, but you'd have to do a number of things to get it, and you'd need a lotta luck. It wouldn't be a guarantee.

I'd want a game with a story arc where one could meet any and all the main characters from the series, in their element, but first you'd have to invent your own persona in the 'verse, and then you'd have to work for it. You couldn't just run over to Mal's house. You'd have to find out where Mal is first, then get there, then find out when you get there that he's been captured, or he's missing, or rumors say he's joined the other side, and you'd have to follow clues and wild goose chases and have adventures that eventually led you to saving him from whatever it is that's going on.

...I'm really liking this idea!

ZachsMind | March 29, 06:39 CET

I didn't mean one of those "multi player" things - those don't interest me at all.

An adventure game would be so much more up Joss Whedon's ally (Aly?), since adventure games require a story.

In suggesting you could play as River, I was noting her particular skills - physical and mental - would come in handy for an adventure game.

willbueche | March 29, 07:00 CET

I'd really rather not see an MMORPG. The quality of Firefly is in the writing and the characters; I'd rather play a game with a high-quality linear plot than do the same Fed-ex missions over and over again trying to spawn the right item...

mikepurvis | March 29, 08:54 CET

I like the idea of a RPG with a lot of elements of a first person shooter thrown in. I'd want to be able to play any character of the crew and I'd want it to be with the full cast. Can't imagine a game without Wash or Book in it. I'd like the ability to play as any of the characters to be throughout the whole game and not just a chapter here and there like the Buffy: Chaos Bleeds game. The ship, imo, would be the home base - no need for a planet to go to stash their stuff. Serenity is their home so they need no other. I would love to have full run of the ship and be able to fly it too. A lot of the missions could be to the different planets in the verse and have characters from both the movie and the series to interact with.

I like your idea, Chris Bridges, about consequences if you use a cheat code - that would be so in the spirit of Firefly!! I also really like the idea of keeping the crew happy and if they don't get their needs met they get cranky. Maybe with Jayne it would be plenty of food but Kaylee can get cranky if she's not getting any sex! LOL - I guess this would only be if it was after the movie!

This could be a great game. Just imagine being able to do first person shooter with Mal, Jayne or Zoe, use River in the physical fights, very much like the Buffy games, flying Serenity as Wash, throw in having some mechanical problems that Kaylee has to figure out quick and Simon to patch everyone up when things get hairy. Book could be the character to give you hints and help you out when you're stuck. Inara can be what she was on the show, there to help you out of the occasional mess and have that extra shuttle handy (and maybe be nicer to Mal!!)

And most of all, I'd want this for all platforms - not just be an exclusive. That way everyone can enjoy it and the fanbase will get bigger and bigger!

Firefly Flanatic | March 29, 09:26 CET

Weird... I'd have to completely disagree that Firefly is a game designers dream, simply because it would be really hard to come up with a kind of game that actually fits in, especially when insisting on using the crew. Space shooter? Uhm, not without weapons and turning Serenity into a combat vessel or replacing it with one could easily end up as... generic space shooter with a few familiar names thrown in. But a Privateer-like game without guns would be pointless, unless you devise a mechanic that makes sneaking past patrols or Reavers a fun element. Else you end up with MS Spaceflight Simulator and spending hours flying a straight line from A to B hardly qualifies as game.

Travelling could be spent interacting with the crew and roaming the ship, interrupted by random events (finding derelict ships, running into patrols, random part breaking down) resulting in different kinds of sub games (exploring and plundering, avoiding/running from patrols/Reavers, finding the broken part, taking appropriate measures, maybe some mini game to fix it). How likely and difficult these events are would depend on the crews skills. But they should always be just a nice change, never become annoying. Maybe even a "let crew handle it based on skill values" automatic.

I wouldn't mind ground combat as in X-Com or Jagged Alliance, but the publisher would probably want my head on a stick for reviving the unmainstreamy turn based tactics. Last time it was done well must have been the Fallout games. You also shouldn't end up with more than four characters involved in that kind of game, as that's usually the number where fun turns into work for many players.

I'd also prefer playing someone new that has reason to actually get to know the crew, because many players won't know show or movie. Problem is, unless they figure out that River is of better use someplace else, they don't even need a new pilot. Assuming you COULD be, it would be a decent tutorial and opening only part of the game (with complex games I prefer different elements and aspects to be introduced one by one).

Unfortunately there is no reason for the player to have any say, unless we dispose of Mal right after a few tutorial jobs. Having Niska take him AGAIN would be pretty lame and the Alliance bearing a grudge and contacting everyone with a reason to kill him... sounds like that old Batman show with lots of silly cackling villains forging the most stupid traps and schemes ever devised by mankind. That aside, pretty much everybody on the ship would get to be replacement Captain first. I don't see Zoe going "you've been on board for 2 weeks and we hardly know you, I think we should lay our lives into your hands of questionable ableness". Not to mention that not having Mal in the game would be a bad move and just putting in dozens of "meanwhile, in Niskas new and improved Alliance sponsored torture chamber"-cutscenes wouldn't cut it.

Firefly/Serenity is just one of the few things where you don't immediately know what kind of game it should be. With Stargate it's easy, first person, some interaction with characters, shooting, exploring planets, maybe jumping into other team members or ordering them to solve specific things. All very straight forward. But designing a FF game that really captures the essence of the show? More a nightmare than a dream.

Trienco | March 29, 09:42 CET

Maybe it should take place during Firefly? Because I wanna be able to pilot with our dearly departed leaf on the wind...and plus, there could be a lot of stuff that ties into the film and the series (in a canon-y way).

Because I'm still not satisfied with the way those Blue Hands guys were dealt with. And whatever happened to Blue Sun?

UnpluggedCrazy | March 29, 10:15 CET

I would love a game if done right, and by if done right I mean one with a good narrative. The problem with open ended games like Grand Theft Auto is that even when the story is good it's still not great. This is even more so the case with MMORPG's. For this game to be done right it'd need a very strong narative. Something along the lines of the first Prince of Persia, God of War, Grim Fandango, or Ultimate Spider-Man. Not to say it would have to mimic the play style of any of these games just it would need the narrative to be anything other than mediocre. Ultimate Spider-Man is very much GTA in New York where you get to save people while you wait for missions to spool up. It's got quite the good story to boot so perhaps that's more along the lines of what they could do.

war_machine | March 29, 17:49 CET

Multiplayer would be more in keeping with the source material. What made Firefly so special was the character interaction. Playing a solo adventure game based on the series would mean you're interacting with computer controlled characters only. That would get old fast. Playing on the internet with others would allow unpredictable character interaction. You don't need as strong a narrative if the players are developing the plot as they go. Admittedly there would be "fed-ex missions" that would require teams to join up and accomplish. However it's not the mish itself that would matter but the interaction of the players during the mish that would make it fun.

I'd want it to take place after the film, and allow the players to decide what direction things go from there. This is fiction though. So it's possible to write out scenarios where both Wash and Book didn't really die. I know you think that's impossible because of HOW they died, but trust me, it's completely plausible and possible. Although they wouldn't necessarily be quite the same upon their return. OR their deaths could be seen as catalysts for the discovery of secrets to their past post mortem. Then there's things not introduced to the original series that can be negotiated in. Cloning. Time travel. Alternate realities. I like to think that Book was an Operative. The character in the movie may have even been Book's illegitimate son. Or perhaps a genetically engineered fascimilie of Book. This could all be explored in a MMORPG.

It'd be better than just playing Mal or fighting as River. You'd be able to create your own character in the fictitious future universe that Whedon created, and then interact with characters that others created. So you get to explore not just those handful of characters Whedon dreamed up, but an entire virtual reality that was constantly evolving and growing. You could opt to create characters 'like' your favorite from the series, or go off on a completely different tangent and make up someone entirely new. And you could have slots for multiple characters so you could experience the game in different ways so it'd always be fresh. One day you could log in as a character working for the alliance and the next day you could log in as a rebel against it. Maybe even incite or participate in reactivating the civil war.

I've played solo adventures and they're cute and all, but ultimately only worth going through once and then they just sit on my shelf. A MMORPG of the Firefly universe would be more longlasting, and would adapt to the interests and decisions of its community base. Like Matrix Online or D&D Online, but, y'know, actually GOOD.

ZachsMind | March 29, 21:52 CET