@C-Star, redrawing on 800x600, will not be so nice than 1280x1024, but it will be playable on laptops, think i will finish it tomorrow and replace the setup, it will have both versions in the installdir then. For future games, i have improved the text output and other stuff, and will make that you can go somewhere with a button and/or a number on the keyboard, it will be all in 1 exe then.
Pat Wed Oct 10 18:25:01 2012
@Robert Douglas
Old games, back then they didn't have highres monitors, so thats why they didn't bother. Upscaling screen resolution won't be a prob i guess, but downscaling doesn't work ( at least in the game i did )
Pat Thu Oct 11 09:52:48 2012
The new installer for House of Horror is on the site, There is the normal version , res.1280x1024 and a 800x600 version to use with older laptops.
dark Thu Oct 11 14:50:06 2012
Hi.
I don't know if people have heard ot he long running smugglers series of games from indi developer nielsbauer games, found at http://www.nielsbauergames.com/index.html
These are a set of exceptionally good text based space stratogy and combat games (though they do have pictures to click on).
the games take place in the 22nd century against the background of a galactic civil war in which four factions struggle for supremacy. the mighty federation based around earth, the outer rim who seak independence, the piratical syndicate who are simply out for their own ends and the supposedly peacefull trade coalition who wished to remain neutral but wer drawn into the conflict when their trading convoys were no longer safe. The basic principle is that you have a ship, and through completing missions for your faction, piracy, trading and even eventually commanding a battle cruser and your own squadren attempt to end the war either for your faction or for yourself.
The games have got more complex over time, but with the newly released 5th game (released last week), things have really gone crytical. What the 5th game contains is a massive amount of extra missions, combat, special events and background, indeed apparently over a hundred thousand words of text just! for missions, planet exploration and encounters were added to the game. As well as an even better and more interesting combat system than in the previous smugglers 4.
So, while smugglers 5 isn't exactly a gamebook, the rich background, detailed exploration and highly adaptvie gameplay all in text are things that I think would absolutely appeal to any fan of gamebooks.
indeed, it's a little sad that Niels has had something of a shoddy reception from people who are complaining that the game doesn't have 3D graphics.
So, when considdering who might appreciate a complex and detailed game using text gamebook fans were the obvious choice!
Niels also makes a fantasy adventure game mixing rpg and stratogy elements called empires and dungeons which would also be worth a look I think.
please feel free to forward this message on to any interested parties, and try and recognize the great work a developer has done in creating a detailed game using text, ---- not to mention one that is utterly accessible to screen readers too.
I hope people try the smugglers games, especially smugglers 5 sinse they're absolutely worth playing, and while not actually gamebooks have more than enough in background, detailed encounters and exploration to keep any fan of gamebooks happy.
Glen Fri Oct 12 18:50:20 2012
@dark
To appeal to people who enjoy the written word, it helps to have a little respect for it.
I'll still check it out.
dark Fri Oct 12 21:35:39 2012
Well it read okay when i ran my screen reader across it, so if there were some missing capitals or typos please excuse me. you could say I appreciate the spoken word not the written one, and spell checks are very time consuming so I only employ them upon formal occasions.
That however doesn't change the quality of the smugglers games (which have in fact been spellchecked), which is my point.
Glen Sun Oct 14 10:00:08 2012
@dark
It's a shame that your screen reader did not sound funny. By the third paragraph there were (at least) 8 glaring spelling errors or typos (ignoring grammatical errors), and I know I sound like an ass saying this, but it reflects poorly on the message you're trying to get across when this is too noticable.
Like I claimed I would, I did check out the game regardless. It seems like an interesting premise and a deep world to get stuck into. The price point is a little hard to understand however.
I know that he needs to pay his bills (as he wrote himself in response to criticism), and this makes it difficult. But the reality is that we can purchase top quality games from huge teams with budgets in the millions for around the price he is asking. Good indie or older big budgets go for around 2/3 the price he wants. I hope that he makes his sales, and wish him the best, but question the wisdom of it.
C-Star Thu Oct 18 17:27:54 2012
@Pat
I played the new House of Horror game, which actually works for me! It was really enjoyable. Since I haven't played HOH in 2 years, it took me a while to remember the path, but I made it eventually. I liked the little effects that showed up too. In fact, my only problem with this game was that the effects didn't really match up with what was going on in the paragraph I was on at the time.
SPOILER
Once, that creepy sound of wind just happened to play when the ghost appeared in the beginning of the book, and it was so much more effective! Maybe for that part where you can hide in the closet, you could have a zombie actually appear (like the face randomly does). Just one example.
END SPOILER
But that's really nothing too bad. Part of the scare is not knowing when the scares will appear!
Pat Fri Oct 19 06:19:54 2012
@C-Star:
You are right, most of the sounds are random, in a few paragraphs the sounds do match though. The game would improve with the right sounds and gfx in the right places, i know. I'm working on a second gamebook atm, game engine is improved, can be played with or without a mouse and the text is scrollable now. The gamebook is one from Ulysses: Wrong way, go back.
C-Star Fri Oct 19 07:40:10 2012
Hm, the Wrong Way Go Back series are probably my favourite gamebooks! My fav one in the series is probably The Golden Crate, purely because of the Holy Crap moment you get when you finally figure out the true path. So satisfying when you
SPOILER
fry the Death Bot, and finding the ship in the jungle!
END SPOILER
Good luck with it!
Pat Wed Nov 14 18:39:57 2012
I'm a backer for 2 new gamebooks, first one is Arcana Agency: The Thief of Memories (29 day's left). The second one is for Maelorum, an epic adventure (5 days left). They both need some more backers to reach their goal, so go and take a look! :-)
I hope I'm not breaking any rules here, but I thought some of you might be interested in 'Turn to 400' - the Fighting Fantasy documentary, currently looking for funding on www.kickstarter.com.
"Fighting Fantasy was born 30 years ago, when Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson started a role playing phenomenon. This film tells their story."
The project has the involvement of Ian and Steve and there's some pretty decent rewards for pledging (plus without pledges, the documentary won't get made!).
In the interests of full disclosure, I should point out that I'm not in any way officially connected with the project, but I don't get my cool swag if it doesn't reach its funding goal, so, y'know, I'm heavily biased in favour of it succeeding!
I've placed a direct link at the bottom of this post (assuming I've got that right), or you can just search for 'turn to 400' on Kickstarter itself.
Two dice, a pencil (and a modest pledge) and YOU can be the hero! :)
Hi, my name is Hugo, and i began doing a similar project in Brazil, in the middle of 2011. At the time, i didn't know about other online projects of online gamebooks, and i was surprised when i found that website. I began doing some tests with original gamebooks, but my idea was to make contact with independent writters of fighting fantasy like stories. I want to know if anyone is interested to have a story adapted to a portuguese version to be shown in my website project. If anyone is interested, my contact is: hugokt2005@yahoo.com.br
Thanks
Stuart Lloyd Sun Dec 22 13:02:49 2013
Merry Christmas to you all! I am loving all the new entries on this site and also the new features. If anyone here is also into Advanced Fighting Fantasy, I have written 3 adventures for it. Any feedback would be welcome as I haven't playtested them yet. You can find them here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bw3nCQKxLG5_dUZ2MFVzd2p3X28&usp=sharing
Bo Bo Thu Dec 26 23:14:35 2013
Pretty damn good game, if anyones interested in a Hitler CYOA I'm running a Kickstarter at the moment. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/376100657/killing-hitler-with-praise-an-fire-choose-your-own
Stuart Lloyd Sat Apr 12 07:08:58 2014
Hi all! I'm doing the April A to Z again this year. I've already had some great interviews, and there are many more to come...
Hi all! Fighting Fantasy Fest, the first Fighting Fantasy convention is on 7th September in London. Jon Green is organising. For more details, go here:
Dave Morris has written an excellent gamebook along with Paul Gresty and they have teamed up with Cubus Games to release it as an app. It is called the Frankenstein Wars and it looks awesome. By backing 4 Euros, you get the app, but there are plenty more treats available if you back more!
Hi all! I've posted books 1-5 of my gamebook series Legend of the Wayfarer along with the core rulebook. The books are designed to be done in any order and they are short (80-120 sections each). They are also freee! SO if you have a spare few minutes, give them a go. http://www.rpgnow.com/browse/pub/3777/Slloyd14
Stuart Lloyd Sun Dec 6 20:15:04 2015
Wayne Densley, creator of Arborell and the Windhammer competition is now on Patreon! I, for one am backing him at $7 a month just based on his past work, but now he plans on releasing a micro-gamebook a month, so it's a no brainer.
Hello all! If you fancy more gamebook, I have released a reboot of the 1993 gamebook Coils of Hate, originally by Mark Smith, with the author's permission. And it's FREEEEEE!