Do you mean set in London itself? Or broader than that?
Personally, I think the text is part of the game’s charm. Like, even Sunless Sea was very text-driven, and I’m not sure that Fallen London could be played as many other genres quite as well as it is currently. Like, I’d love to see a Fallen London game in the style of Shadowrun Returns - but I think part of the charm of Fallen London is how it is what it is. :-)
(Others are thoroughly welcome to disagree with me on this point - but that’s just my 2c. ^_^ )
I would prefer something more specific and action-based. Fallen London already has the entire freeform lore-heavy text-based thing covered and then some with SS. I don’t need the team to waste more resources on it.
[quote=]I will say, from my own experience with making games, that art is often the greatest bottleneck in development. Also, a lot of things in the game come through because you’re imagining it, rather than seeing it, and I think that lends Fallen London (and Sunless Sea) a lot of it’s strength.
It’s sort of the whole book vs movie debate, it’s never going to look the way you imagined it.[/quote]
This would be my concern as well. I don’t think people always appreciate how much they’re not seeing. I’m also concerned with how information would be controlled. If a text doesn’t slip information to the player, it’s well written. If visuals don’t give information to the player; they suck. It’s medium specific, but true.
I’m as eager as anyone to see more works set in the Neathyverse, and personally would be delighted if we could see more of Fallen London itself. That said, the idea of adapting the existing content… well, it’s been addressed, and ruled out, in a blog post here. And that’s just based on the difficulty of changing the interface and re-balancing the economy - to invest in a massive project to create a full game just to tell the same story we’ve already played seems like a less-than-wise investment.
(What kind of game would I like to see? Well, my favourite genres are action-RPGs and building-and-management sims, followed by stealth-em-ups and roguelike variations. We’ve had a roguelike variation action-RPG in Sunless Sea, so, maybe a building sim! Expanding a criminal gang in the rookeries of Spite, or establishing a colony on the far reaches of the Unterzee.)
Slightly tangential, and likely as impractical as making an AAA game, but I’d love to see a Mr. Arendt art book. ‘Visions of Fallen London’ or something like that? Something nice and shiny to covet, with lovely glossy pages…
Or with so many fantastic writers maybe an anthology of FL short-stories/poems/songs etc.? I guess a tad similar to how EF stories are made now; but exploring aspects of FL from a non-player perspective? No need for big lore secrets or anything, but I think a collection of little vignettes from a Snuffer’s, or an LB’s (or a Tiger’s!?) perspective could be brilliant. (But then again that might be a good basis for a new game?)
Or less practical still ‘in-world’ books - Who wouldn’t want to get hold of a physical copy of 'On the Maladies of Goats, Volume 1"?
Actually they could write a book about the story of FBG itself, how the company and game came together and have developed over the years? I’d buy that for sure.
No sorry, wait! Better still! A Rubbery-man pop-up book!! :)
(Then this all niche stuff, and probably wouldn’t give a good enough return for all the hard work involved. And really they’ve already cracked how to sell great narrative fiction to as broad as possible an audience. I suppose the best is to try to think of something that FL and SS in their present forms would have difficulty exploring, and so would be better expanded in another medium? (Be that games or whatever). So books are probably a redundant idea. Oh well… I can still dream :) )
[quote=Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook]I’m as eager as anyone to see more works set in the Neathyverse, and personally would be delighted if we could see more of Fallen London itself. That said, the idea of adapting the existing content… well, it’s been addressed, and ruled out, in a blog post here. And that’s just based on the difficulty of changing the interface and re-balancing the economy - to invest in a massive project to create a full game just to tell the same story we’ve already played seems like a less-than-wise investment.
(What kind of game would I like to see? Well, my favourite genres are action-RPGs and building-and-management sims, followed by stealth-em-ups and roguelike variations. We’ve had a roguelike variation action-RPG in Sunless Sea, so, maybe a building sim! Expanding a criminal gang in the rookeries of Spite, or establishing a colony on the far reaches of the Unterzee.)[/quote]
A sim-game in Fallen London would be awesome! I designed a fan cardgame around playing as merchants in the bazaar, competing for the attention of the Masters, but there are all sorts of interesting directions you could go with it. Sunless Sea definitely had some interesting content relating to the trade of contraband substances; drugs, souls, light, and so on.
Being put in charge of defending London could be interesting too, as we’ve seen hints of from things like the Tragedy Procedures. Managing a city that is perpetually in decline and under attack from all sides, who’s defenders are all self-interested or outright treacherous, and which is under threat from many entities as, or more, dangerous than any natural disaster, that could be awesome!
