Easygoing Eyebeast Enraged Slith Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 I don't think this has been done before and I want to see how interesting this discussion can get. What do you think influenced Jeff when he originally wrote this series? Where do you think he got his ideas? My guess: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious Artila Gnaeus Pompeius Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Originally Posted By: Enraged Slith My guess: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Wat Srsly?? You crack me up little buddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Enraged Slith Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 I'm not your buddy, friend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious Artila Gnaeus Pompeius Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Sorry, I was just quoting one of the most famous lines in Vidya game history. I would say that he got his ideas from 'real world' technologies. I have read somewhere that Jeff actually wanted to do a sci-fi epic set in the future where an elite group of scientists had a monopoly on genetic engineering and cloning. You know one of those utopias which in practice turn out to be impossible and quickly evolve into a dystopia. The closest thing I can find is Deus Ex(a most beautiful game) where human subjects are specifically bionically engineered to serve the ulterior motives of a megalomaniac(he just desires to be a god) banker. The antagonist is a banker because one of the primary sources of inspiration for that game was G.K.Chesterton's 'The Man Who was Thursday' and other works. Evidently, Chesterton and many other social-anarchists(I don't mean this in the same sense as the word has nowadays, for his views can be considered moderate today) didn't like the money of the masses in the hands of the elite few. And I don't know whether the Yuuzhan Vong in Star Wars predates Geneforge. They are somewhat akin to the Shapers and/or the Drakons. And Neossokrass, LOL at the Sss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrulous Glaahk Neossokrass Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 I would venture to say the original Fallout seriess, oh pal of mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 This topic has been discussed before, but I can't remember the novel that was mentioned as a source for some ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Jeff mentioned a novel source? Really? One thing Jeff has made clear, is that Geneforge was originally written as pure sci-fi. He later injected copious quantities of fantasy elements to make it more marketable. That's why the game has swords and javelins and stuff. Think it's a complete coincidence that those batons are six-shooters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Alorael at Large Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 For faction and character-heavy gameplay? Possibly Planescape: Torment. Jeff has mentioned it as one of his favorite games. For the world? I don't know of anything much like the Geneforge setting. It may be out there (there is nothing new under the sun), but I don't know it. For the mechanics? Why not Pokémon? —Alorael, who doesn't think Jeff really adopted anything closely. Geneforge is not a spiritual sequel,l prequel, or cousin. It was influenced by everything Jeff has played or read or seen and liked and thought would make a nifty RPG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious Artila Gnaeus Pompeius Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Originally Posted By: Randomizer This topic has been discussed before, but I can't remember the novel that was mentioned as a source for some ideas. Originally Posted By: Existential Semicolon & Cordial Jeff mentioned a novel source? Really? No, I was talking about the inspiration for Deus Ex. Not only are there numerous allegories and aphorisms from Chesterton et al. in Deus Ex, he is also quoted ingame. His and many others' ideas made it into the game. There is no corelation between Chesterton and Geneforge. Heck, he died much before we even started messing with our own and other genomes. He was just another philosopher like Paine and Thoreau. It's just that Chesterton inspired Deus Ex, which on its own may have inspired Geneforge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Alorael at Large Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Deus Ex wasn't inspired by a G. K. Chesterton novel. His writing is relevant to some of the themes, but the game definitely isn't an adaptation of his work. Not even an adaptation translocated to a cyberpunk semi-dystopian future. —Alorael, who was Thursday a few days ago. He's Sunday now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Pokemon's mechanics are actually very different from Geneforge's. Yes, you have disposable PCs, but the ways they are obtained and used are entirely different. (I would also venture to say that Pokemon's battle system has a lot more strategic depth to it.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Alorael at Large Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 That suggestion was facetious. The somewhat underrated game Summoner would be a better fit, but mostly I think summoning minions is an idea that's been floating around since the early days of D&D at least. —Alorael, who could even see Realmz (alas) as an inspiration. It's one of the few RPGs that allow you to summon creatures and keep them around indefinitely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 The last time we discussed it. Originally Posted By: Spidweb Geneforge had many different inspirations, some real world and political, some fictional. Two that stand out among many are the awesome David Cronenberg movie eXistenZ and Eden books by Harry Harrison. - Jeff Vogel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 You keep bringing up that silly game. I'm going to start calling you Alorealmz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious Artila Gnaeus Pompeius Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Originally Posted By: Amend Your Hopes Deus Ex wasn't inspired by a G. K. Chesterton novel. His writing is relevant to some of the themes, but the game definitely isn't an adaptation of his work. Not even an adaptation translocated to a cyberpunk semi-dystopian future. Of course not. If it was, Deus Ex would have had a lot of Christian symbolics and allegories, not to mention his excellent wit. Not only that, there wouldn't even be a conspiracy or a dystopia. I did not ever try to say that it is an adaptation. All the game contains with respect to Chesterton are some quotes and a paltry few excerpts from his work. What I meant by inspiration is the same thing you said, the recurring themes and such. There is no relation at all between Chesterton and Deus Ex's plot. The game is just a vision into a chaotic future where some politicians and bankers get together and have some fun with bio engineered viruses and some nano-augmented(read l33t h4x0rz) agents. Then the guys who were thus augmented got together with some rebels who wanted the powers of these oppressors and wiped the floor with them.(In one of the three endings.) Hell, that game even had bio-augmenting blue canisters. Not that it proves anything. And no, I don't think it contained Skribbane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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