Forums of the Megaverse®

Thoughtful1 wrote:A director isn't handed a script that he MUST follow. But it was a bad movie, overall, IMO.

T-Train wrote:I, Robot was a bit of a stinker, but the direction was nice (that's why they give separate oscars for best director and best screenplay) but Dark City and the Crow were absolutely brilliant.

Silas wrote:I'm still on the edge of my seat waiting for this movie. Already had to replace the edge twice and my butt once. Please get this done, JB!

LostOne wrote:

Silas wrote:I'm still on the edge of my seat waiting for this movie. Already had to replace the edge twice and my butt once. Please get this done, JB!

At this point I'd even take a semi-bad/rushed movie, as long as Uwe Boll isn't anywhere near it at any point in production. I just want to see the world and power armors and all that rendered beautifully, even if the story isn't the greatest.

Naturally I've love an epicly awesome movie all around with tons of rewatchability (I'm thinking Return of the Jedi or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade epic), but with how long this is taking, I'd rather have something than nothing at all.

Gridlost wrote:An update on this from the Staff would be great on this. at least let us know if its been canceled.

UPDATE: Rifts® Movie News. As reported last Press Release, we renewed our option with the Walt Disney Company and JB Films to develop a Rifts® Movie. The thing is, this time, there seems to be excitement in the air and they are going send me a copy of the screenplay for my review. I can hardly wait. Of course, with all the secrecy around it, I won’t be able to reveal anything about the script. Gah, I hate secrets.

LostOne wrote:

Gridlost wrote:An update on this from the Staff would be great on this. at least let us know if its been canceled.

Pretty sure the most recent news we've had on it is that it was re-optioned. Meaning studio still has an interest in it.

I doubt that has changed. If they were starting filming or had a finished script I'm sure someone official would be on here spreading the good word to the fans.

digdug18 wrote:What will the title be? Because there are already 2 movies within the last 5 years called "Rifts"

Legend wrote:As long as it's all put into a coherent story with some modicum of description and/or explanation, what does it matter where they have been seen, before? Truth be told, there are no new stories in Hollywood, but I think a Rifts movie would give all of them a run for their money.

Were it up to me, since he only keeps renewing the movie option year after year, I would drop Bruckheimer like a bad habit and go with someone who would at least try and put some work into this. A movie script has already been written, we know the visuals, and everything in Rifts is off a little bit, just enough, from other movies that have borrowed from Rifts, and it's time to get this thing shopped around and done. Try and go to Annapurna Pictures and/or Electric Entertainment, for pete's sake, but get something on the big screen.

Mercury wrote:As for a feel, I don't honestly know what to expect.

Legend wrote:

Mercury wrote:As for a feel, I don't honestly know what to expect.

I like what Paul Anderson did for Resident Evil 2. I think that was the right atmosphere, and it would be the right direction to go for a Rifts movie. He would need an amazing script, though, something to offset some of his weaknesses in directing.

Legend wrote:Unfortunately, if it is, I'm pretty sure it will have a very select audience, indeed. You have to keep the story human, have some ties to the real world, and then make it boom-bang enough for people to relate, or you'll lose them outright.

My idea was for a Dog Packer, maybe a Terrier of some brand, to have just escaped Coalition forces, only it's relatable to Bourne in the idea this Terrier was meant to be a delivery boy -one of several- for secret plans from Chi-Town to... well, it's been a long time since I looked at the map, so I wouldn't know. The story would be him getting away from the Coalition forces who want those plans back, but it could also be Howard the Duck -sans the super-corny- where he's taken in by a beautiful young Human Techno-Wizard, shown what life could be all about, and then they have to fight the Coalition to get him away.

Simple, straight-forward, you get to show of the post-apocalyptia of the world, maybe the Xiticix, several Coalition CG vehicles, and the potential for lots and lots of explosions. As much as I hate it, and would love to see an actual story in the movie, if you don't throw in the sexuality, the violence, and make it all relatable to the real world, your box-office will be flatter than the original release of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Mercury wrote:I wonder though how non Rifts gamers would receive a bunch of walking dogs (relating to your terrier idea).

...(Played to AC/DC - Thunderstruck)...

...but maybe another day since it would take a few pages

As for showing post apocalypse stuff, I suppose you could, but it had better out do all of the other apocalypses from movies

Although I think that they should at least have a cameo in the movie.

Now with the sexuality and violence, I am concerned.

I think multiple movies is a good thing to plan for in general though with something with this much content.

I would personally like to see stuff from the three galaxies, but it seems like it would be very hard to cover everything from earth first, and then get to get to the other books without an insane amount of skipping through good old earth content. To me, phase world type stuff would make for a good 2nd or 3rd movie. But problem with that is you don't know if the first movie will even take off.

I will say though that I had an awesome animation in mind to go with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWkSjlyw0Zs of some famous suit of power armor being constructed from the ground up using advanced manufacturing techniques (was thinking of the "blue" type transparent->solid with glow/light scattering look I got with that car/ship landing video I did, combined with full assembly that starts filling production of a multi square mile "storage" area for the GB's to make up the legions of them from FQ). Nothing like a good long intro of a movie that gets right to the point and shows us all what we want to see; Mechs! Although, that particular vision was namely since it went with some of my other ideas (the attack on CS). Idea being they show discovering the underground base with the first "boomer" suits, the massive room being empty, but with a facility to make them. So someone presses "Start" and....well, you get the idea I guess the discovery of "mega damage" materials is what my idea focused on.

This I'm not entirely sure about. I don't think we've had CG/Live Action anthropomorphics in a regular cinematic film yet, have we?

It's funny you should mention this... my brother, Shane, who is also MY GM, if you will, and who introduced me to Rifts, and Palladium in general, says the best song, especially for highlighting Spider Skull Walkers towards the beginning of the battle, would be Metallica - For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Hehe, yeah. Describing anything for a Rifts movie is going to take a story board the size of the Chrysler Building, hehe.

I'm talking about using it as a backdrop, perhaps at the very beginning of the movie, describing the world, and why it is the way it is, at the present time.

Absolutely. That's what I meant was a cameo, perhaps a short fight with a scout patrol just outside one of their zones.

Don't be... I think strong innuendo, dependent on the rating sought -frankly, I know there has been a lot of speculation this should be rated R, period, but I think this one could benefit from PG-13- would do the trick, more than anything. To go back to Howard the Duck, the movie is rated PG, and yet they have Lea Thompson's amazing backside aimed at the camera for 10 or more seconds, and she's only wearing panties. That made the movie for me... however, back on topic... there is a lot that can be done cleanly, but still give the impression the GM, ah... I mean Director... hehe, is looking for.

I would plan, yes, but I wouldn't beginning filming on the second movie until the first month of Box Office comes back, to tell me if the time is even worth it. The Wachowski Brothers filmed all three Matrix movies at the same time, and I know WHY they had to, but to be honest, I don't think Revolutions would have made anywhere near the amount of money it did had they filmed it separately. So, yes, if you're going to film a "story connector" for the first and last movie, you need to film them concurrently. However, if the strength of your second movie will be slightly better to completely better, ratcheting up the "risk" the movie-goer faces, then it's still best to wait and see if the Box Office from the first will be enough to warrant production of the second.

Precisely. Will and Jaden Smith's coming After Earth is going to prove how popular post-apocalypse alternate Earth movies will be. I was going to say the new Mad Max movie would do that, but they're still in the very beginnings of post-apocalyptic Earth in that movie, and the Earth has not begun to recover, as yet, so that one's out, in my opinion. Even if After Earth turns out to be a flop, I think any movie in the Rifts universe would HAVE to begin on Earth. I believe it's important for folks to understand the changes wrought in these movies, and anything too far out would not be a good thing. Perhaps for a second movie, introduce the Mechanoids and A.R.C.H.I.E. for a transition fest into space, and go from there.

Call me strange, but I have this idea you have been working on impressions for this for a very long time, are talented in art, music, and have a pretty great imagination.

I, on the other hand am pretty much a nobody on these forums, haven't visited for a long time; I write, that's about all I do, hehe, but I certainly have had my ideas for a Rifts movie.

Perhaps we'll see one with some of your designs and/or ideas in it. I think that would be pretty cool.

Mercury wrote:Maybe if include werewolves?

Keep in mind that with Thunderstruck, it was more about landing on a random song and then thinking up an action sequence.

I like the idea of a narrated or guided tour of the then and the now. It could be used to give some nice eye candy, and still tell enough of the story to not loose the viewer. Question I guess would be one of timing. Do you save the "story" until part way through the movie? Do you start with it? For example, in the Matrix, it wasn't until a good deal through the movie that you actually have the question of what the matrix is, answered.

Perhaps just make this part of the above point of when to enlighten the viewer with the story of how things came to be. You could then show the true scope of their numbers, and not have to make up some impossible random temporary situation simply to introduce an alien invasion force that occupies a good chunk of the continent?

Agreed. As for story connector, I think there could be many good choices here. So many dimensions and worlds that you can tie in! But serious thought should probably be given to any type of story connector involving time distortion or travel. Having a good twist from the very first movie could be story teller gold by the final act of the last one, IMHO.

hmm, I like the general idea of Mechanoids and ARCHIE for a second part. Perhaps elude to it after a first movie gives the viewer a feel for the various armies of north america, and some of the control mechanisms behind all of the different factions, and how someone is always pulling strings somewhere for someone. Secret pacts bewteen CS and other states "for the species", and other back room shenanigans are all good story devices I think. Unfortunately, I am not up on the Siege of Tolkeen, so I may be missing some important story on just how CS fight at large scale. Must read up!

I would love to see any of the ideas in this forum used! So many people with many great ideas (just look at all the books!). The best I can do though is toss a few ideas out into the wind, hope they can be useful to someone, and see what comes of them. Who knows, maybe the inspiration Palladium writers and artists have given to me, can in turn inspire them back

I apologize for the late answer, but I've been dealing with college all day, attempting to get my financial aid and books squared away. Oh, I need to add perseverance to my skills list on LinkedIn, hehe.

I'm thinking that any metal or hard rock song would go well with a Rifts combat sequence.

Well, with the Matrix, it wasn't until the middle of Revolutions that you get that, and that's more than an hour into the film. For my part, I would interweave the past, as necessary and possible, with the story. Give the basics of the coming of the Rifts, what caused the world to become what it is, the fact that souls exploding doubled their energy and caused an inter-dimensional permanent world-wide cross-rip, something the Necromongers from Riddick would absolutely LOVE, I'm sure, and then the world went through about three-hundred years of picking up the pieces before any solid organizations formed, again. Also have a very basic history of whatever the main character is about, and then have the story literally fade into that character running for their life. If something needs to be explained, and it can be woven through the story so there's no break, or brake, in the telling, then put it in. If it's story-breaking, however, it's out.

You could always begin the story with a cop, a la Men in Black, and then have them zapped into the middle of a nasty situation, a la Timeline, only without the pre-planning, hehe.

Nor am I. One would need to be careful about placing too much of an assault on the senses of gamers who've not played Rifts, though they would surely support a gamer's movie, as we have always done with D&D movies, and of course for mundanes. Too much, like Legend, and not only will the critics despise it, but those who listen to the critics, and those who type and/or speak word of mouth will get the box-office dropped quick, fast, and in a hurry.

I just realized whom should do this movie... Peter Jackson. The LotR movies are not an assault on the senses, they were perfectly pleasing for me, and helped me to be transported to Middle Earth, a place I desperately wish I resided, now.

It would also be nice if Ol' Jerry, pretty much at the top of my Director/Producer list, is paying attention, and he can be inspired, as well. I love the world in which Rifts is placed, the idea that it can be connected in so many ways, to so many other worlds, but the game system has basically driven me off. I've tried a couple of times to adapt my games to other systems, but there's just too much to design out of. I love Beyond the Supernatural, Dead Reign, and Robotech, as well, but they're just too complicated for me to want to mess with. So, I haven't played in some time.

Regardless of all that, I believe that, with some appropriate tweaks, Rifts would be the perfect MMORPG and it should be released immediately after the first movie is. All of that being said, we've discussed the first movie, introducing the basic world history and background and starting the story with someone and something believable, if detached from reality, we've discussed an interim movie with A.R.C.H.I.E. and the Mechanoids, as well. What for a third one, if we're to have a properly rounded beginning trilogy?

Mercury wrote:I need to stop pumping so many points into psychic powers hehe

Well, in the middle of Revolutions you get the whole picture, but I was referring to the middle of part 1 when you find out about them being in a simulation. As for narration and someone running for their live, the stories of Erin Tarn came to mind (spelling?).

That was a nice start, but I don't know about using the time line as a magical plot device at the start of a movie is a good idea for rifts. That is more the kind of thing you would expect a GM to pull to introduce a new player into a group

I just realized whom should do this movie... Peter Jackson. The LotR movies are not an assault on the senses, they were perfectly pleasing for me, and helped me to be transported to Middle Earth, a place I desperately wish I resided, now.

Spoken like a MERP player I don't know how well PJ would do with something like Rifts though.

I am sure Jerry has a small army of people to draw inspiration from! I haven't played any of the other games you listed though, but Robotech would be nice to see just cause of mechs.

As for an MMORPG, I wonder how well they would fly, especially when you already have an MMORPG game called "Rift" out there.

For story order, I would say intro/CS war for a part one. A part two maybe being ARCHIE and some other book content thrown in (Atlantis perhaps?), and then tie Splugorth into a third and bring everyone to Phase world. That is just my personal preference of things that I would like to see though. In all honesty, I would love to see the 4 hourseman from Africa too, but that could be a little tricky to weave in without going against existing book content perhaps?

Legend wrote:Oh, and you asked about using Rifts when there is a Rift out there, and my answer is this: Trion Worlds can kiss my big brown bahookie!!! Palladium, and Rifts, were here first and, once the game were on the open market, if Trion Worlds tried to sue, the difference in title, the extra 's', and the fact that Palladium had been planning on an MMO for some time by then, would see Trion Worlds put out of business for theft.

Legend wrote:

Mercury wrote:I need to stop pumping so many points into psychic powers hehe

LOL

Poof-Bamph, baby!!! LOL. What other means of introducing mundane's, and those who don't play the type of game Rifts really is, could be devised, though? Or, would you just toss them in?

Actually, I've never touched the game... never thought of it. However... (rubs chin), hehe. I don't know how well PJ would do, either, but I think he would have a much greater ability to handle the details, the feel of the world, than most -if not all- other directors.

It's something that would need to be handled delicately. Mr. Siembieda has espoused his love of story, what he would like to see in something like an MMORPG and, frankly, I love story as well, though I also recognize there's a massive potential for combat and conflict in a game like this. Someone taking on this game could NOT do it in such a way that it's a bunch of grinding. For example, rather than "Go kill ten(10) of these creatures you've never seen before", it would actually need to be, "There's a creature in the woods causing problems for the local farmers, it comes and goes at will, and it is very dangerous for them, indeed." The initial encounter would need to be the creature taking an interest in the PCs, making an initial attack, or stalking them into a trap and then pouncing, and the character(s) would need to take a beating. Then, they take time to do their research, to track the creature to a lair or to a place where they can begin to recognize how the creature moves and breathes, and then there would need to be a conflict or resolution of some sort. That's just ONE example.

How would it be accepted? If it's built carefully, thoughtfully, by role-players and those passionate about Rifts, rather than console gamers whose idea of fun is instant gratification, I think it would kill many other MMOs.

Wow, that's a pretty wide swath to cover in a total of 6 hours. This COULD happen by introducing a series of shorts with individuals geographically spread out, but acting within their geographical locations, but working together to figure out something that needs to be solved. The last half of the third movie could be this group coming together and putting down the problem.

Otherwise, with such a wide swath of ideas to cover, I think we're begging for that information overload, again. It's enough that people would be seeing a completely foreign, post-apocalyptic world, which world has begun to restore itself through growth of plants and animals, and which has these massively explosive tears in space and time taking place, introducing new and horribly dangerous creatures to the world; I think introducing too many locations among 6 hours of films is going to be so much of an assault on the senses, already, that many folks would not go and see the second movie. That's just my personal opinion; there is not a mundane out there who actually likes to think a lot, but many of those also like to go to movies and have their imaginations stimulated, meaning the lion's share of any money would come from them. Stimulating their imagination too much leaves them confused, un-comprehending, un-accepting, and that's not good for box office.

The only other alternative would be to go with a television series on Spike or SyFy, perhaps even a web series, and then beginning to proliferate shows slowly into the rest of the world community. Perhaps start it off with a two-hour movie, including a rather long explanation of the world so people have more puzzle pieces they can deal with, and then wind 'er up and let 'er go.

Mercury wrote:In the case of Atlantis, for example, I could see the whole bermuda triangle lore being a good tie in to story of the rifts, and think a muscular character with glowing tattoos being neat to see in a fight. Remember, glowing blue (or whatever color) stuff seems to sell!

I think stargate started off with a movie first, didn't it?

Ummmm, yeah... now, THAT could be different, but welcome I think.

Yes. The Stargate movie came in '94, followed by SG-1 from '97 to '07, and having now three movies after it, that are played off the series, not the original movie. That's 220 hours of television, followed by 4.5 hours of movies, all because of one two-hour and one-minute long movie. And, that 220 hours is ONLY the first series.

Another idea about a trilogy of movies OR a television program -and don't string me up, here, just hear me out- is to play it from a CS point-of-view. Think about it... they get to see some territory while on patrol, they deal with the political and inter-service rivalry, they see a wider variation of monsters, D-Bee's, and the other C.C.s than non-CS folks. Also, as a military element, and all-Human, they're going to be the most readily identifiable to any audience. I hate to say it, but telling the story from the CS point of view might -pardon the pun- Humanize them, as well.

So, as much as I would LOVE to see the really cool stuff from the front of it all, it may not be the best way to go, right off.

Mercury wrote:Just think of some of the artistic ways you could visualize a figure in pitch darkness with glowing tattoos.

Wow, thank you Mr. Trivia! That is quite a bit of content to make. I would love to see Palladium writers have such an opportunity though.

So let me get this straight. You want to make a CS version of COPS? heh "Bad D-Bee, bad D-Bee. Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you"

PS - I had nothing to do with the power outage at the Superbowl, even though it is like the first time I've ever watched one in years, or that one of the commentators was "Boomer" Esiason (I'm telling ya, some story/plot gold here with the paradoxical psychics!)

That's actually kind of a scary thought, and something that, to the best of my knowledge, has NEVER been visualized before. I think it would be cool looking.

Uh-huh!!! Tell me another one, hehe. Y'know, even though the Ravens took that game, what happened with that outage almost turned it over to the 49'ers, and I don't think that would have been quite fair. They worked hard, they pulled their butts out of the fire, and they won the game, though, so the underdogs came through, and that's good.

I have to tell you, though, that we didn't actually watch the game for the sake of the game; we watched it for the commercials. It's funny the sort of pain we're willing to put up with in this household to see something amusing. That almost sounds like a Monty Python skit, doesn't it?

Mercury wrote:Actually, we sort of see a similar effect in tron with glowing lines in low lit scenes, which I think looked great. Although of course this is very symmetrical and thick compared to tattoos.

But back on topic, I was wondering, who do you think would make for good actors for such a movie(s)? I've heard Martin sheen for emperor Prosek before I think (and not a bad idea, IMHO).

Okay, combined with glowing eyes, though? And, you're right, the asymmetrical nature would be astounding to show off.

The guy that played Agamemnon in The Scorpion King would be better for Prosek, I think. For the tattoo'd guy I would love to have Ryan Reynolds. For my girl the Techno-Wizard... who's fairly tall, ungainly, has really long legs, and could pull off wearing regular glasses, maybe even transition lenses?

For the dog packer, I don't know...

Alternately, if we go with the CS... Wow, I think... Jaden Smith.

Alright, I'm off to college, fifteen minutes before I jet. Have a great evening.

Mercury wrote:Maybe 24/7 glowing wouldn't be all the greatest when you need stealth...

Agamemnon, as in Steven Brand? I gotta admit, he has the hair for it

As for Jaden Smith, isn't he a little young (15 I think?) to be in the CS army? Or did you mean as like a kid role in the burbs or Chi-Town or something?

No no no..., I didn't mean all the time, just when it's dramatically appropriate, hehe.

Yes, Steven Brand... that's the guy.

Anton Yelchin played Chekov in Star Trek, at only three years older than his character in the movie, as some sort of "wiz kid", and pulled it off pretty well. If you've not seen Jaden in a while, you might try taking a look at the trailer for After Earth. He's gettin' big, and yeah, why couldn't he play a younger CS trooper, maybe even a SAMAS?

Mercury wrote:When appropriate? Hmm, in a world of dangerous creatures, megadamage and constant death, that could be 24/7 anyways

Sadly I can't remember what he was like for his role. It's been so long since I've seen that movie.

Good point about Chekov (who was awesome btw) in Star Trek. Also +1 for SAMAS pilot being someone small framed instead of some iron pumping Arlnold Cantspellhisnameineggar, trying to squeeze into a tiny suit of flying metal

Also, about that time/paradox plot idea, I think Star Trek TNG beat me to the punch 15 years ago. Check this out. Last night I flipped open my DVR recordings to one of my several dozen recorded ST:TNG, episodes and randomly picked one to watch (no reading of which episode it was, just pressed play on a random one). It was the Time's Arrow episode! It is the one where they find the head of Data in a cave on Earth from 500 years prior. What is funny is that when I watched it again, I noticed not only were the creatures in the show "phased", but when Data goes back in time, there is an old man that asked for money for a "49'er". Rewinded and noticed that the newspaper was indeed showing San Francisco. I am also not entirely sure, but during the poker scene with Data when they speak french, I could have sworn that the guy sounded almost like he said "New Orleans" in French (not entirely sure though) (zomg, did ST:TNG call the superbowl game location and one of the teams? lol). And to top it all off, the recorded show number was #49 of 99 on my DVR hehe >< Also weird since I just happened to watch the Avro Arrow movie on youtube a few days ago! I officially blame Star Trek for all the shinanigans! Although I did like the quote Picard gave to Twain in the end: "I wish time would have allowed me to know you better". Would be an interesting episode to "borrow" plot from

Edit: Ok, I can confirm from closed captioning. The guy said: "Ah, mes parents sont originaires de bourgogne. Je suis ne a la New Orleans". ha! Also be sure to notice that the description they give the aliens are that of a phazed "silver-gray entities" (prometheans are described as purplish gray, iirc?). Anyways, just thought I would mention the similarities o/

Point taken, hehe. That actually leads me to my next question: would a Rifts movie have to be a non-stop roller-coaster ride, or would the action be so extreme that a break would be necessary every so often?

Yes, I cannot wait to see the next Trek movie. Yes, we nominally think of our heroes as huge, very intelligent, muscular individuals; I'm glad to know that we're beginning to come out of that in cinema, but I fear it will be another few years before we start to see realistic heroes regularly.

There's not a thing wrong with borrowing plot, as writers have been doing that for centuries, and as long as you change it significantly enough, it's not plagiarism. The idea, however, is to tweak the idea enough to make something new from it, not just to keep from plagiarizing it, hehe.

LOL

Mercury wrote:I guess that just depends on the writers? I know you wouldn't want it to be too much action though.

Very true. For something like Rifts, I would imagine that since you would probably use mostly human actors to portray gods/demigods/etc (like Thor), you would probably want to limit the extremely fit people to roles that are at the top of the strength scale.

Well, I wasn't suggesting to just remake the entire episode under a different movie I was just thinking that, if part of this plot is appealing, that taking some notes and exploring it (as we are here) a bit could be useful. Who knows where it will lead a writer to brainstorm along these lines.

Legend wrote:I don't know, something like Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows is delicious enough; I happen to be watching it at this moment, and absolutely love this movie. Now, imagine something like that in Rifts?

Certainly, and I do love the themes dealt with in those episodes, but do you have a more specific form any one or more would take?

Mercury wrote:hmm, you mean a mystery solving plot?

What do you mean by a form any one would take? I assume you are referring specifically to time/space style plot devices, and any particular ideas that could be woven into a Rifts movie/trilogy?

Legend wrote:No, not necessarily, just the pacing of the stories. Actually, pacing like that was covered very well in a game called Dream Park, where it was evidence/cliffhanger/evidence/cliffhanger. The use of a combat or action scene lead inevitably into a scene with exploration, deduction, realization, etc., which in turn lead back to a scene with combat or action, and on. That's how Robert Downey's Holmes movies have done it, and for my part, done quite well.

No, not only the space/time plot devices, but the way the Devidians got around and did their things. Let's introduce a person from Beyond the Supernatual, a Latent Psychic, for instance, in the process of helping the police find a serial killer. However, this killer is a mage who has disguised, as much as possible, his abilities, but has stumbled on a terrible secret, which twisted his mind and turned him into a killer recently, anyway. The superior intellect is already there, tainted with Moriarty-style insanity. The Psychic has been tracking this guy, in darkness, rain, and no small amount of distractions caused by the mage, whose PPE is enhanced by the presence of the psychic, and vice-versa with the Psychic's ISP.

The mage maneuvers the Psychic into a carefully laid trap, for the sake of getting rid of the Psychic so s/he can continue with their nefarious plans. When the trap is sprung, the Psychic somehow resists, expanding the trap significantly, allowing the mage to fall into it, but falling into it themself, as planned. The Psychic wakes up on a clifftop overlooking a steep valley and is rescued by a passing group of survivors or messengers, or even mercenaries. The mage wakes up on the ledge beneath the lip of the clifftop and concealed from sight, and extricate's themself, the understanding the Psychic pulled them into this new world, crazier and bolder than ever, and ready to end the Psychic.

There's a beginning.

Mercury wrote:Never heard of Dream Park unfortunately, but I agree that Holmes was done well.

hmm, not familiar with the Devidians.

The story you laid out so far though almost sounds like the magic and oddities of Rifts are already in play though, rather than something that is pre apocalyptic. I also question whether modern day police would even believe in the skills of a latent psychic, or if they would just write him off as a nut job

What? The episode you were describing earlier in this conversation... the name of the alien race was Devidians. I'm surprised you could like an episode and not remember that name.

Maybe I'm just old enough to remember, but Psychic's have been used by a lot of police departments in the past; they're sort of kept on the down-low, but in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, in particular, you'll find Psychic's helping the police with missing person's cases, in particular.

Mercury wrote:Oh hehe, my bad! Watching ST:TNG, isn't quite the same as reading it, I'm afraid.

Point taken. Perhaps what threw me off the most was when it went from a everyday Joe with unusual powers chasing down a criminal, to being insta-warped into what sounded like another dimension. Seems a little quick to jump from present day to P.A., perhaps?

To further other areas of exploration in this thread, I was wondering what you think of the "mood" of some of these ideas (remember, subtract the music after you use it to visualize the timing and feel of the scene):

[Put your mindset in movie trailer mode]
* Listen to: Smashing Pumpkins - The End is the Beginning of the End
- At the start, each "thump" of the base fades from black to a brief shot of some random Rift scene/character/etc, then back to black frame
- After the first ~16 seconds when the music starts picking up, fade out to a show of a spider skull walker and acompianing bots, spider walking in rhythm (with the same the timing) through some warn torn area (stuff destroyed, falling down/apart, etc.). Perhaps a pair of borgs from the front cover of the Bionics sourcebook, attached/interfaced to the front legs of the walker through the legs interlocking with the borgs back spikes in a way that allows the borg to control the leg it's attached to
- "Is it bright you are" --> shot of a cosmo/cyber knight(s), or other "hero" character (ie: anything that inspires hope)
- "In your darkest hour" --> some epic war/destruction scene (ie: chi-town or something equally awe inspiring)
- "We can watch the world devour in its hate" --> something feeding, perhaps evil villian at lay line or so? (famous lay line walker from artwork is good or evil? hmmm)

After removing the music, what I like that was taken away from the visual, was the idea of the borg/spider skull walker hybrid design. Could make for some interesting fight strategy. It could also make for interesting borg construction visuals, having machinery picking them up and moving them around for fabfrication. You know, combine with intro video ideas with glitterboy earlier, and you could split that song into 2 distinct fabrications, one GB and the other of the Coalition borgs. Although i suppose that would only make sense based on an actual story/plot.

Here is another one that I use to help me develop what I picture of a second stager:
* Listen to: Radiohead - Paranoid Android
- Skip to 3:27 in the song
- Setting is in some _massive_ structure, blue in hue and design, like Phase world cover. In the room, a bunch of glowing aparition like second stagers, but one in the middle of the room, standing near some yet to be determined looking important device of sorts, connected via large walkways that extend to the outter perimiters of the room. A large creature (splugorth perhaps?) is fighting 3 cosmo knights (and loosing) at the door, at the same time he fires off a shot. The translucent looking second stagers were in running towards the door to join the fight, some attacking with spells as they run. A 4th fallen cosmo knight observing the fight from inside the room watches as his old commrades are loosing. The creature lets of a massive release of energy/spell towards the non translucent second stager in middle of the walk way, about half way between the door where the main fight is happening, and the center of the room with the "device".
- Start music from queue mark (3:27) and slow down time/fight slightly
- The second stager falls to his knees, clenching himself is a combination of agony, confusion and disbelief, shortly thereafter, the translucent second stagers start to disappear one by one
- The fallen knight (sitting idle since the fight appears to be a sure win for the creature/his side) watches the second stager fall from his wounds and has flash backs to when he was knighted by the very same second stager that empowered him (well, this could very well be against all rules and written text, so maybe, maybe not). He looks over to see the 3 other knights being strangled and pinned against the walls from the creatures large tentacles as they are repeatedly hit with magic.
- The fallen knight, with sword drawn, flies over and lands in front of the second stager, who looks up at him with sorrow in his eyes
- The creature at the doorway, devilishly happy in this apparent end of the second stager, turns his attention away from the fallen knight and second stager, and back to the 3 knights and other stuff at the door
- The fallen knight, looks up again at his old friends being slowly defeated, then back down at the second stager. He returns his slightly crusted and warn looking sword and grabs hold of the second stager, wrapping his enormous arm over his shoulder
- With all his might, he manages to levitate himself only inches off the ground due to the sheer weight, and slowly starts dragging his near unconscious passenger towards the middle of the room
- In only a few seconds, the fallen knight manages to pick up enough speed to cause them both to slam into the device in the middle of the chamber
- The fallen knight helps the second stager place his hand on the device, and with a look on his face that can only be described as someone about to make a life sacrifice, nods at the second stager and turns to the fight at the door
- At this point, I tried changing the scene from the fight, flashed to another location on phase world where a known first stager is "going walkabout" for a few decades/centuries/etc (perhaps?), giving his farewell to everyone that gathered while standing in front of a swirling portal (thinking maybe like a wattery vortex a la Stargate)
- Flash back to the second stager in the room at the device. He looks back at the fight, stumbles a bit while fighting to remain concious, and grimaces as he firms his grip on the device. Closing his eyes and concentrating for a few moments, the room lights up in a brief blinding flash, followed by a loud "snap" of electricity. After the effects of the flash have subsided, the creature at the door, along with everyone in the room, look towards the middle of the room, only to see the device and the second stager, gone.
- The creature, partially confused and stunned by the missing plot devices (hehe), glares at the fallen knight with growing anger as he realizes the mistake he made in trusting him
- The fallen knight starts walking up the walkway towards the creature, pulling his sword out as he goes. With his attention on the creature, he becomes distracted by a bright light coming from the corner of his eye. He looks down and stops. All 3 other knights stop there struggle against the tentacles of the creature, who for the moment appears to have forgotten about them as well, and focus their attention on the fallen knights sword. The crusty coating from the sword begins to electrify and fall off of the blade, slowly revealing a crisp bright metal, laced with intricate designs. Out of the other corner of his eye, the fallen knight notices that the effect isn't limited to his sword, as he watches the electricity slowly crawl throughout his armor. Tears pouring, he extends his arms before him to reveal a pristine suit of armor and falls to his knees. He slowly starts coughing up bile, the blackness of which can only be described as toxic looking tar.
- After a moment or two on the ground, he picks himself up off the ground and begins summoning an inner strength as he rises off the ground, his armor starting to radiate more and more
- With a look of terror, the creature at the door releases his victims and starts to move back out of the entrance towards a disturbance that is forming out of thin air
- The knights attack...
- Flash back to the first stager leaving through a rift, as he walks through the rift, the camera focuses on his foot. At the very last second before leaving exiting into the rift, a snap of electricity arcs out of the floor into his foot

Damn, okay that was long Sorry, the visual/song only takes like 2 minutes, but it takes like 30 minutes just to try verbalize it While I like this particular visual, I think that it kind of goes too much against the written text. For starters, knights see whatever they subconciously want to see iirc. Second, I think some would consider the portrayal of a second stagers as being ghostly clones of a single second stager to be....stupid?

Anyways, this is getting long and I want to relax. I figured I might as well share and see what you thought of some of my personal interpretations of the rifts megaverse. I know some of it goes against what is written, along with implausible situations, so be gentle

PS - I'll proof read, correct and spellcheck later maybe in another edit to this post

But that was the point... the "criminal" is not an every day joe, he's a sort of magic user, perhaps a cultist with unusual abilities, being chased by a psychic, perhaps even a cop that is psychic. The bad guy opens some manner of portal to trap the psychic, but doesn't count on the psychic's abilities -in accordance with Palladium's newer rules- being thoroughly expanded, which in turn expands and "twists" the portal to end with both of them on Rifts Earth.

The song is a bit overused (Batman & Robin and, of course, Watchmen; and then snippets have been used in a myriad of commercials); I love the song, slow as it is, and believe it would be perfect for any apocalyptic setting. I think the visuals you put forward for a movie trailer would be astounding, though for my part it would feel more like a MMORPG trailer than a movie trailer, I'm afraid. The images would be somewhat unbelievable for this one, though I suppose if the surprise that, indeed, this will be a movie, is strategically built up throughout the trailer, it would definitely get my heart pumping.

Now, would this actually be for a music video, or a trailer, or part of the film? That's a LOT to cram into a tiny space, hehe. It's excellent, very well-written, but again that's enormously long.

No. This is a role-playing game, a fantastical universe, and we have to remember the most important thing of all in this regard... these rules are only guidelines. Oh, and one more thing, from Gamers 2, "story trumps rules".

Most of my knowledge of the Megaverse comes from the concepts I read out of the old main book, the first five or so books that came after that, and what I've seen and read across the internet. So, the vision you've put here is as good as I can think it might be, especially for a movie. If directors stayed within the rules all the time, or if writers or game producers insisted on sticking within the rules all the time, we wouldn't have the many awesome movies we have.

I apologize this took so long to get to, but I've been exhausted for the last two weeks, no energy whatsoever, and I have a LOT more to keep up with, these days.

Mercury wrote:Perhaps I just like the idea of finally seeing a spider skull walker in action.

Well, I was originally envisioning a final moment in a story (this is an animation I was considering for a "fan art" type animation). As for the song, I had an alternate version using the same audio clip in mind, but limited to when it starts. So instead of playing it from the start, take the same fight sequence with the second stager falling to his knees and stuff, and fast forward to the point where the fallen CK notices his powers returning, then queue the music at the point mentioned for the duration of his return. So then the music that I used as "scaffolding" to construct the visual is still used, but it localized to the scene of the fallen CK instead of the whole scene.

Point taken I guess what concerned me the most was that this fell in the realm of our previous discussion about offending people who know Palladium inside and out with inaccurate details, or things that conflict in subtle ways with written text.

Thanks by the way (for not stomping on the ideas!).

I can relate to how much of your knowledge comes from a subset of the books. There is just so much stuff to read on Palladium Rifts, that I feel like I would be doing an injustice to even suggest stuff without having read everything (which would take months I bet!). I envy just how much people like Kevin know about this stuff.

No worries, take your time! This is just a friendly discussion between two fans, not work!

Who knows, maybe I could sit down one of these nights and block out some of these ideas instead. ie: Render out a simple GL preview with blocks/cubes, basic lighting etc. While I would love to fully model, texture, rig, light and animate a full blown scene, it just takes soooo much time. Not to mention that rendering (even with my GPU) would take a few weeks straight for even a 2min 720p clip. Plus I don't think i could do it the justice that the digital gods at Pixar and such could do for something like this (they have an army of artists!). That being said, I personally prefer simple stills that bring some of the art in Rifts to life. Much easier

Legend wrote:I do, too. Admittedly, as much as I like the idea of D-Bees, mages, psychics, and Glitter Boys, I want to see a full army of CS just blow crap up. Do you remember the scene in Predator where they were blowing away the jungle, literally clearing it with bullets? I would love to see something like a Xiticix hive get blown to smithereens, hehe.

So, would the scene actually change to the single CK fighting the Splugorth, then? I think what you've written seems more like a climactic scene, something really hard to get by, the defining moment as it were, and so the way you've got it set up could be well-done, indeed. However, do you now build the story around that?

Those sorts of fanboi's bother me, and they need to understand that, although we're not trying to dismantle the universe they love so well, that even I like a lot, we also can't stick 100% to concept, or there will be no audience, and thus no further movies. So, if these folks, typically not known for thinking with logic, can turn their mind for one minute and understand their fanboi urges are to their detriment and not the benefit of many more who could turn out to grace this genre, this game, and potential future movie premieres, perhaps they can keep something they love, even if it doesn't look 100% as they pictured it.

Look, I used to consider myself a fanboi of Star Trek, loved it to the core, could quote or spew out any number of rules or lines for the universe. However, when the latest movie came out and I went to see it, I was so totally blown away that the inner fanboi just sort of evaporated, and I enjoyed the movie. I still enjoy it about once every other month... we just watched it weekend-before-last, and we still enjoy a good Star Trek movie marathon at least once per year... and we love those just as well. Frankly, I can't WAIT for the new movie to come out, despite the fact it is NOT on the same dimensional thread the other series' have been on. I find myself able to enjoy both. Now, the way Kevin and crew have written Rifts, and all of their games, thus far, you will NOT find the same interpretation for any one item, character class, armor, weapon, spell, special ability or anything else, between any two gamers. That's the beauty of a tabletop role-playing game; all perceptions are different, but united by how the GM runs the game.

It would be the same with a movie... just help the players going to see it understand that it is NOT the universe they see in their minds, it is the vision and interpretation of the director and actors and animators in the film, and all will be well. Otherwise, they really need to loosen their sphincters, get a life, and then try to come back and see the film NOT as a fanboi, but as a viewer, simply there to enjoy the movie.

For you, I think you have excellent visualizations, you are able to put things to music that I've not been able to do in a long time, and it's obvious to me you're talented. If you have the same reasoning about me that I do about you -and it's fairly obvious we can respect one-another's work-, then why would we not continue to bounce ideas off one-another as we have been, and try to come to a better view of the whole, rather than tear one-another down and get ANYTHING accomplished at all?

Well, that's another thing... I'm in a Sociology course (blech!) right now, and I'm reading through the most boring book I've ever had to endure in my life...

All of that being said, it's NOT necessary to read through absolutely everything in Rifts to make sure you get it right. Get the basics right, first, and THEN worry about the development of each element.

I know, but I also know how frustrating it can be to not receive an answer for something you've worked hard to complete, and for the sake of seeing how your ideas bounce.

So, yeah, story-board these things, then... see what you come up with art-wise, and may the creative juices dampen your floor, hehe.

Mercury wrote:The part I haven't figured is how to put meaning or connection between the electricity that leaped into him when he left via the rift to this "vacation" planet. Any suggestions?

Story wise, I guess that I was starting from the end (3rd story), and working backwards. I should be clear though; I am not suggesting that these mini stories be a movie, but am just sharing a fan-art style story I have slowly developed over time (since it is "movie like"), with the attitude of "here, see anything you like that can be useful?"

Curious though, do you think this is too off topic now for this thread? I hate to waste the time of everyone that gets notified to my postings here that are only interested in stuff that is actually relevant to the optioned movie. Perhaps we should move to an off topic forum? While I haven't seen any objections, I worry that people here are just too polite to say otherwise If anything, just start a new thread and drop me a url to follow so that we can continue without worrying about being off topic. And my formal apologies to everyone subscribing to this thread for all of my noise, I'm still kinda new here!

Thank you very much, I appreciate it, really! I admit I was a little nervous at first even posting my own personal ideas to the same forums where the very writers and artists I have come to admire over the years dwell. It is rather intimidating, especially since their skills in art and writing are decades above anything I can do, and the fact that every post I make here reaches the inbox of a lot of people far more tied to the community than I (hey guys btw, love the work! o/). That being said, I figured, what can it hurt to share back some short stories/ideas for the community to sit back and enjoy, since I have done the same to their works

No doubt about not reading everything, but I wonder what people consider to be the most important/influential books as far as story goes.

hehe. Sadly, 2D art/storyboarding isn't something I have even attempted before. Perhaps 3D has made me lazy since you can just move cameras and press a few buttons and experiment with a change in realtime.