Working on figuring out the mechanics, and I suspect the numbers are... messy. Also, it seems some careers have a much easier time of it.
SPOILER
Light Infantry with a Billhook: second fight (8/16/no Armor) won with 2 consecutive hits, then 2 more - which should do 2 + 4 + 2 + 4 = 12. Third fight (8/16/Armor 7) won with three consecutive hits, which should do 2 + 4 + 4 = 10, opponent had 16 Stamina. Fifth fight (8/14/ Armor 5) won with three consecutive hits, which should do 10, opponent had 14 Stamina. Sixth fight (7/18/ Armor 6) won with 3 single hits and two sets of 2 hits - 2 * 3 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 4 = 18, so two consecutive hits are doing 6, as expected (2 + 4). Compare to second fight, though... Last hit was part of a series of 2 consecutive Seventh fight (8/10/ Armor 6) won with two consecutive hits followed by 3 single hits. So hits are doing 2 Stamina, even consecutive?
END SPOILER
Now to try other combinations!
I believe that ARMOUR accounts for this. I haven't made it particularly clear to be fair. Yes, some combinations are easier than others. I put some effort into trying to balance it out but it's certainly not perfect in this regard. My overriding intention was that for every combination your chances of success should be very high if you make the right choices, and I think that is the case.
Robert Douglas Sun Dec 15 20:37:22 2019 General Chat
Two men fighting over the last turkey in the shop....a shoving match in the local pub on Xmas Eve....some cars involved in a pile-up because the drivers were rushing to buy Xmas presents....a general election that has marred and dominated the seasonal spirit... These things I've heard of or witnessed over the years and recently I've been thinking: at this rate, we might as well spend Xmas in Port Blacksand - at least we know where we stand! As a young boy I enjoyed Xmas time (and not just because of the lovely presents, there was a magical feel to it all) but such talk of 'peace and goodwill' is farcical at best. It's a nice sentiment, but regrettably nowadays rarely practised.
@Robert Well, it's true that some people seem to treat Xmas as a formality these days, and pretend to be happy instead of actually being so. I was horrified by a guy a few weeks ago, who claimed that he was dreading going home for Christmas, because he didn't know what presents he was going to buy. Wouldn't it be better if we had an opt-out mechanism for people who do not want this festival?
Robert Douglas Tue Dec 17 20:52:03 2019 General Chat
Hi bcyy, You're right about the opt-out, especially when Xmas has just got too commercialised and traditions are imposed rather than entertained. I went round the supermarket today - yes, even in winter I still love going barefoot! - and nobody seemed happy nor receptive to conversation. There was one young lady who was singing along to one of the tannoy Xmas numbers (I forget now which one), this made me take notice and I gave a slight smile in acknowledgement to apparent her Xmas cheer - but she didn't seem at all bothered to chat! Inwardly, I just shrugged 'oh well' and thought it a great shame, like an opportunity lost, and moved on. I can relate to the scene below (hopefully with the webmeister's permission): https://youtu.be/TIMmdsU9n5o
Forgive me for saying this, but have you ever considered going to another country? Your current one really doesn't seem to be working for you. It seems to me that your current surroundings demand a very strict dress code, which you're simply never going to follow, whereas not every country in the world is as snobbish as that.
You might have to give up going barefoot for a while (it is unwise to expose your feet to an environment you do not know well), but in all the other aspects, I'm sure it will be worth it.
Robert Douglas Tue Dec 24 00:57:56 2019 General Chat
Hi bcyy, Trust me, I'll never give up being a barefooter. I was just saying how even if I was being receptive, sometimes it's a shame it isn't well received. Many - but not all - UK people can be snobby about bare feet, but New Zealand (one of a few countries you'd pointed out) accept it as part of their culture. And while not 100% safe, it's much safer than UK pavements. One worrying thing is that Auckland is now being conservative towards the lifestyle.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy Xmas, or a Celtic Solstice, or....a Titan winter festival!
I read this while I was on the plane (downloaded the pdf beforehand) and... I loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it.
I tried from a Saint Beckons all the way to 'The garden of bones' then decided to look the download section to find your book. I was skeptical at first but the more I got into it, the more I was struck by the sheer quality of it.
This is coming from a person who is very, very, very picky. I hope this will be adapted online at some point or another.
I couldn't go through with it. I couldn't get into the dialogue which felt unrealistic to me considering the circumstances. It felt like a script for an Indiana Jones movie with the casual banter going on after someone's dad just died.
Too many references without choices as well. Reading from a reference to another reference without having any choices at all was disappointing to me. It felt linear at times and sort of like reading a book as opposed to being a participant in the story.
Still congratulations on writing the whole thing. Just not my cup of tea, not saying it's a not a good book.
I wrote you to the email mentioned in your pdf but I got an error, saying the email wasn't valid. This is what I wrote:
Have you ever considered designing video games? I like your ideas. (Loved the plague demon made of rats)!
The pdf had a few typos and I think an instance or two of formatting issues. I should've written them down on the plane but I was honestly burned out and was too lazy. If I recall correctly, it was often repeated prepositions.
If you have fixed the original version, could you update the link of ffproject?
Also, it would be nice to have an idea as to what the special items *could* be used for. I never use them as I have no clue what they could remotely be used for. It's say that's the only "shortcoming" for lack of a better word. Even a very, vary vague sentence would really help.
I wish I could offer to adapt 'House of Pain' as an interactive video game. While I have the artistic background to do so, I lack any programming knowledge.
This book of yours deserves to be experienced by more people, seriously.
I love video games and I'm currently playing the latest Tomb Raider. I actually did try to get into game design a couple of decades ago, I didn't try very hard mind you and so I got discouraged because they all seemed to want programmers and not designers. I guess that's why I got into writing these gamebooks instead.
I have no updated version of HOP but I can certainly say that I did edit it as best I could, but it's actually a very long and boring process and so I can understand that I missed a few things.
Don't forget to give 'Deathtrap' a try, if you haven't already...
Hi Etienne, Sorry you didn't like the style of dialogue. Being an Indiana Jones fan (right from very beginning when Raiders was released in 1981) I'll take that as a compliment. Bear in mind that the gamebooks on this list automatically take into account what items/notes the player came across; as you pointed out there might be half a dozen references to read through before presenting you with a proper (click) choice of action/direction/test roll. TCOD's admittedly more linear design doesn't exactly follow a multi-branch map that you might find in, say, 'Scorpion Swamp' or the recent 'Gates of Death'. If you prefer the typical, old-school style of a gamebook, there is always the Downloads Section as an option. However, good news is that the gamebook I'm currently working on might more suit your tastes as regards dialled down dialogue, a simpler narrative, and a greater number of choices :)
Robert Douglas Fri Jan 3 17:28:58 2020 Reading Club
My tenth read for 2019 - and ashamedly my first taste of Simon Scarrow's superb style - is entitled 'Invictus'. It follows protagonists Macro and Cato as they are given command of a Praetorian Cohort with one vital mission: to help crush a massive rebellion in Hispania led by renegade Iskerbeles. But, as nearly always, the best laid plans are not so straightforward and seldom go accordingly. Continuously defying the odds, Macro and Cato endeavour to thwart both rebel and imperial ambition, while victory is by no means certain.... This is a breath-taking adventure with such page-turning descriptive of bloody battles in the same vein as Bernard Cornwell's stories. The various characters are themselves very intriguing and memorable, each with a background and their own integral part to play. Along the way, Simon Scarrow also gives an insight into how the Roman Army often behaved, performed and functioned - a true historical novel of epic proportions
Robert Douglas Fri Jan 3 17:32:28 2020 Reading Club
My eleventh read for this year's bookwormathon is another SAS: Who Dares Wins presenter biography. 'Break Point' tells the story of how Ollie Ollerton shrugged off his actions of being a young offender and endeavoured to realize an ambition of joining the army. Although this seemed like a complete turnaround, however, only in recent years has he finally settled into a way of life that satisfies his personal goals - one of which is to help others in their struggle with physical and mental barriers. But his positive outlook and gratitude for 'silver linings' (as he often quotes!), an ever restless non-conformist with unbounded energy, has pushed him from one type of job to another, from one situation to another. But one lesson here is that Special Forces soldiers, while highly trained and truly exceptional in their skills, are also as human as the person in civvy street, subject to emotional turmoil, boredom and self-doubts, prone to making mistakes just like the rest of us. Ollie's witty, breath-taking, and at times humbling biography is an excellent example from which to draw inspiration. It's never a sin to learn from the mistakes of others, nor is it ever wrong to applaud their achievements - a sentiment to which I'm certain Ollie would agree. A book very hard to put down....in both the physical and metaphorical sense!