"THE THING . . . Part II???" Topic

Here ya go:

These guys could be part of several "rescue" teams that go in and find McReady and Childs at Outpost 31, almost frozen to death . . .

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And then everything goes south, meaning really bad, as each faction/nation tries to get at the remaining tissue samples for their weapons programs.

Of course, the Norwegians were the ones who found the ship, so they really think they should have possession.

QUESTIONS: What would a modern military camp look like in the Arctic or Antarctic? Would it be much different from current scientific/research camps? Or do military forces have their own building designs and compound set ups?

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CC
TMP link
TMP link
TMP link
TMP link

Does anyone make military figures kitted out for arctic warfare? What about vehicles?

For the Thing pt.2, you could really draw inspiration from this PC/PS2 game… link

Great game, and now that I think about it, lots of game ideas there….

For the arctic vehicles… From Copplestone… link

15mm:

TMP link
TMP link

28mm:

regimentgames.com
TMP link
And lots of other threads like that. Search for "Winter" on TMP.
EBOB had some for a short while:
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CC

The Thing for PS2? I need to look for it. Thanks for the heads up.

Is this the same one?

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CC

Great idea!!! Who says they came outfitted for winter.. When your in a hurry, no time for new uniforms, and if you get locked outside…….

Yes, CC. Its the same one. It had a really cool "Fear" factor in it… Lots of fun!!!

Yeah, one of the more interesting elements of the game The Thing was managing "fear". Both in yourself and in your team. If you let your team's fear levels get out of hand they would run off or attack each other. Cool game.

Tissue samples from the THING?
Doesn't matter who would win.
Earth would have a new master organism in about half a year.
IT.

Borrible,

Nah, what's a few lives. Think of what could be accomplished!

LOL. That's what Ripley thought in Aliens, but the Weyland-Yutani Corporation had plans for them in their weapon development research:

"Weyland-Yutani is consistently portrayed as exhibiting the worst aspects of corporate profiteering, willing to sacrifice decency and human life in the pursuit of profit. In various portrayals of the Aliens universe, the corporation has its hands in all aspects of space colonization and research. The corporation has consistently ordered its employees and agents to attempt to obtain living xenomorphs so that they can be exploited as a biological weapon, without regard for their obtainers' lives."
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More: link

They were under the impression that the alien could be re-engineered for military use.

Why wouldn't today's scientists and military make the same assumption about THE THING? :)

This is too cool:

YouTube link
YouTube link

Umbrella Corp might also express interest in acquiring the tissue samples, for developing a way to spontaneously heal and regrow limbs in the battlefield:

YouTube link
YouTube link

CC

Now I'm hooked.
What would be the outcome of Alien vs the THING?

Since every small bit of the Thing is a whole in itself, I'd say the Thing wins in all but the most extreme of circumstances.

The acid from Alien could not eat through enough of the entire Thing to kill it all off – as the Thing constantly reproduces itself.

Any bit that flies off the Thing in clawing or biting attacks would become its own creature.

Any that sticks to the Alien would end up becoming a parasite, reproducing itself until it overwhelmed the alien host.

Both are affected by fire, but seems like only the Alien can really be defeated by system shock/heavy impact/claw/bite attacks.

Yeah probably, but it would be a real bloody acid mess battle royal!
;-)

CC (and the rest of youse guys), there were three comic book miniseries sequels to the movie published by Dark Horse back in the early '90s.

The first one, titled simply "The Thing from Another World," is very good, detailing what happens to MacReady and Childs immediately after the events of the movie. It also involves the crew of a whaling ship and a US Navy SEAL team.

The second miniseries, "The Thing From Another World – Climate of Fear," isn't as good as the first, but it's still pretty good. It's set in an Argentine research station in Tierra del Fuego.

The third miniseries, "The Thing From Another World – Eternal Vows," really dropped the ball. It turned the Thing into more of a slasher/serial killer, and it's just not very good at all.

The first miniseries especially ties into your ideas, CC.

"Weyland-Yutani . . . Building Better Worlds"

Too cool.

CC

But remember at the end of The Thing when Childs breaths there isn't any steam/vapour coming from his mouth--He IS the Thing…Carpenter left this for a link to a sequal….I think when the rescue teams turn up within about 10 mins their problems will be the Thing rather than each other…If humanity is lucky they will kill each other off in the Antarctic rather than "escape" and infect the outside world…..

Archstanton73,

Wow. I never noticed that!

Check it out, 6 minutes into this clip:

YouTube link

CC

CC – It looks like there were at least two puffs. One at 6:00 when Childs says "Did you kill it?" and again at 7:18 after MacReady says "see what happens". Watch it in full screen mode. It is still a lot less than vapor than MacReady, but it is there.

CA--I read an interview with Carpenter and yes some does get seen but it was meant to be less noticable on Childs as this was the link for the sequal--Also in the final battle where was he?? ;)

And so they find two semi-frozen survivors, Childs and McReady . . .

If you had a choice of nations or corporate factions for going after the tissue samples and the ship, who do you think would be taking part of that race?

CC

The British as we claim a big chunk of the Antarctic, the Argies as they are s and want to beat the British to it…The Americans, Norwegians(follow up on previous fubar)--The Soviets would also get involved as they want to beat the Yanks (cold war and all that)---Also I don't know if you know but the French had a mysterious nuclear explosion at their base in about 1983--You could tie that in with the Thing II……

CC – in answer to your original question, Arctic military camps look a lot like civvy ones, albeit with a lot of white- at least the Canadian ones do

"I don't know if you know but the French had a mysterious nuclear explosion at their base in about 1983"

Are you serious??? For real? When did this get publicized?

CC

China, and a lot of other nations, already have bases in Antarctica and may have much interest in what they can get from Outpost 31:

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CC

The Thing – a fantastic movie, and tons of rumors about a prequel/sequel, so who knows.

I've never seen any indication that anyone is supposed to be infected in the ned – except the comics by Dark Horse in which Childs is infected.

The breath theory is inaccurate as childs is infected but his breath is seen in the cold. Keep in mind the Thing is basically reproducing a perfect replice, even down to imperfections – hence Norris' heart atack.

Finally, Carpenter has come out to say they never decided whether anyone had been infected at the end of the movie. He and his staffers/writers agreed it was more interesting to not know and never had any intent to imply anyone was.

Yes, but all that talk was about a damned prequel. I'd rather have a sequel than a prequel:

movie-moron.com/?p=853
imdb.com/news/ni0566333
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I mean, I'm more interested in what happens AFTER Outpost 31 is wiped out, than I am about why no one seemed to know anything about a previous contact. I like the original plot line, with the Norwegians being the first to open "Pandora's Box".

So . . .

For this scenario, let's imagine what would follow after McReady and Childs are left as sole survivors.

You have already read above what I think would happen after the Thing hits Outpost 31.

Now, what do YOU GUYS think would take place after something like that?

CC

JPattern2: "CC (and the rest of youse guys), there were three comic book miniseries sequels to the movie published by Dark Horse back in the early '90s.
The first one, titled simply 'The Thing from Another World,' is very good, detailing what happens to MacReady and Childs immediately after the events of the movie. It also involves the crew of a whaling ship and a US Navy SEAL team.
The second miniseries, 'The Thing From Another World – Climate of Fear,' isn't as good as the first, but it's still pretty good. It's set in an Argentine research station in Tierra del Fuego.
The third miniseries, 'The Thing From Another World – Eternal Vows,' really dropped the ball. It turned the Thing into more of a slasher/serial killer, and it's just not very good at all.
The first miniseries especially ties into your ideas, CC."

So . . . what applicable ideas would you draw from the Dark Horse comics "The Thing from Another World" and "The Thing From Another World – Climate of Fear"?

What would you use out of them, for a cool and practical gaming scenario and ideas?

For example:

A) Would you turn it into a campaign of sorts, as The Thing wipes out station after station, on its way out of Antarctica and to the general population, with the other nations' player(s) attempting to stop that?

B) Or would you have the game(s) all play at Outpost 31, with some nations trying to contain it there and others (like corporations) trying to steal it for their own crazy plans?

Dan

Let me dig the comics out of the attic, and I'll post some ideas in a day or so.

Awesome!

Can't wait to hear what you find out.

* Who got involved after the plot ends in the film?
* Other nations? Corporations?
* Where? At Outpost 31? The other stations? Outside of Antarctica?
* How extensive the spread?
* Any new intel on what the creature can or cannot do?
* Anything else I missed, but that might be useful for gaming?

Thanks so much.

Dan

I'd say McReady is on the clear. The fact that he was so proactive in containing the thing, makes me think he, of all people, would have taken all precautions possible.

Didn't someone in the group commit suicide by torching himself? I can't remember who. But, I think, McReady would have done the same to himself if he thought we was infected.

As for Childs . . . he was more into self-preservation than anything else. He wasn't the self-less hero type. Even so, because of his extreme distrust of all others, Childs may have also escaped infection.

Does that make sense?

"The assumption of the sequel would rely on a radio signal being successfully transmitted by Windows before Blair destroyed the communications room. Thus, after the explosion of the base camp, the rescue team would arrive and find MacReady and Childs still alive. Carpenter has not disclosed any other details."
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This is interesting:

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"We're supposed to hunt down specimens" sounds ominous.

CC

JJ – there's a popular theory that says that not only could you be infected at a cellular level through say inhalation of infected tissue, but that the organism might take you over without you ever really knowing it.

I sort of lie somewhere in bewteen. Way back when I ran an RPG based around the concept – except on a base on a moon. The idea was that you culd be infected without knowing it, and the infection was so insidious that you were affected mentally to begin protecting yourself before you even knew it was happening. Eventually you would be consumed completely and the organism would take over mimicing you.

Dan, Fuchs allegedly kills himself. though there's some suspicion that maybe he's been murdered by Clark. The movie doesn't go into it what exactly happened.

What I always thought was weird about the follow up comics from Dark Horse is that the organism eventually makes it to South America. At that point, it's pretty much a done deal. One small infected insect or mammal (we don't know if it's possible to infect plant life or not) and it's only a matter of time.

As for a prequel/sequel. I almost think either would be a mistake. It's a classic that would be hard to follow up on. A prequel involving the norwegian crew that located the ship might be good. A sequel almost involves situations that just couldn't be explained away by waht we know of the organism (like in the dark horse comics.)

I also would rather keep the film as a stand alone. However, if there's going to be another film, I would be more interested in a sequel than a prequel.

Anyway . . . going back to my original questions:

RE: Terrain/Scenics
"QUESTIONS: What would a modern military camp look like in the Arctic or Antarctic? Would it be much different from current scientific/research camps? Or do military forces have their own building designs and compound set ups?"

Also . . .

RE: Gaming Plot/Scenarios
"If you had a choice of nations or corporate factions for going after the tissue samples and the ship, who do you think would be taking part of that race?"
"Would you turn it into a campaign of sorts, as The Thing wipes out station after station, on its way out of Antarctica and to the general population, with the other nations' player(s) attempting to stop that?
Or would you have the game(s) all play at Outpost 31, with some nations trying to contain it there and others (like corporations) trying to steal it for their own crazy plans?"

I would really appreciate any suggestions you can offer on those two points, the terrain/scenics and the gaming plot/scenario.

Thanks again guys. Great discussion so far.

CC

I would love to build something like this:

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But, I guess, it would all really have to start with someone making figures like these:

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Followed by troops sculpted like these:

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CC

Look guys!

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Seem like there have been lots of other written fiction works on Antarctica.

Dan

Dug out the comics today, now I just need to type up the plot summaries and post them. Give me another day or so.

I guess that some of the same terrain could be used to game 30 Days of Night:

TMP link

Dan

Dan,
Try googling up photos of DEW Line sites for an idea of what a military post might look like. Then add some security positions. I spent 2 years as a missile combat crewman in Minot, ND. I don't ever want to see it that cold again. By the way, ROCO/Herpa makes the little Swedish track and trailer in 1/87th scale.
Count Natokina.

CN,

Very interesting!

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Dan

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Some of these miniatures might be useful?

very cool for sure.

This abandoned whaling station in Antarctica looks interesting:

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More abandoned facilities in Antarctica:

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Dan

Guys,

Any more suggestions?

Thanks.

Dan

How's about this for a suggestion – take it to the sci-fi board.

It IS on the SF board!

I shouldn't have to explain it, but here it is . . .

. . . it is also horror and, if any terrain is to come out of it (and figure choices), I will need input from those who do modern gaming.

So, what's the problem?

Dan
PS. I think most people would use the thread titles to determine which ones they want to read.

I think its a good thread!!!

The Thing is one of my fave films! CC are you doing this as a game for a show or club??

Actually, just a local game or two, with nephew and friends.

I hope that the compound will be useful for other non-Thing SF scenarios.

Dan

Anyone here actively working on developing this theme/scenario for gaming?

If so, how's it coming along?

Thanks.

Dan

Or for a take on the story from the other point of view…

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That's intersting, if a bit creepy.
Dan