Stormlight Movie

[Dragon314]

What would you look for in a SA movie. Remember, the movies can only be up to like 3 hours long so what would you look for in POVs, Only shallan, only kaladin etc...

[Oversleep]

One movie in no way can do justice to any SA books. I'd rather see it as a series... probably animated one, since it would be easier than all those special effects and greenscreens.

[king of nowhere]

i'd like some scenery porn with the spren and the environment. that's something that a movie can reallly do better than a book.

[Landis963]

One movie in no way can do justice to any SA books. I'd rather see it as a series... probably animated one, since it would be easier than all those special effects and greenscreens.

 

This.  Look at how GoT struggles with all the viewpoints in its source material - and realize that that is 10 hours' worth of broadcasted material per season.  Maybe if it was one book = 3 seasons, with, say, WoK part 1, WoK parts 2 and 3, WoK part 4 and 5 being the first 3 seasons then maybe, maybe it'd do the events justice.  But that's a 3-season commitment, with a hefty effects budget per episode, for the first installment (of 10) of a fantasy series.  Not the most sure-fire of marketing bets.  

[Darkness Ascendant]

nope nope nope

the developers would screw up.

Besides I see it as more of an Anime.

[Zathoth]

Maybe not anime, but definitely not live action. There is just too many problems with making Stormlight a live action, ranging from special effects, finding a Rosharan looking cast (Though on the other hand that could be really interesting...) and all the props... even an animated series would have some problems XD

[Oversleep]

I can't recall any cartoon of the scope similar to Stormlight Archive, but I think Avatar did a pretty good job.

[Stormgate]

If SA was made into a movie without the important parts taken out, I really hope they wouldn't do something similar to the Hobbit. They put in a lot of stuff that wasn't in the actual book, and SA doesn't really need that.

[IndigoAjah]

Got to agree- I think Mistborn could work as a 5-6 X11.5h episode per book miniseries but Stormlight would need to be a long long series and with the sheer alien nature of the world and the magic system i can only really see animated series working.

Would also make a wicked game. Always thought Wax and Wayne would make a great game too, Red Dead Redemption basic model, have them in their law-man days as the story, with a multiplayer in which each player gets randomly either one Allomatic or Feruchemical (or either or both, minus compounding) ability and you can play all against all or in teams to see how they all interact. I've put some thought into it actually, mostly on long journeys like this one. (original Trilogy is harder as I can't see how you'd satisfactorily give the player full Mistborn powers and have them happy with the scope of them, given how complex they can all be. Mixing multiple metals just wouldn't be possible given the limitations of any controls including key boards in real time)

[Wonko the Sane]

I disagree. WoK is way to slow to make a decent game, and WoR is only slightly better. Most of these books is thinking and talking. They would have to shove unwanted action scenes in there just to keep the player engaged. And since these scenes would probably be things like plateau runs and training in the chasms, they would quickly grow stale.

 

I'd much rather have a story designed from the ground up for gaming, like we're getting with Birthright.

 

That said, you're right in that Alloy of Law would actually make a great game.

[Oversleep]

With Stormlight Archive we have an excellent and easy way to pick a setting. Just choose one of the times between Desolations. You can even have multiple games and have them seperate from the books and each other. No need for continuity.

Playing SA RPG? Desolation #42. Creating a video game? Desolation #67. Writing a fanfic? Desolation #31. And so on.

Trying to set the game in 'current' period with Everstorm and such is not a good idea for reasons Wonko The Sane listed. But you can pick a different Desolation and set the mood however you want. That's very cool.

[IndigoAjah]

With Stormlight Archive we have an excellent and easy way to pick a setting. Just choose one of the times between Desolations. You can even have multiple games and have them seperate from the books and each other. No need for continuity.

 

 

The setting rather than the specific story was what I was suggesting, I don't think games should retread ground we have already seen in the books (or films etc), they should give an extra sight of something parallel to the main story yet not essential to understand the main story, in a way that plays to the strength of the medium.

[Pestis the Spider]

I disagree. WoK is way to slow to make a decent game, and WoR is only slightly better. Most of these books is thinking and talking. They would have to shove unwanted action scenes in there just to keep the player engaged. 

I disagree. Not because I think WoK or WoR would be wonderful games, or something. I disagree, because I don't like the belief that game requires action to be enjoyable. Really, not all games are action games. 

[Wonko the Sane]

Oh, okay, I could get behind that. And if you set it in the time of the Desolations, you could have Radiants in it. You're right, it would make a pretty strong open world action/RPG, a la Elder Scrolls. It would be a crazy ambitious project, though.

 

It also couldn't be made for many years yet, because we'd need a lot more imagery of what it was like during the Desolations.

 

I disagree. Not because I think WoK or WoR would be wonderful games, or something. I disagree, because I don't like the belief that game requires action to be enjoyable. Really, not all games are action games. 

 

I was saying that unwanted action scenes would be the only way to salvage this particular game. Nothing else Kaladin or Dalinar do would make for remotely enjoyable gameplay, and Shallan would probably have to be left out of a WoK game entirely. It's actually the fact that it would have to be an action game that would kill the game; that's what I meant when I called them 'unwanted'. I'm not at all trying to suggest that that's the only type of game worth playing.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Wonko the Sane

[Haelbarde]

A SA game would probably work best by featuring a proto-radiant, like Lift or Ym (though obviously not either). But focus on the sort of character we get tastes of in interludes, and follow what they do. Or actually, what about a game about Lift before the interlude. Stealth game with Awesomeness!

[Wonko the Sane]

A SA game would probably work best by featuring a proto-radiant, like Lift or Ym (though obviously not either). But focus on the sort of character we get tastes of in interludes, and follow what they do. Or actually, what about a game about Lift before the interlude. Stealth game with Awesomeness!

 

And get this -- Lift actually can heal herself with food!

[Haelbarde]

And get this -- Lift actually can heal herself with food!

WoR spoilers: (Do we have to worry about that here?)

And restore 'mana'. And revive fallen companions. And has a level up path, with a helpful 'fairy' to explain things as she becomes able to do things. 

[DSC01]

Re: a Stormlight game, I think the mechanics could be very difficult to work out (though not impossible). Just think about the controls necessary to pull off all of the various Windrunner lashings, some of which are fairly complicated but would still need to be possible to use in real-time battles. That's one Order out of ten. Now consider how one would deal with Lightweavers' powers. It's almost like a totally different game. That could be really cool, but a lot would go into it.

 

Now, back to the original topic, I think movies are not the right way to adapt SA at all. But if it had to be done that way, some major streamlining would be needed.

 

WoK, for example: I would open with a shortened Szeth scene. The Kalak scene at the beginning would have to be cut. As important as it seems to be to the overarching narrative, it would have to come via flashback in a later movie, when the whole story is coming together better. Kaladin's introduction would have to be totally different. Somehow, exactly what is going on would have to be established in the dialogue without it seeming like a whole bunch of ridiculous exposition. Kaladin's flashbacks would have to be seriously trimmed. The whole trip to the Shattered Plains in the slave carts would have to be cut down to just a couple of scenes that mainly serve to introduce Syl (this also would probably be a good time to cut in a lot of Kaladin's flashbacks).

 

I wouldn't cut any of the main POV characters entirely, but Shallan's part would have to be seriously abbreviated. I think the segue to her arc would be someone on the Shattered Plains (Dalinar or Adolin, most likely) mentioning Jasnah, then cutting to her in Kharbranth, interviewing Shallan. It would probably seem like that part is about Jasnah, not Shallan, but it should still be fine. Beyond that, everything would have to be seriously edited down, and the interludes would have to be cut entirely, except some of Szeth's. A lot of the mysterious stuff that is drawn out over the course of the book would need to instead come out all at once. Even then, it would be really tough to get it down to just 3 hours, but it might be doable. 

 

Now, a TV show--that would work much better. The problem, of course, would be the need for a huge effects budget, but who knows what will be possible for a Netflix- or HBO-level budget, say, ten years from now? Personally, I'm not keen on an animated adaptation, but I would still watch it, if that's what it ended up being.