The Night Angel Trilogy (as a legitimate videogame)

[Victor Johnson]

I wasn't surprised to find this topic here. While I think that its a great idea to not only promote the books, but also add to the user-created content for Morrowind, I have a slightly different agenda.

When I got into the second book, I saw great potential for a console (possibly a PC too) game. Upon reading the third book, I saw it as a challenge and (with the proper amount of work done) a successful franchise.

I have a rather light (in my opinion) background in game design. I can easily come up with gameplay mechanics and concepts for just about every aspect of the story, which would likely follow Kylar from Azoth/Kylar from beginning to end.

I have prior work experience in the games industry. I was a tester, but I worked with the designers and learned quite a bit from them, though not as much as I would've liked. Getting back on topic, I still have a few of those contacts, so issues and questions can get some kind of response. While I can't guarantee professional development, I think it would be a fun endeavor.

Who knows, once the design doc is complete, Mr. Weeks may just find a publisher/developer to pick it up and finish it.

So, I guess what I'm looking for now is an artist and or 3D renderer to help bring some of this to life. Publishers love content after all. I can't say that anyone who's involved would ever see a dime for the work, personally I just want to flex my design muscles and see if I can hack it.

Anyone interested in helping out with Project Night Angel?

Mr. Weeks, what do you think? If some of your fans presented you with a (near)complete design document in a few months would you be interested in trying to find someone to create a game out of it?

This would strictly be a "whenever you have the spare time" kinda project. More for fun, less for profit, but if there's a payment at the end I doubt anyone would decline it haha.

Alright, I'm done babbling. Discuss!

[Victor Johnson]

Aye, that was the initial plan, when I first played Prototype I had just finished the second book. During the entire time I was playing I was going "THIS IS NIGHT ANGEL OMFG!" y'know, sans the old timey stuff.
Anyways, as far as combat and special powers goes, Prototype is what I'm using as a base. Free running and such can prolly also fit in there, but with some kind of gauge. After all, everyone with Talent has a limit to how much of it they can use. The ka'kari should make Kylar godlike in-game, but not a god.
Unfortunately I haven't had as much free time as I'd like to work on this, I'm trying to tie up some loose ends with two other design docs I'm working on and I'm having some difficulty.
Keep posting ideas though, PLEASE! This is really helping to make the concept process much easier and it shows me that I'm on the right track with the design.

Also I'm still looking for an artist for visual concept designs. You won't get paid, but I'll give you a pat on the back and a big ol' "Special thanks to" in the design doc. (Who knows, if it gets in a publisher/developer's hands you might get a job :O )

As soon as I get to work on this, I'll post some kind of update link to what I've got going on with it thus far.
//Psychon

[Aidan West]

question ive been thinking about, is kylar going to be the only playable character?
there are huge points of the story line with other characters and it seems like so far all thats been talked about is kylar as playable. i think it would be good to have some of the other wetboys at least as playable characters because they could use basically the same combat engines and it would add to the storyline, and if they were all subtlety different it would be fun to play as different characters. also early on in the game its nice to start with some of the powers so u know how to use them when u gain them in the story later on, and if u got to play as durzo early on u would get to play as a talented and powerful wetboy for at least one mission without having to go through all the missions and such that would happen before kylar got that far. also though, some of the other characters might be interesting to play as, though possibly to much work to add whole new combat engines to.
(also saw that u were talking about using the prototype engine and i like the idea but i think less ridiculously overpowered and more stealthy. the majority of his crazy skills should go towards being incredibly stealth as apposed to anything else *i think* until combat where yeah it could get pretty similar to prototype.) anywayz just my thoughts

[Victor Johnson]

All very valid points good sir.
Kylar would be the main character for a number of reasons.
Engine, disc space, and time are three of the main restrictions on the number of playable characters. It could be possible for the other wetboys to be implemented though. I considered Durzo being playable for a short time, and I'm still on the fence about it. I think what I'll do is make two write-ups on the intro/tutorial levels and leave them both as open-ended options for development.
Back on the point of the other weboys, I had an idea for a multiplayer mission that could potentially be lots of fun. I think I'm going to add that to the big design list and expand on it when I have time.

Prototype is just an example engine of course. Its a game that proves that NA is very possible since its using concepts and ideas that have already come out. All NA needs is some innovation to make it unique. These days, story alone won't satiate attention deficit gamers, so gameplay mechanics that draw them in will be a huge benefit not only to the game's success but to the the fanbase that may result when the player picks up the book for the full and complete story.

Which brings me back to the point of using Kylar's perspective.
Kylar sees the most action, and the books are called the Night Angel trilogy, so in essence the story is about him. His life in the books is better for game translation because of the limitless potential in his Talent.
Not to mention the amount of mystery behind the other characters.
Chances are, a good portion of the people who play it and see "Want to know the full story?" at the end will be saying "OMG YES!" and will pick up all three books and devour them with glee.

Win/win = very yes. :D

[Alex Wyatt]

I'm a noob on the boards, but I'm halfway through the end of BtS; About halfway through the first book I also thought that the story and universe is pretty much BEGGING to be a video game (and a good one too).

A few thoughts:

Assassin's Creed/Prototype engines are great, because of the free running/building climbing. The combat system would need a revamp though, to be more like the prince of persia (because AC combat sucked for me). Also, a menu system like that in Oblivion would hand itself well to the engine...just a thought.

Ka'kari/talent could grow as Kylar dies/resurrects in the story; Kylar feels it getting stronger, meaning the game could give you more abilities/ "Talent Points". The Ka'kari to me had a dark but monotonous attitude, so the voice just needs to reflect the personality. (By the by, I've got access to a recording studio and I know quiet a few theater actors...so if a dialogue was written for the game...)

Multiplayer: Mages+Wetboys+Soldiers and what not...would be awesome.

I agree though; The plot would almost absolutely have to be cut up (as much as I hate myself for suggesting it) to be able to let players get in and out without getting confused. To counteract the loss of the universe, a system could be made where the player can go into the menu and check the "journal" that would explain what's going on.

[Aidan West]

makes sense, and yeah obviously kylar will be the main character of the game. in way of the shadows, kylar only has the ka'kari for a reallly brief period of time. are you keeping the game close to the storyline in that way, because if so anyone playing the game (if the game is just the first book) will only get the ka'kari at basically the end of the game. However if you are doing the second book/ third book into games as well (verrrry time consuming im gonna bet) but there would be a reallly cool point in shadows edge as kind of a tutorial for movement with the ka'kari. When kylar jumps out the window and starts doing his training on the rooftops couldnt really ask for a better time, and if you are planning on making it more like a second game it would be a good chance to show everyone what changed in the movement system and refresh them on how to do the old stuff. And another question, what is your system going to be for unlocking moves, weapons, etc. I think it would be reasonable to be able to buy or steal some items and herbs but i think a really kool way to get weapons would just be going to the various safehouses. if you run out of throwing knives you can go to one to restock, and there could be like a training room in there too. also a way to find new weapons could be to find new safehouses, get past the traps and get in. And for unlocking moves is it just going to be proggressive through the storyline or is it going to be an actual upgrading system like prototype (i find the idea kinda cheesy but it works in prototype because theres sooo many moves)?

[Ryan]

Why not just make one game with all three books? That would erase alot of hassle, and I don't think Mr. Weeks is the kind of guy who would try to prolong the series into three games, that would take a long time.

[John Baird]

I would try and give the player as much choice in the game as possible create a game set in the night angel universe with some characters featured in the game while giving the player the choice of making up his own story in the universe. Giving them the choice weather to be mage either the classes, warrior, vurdemiester, wet boy, I think if the player played as kyler it would give them too much of a one track system to play the game

[Victor Johnson]

Aidan and Alex, I really want to reply, but atm my girlfriend and I are discussing the third book (she's halfway through it :D ) and about to watch a movie. Tomorrow I will reply to both your points and ideas. Thanks for bringing up some good stuff btw, you guys are definitely being a huge help to this process. *thumbs up*

[Aidan West]

its a good reason to ditch on us so im ok with it lol

[Fipe Naz-Mero, JK]

Ditto on Aidan's comments....

But don't forget us...

[Victor Johnson]

Alrighty, after running errands and finding out that all my highlighters are dry, I'm back (this friday I'm going to buy a notebook specifically for NA Game Design and some new highlighters for key points in the books that have to go in)

First up are Alex's Ideas!
I agree that AC's combat system was a little wonky, however, it may be useful in the sense of the many styles of swordplay that Kylar is versed in. Devil May Cry 3 had something like this with its "Styles"
Trickster, Royal Guard, etc. Options for combat will have to stay open because there are literally dozens of games with great combat mechanics.


As for the ka'kari's growth throughout the game, its likely going to be exp based and upgrades are going to be hefty. Rewards for doing things like a proper wetboy (not getting caught, not getting into pointless fights, etc.) will be greater than doing things like a sloppy assassin. :P
That being said, one issue that's definitely going to come up is the resurrections. When I got through the second book I was like "Oh this is great, when the Player dies they just get resurrected, makes sense gameplay wise."
Then it got explained in BtS and I wanted to go to Montana and shake Mr. Weeks vigorously shouting "ITS GENIUS BUT IT RUINED MY IDEA!!" If you don't know what the rules of resurrection are, I won't spoil them, but they make the game mechanic pretty much impossible in terms of accuracy to the story.


I'm probably going to save the multiplayer ideas for later just to make things easy. At this point, nothing sounds like a bad idea. The only question to be asked every time a concept comes up is "Will the engine allow for it?"

Now Aidan and Alex both raised great points on the length of this game. In essence its quite possible to take Kylar's entire story from Book 1 to 3 and make a game out of it. When you take the chapters with only Kylar's PoV you get 1 NA book, give or take a few hundred pages maybe.
So I don't think it would be necessary to make the games run into a trilogy as well. Chances are, it could start with Azoth (tutorial level much?) and end where BtS ends. There may be a few gameplay sacrifices. (I really wanted a Shadow of the Colossus-esque fight with the Titan at the end [sorry for spoilers] but it might not fit) but I don't see why Kylar's full story wouldn't be able to encompass one game.

By the way Aidan, you gave me a great idea. In the last battle of the 1st book, Kylar used the ka'kari, now the Player won't quite understand what to do at this point, so what he/she can do is going to be limited. You'll get that punching dagger and that's about it. After that fight we go on to the second book, cue cutscenes explaining things to a certain point, then his rooftop training. That's when you learn how to do the "Level 1" ka'kari Talents.
As much as I want the invisibility to be as constant as he made it, its going to need a timer though, or some kind of gauge.

As for weaponry and the like, its likely going to be a Tenchu: Stealth Assassins style setup. You're free to come and go from safehouses as you wish (provided they aren't destroyed later) and when you go there there are a number of sections that you can interact with. Your "inventory" isn't much of an inventory either. I'm thinking of a visual display of each of the fastenings/cases that Kylar has on his person. Meaning, as long as one of those places has an opening, you can fit a blade of the appropriate size in it.
eg. a katana will NOT fit into a bootstrap. :D

I'm also considering a minigame for creating poisons. Poisons are a wetboy's best friend after all, and completing your contracts using them would give you more exp to spend on your stats.



Oh, and before I forget, the first part of the game, before the ka'kari is even known to you, is just like any other stealth game. Existing shadows, slow movement, and the like are your only means of stealth. When you obtain the ka'kari, it is only to compensate the rising difficulty curve as seen in the story.
Basically, the 1st part of the game is a challenge, the rest is insanity.
I think it'll make for lots of fun :D

[Ryan]

After deaths, why not just have the wolf scold you -Naught Night Angel- and take away some of your abilities? Then again that wouldn't work since Kylar gets stronger after dying. He could lose all his stuff? Then you would have to track Retribution down and stuff like that.