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How do you feel, ancient technology hints in medieval fantasy?
KenFisher
Member UncommonPosts: 5,035
How do you feel about Ancient Technology sub-plots in medieval fantasy?
Sort of a Planet of the Apes thing, where:
You enter an environment that looks and feels like old human history blended with fantasy elements. Swords, armor, magicians, feudal kings, damsel in distress type thing.
Then you pick up on lore about 'Ancients', and discovery the 'Ancients' had technology at or above our own today.
And this turns the world setting from medieval to future post apocalyptic.
I have VERY mixed feelings about this. To the point where I kind of think it spoils the game.
What do you think?
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
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Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
when i see the post apocalyptic thing i dont like it, cuz it makes me be all like:
"My God... they finally DID it! AAAAAAAAUGH!! You maniacs!!! you blew it all up! damn you! damn you all to hell!!"
You guys ever get that way too?
But I dont mind the ESO style of having dwarves being the ancient race. But post apocalyptic I think "Sword of Shannara" hd that setting? not sure if i remember, I thought i saw one of the novels like 5-10 years ago, showed a guy with a spear looking at ruined cities. not sure anymore its been years.
Blending ancient technology woith modern - would be OK for me. Something like "Thief II: the metal age" where I enjoyed both bow with arrows, swords, shields...and landmines blowing up steam walking robots. It had a really nice mix.
Should be a game with such settings, it could be ok for me too.
Precise example by thr OP: no, it won't be good. First medieval, then - oops, we have Nuclear Blaster...
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Don't mind it at all, as long as it doesn't taint the game too much like by introducing lasers or semi-automatic weaponry while I'm trying to duel evil villains with my long sword.
People don't mention the dwemer from the elder scrolls, but thats literally the same thing in one of the most beloved fantasy rpg titles in history. They do it well there.
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Never bothered me. I can't remember ever disliking a game for that reason (even though some games I've disliked have incidentally had it as a story aspect.)
I care more for internal consistency: when characters in this fantasy world encounter this technology, do they behave believably?
An example of an internal consistency failure would be if the world has good gun technology (FF7) and some derp's out there wielding a sword.
Another example being the Daredevil episode I watched today, which opened to a criminal fleeing an unseen threat, and he chose to climb a fire escape ladder (which is something nobody would choose to do if they were running from someone unless there were literally no other options.) Irrational and immersion-breaking.
Those things tend not to ruin my enjoyment, but they certainly drag the experience down.
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I feel the concept is very easy to pull off and one i am surprised nobody has done yet.This is the idea that would give a game tremendous expansion.Games like this could over the years spread out through flight to other planets/regions,they could incorporate new Water zone regions etc etc.It would open the door to new advancing crafts and models via new races on other planets.
The only drawback is that how would you mix the old with the newest,kind of boring to have a club when you could have an electric laser gun.It would however open up a two way discovery channel,new discoveries from the past as well as the future.
Basically it gives a game more options to expand,it keeps things fresh rather than see a same old zone with just higher level mobs.
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I think there's nothing wrong with such a plot / subplot, if (a huge if) it's well-written and detailed enough. And sometimes you don't need even that detail and writing, if you put the events way back, *cough* A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away
With a more fantasy focus, I'd say Miyazaki made a stellar job with Kaze no tani no Naushika, awesome book / movie. A very fitting example of your "ancient technology in medieval(ish) fantasy" thread title.
Or what about Wells' Time machine? Or the (very cheesy imo) Cloud Atlas?
Living on the ruins of a former advanced and higher-level world is a pretty common theme among writers, based on the self-destructing nature of this lowly lifeform called human
Torval, in a sense Conan has this too, there's a "direction" of mashing together the Conan and the Kull novels, making Atlantis the "past" of Hyboria (like Asimov did with his catalog in his late years, building a whole and full universe from the first robot stories up until Gaia - just in Conan's case Howard died long before, so it was more like his followers' goal). The game AoC also has plenty of hints on Acheron which was an ancient and fairly advanced civilisation before the Cataclysm.
The ancient tech would have been pre-apacolyptic, then an apocalypse, then a rebirth of civilization but most in current day fail to understand that there was an apocalypse. It's all legend. However, in the process of exploration the player characters gain entrance to the ruins and learn the truth about history of the land.
The closest parallel I know of in gaming is the Dwarven Ruins in Morrowind with the steam punk iron robots who still guard the long since abandoned ruins.
I'm pretty sure I don't like it as a major theme in the game. It creates all sorts of contradictions for which I don't have resolution, and I have serious doubts that a 'plot twist' is a good idea in gaming lore. I would much rather do something less complex, more familiar, and do a better job.
Thanks to everyone for the input. Great help, and thank-you.
Yeah, but they are still using magic it's just merged with some of the trappings of technology such as steam, gas and gears.
And there are no guns or computers as far as I've come across (unless there are elder scrolls books that say otherwise?)
The Dwemer still use the same type of low tech weapons as everyone else in the games.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Whatever comes along after us could see what we have done, and have no idea what it is, except that it would be "magic", and/or advanced technology.
I see it as feasible, but I can see how most of us do not want to dwell on this type of future, since many do not even want to believe we, as a race, can, and will cease to be with time.
quite seriously?
getting bored of daggers and fireballs
so having some new stuff is always refreshing, steampunk anyway ^^
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Usually I don't like it but if it is well funded in the lore and fun it is fine with me. The "Witchworld" books is a good example where this works.
Personally I think it is worse though when they add gnome built cars or motorcycles. That might have been a fun april fools joke for a day but adding them permanent into fantasy games just don't work for me, not at all.
Same here.
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