Source
r/scifi•
fitzroy95

Larry Niven's "Dream Park" as a TV series ?

Just thinking about how well Larry Niven's "Dream Park" novel (series) would work as a SyFy TV series, run in a similar manner to the "24" series, and set approx 20-30 years in the future where hologram displays are more achievable and some technologies are slightly more "magical".

Where each season is a new 2-3 day game, each episode comprises 1-3 hours, and the viewpoint alternates from the players adventuring perspectives across to the Game Masters running the game. Playing on Hollywood sets with live-action holograms, a chance to show all that Hollywood behind the scenes magic being created (using slightly advanced technology)

And the game is always bigger than the game being played, in that it always intersects with events in the outer world as well...

Gaming on Barsoom, Atlantis, Cyberpunk etc

Thoughts ?

Posted Jan 26, 2016, 8:00 PM UTC

911
raevnos•

I'd watch it.

4
EricT59•

I would watch direct translations of the books. That would be awesome.

Whoever as far as I understand it, after a disastrous attempt to make Lucifer's Hammer he swore off Hollywood forever.

3
fitzroy95OP•

Damn shame, some of his work would make awesome movies if done properly.

Although I could also see something like "Ringworld" being either amazingly great, or amazingly horrible.

Or even a TV series based on Ringworld and adventures thereon

3
Kuges•

As for Ringworld, see the "Riverworld" attempts...although I still hold out hope

5
EricT59•

Yeah it is unfortunate. I think the offending adaptation was called Meteor

2
ImaginaryEvents•

ABC's "reality" show The Quest (2014) had a shot at doing something like that. Not an adaptation of the books, but the game itself. However, they went too much with the stale format of one player eliminated each week and very contrived contests on one hand, and a weak story with over-the-top acting NPCs on the other. As I've commented before, they could have come back with a much more 'Dream Park' structure. No guaranteed winner, may have to split prize among many winners, there would be a Game Master who would not need to treat the players fairly, only equally... The main quest and subgoals can be played cooperatively, by teams or alliances of players, or individually. One or more players may be a ringer. etc. etc.

3
fitzroy95OP•

I find it impossible to enjoy "reality" TV. They tend to be very contrived, scripted, and designed to portray and reward the worst of people being brought out. Backstabbing instead of support, competition over co-operation, lying and double dealing as opposed to honesty and integrity.

All IMHO

2
jones1618•

That would be fantastic but if Niven is dead set against video/film treatment, a great alternative (maybe even better) would be Vernor Venge's Rainbow's End) future where Augmented Reality (AR) hides and overlays layers of experiences over everyday life. Not only would it be a bit cheaper to produce than fully-immersive "Dream Park" environments, a series based on AR could readily explore that intersection of imagined and real worlds you talked about.

2
fitzroy95OP•

true, that's another good option.

1
karkahooligan•

Happy EIGHTH Cakeday!! :D

2
fitzroy95OP•

Thanks for that !

Amazing how fast time flies :-)

1