Game-based fiction \ VOGONS

Game-based fiction

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First post, by ratfink

Posted on 2011-02-27, 17:43

ratfink Offline

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Anybody ever try any of this stuff?

I just finished a Doom novel called Knee-Deep in the Dead. Bought when Doom 3 was new, it's actually a reprint from 1995, being based on Doom and Doom II, consisting of 250 pages of "I walked down the corridor and shot three zombies with my shotgun. Round the corner a demon came at me, I took him out after my fifith rocket... blah blah". Never having managed to get beyond the first level of Doom, I wonder if it's a walkthrough 🤣. Was a little disappointing as it was a pretty literal treatment of a shoot-em-up as fiction, I thought they might do something a bit more creative. For what it's worth, it was slightly reminscent of Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers in places 😜.

Reply 1 of 4, by DonutKing

Posted on 2011-02-27, 20:33

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When Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri came out they hired Michael Ely to write 3 novels to flesh out the game's backstory.
One came out around the time of the game, one came out about a year or two later and the third was nearly 4 years after the game's release so is actually quite difficult to find now. I have all 3.

The novels are alright, nothing too bad about them, the first one seems to be based heavily on the Iliad though. You could probably read them without knowing of or playing the game and still enjoy them if you were into science fiction, although you would probably enjoy it a lot more if you were familiar with the game's characters and plot.
It does expose some interesting quirks about the ingame characters and events which can make the game more interesting in places.

If you are squeamish, don't prod the beach rubble.

Reply 2 of 4, by SKARDAVNELNATE

Posted on 2011-02-28, 11:06

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DonutKing wrote:
When Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri came out they hired Michael Ely to write 3 novels

Amazon lists 4 books.
Centauri Dawn
Dragon Sun
Twilight of the Mind
Power of the Mind Worms

I think there were 4 Doom books and 2 Doom3 books. Plus a paperback adaptation of the movie.
2 books based on Descent
5 books for Halo
2 books for Unreal

Reply 3 of 4, by leileilol

Posted on 2011-02-28, 16:37

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that blaster master novel 🤣

long live PCem

Reply 4 of 4, by DonutKing

Posted on 2011-03-02, 04:56

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SKARDAVNELNATE wrote:
Amazon lists 4 books. Centauri Dawn Dragon Sun Twilight of the Mind Power of the Mind Worms […]
Show full quote
DonutKing wrote:
When Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri came out they hired Michael Ely to write 3 novels

Amazon lists 4 books.
Centauri Dawn
Dragon Sun
Twilight of the Mind
Power of the Mind Worms

Power of the Mind Worms was only a comic book and I don't think it ties into the other 3 stories, which are full length novels.

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