Hiya everybody, I'm back from the dead again!

... Actually, I fell asleep. It was a good nap.

I need you guys' help with something. I'm back in college again, in an Advanced Screenwriting class. I'll be writing two 30-minute scripts for this class, and I decided one of them could be an adaptation on the Descent games!

... Only, I'm not sure how to do that yet. Obviously Material Defender needs to be a character, and Dravis, and (of course!) the Guidebot, but how would I condense three games into a 30-minute script?

I'm thinking I can largely go off of D3 since there are more characters there, and the story's the most complicated: MD's hired to screw over the guy who screwed him over. Only... I dunno. I'd like to hear any suggestions you guys might have. Descent isn't as huge as, say, Halo, but I think I can tell Descent's story. An adaptation can go pretty much any way I want it while keeping the key meanings and characters.

Anyways, it's just a thought I'm kicking around, cuz otherwise I have no idea what my first script should be about.

For tonight I'm gunna write out the dialogue from the intros to D1 and D2 just in case they might be useful.

Thankies!

Note: I realize this should probly be in the Descent forum but I thought it might get more attention here-- hope you don't mind Hunter, but you can move it if you want.

Actually, a rewrite of the Descent 1 opening briefing would probably not be a bad way to start it.

Also, rescuing hostages under fire is cool, doing it the normal descent way of killing everything and then rescuing hostages is not cool.

Can't you just dedicate an opening passage introducing the story of Descent, then set the story itself in the Descent universe at a time of your choosing, taking one particular event and expanding on it in your own writing. You can drop more useful information into the mix of the story itself, that way readers won't be confused about what is what.

Don't condense 3 into 1, methinks. Why not skip the complex story aspect and focus on making the story simple but the motivations complex?

Hmmm... Thanks for the responses you guys.

Actually, a rewrite of the Descent 1 opening briefing would probably not be a bad way to start it.

Also, rescuing hostages under fire is cool, doing it the normal descent way of killing everything and then rescuing hostages is not cool.

Yeah, MD has some REALLY good lines in the D1 intro. I was thinking of pulling those out and using them elsewhere, cuz the bulk of that intro is exposition on how to play the game. Descent 1 and 2 as a whole wouldn't make a very good basis for a film script because nothing interesting happens that would make a good story. Rescuing hostages "under fire", however, holds promise. Hearing Dravis rope MD into another mission in D2 is also interesting, but only a mere starting point-- the most "story" happens in D3, which is why I'm thinking of focusing on its overall premise.

This isn't to say I'm going to write a script solely taking Descent level-by-level. We know the Descent world as players, and it's great, only outsiders would probably find the majority of the game boring. Pulling MD out and putting him elsewhere in the Descent Universe would be neat, but I really like the cat-and-mouse drama that goes on in D3 while Dravis still tries to get rid of MD. Viewers would "care" more for MD if they knew he's the loner good guy going against the corporate bad guy who screwed him over. Kinda like "Die Hard" only with spaceships.

Don't condense 3 into 1, methinks. Why not skip the complex story aspect and focus on making the story simple but the motivations complex?

Keeping it simple would definitely help me out, actually, because I could play with subplots (motivations) and that in of itself would help the story seem complex..... *ponder ponder*

... Oh, do we ever know MD's real name? He refers to himself as "Vertigo 1" in D2's intro, but I've never understood if he means himself or his Pyro. Given the rules of screenwriting, I'll have to give him a "real" name, but I can refer to him as the "MD" afterwards.

I still have a lot of thinking to do on this. D3jake suggested I write this in such a way that it could be rendered (he plays with modelling stuffs) so I'm keeping that in mind too..... I just dunno where to go yet. Further comments are always welcome.

Why not write it as a futuristic updating of Theseus and the Minotaur? That way you have the classic mines/labyrinth structure of the game, but with the good ole classical subtext and can focus on the protagonist / antagonist relationship?

"I think my Guidebot is lost..."
--[RIP]d3jake

XD

Anyhow, that sounds like a good idea to me aldo, I wouldn't know how to go about doing it, but that's the writer's job

d3jake wrote:

"I think my Guidebot is lost..."
--[RIP]d3jake

XD

Anyhow, that sounds like a good idea to me aldo, I wouldn't know how to go about doing it, but that's the writer's job

Heh, me neither.

Best I can think of is having the protagonist and antagonist talking / taunting each other, with their communication gradually revealing the motivation of the protagonist in entering the 'labyrinth' to hunt the antagonist. could always rip of Life on Mars and have the main story actually being a comatose dream, with the 'reward' of completing the labyrinth being to wake.

d3jake wrote:

"I think my Guidebot is lost..."
--[RIP]d3jake

XD

I WAS paying attention when you said that!!!! YeGods I laughed my butt off. Your friends on Voice heard me.

Hmmmmm..... The whole Theseus/Labyrinth/Minotaur idea is an interesting angle to put a Descent-related story into.... cuz, in a way, Descent IS about going through all the mazes an' stuff to complete smaller objectives before going after the Big Cheese himself.

However, making it a dream sequence is overused and cliche in stories/scripts. I'll have to figure out something else besides that.

.... Wow I cannot spell tonight. *fixes typos* I'm nearly sick as a dog right now.... @___x *hack-sneeze*

I'll take your suggestions into consideration, aldo.