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Perfect Dark in literature, and other things
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Kerr Avon
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 PostPosted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 5:04 am    Post subject: Perfect Dark in literature, and other things Reply with quote Back to top

I'm a massive fan of the game Perfect Dark (it's my favorite game ever), though even as a fan I have to admit that the game's universe isn't amongst the most interesting ever devised. Still, the setting is at least as interesting as most Hollywood science-fiction films (which isn't setting the bar very hight, I know) and I bought both novels (Perfect Dark: Initial Vector, and Perfect Dark: Second Front, both written by Greg Rucka) but I never saw the comic (Perfect Dark: Janus' Tears) for sale, but a couple of years back I managed to download the comic from the 'net. The novels are pretty good, actually, better than I was expecting (tie in novels aren't exactly good, as a general rule), and the comic was good (though brief) too.

There was supposed to be a third Perfect Dark novel, but it never materialised. I don't know why, perhaps the other two sold poorly, or the perceived market was too small. A pity, really.

Regarding other PD related merchandise, I've never bothered trying the Gameboy version of Perfect Dark, as I don't have a Gameboy (I could download the ROM and a Gameboy emulator, but I've heard the game isn't much good, and adds little to the Perfect Dark universe, so I doubt I'll bother). I think the soundtrack was sold as a CD? I never saw it for sale, even on-line, but I did download it years ago (I don't know if it was professional or fan-made).

There have been rumours of a Perfect Dark film, of course, but there are usually rumours about a film when a game is popular. I was a bit surprised that there wasn't a cartoon based around Perfect Dark Zero, as a cheaply made, pretty rubbish cartoon would be the sort of thing you'd expect for publicity for Perfect Dark Zero (not that I'm trying to say Rare + Microsoft would stoop so low...) Rolling Eyes , but since it probably would have been awful I'm glad such a cartoon never appeared.

I think part of the reason why PD's universe failed to capture the imagination of so many users (try to find amateur Perfect Dark artwork on the 'net, there's some, but not much) is because the aliens are so generic and unmemorable; Elvis and co. are just the very over-used, traditonal Area 51 type greys, and the Skedar are just generic reptile/lizard creatures. And the most intriuging alien of all, the Cetan creature/mega-weapon is something we never see at all! Mind you, we never see the Carrington Institute or the Pelagic 2 from the outside either, but at least we can imagine what they look like, but why does the game never show us what this millions of years old Cetan looks like?

Look at Half-Life. To my mind, HL does aliens better than any other game series, as they look 'other-worldy'. And fighting the aliens in the HL games is fun, whereas lots of people (maybe the vast majority) don't find fighting the aliens fun in Perfect Dark, which I think is because the aliens in PD aren't very believable. Personally I think almost everything is better in PD than HL, but HL definitely has the better aliens (and the better story-telling, but PD has a better story). I really think that if PD had more imaginative alien designs, then the game world would be more memorable, and then perhaps there'd be more books/comics/whatever set in the PD universe. The characters of Joanna, Carrington, Cassandra, etc, are interesting, as is the corporate run air of dystopia, but since aliens are such a large part of PD's story (not PDZ, but I don't care much about PDZ, as it's staggeringly inferior to PD) then the alien's forgettability harms the atmosphere.
 
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fantsu
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 PostPosted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

You should try Perfect Dark for the gameboy.
It isn't that bad actually.

Just some things are bit lame, but overall it is decent for an gameboy game for sure.
 
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Maxout
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 PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

It's a matter of perspective on the believability of the game. And no matter what's created someone's going to hate it.

Right now there's too many people to ask for their justification.
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Wreck
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 PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 3:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

What were the stories from the two novels about? Would either of them have the potential to make for a good game in the series?
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 PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

I also found it very disappointing when the Cetans were nowhere to be seen, even though the backstory does mention them.
But wasn't the Cetan ship a Cetan itself? Or was it a different race of beings?
EDIT: Nevermind, just checked the game and it does say that the ship is also a Cetan.
 
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Maxout
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 PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 12:12 am    Post subject: What else is new? Reply with quote Back to top

It's the future from when it was first published. It has to be about aliens or at least a human character has to infer it.
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Kerr Avon
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 PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 4:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Wreck wrote:
What were the stories from the two novels about? Would either of them have the potential to make for a good game in the series?


Sorry, I thought I'd answered this? Anyway, they both occur in Perfect Dark Zero's universe, rather than the slightly different Perfect Dark universe, and follow on from PDZ. The first book takes place when Joanna has started working for Carrington, and the story involves a political/business powerplay with Carrington torn between taking the chance to bring down dataDyne and his feelings for Cassandra (who is a more sympathetic and likeable character here than in the PD game). The second book is about a series of murders of dataDyne's enemies, often members of Carrington's staff, and Joanna's efforts to stop this. In this book she is still injured from the events of Janus Tears, the comic book that takes place between the two novels.

They are (in my opinion) not bad at all (better than I make them sound, but I want to avoid spoilers), and if you like science-fiction (which you probably do, being a gamer and a member of shooters Forever) then you should track them down. I've tried to find e-copies of them so I could post the link (then if anyone reads them and likes them then they can buy the physical books), but if they've been scanned in or sold as ebooks then I can't find them for download, sorry.

As to whether or not they'd make good games, well they do have interesting plots, some action, and interesting characters, so as far as that goes then they could make good games, but of course since they'd be action games rather than RPGs or adventures then the book's aspects wouldn't matter nearly as much as the games design, and personally I don't have any faith in Rare any more. I can't even remember the last time I looked what Rare are releasing, I'd *love* a good Rare first person shooter to be released, but the days when I'd happily go out and buy a Rare game on day one safe in the knowledge that it would be great are long gong. A real tragedy of the gaming world.
 
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 PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Ah, so just more PD prequel content, eh? I was hoping for a follow-up to the N64 original. I've had some ideas kicking around for a while, which would pick up about a year or so after the game ended. Skedar seeking revenge against the Earth humans, distrust with the new head of dataDyne, questionable political moves in America, and even the "resurrection" of a certain shady character who appeared to have died. Plenty of missing parts in my story, but if I actually sat down and concentrated on flushing it out, it would all come together.
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Maxout
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 PostPosted: Wed May 15, 2013 3:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

I've read this. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSevenBasicPlots

Frodo and Sam. Joanna and Elvis. Quest.

You could consider Perfect Dark a futuristic Lord of the Rings. Unless you argue the difference between technology and magic?
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MultiplayerX
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 PostPosted: Wed May 15, 2013 5:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Maxout wrote:
I've read this. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSevenBasicPlots

Frodo and Sam. Joanna and Elvis. Quest.

You could consider Perfect Dark a futuristic Lord of the Rings. Unless you argue the difference between technology and magic?


Perfect Dark was a very ORIGINAL idea. Smile I think it would be awesome to get someone other than Uwe Bol to make it into a movie. Maybe Simon West ( Tomb Raider 1 movie ) or Stephen Souza (Van Damme Streetfighter movie) Then again Guillermo Del Toro and Peter Jackson could do PD justice since they worked together on The Hobbit. If done right it could be a great movie BUT they need to score the music with the help of the game's music designer to keep it's ATMOSPHERE. Like Graeme Revell did in Tomb Raider... his score was amazing for being rushed to put together in like 6 weeks I think is what they said. At least the Tomb Raider movie was a fresh idea when it came out. I'd like to see them finally film f*cking HALO. Lol Guess the game is losing popularity and Call of Duty has producers nervous to make Halo bigger budget to respark interest in the series.
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Maxout
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 PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 4:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

I know what the problem is. Maybe it's not a real leap of the imagination and it only works.

----

Fiction's Upper Limit Lore (FULL)
Overall, what are the general limitations to fiction? There are certain situations that don't normally happen in stories. I'm trying to get a quick list of things that don't happen.

Note: I've posted this question elsewhere but I know I at least want one other source.

-The hero/ine usually loses in the end.
-The secondary character's finishes off the main villian. Lives longer than the main hero.
-Any other characters have one greater trait than either the main character or villian that's used once.
-When traveling they actually die along the way or everyone makes it to the destination.
-A victor is determined early and a descisive action is prompt.
-The way things might happen as compared to real time.
-Having to justify plot holes in fiction compared to reality.
-Satisfying a fan base.
-Avoiding your common set-up.
-Finding an unpredictable ending.
-You are expected to believe what the author tells you.

>>> Avoiding your common set-up.
Many of these shooters violate this idea and aren't as interesting imo. But we all have our reasons.
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 PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 1:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

I'm glad to see someone else read the Perfect Dark novels, I thought I was the only one.
The Janus Tears comic book was very good too. I think that a movie series based on the games and the books would work... perfectly.

Someone tried to do a Perfect Dark film a few months ago, but unfortunately lacked the money. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1862582334/dark-a-perfect-dark-film-series
 
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Kerr Avon
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 PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 4:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

The Perfect Dark books are available to download from:

https://kat.cr/hard-to-find-comedy-and-science-fiction-books-t11099033.html

if the page changes (torrent sites can be strange) then search for

"Hard to find comedy and science-fiction books" without the quotes.

As with any torrent, virus check it when you've download it. But it seems clean to me, and anyway it doesn't contain any executables, just ebooks.
 
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Wreck
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 PostPosted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Interesting to see this thread come back up, as I've just purchased some PD reading material on eBay. The Janus' Tears collection (all comics in one book) has already found its way to my house, and the Initial Vector novel should be here this week. Just curious to learn more about the world of Perfect Dark.

Now, as someone who has never played Zero before, will I have a harder time following these stories? And what order would you recommend that I read them; Initial Vector novel, or Janus' Tears first? And if I get the Second Front novel, where does that fit in? The Wikipedia page doesn't detail it very well.

Nevermind... An above post by Kerr Avon nicely summed up everything for me. Smile

Initial Vector -> Janus' Tears -> Second Front
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Kerr Avon
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 PostPosted: Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Wreck wrote:

Initial Vector -> Janus' Tears -> Second Front


Yep. You won't have trouble following the books, as far as I can remember, everything is introduced as necessary. The books aren't great, but they are much better than the usual game based novels that I've read, with the exception of the Bioshock novel, which is probably the best game-tie-in novel I've ever read.

I'm surprised you've never played Perfect Dark Zero, though. You're not missing a lot, either as a game or as part of the PD story canon, but it's not *terrible*. Just a mediocre game that manages to leave out almost everything that made the original PD so magnificent. Even leaving aside the gameplay faults, PDZ doesn't even have subtitles for the deaf! All that time in development and they leave out something so vital for some gamers.
 
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