Making a Good Lord of the Rings video game

There is probably good reason why there is not a plethora of LOR games to be had in the app-store or on for free. You are dealing with a multi-billion dollar entertainment empire that will protect its franchise with large amounts of money and lawyers.

If you have a good idea for game-play, why drag the LOR characters into it? Make-up your own characters to play your own game with them. Using your own characters gives you greater creative freedom. If the game itself revolves around the characters from LOR, then you need to focus on what makes those characters interesting to game players. I don’t just want to roam aimlessly around Middle-Earth with Frodo and Bilbo killing Orcs and Goblins. I want to do something with the guys I know and like.

Then, target game-platform and explore available tools and technology. I would look into WebGL if this is your first game. It is free, easy to use; and works on any device. Programming is done in Javascript; which comes free with any web-browser. Get what you need from Google/Chrome and apple’s Safari Developer website for free.

Good luck.

I’m not planning on making an app (that will probably help avoid some licensing issues as well). I honestly don’t think Peter Jackson’s going to care that I’m making a LOTR game.

[quote=“YoyoGeezer,post:21,topic:59853”]
Exactly! That’s the whole reason I want to make this game! I have loved The Hobbit and LOTR my whole life (not that long in the grand scheme of things) and I’m really frustrated that every game in Tolkien’s universe is just continuous combat. I want to make a game that thoroughly sticks to Tolkien’s vision while still being fun. Maybe that’s impossible, but at least I can try.

Realistically, Jackson is just licensing it too.

Yeah. I believe it’s the Tolkien Estate (if that’s what it’s called) that owns the rights.

That’d be so awesome, I would buy it without hesitating.

Even cooler, you should base it off of something like the Narn i Hîn Húrin, or some other work from the early Third Age. Here, you already have a pretty small target audience, but doing something unique could really draw more people from that miniscule audience. I am quite familiar with the early works of Tolkien, but not so much Lord of the Rings itself. If you get the lore right, it would be the best game based on the works of Tolkien, at least in my eyes.

This is why you need to use CryEngine.  Watch in 1080p.

That’s what I’ve meant by making a REALLY good Tolkien game! All the LOTR games I’ve played have always seemed like a different game painted to look like LOTR. They’re still pretty fun, but they just don’t feel right.
My hope is that if I can get the lore right and have really fun gameplay (that fits the story) than this will be the best Tolkien game. I don’t know exactly when I’ll start working on this, but I’m hoping to get started soon.

I haven’t actually heard of the Narn i Hîn Húrin. I think a game dealing with more of the lore could be really cool! (especially the Silmarillion).

That looks awesome! But I think I’ll stick to 2D. I’ve been working on some concept art that I’ll upload soon though.

The Narn is the source material for the story of Túrin, meaning it wasn’t edited by Christopher Tolkien nearly as much. It isn’t really all that polished, as it is a rough draft of sorts, but contains information the Silmarillion and Children of Húrin don’t. I’d take dialouge and other things you want to directly quote from the Children of Húrin, but the Narn paints a better image in your head, at least for me. Sorry for poor writing, I’m not on a keyboard.

Sounds awesome! I’ll have to read it.

It is part 2 of Unfinished Tales FYI.

Thanks! I’ve been planning on buying that.

The only good LOTR game was the LEGO one(s?)… But I sense this will be the one game to rule them all!

This concept has potential. You do need to develop a compelling story-line that is well researched and adds to the LOR story Tolkien told. Sort of the Game version of the Silmarillion? If you find an interesting story-line, with a thread that involves characters we all know; engaged in a new adventure… well, we all Bilbo was a bit Tookish. :slight_smile:

Yeah. The most important thing is the story. Gameplay is also extremely important but it will be affected a lot of the gameplay. I don’t even know if I’ll actually make this game, but I think it could be a lot of fun.

The Lego game was pretty good, but it really annoyed me how much of the plot they cut (yeah I realize that it was a Lego game, but still…).

What’s wrong with Lego games. We’ll I stopped playing Lego LOTR and played Skyrim (and still am) RPG Geek I know

Wait, Whuu?..

Oops lol

Edit:never mind

I’ve started reading The Children of Hurin!