History channel a treasure trove of ideas for games!

[rjp2004]

The amount of adventure game settings, genres, mysteries and storyline plots that exist within the History channel's weekly shows is staggering.
I've seen dozens of show where afterwards I'd say "man that would make a killer adventure game!"

Take for instance some of the recent "Investigating History" program titles:
"The Mystery of Jesse James", "Buried Secrets of the Revolutionary War", "(The Tomb of) Genghis Khan".

http://www.historychannel.com/investigatinghistory/ (Epsiodes)

I've also seen some awesome shows on underwater dig for the Pharaoh's lighthouse, the underground shanghai tunnels underneath Portland, Oregon (kidnapping sailor crews) and the Russian diggers who explore the dozens of secret tunnels underneath Moscow.

This stuff is absolutely rich - and real. A game developer and the History Channel would seriously kick it by pairing up to turn some of these historical mysteries/sites into tremendous adventure game settings. Talk about source material, they're loaded.

Anyone else feel me on this?

[Royal Fool]

We don't get the History channel here in Iceland, I doubt much of Europe does, but I think much of the shows are similar in nature (Or possibly sometimes even the same) as those on Discovery Science, Discovery Civilization or plain ol' Discovery...

The Moscow tunnel system is an especially interesting mystery, just imagine what sort of settings and stories could take place there. :)

[Marek]

YES! I agree totally. Enough with the Atlantis, Bermuda Triangle, Easter Island, Titanic, Egypt, Mayan Mythology, etc. There's so much more material to work with...

[fov]

Every time I turn on the History Channel it's something about airplanes or Nazis. :eek:

I don't really consider myself a history buff (okay, I find history utterly boring), but if used in the right context it can really draw me in. I love the way Jane Jensen does it... you hardly even notice you're learning something. So if the history is put into a narrative context, yeah, I'm all for it. But games like Atlantis and Egypt and whatever else just turn me off by the very fact that they're named after a historical time / place. Does anyone else feel that way?

-emily

[Jazhara7]

I would like to see an adventuregame on the Parisian Cinephiles and their Underground Cinema.



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[SakSquash]

Ya know, I really think you're one to something here. And it's not like the History Channel is a stranger to games. They actually made a couple strategy games based on historical wars and actually used Romed: Total War to re-enact battle scenes. They could start thier own line of adventure games based on historical events. You should send them an email.

[Jazhara7]

By the way, there was a really funny Adventuregame where you played a Scot (with Kilt...and Glasses) called Archibald Applebrook. He's a clerk. He travels to Iceland to find out the secret of the Yeti's, and finds out that the Yeti's are actually aliens.


It came as free Extra in the only Computergame magazine I ever cared to buy regularly (I think it is no longer printed. They also had a competition for TLJ).

It was called "Archibald Applebrooks Abenteuer"-

It really was a lot of fun.

The publisher was "Software 2000", but I believe that company is now no longer existant, because I always saw their office from the train when returing to school, and the sign has been taken down.

Several offices of computer game companies were located in my town. "Sunflowers" and SIERRA, among them (don't know if they are still here)

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[DustCropper]

As someone who's obsessed with history, I'd love to see more historically-based adventure games. :)

[Henke]

I couldn't have written it better myself.

[EasilyConfused]

As someone who's obsessed with history, I'd love to see more historically-based adventure games. :)
I love history too, though the history channel has been nicknamed "The Hitler Channel" by folks who think it focuses too much on WWII.

One difference might be between games totally set in a bygone era and games set in the present day that incorporate searches for traces of the past, or "themed" elements of the past. There's a difference between 1,001 Egypt games and Broken Sword, right, even though both are arguably dealing with historical topics? I don't have a problem with either of them, if done well, but I can see that having a modern-day character who bumps up against the past or a fantasy-like world (George and Nico, Kate Walker, April Ryan, etc.) might be quite different than being dumped into something totally alien seen through the eyes of someone who's supposed to be comfortable in that place. :)

Oh yeah and I had a friend who did a documentary on the Conquistadors for the H. Channel. I'd like to see some outside-the-box history too--not just Mayan ruins but you know, Cortez too (or whatever. :D)

[Antoinetta]

It may be more "prehistory" rather than recorded history, but it seems that the people on the other side of this hyper-link are doing something of this sort.

http://www.barrow-hill.co.uk/

Antoinetta

[ConcreteRancor]

I'd like to see something involving Underground Seattle. There's a maze of old streets and buildings underneath the city.

[DustCropper]

I love history too, though the history channel has been nicknamed "The Hitler Channel" by folks who think it focuses too much on WWII.Oh I totally agree. I wasn't really refering to the history shown on the History Channel though, just history in general. :)

Personally I'd like to see more games actually set in a historical setting. Designers could deal with the problem of controlling a character in a world he/she is familiar with that the player isn't by making the main character an outsider as well -- in the the Last Express, for example, you play an American traveling in Europe.

[fov]

One difference might be between games totally set in a bygone era and games set in the present day that incorporate searches for traces of the past, or "themed" elements of the past. There's a difference between 1,001 Egypt games and Broken Sword, right, even though both are arguably dealing with historical topics?

That's what I was trying to say. I prefer the latter. :)

-emily

[RLacey]

As we should all be aware by now, history is better than any drama.

[EasilyConfused]

As we should all be aware by now, history is better than any drama.
Wha . . . ? Is that so? I thought Truth was stranger than fiction.

[bigjko]

By the way, there was a really funny Adventuregame where you played a Scot (with Kilt...and Glasses) called Archibald Applebrook. He's a clerk. He travels to Iceland to find out the secret of the Yeti's, and finds out that the Yeti's are actually aliens.

It came as free Extra in the only Computergame magazine I ever cared to buy regularly (I think it is no longer printed. They also had a competition for TLJ).

It was called "Archibald Applebrooks Abenteuer"-

It really was a lot of fun.

The publisher was "Software 2000", but I believe that company is now no longer existant, because I always saw their office from the train when returing to school, and the sign has been taken down.

Amazing. How historically and geographically incorrect.

[rjp2004]

Re: Barrowhill "virtual" archaeology - interesting new angle. Reminds of some of the old C64/Amiga games based on Woods Hole oceanographic expeditions. Hope they throw in a fedora and some bad guys for good measure... Antoinetta's a pretty name btw.

Re: "trace elements" - yeah, I think a balance is best. Or put another way "creative projections based on real situations/sites". You get the realism combined with bits of what we crave - something new, imagined and previously unseen.

[Jazhara7]

Amazing. How historically and geographically incorrect.


I know. :D

By the way, it also contains a female secret agent (but first we are made to think she is a journalist).


I kind of liked the game. Maybe because it is one of the few games where you visited Iceland. (The other one was Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis)


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[Manhunter71]

Every time I turn on the History Channel it's something about airplanes or Nazis. :eek:

I love the way Jane Jensen does it... you hardly even notice you're learning something. So if the history is put into a narrative context, yeah, I'm all for it.
-emily

Although I hate to admit it - being a big Jane Jensen fan, her stories are only loosely based on historical mysteries!

In GK2 she discusses the lost Wagner opera, which in fact never existed - I can't remember where I discovered this but it was a from a valid source!

Then in GK3 she goes into the whole Rennes-le-Chateau/Grail/Templar mystery, only to have that theory totally blown out of the water by the tv documentary "The Real Da Vinci Code"

Please don't misunderstand me - I think Jane Jensen is an incredible writer, and her skill for telling incredibly compelling stories is second to none!
But - that is all they are - stories based on historical events!!

After watching "TRDVC" I thought I would try a search on the web for any sites about Rennes-le-Chateau and its mysteries. The results were astounding!!
There were so many devoted to debunking this theory and showing other, very plausible reasons for Sauniere's sudden change in wealth!!

[Antoinetta]

"There were so many devoted to debunking this theory and showing other, very plausible reasons for Sauniere's sudden change in wealth!!"

Farfetched as the theories may be, as far as I can tell, nothing the debunkers have come up with can explain Suniere's sudden rise in fortune. The usual explanation of the debunkers is that he was selling masses on the side to augment his income. While there seems little doubt that he did this, it is (or was) a common practice and those so inclined would purchase their masses from their local priest. Selling masses would have supplimented Sauniere's original, meagre income, but unless he was at the centre of a distribution network spanning the continent, there's no way this would have made him rich.

Antoinetta

[Manhunter71]

"There were so many devoted to debunking this theory and showing other, very plausible reasons for Sauniere's sudden change in wealth!!"

Farfetched as the theories may be, as far as I can tell, nothing the debunkers have come up with can explain Suniere's sudden rise in fortune. The usual explanation of the debunkers is that he was selling masses on the side to augment his income. While there seems little doubt that he did this, it is (or was) a common practice and those so inclined would purchase their masses from their local priest. Selling masses would have supplimented Sauniere's original, meagre income, but unless he was at the centre of a distribution network spanning the continent, there's no way this would have made him rich.

Antoinetta

I agree - surely selling masses couldn't have given Sauniere the extra income to rebuild the church and even more.... so where did the money come from?

Maybe it was some major discovery, and the Catholic Church was determined to go to any lengths to cover it up!
Why then didn't they just have Sauniere killed? It would have saved them a lot of money!
Maybe they instigated the rumours about the hoax? :D