Post by Lord Cias on Apr 28, 2005 22:03:44 GMT -5
I was thinking recently of how much the setting for the movie Alien vs. Predator resembles an old-school D&D dungeon. While the movie itself wasn't exactly a masterpiece (but still entertaining), I have found it to be a bit of an inspiration for visualizing a dungeon.
Here you have this mysterious structure built by a VERY ancient civilization burried hundreds of feet beneath the surface. A team of explorers set off to investigate motivated mainly by curiosity, a little bit of greed, and one man's desire to make his mark in the world. Once inside, the structure certainly resembles a clasic D&D dungeon: weird architecture, strange statues and embossings depicting non-human creatures, and ancient languages and hieroglyphs throughout telling the very unearthly story of the place. There are even a few "artifacts" of unknown origin or purpose. The team sets of a "trap" which turns the entire structure into a constantly shifting labyrinth from which they must escape. Of course, these people must also fight terrible "monsters" in order to escape. While the functionings of the place are most certainly understood to be of a high-tech nature, most high-tech stuff is left off-stage so that all we are left with are shifting walls and doors, not unlike one would expect to find in a fantasy dungeon.
Overall, I felt that this movie came amazingly close to capturing that D&D feel, for a modern Hollywood action/sci-fi flick that is.
Here you have this mysterious structure built by a VERY ancient civilization burried hundreds of feet beneath the surface. A team of explorers set off to investigate motivated mainly by curiosity, a little bit of greed, and one man's desire to make his mark in the world. Once inside, the structure certainly resembles a clasic D&D dungeon: weird architecture, strange statues and embossings depicting non-human creatures, and ancient languages and hieroglyphs throughout telling the very unearthly story of the place. There are even a few "artifacts" of unknown origin or purpose. The team sets of a "trap" which turns the entire structure into a constantly shifting labyrinth from which they must escape. Of course, these people must also fight terrible "monsters" in order to escape. While the functionings of the place are most certainly understood to be of a high-tech nature, most high-tech stuff is left off-stage so that all we are left with are shifting walls and doors, not unlike one would expect to find in a fantasy dungeon.
Overall, I felt that this movie came amazingly close to capturing that D&D feel, for a modern Hollywood action/sci-fi flick that is.
