Orson Scott Card talks 'Shadow Complex' and the future of 'Empire'
Beyond being an award-winning author, Orson Scott Card has some gaming cred on his resume. An avid old school gamer himself, Card has worked on a few notable game projects, including The Secret of Monkey Island, for which he penned the swordfighting insults. On August 19, Card returns to gaming by creating the world that surrounds Shadow Complex, which runs parallel to the events in Card's best-selling novel, Empire.
However, unlike his experience working on the poorly-received game Advent Rising -- which Card was brought into late to develop the game's story -- the author and Chair Entertainment collaborated from the beginning to bring the Empire book trilogy and Shadow Complex to life. "They do their thing and I do mine. Two very different arts end up working together to tell the same story," Card told Variety. Card says, he enjoys Shadow Complex's main character so much, he suspects readers will see Jason Flemming (voiced by Nolan North) appear in a future novel within the universe. Shadow Complex's story was written by Star Trek novelist Peter David.
Card also notes that he is confident he has "come up with something" to allow future games in the series to be different. "Nothing would be worse than if they play the second game is the same as the first," Card said. Apparently in Card's world, gamers love change.
However, unlike his experience working on the poorly-received game Advent Rising -- which Card was brought into late to develop the game's story -- the author and Chair Entertainment collaborated from the beginning to bring the Empire book trilogy and Shadow Complex to life. "They do their thing and I do mine. Two very different arts end up working together to tell the same story," Card told Variety. Card says, he enjoys Shadow Complex's main character so much, he suspects readers will see Jason Flemming (voiced by Nolan North) appear in a future novel within the universe. Shadow Complex's story was written by Star Trek novelist Peter David.
Card also notes that he is confident he has "come up with something" to allow future games in the series to be different. "Nothing would be worse than if they play the second game is the same as the first," Card said. Apparently in Card's world, gamers love change.






Get a WordPress.com Blog




Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Andrew K @ Aug 11th 2009 10:27PM
I smell a full retail release for the second one if this one is good.
Hotaru Tomoe @ Aug 11th 2009 10:57PM
Orson Scott Card's world is a very scary place.
http://www.afterelton.com/people/2008/7/orsonscottcard
Courtney @ Aug 12th 2009 2:54PM
Card's certainly has some extreme, and distasteful, opinions. I read a lot of his work as a teen, before learning about his social and political views. Since then I haven't picked up a single piece of his work. It hasn't been an intentional boycott, it just kind of permanently tinged my perception of him.
That said, I've been looking forward to Shadow Complex and may still give it a try, even knowing that it supports him.
Hotaru Tomoe @ Aug 12th 2009 6:17PM
I might give the demo a try and see if its any good as a game too. Since really if I boycotted everything connected to someone with awful opinions there wouldnt be a whole lot left. Knowing he had a part in it just diminishes the excitement quite a bit.
RedSonRising @ Aug 11th 2009 11:42PM
OSC can go to hell as far as im concerned. after whoring out the Enderverse for 20 years i could care less about his (failed) contributions to gaming. i wish Shadow Complex the best but anything with OSC's name on it makes me.. um.. mad.
Jason @ Aug 12th 2009 12:16AM
Yes, and Ender's Game isn't one of the best sci-fi books every written...
The Novemberist @ Aug 12th 2009 12:26AM
You're right....it's THE BEST.
RedSonRising @ Aug 12th 2009 4:47AM
amen.
Kamal @ Aug 12th 2009 12:45AM
Advent Rising would have been successful if not for the technical glitches. I played through the game; the story was great and the gameplay was enjoyable when it was not glitching. I would love to see a sequel to that game.
Kamal @ Aug 12th 2009 12:48AM
OK, I take it back. My enjoyment of card's stuff is trumped by his homophobic lunacy, which I don't any part of. Guess I should have read Hotaru Tomoe's link before I posted that other thing.
aristokrat @ Aug 16th 2009 1:23PM
I think a better reaction from the gay community towards him would be to embrace him or somehow make his works of art part of their image. Fighting against him by not buying his products would only reinforce his hatred, but if they were able to publicly adopt his works, I think it would be much more damaging to his psyche.
Zerokku @ Aug 12th 2009 1:00AM
Worries me to see that this is at all related to Empire.
If you've ever read empire (and you really, really shouldn't.), the novel it's based on is essentially a godawful right-wing masturbation fantasy. Hopefully those aspects of the plot won't be too relevant. Don't get me wrong, I love OSC's writing, but jesus christ that book was ridiculous.
But it's a metroid style game which means I'll buy it regardless. (And would probably buy it twice if I could)
mietha CAG @ Aug 12th 2009 5:29AM
A: First off, what the fuck? If you're going to spam ads, you could at least learn english.
B: Yeah, I almost bought Empire without reading what it was about after it was mentioned in Play. Good god, I'm glad I didn't. Yeah, right-wing "heroes". Because, you know, that happens in real life...
C: That should read "Peter David: X-Factor writer"
D: Yeah, gamers love change... Oh wait, that's not right...
Daniel C. @ Aug 12th 2009 8:39AM
Right wing heroes? How about George Washington,John Adams, General Patton, Abraham Lincoln (first REPUBLICAN president), Winston Churchill, Oliver North.
Of course the greatest of all conservative hereos.... Chuck Norris!
Jules @ Aug 13th 2009 1:52AM
I boycotted the hell out of him since his homophobic remarks
Lakail @ Aug 13th 2009 9:32AM
Personally, I enjoyed Empire, though it was a bit ridiculous. I'm a fan of OSC and his work, but not because of his political stances but because of his prose.
But back on topic -- I knew next to nothing of this game up until 2 days ago and now I'm excited for it's release. The classic Metroid feel is something I can definitely get behind.
jordanbrown @ Aug 14th 2009 4:21AM
P.S. Nolan North is bad ass.
Jason @ Aug 18th 2009 12:25PM
Hey. Welcome to the real world of gaming, not just OSC's world, where if gamers see the same game twice, they won't play it. I don't want to play a game like F.E.A.R., or Gothic 3, or Fallout 3, or Dead Space twice, heck, I couldn't even play thru all the scenarios in Left4Dead. Gamers NEED change, or they won't buy the new games.