[Movie] Cube
Simmon Keith
some people trapped in a classic interactive fiction labyrinth!
Some people wake up to find themselves in this room with six hatches
(one on each wall). They open one up to find a room that looks exactly
the same. Many rooms are booby-trapped.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
....almost tempted to implement it into a game. {cringe}
Simmon Keith
some people trapped in a classic interactive fiction labyrinth!
Some people wake up to find themselves in this room with six hatches
(one on each wall). They open one up to find a room that looks exactly
the same. Many rooms are booby-trapped.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
.....almost tempted to implement it into a game. {cringe}
Bastiaan Zapf
>I just saw an *awesome* movie. It's called Cube. It's basically about
>some people trapped in a classic interactive fiction labyrinth!
Do you know "dark city"? It's a somewhat strange movie about a strange,
film-noir-like city where everything changes all the time, including the
memories of the persons. The protagonist suddenly discovers this "by
accident" and starts to solve the riddle.
Just the end is kitsch.
(Spoilers (spaces and interpunction erased):
spoil:intheendheusesthemachinethatcontrolsliterallyeverythinginthisworld
spoil:whichisonlythiscitytocreateanewuniversearoundcompletewithasuntolight
spoil:thedarkcityforhimandhisloverworstkitsch!
)
--
Basti
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ICQ #33404148 *** Last HP update: 16.03.99
SR Homepage: home.t-online.de/home/B.Zapf
Bob Reeves
<36F1DAD1...@usa.NOSPAM.net>...
> I just saw an *awesome* movie. It's called Cube. It's basically about
> some people trapped in a classic interactive fiction labyrinth!
There were a few threads about "Cube" several months ago when it first
appeared, but I just rented it recently too, & it did have a heavy sense of
IF about it (though years of IF playing helped me figure out what was
happening to the rooms long before the characters did)--& had the extra
pleasure of seeing Nicole DeBoer as someone other than Ezri Dax.
Matthew T. Russotto
You mean you didn't watch _Mission: Genesis_?
(which now has me calling her "Yuna Dax" in DS9...)
--
Matthew T. Russotto russ...@pond.com
"Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in pursuit
of justice is no virtue."
okbl...@usa.net
Simmon Keith <trae...@usa.NOSPAM.net> wrote:
>
> .....almost tempted to implement it into a game. {cringe}
>
Everything I was going to write here would have been a spoiler for the movie
so, never mind.
I thought of doing it as IF, too. ;-)
[ok]
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okbl...@usa.net
"Bob Reeves" <rre...@unm.edu> wrote:
> happening to the rooms long before the characters did)--& had the extra
> pleasure of seeing Nicole DeBoer as someone other than Ezri Dax.
She was also in a very good episode of the (new) "Outer Limits".
JID
me that it seems like a very IF kind of show. I've never watched a whole
episode so I may be way off base, but it was when one of the characters
yelled something along the lines of "There has to be a way out -- there's
ALWAYS a way out!" that I was reminded of my own frustrations while
playing IF.
Anyone who watches the show, what do you think?
--
Johanna (aka Joey): ow...@best.com
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JamesG
> In article <36F1DD61...@usa.NOSPAM.net>,
> Simmon Keith <trae...@usa.NOSPAM.net> wrote:
> >
> > .....almost tempted to implement it into a game. {cringe}
> I thought of doing it as IF, too. ;-)
Ditto, guess it's just that sort of movie...
I seriously recommend it to everyone (and have been doing so ever since
I saw it) and not just because it stars Nicole DeBoer of whom I've been
a fan for /years/...
JamesG,
who doesn't want to share with all the drooling trekkies ;)
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Joe Merical
seeing it. I was going to do one myself, but there would be some copyright
problems.
- Joe
Simmon Keith
: seeing it. I was going to do one myself, but there would be some copyright
: problems.
Well, I really thought about it. But the last project I did
(consiquently, the first) was an implimentation of Rubik's Cube. So I
think I'm sick of cubes, and those types on puzzles in general -- for the
time being, anyhow.
Tho now that I'm familiar with TADS, I'm not sure what to make my 'real
game' about...
Knight37
see where you're coming from.
knight37
JID <ow...@best.com> wrote in message
news:owls-20039...@owls.vip.best.com...
okbl...@usa.net
Or...do we ALL do that with EVERY movie? ;-)
> I seriously recommend it to everyone (and have been doing so ever since
> I saw it) and not just because it stars Nicole DeBoer of whom I've been
> a fan for /years/...
The whole cast of the movie was truly exceptional, I think. The movie itself
struck me as being meant for stage. It was more a character study than
anything.
okbl...@usa.net
I've seen the show--but I think what you might be seeing is more indicative
of episodic TV in general. And I think while "the sensation of IF" might be
stronger in a show like "Sliders", it's really not the same beast. After
all, most weekly TV shows end pretty much the way they start: and there's
"always a way out", and a main character will die very rarely (and when they
do, it will tend to be abrupt and usually unsatisfying); and next week will
tend to start from ground zero. This makes it possible to jump into a show
after a few shows or seasons without needing a lot of background.
"Hill Street Blues" was one of the first shows to vary this pattern (with
more artistic than commercial success), with storylines that spanned longer
than a season, and more than the usual cast changes. But as has been pointed
out, the same techniques had been used on soap operas for years.
In IF we assume (or want to believe) that the author has given us a well put
together story, that doesn't arbitrarily leave us hanging--that we'll reach
some kind of satisfying conclusion. In that sense, it could be likened to a
low-key serial. One "cliffhanger"* after the next, with us always trusting
that there's a way out. (This is perhaps why players feel so cheated when
they get the game into an unwinnable state or when "the way out" is not a
reward for clever thinking but tedious brute force.)
[ok]
*Low-key because it's seldom actually a matter of life-and-death. Perhaps a
mystery is a better example. Feel free to edit this statement if it suits
your aesthetic.
okbl...@usa.net
"Joe Merical" <jmer...@citynet.net> wrote:
>
> Is anyone currently working on a game based off the Cube? I wouldn't mind
> seeing it. I was going to do one myself, but there would be some copyright
> problems.
>
It would be a trivial matter to change the scenario so that it didn't infringe
on anyone's copyright. Reduce it to: Seven people are trapped in a maze of
rooms, where entering any room may result in a deadly effect. Tough to
copyright. I imagine "Cube" wouldn't have been the first to use the idea (in
fact, put that way the story sounds strangely familiar).
E.g., "Seven people are trapped with a killer alien on the loose." Is it
"Alien"? "Aliens"? "Alien 3"? "Alien Ressurrection"? "It! The Terror From
Beyond Space"? "The Thing"? "John Carpenter's The Thing"? (etc.)
We call that "high concept" out here. ;-)
[ok]
JID
>I've seen the show--but I think what you might be seeing is more indicative
>of episodic TV in general. And I think while "the sensation of IF" might be
>stronger in a show like "Sliders", it's really not the same beast. After
>all, most weekly TV shows end pretty much the way they start: and there's
>"always a way out"
Well, that line was spoken in the specific context of what looked like
either a maze or a "Cube"-like situation, which is a) what got me thinking
about IF, and then b) what made me post this after reading the thread
about that movie.
It was more the theme of the show I was thinking about than the structure,
necessarily -- how these kids keep finding themselves in fantastic
situations that seem to bear some resemblance to the real world but things
are skewed in specific ways, and they need to learn the rules of the world
while figuring out what to do. Seems kind of IF-like to me, or yeah,
RPG-like as someone else mentioned. Quantum Leap, a show I actually have
seen, although only a few times, is another show that brings IF to mind
for me.
Thanks for the thoughts!
JamesG
> In article <36F3894...@ukc.ac.uk>,
> JamesG <ja...@ukc.ac.uk> wrote:
> > Ditto, guess it's just that sort of movie...
>
> Or...do we ALL do that with EVERY movie? ;-)
Not every movie, but a lot now I think of it quite a lot of them... Cube
did strike me as particuarly IF-ish (IF-esque? IF-able?)
> > I seriously recommend it to everyone (and have been doing so ever since
> > I saw it) and not just because it stars Nicole DeBoer of whom I've been
> > a fan for /years/...
>
> The whole cast of the movie was truly exceptional, I think. The movie itself
> struck me as being meant for stage. It was more a character study than
> anything.
Oh definately, one of the first things I did after seeing it was go and
grab some of my theatrical friends annd say what a great play it would
make. They weren't convinced unfortunately :(
JamesG,
i'll keep working on them...
Rhywsut
>
> Is anyone currently working on a game based off the Cube? I wouldn't mind
> seeing it.
this reminded me immediately of an i.f. game where you enter a cube,
all the rooms look very similar, etc. it's called 'cube', a
tads game i found on the ftp site last year. don't know if it's
related to the movie, though.
-rhywsut
okbl...@usa.net
ow...@best.com (JID) wrote:
>
> Well, that line was spoken in the specific context of what looked like
> either a maze or a "Cube"-like situation, which is a) what got me thinking
> about IF, and then b) what made me post this after reading the thread
> about that movie.
>
But where "Cube" was an attempt to create a claustrophobic feeling out of what
was probably a relatively open soundstage, IF more attempts to create the
illusion of space out of a relatively closed map. ;-)
I get your point though. Can't say I experienced it, but can certainly see
how one might.
> It was more the theme of the show I was thinking about than the structure,
> necessarily -- how these kids keep finding themselves in fantastic
> situations that seem to bear some resemblance to the real world but things
> are skewed in specific ways, and they need to learn the rules of the world
> while figuring out what to do. Seems kind of IF-like to me, or yeah,
> RPG-like as someone else mentioned. Quantum Leap, a show I actually have
> seen, although only a few times, is another show that brings IF to mind
> for me.
"Quantum Leap" works better for me, just because not only is it a specific
situation with a specific solution (that is, if what I'm told about the early
seasons is true, i.e., Sam could never leap unless he worked everything out
just right), but you're forced to play a specific identity with at best
scattered clues about what's going on.
Rephrased that way, I see more of a resemblance in "Cube" than I did
previously, given the characters' lack of information about the cube. (Though
they did at least know who *they* were.)
okbl...@usa.net
JamesG <ja...@ukc.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> Not every movie, but a lot now I think of it quite a lot of them... Cube
> did strike me as particuarly IF-ish (IF-esque? IF-able?)
Yes, although not necessarily highly replayable, unless you scrambled the
math algorithm needed to escape. Not because you wanted to use the algorithm
itself as a puzzle for the player to solve (which was one thing about the
movie I thought was *really* IF, and which would be horrible to force a
player to actually solve, IMO) but because if the player could figure it out
from previous plays, you'd end up with no time for the dramatic interplay.
Presuming, of course, that would even be manageable with the current SOTA.
> Oh definately, one of the first things I did after seeing it was go and
> grab some of my theatrical friends annd say what a great play it would
> make. They weren't convinced unfortunately :(
Well, it's one thing to put up a play and another to see the theatricality (in
the stricter sense of the word :-)) in an idea or script. I think it would be
an actor's dream. Modest special effects might give the play some shock value
which might, in turn, get the play some press.
I was actually surprised to *not* see "based on a play" when I checked the
movie out at IMDB.
okbl...@usa.net
rhy...@banet.net wrote:
>
> this reminded me immediately of an i.f. game where you enter a cube,
> all the rooms look very similar, etc. it's called 'cube', a
> tads game i found on the ftp site last year. don't know if it's
> related to the movie, though.
>
Reminds me a bit of "Tesseract" though beyond the cube-like structure, there's
no resemblance.