Inspiration material for your current game

Arkandel

As the title says, what would be good reading/viewing material for whatever game you are on?

Let's make this more fun and don't mention what material the game is 'formally' derived from ("Read Dracula for this Victorian Age VampMush") but what would actually inspire players ("Read The Light Fantastic for this MageMush").

Ominous

Arx is inspired by Brandon Sanderon's "First Law," supposedly, so that might help understand some of the elements.

Ganymede

The game I'm knocking around is based on Robotech, the Jovian Chronicles, and my infantile infatuation with Faraday's FS3 system.

Insomnia

Supernatural, specifically the apocalypse setting, but the series, anime, books, all the lore written around it.

deadculture

I don't really think in terms of 'what will help me understand this game better' and rather, 'what would inspire me to pursue stories and of what caliber', so here's a list.

Books:

Tigana
Heart-Shaped Box
Lions of al-Rassan
The Grail Quest: Harlequin
All Tomorrow's Parties
Count Zero
Mona Lisa Overdrive
Shadowrun (yes, I'm serious)
A Song for Arbonne
Saxon Chronicles
Count of Monte Cristo

TV:

Camelot
Altered Carbon
The Last Kingdom
Game of Thrones S6 and 7
Anon (Netflix movie with Amanda Seyfried and Clive Owen; must watch if you like cyberpunk)
Mute (also for cyberpunk flavor)
The Expanse
Vikings, particularly S3 and S4
Borgia: Faith and Fear
Le Chalet
La Forêt
Les Revenants
Black Sails

Movies, non-Netflix:
Lord of the Rings, all three
Alatriste
The Hollywood take of Count of Monte Cristo
Kingdom of God
Robin Hood (Ridley Scott version)
Memento

Music:

My Dying Bride
Assemblage23
too many to cite

Wretched

Tonight? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm1YFszJWbQ
Right now it's everywhere, Florida Man memes and Cocaine, and the decision that one of our fictional politicians will be named Dick Everyman.

Kanye Qwest

@ominous said in Inspiration material for your current game:

Arx is inspired by Brandon Sanderon's "First Law," supposedly, so that might help understand some of the elements.

I'm so sorry to be that guy, but the First Law is by Joe Abercrombie. Brandon Sanderson has written a lot of other stuff, some of which I enjoy a lot - none of which Apos has read.

mietze

The Expanse! The TV series is pretty neat, but the books are making me crave SF dirty space mushing again.

Goldfish

I'm really into documentaries for inspiration. Probably because I didn't really get into fantasy and sci-fi until I was an adult and I always start from this base of reality when I get into creative mode.

I have disabled vet for a character now. What's in my streaming lists? Only everything I can hoover up about the war in Iraq, veterans, and life and times in the military.

Ominous

@kanye-qwest My bad. I just assume all things awesome in fantasy are written by Sanderson or Pratchett and as First Law isn't comedic...

surreality

@goldfish I love documentaries for inspiration, too. The previous game I ran was sparked from an off-hand comment in one, decades ago.

Since, when I'm playing, I'm usually playing on horror or supernatural games, all the cheesy paranormal shows and bigfoot shows and all that ilk are great idea food for plots and such. Same with just about any crappy horror movie. I rarely have time to properly watch anything, since I'm working or otherwise doing stuff at the same time, so there's something of a bonus there that I don't feel bad if I 'miss' part of any of those while distracted by work or other things.

Bobotron

All things considered?

Spartacus
Rome
Troy: Fall of a City
The first Blade movie

insomniac7809

@ominous said in Inspiration material for your current game:

@kanye-qwest My bad. I just assume all things awesome in fantasy are written by Sanderson or Pratchett and as First Law isn't comedic...

It is pretty funny! For a certain sense of humor.

But honestly... there's a good bit of First Law DNA in Arx, but the setting is too much PVP-averse, loaded up with genuinely decent people, and involving conflicts with Capital E Evil threats for me to think of @LordGrimdark's work as a 'required reading' sort of thing.

Thenomain

What would be good reading for the game I'm currently on?

http://www.mushcode.com/Manuals

https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-ruby

https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-python

I tried playing again recently.

I couldn't get past chargen.

Thenomain

What would be good reading/watching/playing for the game world I'm trying to design?

Shadowrun.
Cyberpunk (2020 or the 2077 teasers).
Exalted 3rd Edition's images.
Anything related to Kids On Bikes. (Stranger Things being the most popular.)

I want a modern-day re-imagining of Shadowrun, and I've been feeling around for what our modern day culture wants outside the Superhero genre, or looking at how the movies are getting more nuanced even inside the Superhero genre.

Wretched

WoD moods. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wo8HsrmYvU

Ganymede

@thenomain said in Inspiration material for your current game:

What would be good reading/watching/playing for the game world I'm trying to design?

For me:

macross

Tat

I literally made a list like this for the theme file of the game I'm currently building. It is:

The Magicians
Twin Peaks
Stranger Things
Buffy

I'd also add mythology of any sort, from ancient Egypt to American folk tales.

Arkandel

@tat said in Inspiration material for your current game:

I'd also add mythology of any sort, from ancient Egypt to American folk tales.

That's kind of a wide range of material and themes

What kind of game are you trying to make?

Tat

@arkandel Ha. It is. It's a game involving magic, small towns, mysteries, and exploration. I'll save further details for when we're ready to beta test.