Hi. Am still working on them when I have the time, lots to do and ideas to implement. One of my ideas was to be able to lose your ship and all its cargo which could bring you close to financial ruin (though that would be impossible if you know what to do).

Jest
Sun Jan 10 01:19:40 2016
Tales From The Bird Islands Development

Hi. This is exactly the idea I had and have been (slowly) working on. Is it possible to have a post of the ship combat system please (or is it already on here somewhere?) I had a idea of a boat/ship yard on Sempura where you could buy and sell boats with different specs and abilities. I did come up with a (few) ship to ship combat systems myself but if one is already in use then that saves me the trouble of refining it/them. Pirating, privateering and trading across the archipelago! Wo Ho! We gonna be rich!

Ulysses has made a ship combat proposal, it's on the downloads page.

I'm not taking any stance on what mechanisms the text version will use, as far as I'm concerned that's for the authors to decide. For the online version, however, ship combat will be based on the system from Seas Of Blood. It may or may not one day be expanded to include manoeuvrability / boarding tests, fire arrows, cargo etc.

Jest
Sun Jan 10 01:36:34 2016
Tales From The Bird Islands Development

OK I found it, march 15th 2014! Almost two years ago! I can't believe it! Where does the time go? I'm getting old!

Mage
Sun Jan 10 03:30:03 2016
Riders Of The Storm
Star - optimum ending reached

Thanks!

Mage
Sun Jan 10 04:59:12 2016
Sharkbait's Revenge
Comet - all challenges completed

Done! :D

Rose
Sun Jan 10 18:02:01 2016
Garden Of Bones
Skull - non-optimum ending reached

Oh my god, second time I've tried to complete this and then died in combat. So annoying!

Paul Mc
Mon Jan 11 19:39:22 2016
Satan's Academy

Did you have another go Tammy??

Rose
Tue Jan 12 17:15:48 2016
Isle Of The Cyclops
Skull - non-optimum ending reached

This is terrible! All I have done is walk round and round and round in circles around the cliffs and hills. I met the Hermit guy and then found his amulet after killing the Bamboo Ape that stole it, but I couldn't find him again to return it. Then I eventually went back to Han to travel to Sempura, but the ship was rubbish and then I blacked out. Washing ashore on Han again, walking back round the cliffs. I decided to investigate the Blood Auk ship wreck for even more treasure than before, some purple crabs jumped out and killed me from nowhere!!! So I never got very far at all. If any of you guys have can you please let me know, coz I really wanted to get further!

Jon S. Stock
Tue Jan 12 20:56:52 2016
Outsider!

I played the HTML version of this back when it first appeared on the internets. Yep, this was exceptionally cool.

I was about 16 at the time and only "got" many of the shout outs after the fact, i.e. Defender is from the Manowar song of the same name; the protagonists' names are from the Lensman series; the many Cainites involved in the plot from VTM; the Brothel in Rosenstrasse (owned by the Lasombra) also being the name of a Michael Moorcock book; Stormbringer; etc.

Some thoughts - firstly, the Theatre of Pain death was a bit cheap I thought. You wander in a room in the sewers and get tortured to death and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it or signal for it. "They are all carrying a selection of very sharp knives. Do you want your possessions identified?" There were several other cheap and unavoidable deaths as well though that one sticks out to my mind.

Secondly, I actually think the going off into the sunset to find themselves is a better ending than being the Count and Countess.

Thirdly, I absolutely love the idea of the world moving on as one of the drivers of the plot. Have you read Joe Abercrombie's "The First Law" series as that, especially the later novels, feature social and governmental progress in a high fantasy world as a plot theme, and with Bayaz, First of the Magi, realising that as magic becomes more scarce, the way forward is in commerce and industry.

Are you the creator of the Amylase website? Or do you just have a similar name?

When I made the online adaptation, I hadn't heard of any of the references at all. Now I am reminded of a line from an appendix to Gulliver's Travels (possibly written by Michael Foot), which read something like, 'a mere list of references would call Swift's originality into question without showing what he has made of the source material'. I still think Outsider! is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Theatre of Pain, by the way, is a song by the band Blind Guardian.

For a psychic, Aria does sometimes seem strangely unable to foresee immediate mortal danger, particularly in Fiorentino's lair. I did think of throwing in a 'Test your psychic ability' before some of the unexpected sudden deaths, but I haven't got round to it so far and may never do.

Gavin
Thu Jan 14 14:58:00 2016
Outsider!

Aria's basic skill as an assassin as well is pretty much just walking up to people and picking a fight on them. As for cheap deaths I had little plan beyond homaging the FFs of my youth like Masks of Mayhem and Nightmare Castle, and it was a decade before Let's Plays of gamebooks and such things became popular. However Black Chamber is also by the bards from Munich, I think off the same LP and right next to Theatre of Pain. Otherwise I thank you both for your kind words :)

Tammy
Thu Jan 14 18:01:51 2016
Satan's Academy

Not yet, will see if I have time this weekend. ;)

Haoie
Fri Jan 15 07:09:09 2016
News

That's quite interesting - like new game + for video games and such.

Jest
Fri Jan 15 22:50:53 2016
Tales From The Bird Islands Development

Thank you.

Just out of interest, how is the crew strike and crew strength calculated on the first ship that you obtain? Is it random rolls, or a set stat like the characters have? It would really helpful to know with my idea.

Also while I'm here, how does the trading work in fabled lands (I've never played them). Is it simply 'Buy item from location A, and then sell them at B,C or D at varying prices?' I don't want to miss a good idea or trick, though I don't want to/am not going to blatantly copy another's idea either. Just want hints and ideas that's all.

Thanks again.

For now, I've chosen CREW STRIKE 10, CREW STRENGTH 10 for Wavedancer simply because that gives it a fighting chance against the piracy targets. However, it doesn't really make much sense for it to be that powerful, and once there is the ability in place to add enhancements (such as the ram) I will probably lower these initial values.

I should mention that I have assumed Wavedancer not merely to be the first ship you obtain, but the only one available ever. Some of the authors (can't remember which) have also made the same assumption as they refer to 'Wavedancer' not 'your ship'. Obviously you can write what you like, I don't want to discourage you at all, but please be aware that the online version might never feature other ships, and almost certainly will not allow the ownership of several at once.

Rather than use Fabled Lands as an example of how trading works, it might be better to look at the existing gamebooks in this particular collection, such as Isle Of The Cyclops and Island Of The Tyrant.

Yaztromo
Sat Jan 16 16:22:18 2016
Tales From The Bird Islands Development

@Jest
Under this point of view it makes sense for marketprices to be different between the various ports, so that trading can become more appealing.

Jordan
Sat Jan 16 17:02:32 2016
Bloodsworth Bayou
Star - optimum ending reached

I loved this adventure! The descriptions of the smells and sights of the swamp made me feel as if I were there trying to save myself from the horrid curse. Nicely done!

Jest
Sun Jan 17 10:03:00 2016
Tales From The Bird Islands Development

Thanks all again.

Only owning one ship certainly makes life easier (especially for me!) I can remove a lot of my material and place it in a different folder for another game book one day, which simplifies everything for me, and thus allows me to get straight on and start writing up.

Just for conformation, is the trading on IOTC the Hyena pelts and nothing more (or have I missed something)?

And is IOTT part of the Bird island game books?

Thanks again.

It is possible to trade quite a few items in Isle Of The Cyclops, it isn't limited to hyena pelts. I can give you a list if it's important. Yes, Island Of The Tyrant certainly is one of the bird island gamebooks. By the way, the entire collection as it stands can be downloaded here - this might resolve similar questions.

Ulysses
Mon Jan 18 09:34:07 2016
Tales From The Bird Islands Development

Hello all.

I'm just wondering with the gamebooks we have written so far, are there any loose ends in terms of quests that are supposed to be done elsewhere, or vital/helpful objects still needed to be sourced elsewhere?

To allow new authors to make contributions it might be a good idea to write a 'How to Contribute Page', which I can have a go at drafting the text for, but the info that provides connections between the islands would need to be updated on an ongoing basis.
Using these connections is only an option of course and a completely independent island can always be included; but I don't think it is too ambitious to have this kind of information available so prospective authors can contribute a more integrated offering if they want to.

I am tending away from the over-arching quest idea we have talked about previously. Instead I think it is a better idea if individual authors can look at the world that has been established and create adventures from small to epic scales using the elements available to them. This means an epic, monster slaying adventure can still emerge, but it will be easier to create such an adventure and easier to manage the world overall.

Thoughts?

Seems reasonable. If you draft this page I'll put it up and maintain it.

Gavin Mon Jan 18 21:20:59 2016 Outsider!	The recent crop of positive comments on Outsider have led to me resuming work on New Day Rising. So thanks to everyone.
	Great news.

Gavin Mon Jan 18 22:24:01 2016 Outsider!	Incidentally I always thought of the sewer ending as the Eminem ending, not sure if this is worth being a challenge :)
	The Workaholic challenge results in this ending, so it is covered already.

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