I would like to let everyone on the guestbook know that eight gamebooks have been submitted for this year's Windhammer Prize. All will be published online at the prize webpage on the 14th of September and votes will be taken from that day until the 30th of October.

Link is http://www.arborell.com/windhammer_prize_2011.html.

May Glory and Renown follow all who enter.

Regards
Wayne Densley
Chronicles of Arborell
http://www.arborell.com

Ulysses
Fri Sep 9 14:46:55 2011
Wrong Way Go Back

@Dark

A few hints on Wrong Way Go Back. You are on the right track so far.

SPOILER

END SPOILER

Good luck.

Robert Douglas
Fri Sep 9 10:46:56 2011
General Chat

Hi Dark,

Did you mean 'Citadel of Chaos' or 'Creature of Havoc'? Both gamebooks (being written by Steve Jackson) are quite complex in design, and the true path is often a knife-edge. 'Creature of Havoc' proved more ambitious;

SPOILER

END SPOILER

. I made an article some years ago, explaining how to do this for those struggling (like myself, until one day I sat down and did it properly). If you want me to put on here for you, please say - but it'll be under the spoiler block!

I'll try to read your comedy adventure if I have time; at the moment I'm consumed with writing the second Sean Calibre mission, and 'Prison of Pestilence' will become part of a trilogy. In the meantime, good luck with the Windhammer competition!

asgardian
Fri Sep 9 01:06:26 2011
General Chat

On another note, I know there have been some tentative efforts to bring some of the FF titles such as Sorcery! and Creature of Havoc to the "isystems", but I would like to see the entire series placed on disc as a set available for purchase. It would make things much simpler. Of course, there has to be a market for this.

asgardian
Fri Sep 9 01:03:20 2011
General Chat

It is nice to see a few new faces here. Yes, many of us have happy memories of playing the FF books in the 80's. I remember playing City of Thieves while it was raining outside -it provided the perfect atmosphere...

dark
Wed Sep 7 18:25:22 2011
General Chat

Hi Robbert.

Just a miner correction, accessible online versions does not equal free, heck check out www.podiobooks.com for a lot of podcast books that are donation by choice only (I'd highly recommend the corridor and the secret world chronicle series).

Even though i generally prefer to read with a human reader if possible, I recently bought pdf copies of the falcon banner series by Christopher Lydan from www.lulu.com, a fantastic sf series, and one published as pdfs where you pay for the download. It was this sort of thing I was thinking of for gamebooks.

that way not only those defficient in the eyeball department, but also a lot of future generations as you pointed out will be able to enjoy the ff classics, and can fit all 70 on a cd.

I actually find it surprising gamebook publishers aren't doing more online, especially sinse now things like tabletop game rules are being produced as pdfs.

Myself, I've been lucky enough to have a friend who's an ff fan and who read me three of the books, valt of the vampire, creature of chaos, and Warlock of firetop mountain, ---- we finished valt of the vampire, but couldn't get very far at all in creature of chaos.

We did get to one of the major bosses in warlock of firetop mountain (I forget it's name, but it was huge and very destructive and took a magical flight to get there), but sadly ended up dead. I can't however presume on my friend constantly, especially when it comes to retrying books many times, nor do I have the cash to actually pay someone full time, ---- I get a student assistant grant to have someone read articals for my phd, but this doesn't really cover ff ;D.

At least though there are sites like this one, project aon and the chronicles of arborell of which I'm a huge fan, and people who have their work in a form which is equally accessible.

Btw, I've just made it to the ranks of authordom myself, and would be happy if people read my stuff and enjoy it. I've submitted my comedy dungeons adventure for the windhammer competition, and am at the moment working on my first serious gamebook with the darkgrue program.

On another subject entirely, any hints for rongway go back? I really want to try the others in the series, but I'd like to complete the first book first.

I keep getting to the ship in the cargo hold and ending up dead. I think there is something I need to do with the parent bot's pannel, but though I've found a screwdriver it's got no power.

I usually try and work things out myself, and have got through several books on this site including alabar's toomb, but wrongway seems to have me completely stumped!

Robert Douglas
Tue Sep 6 14:56:47 2011
General Chat

Hi Dark,

I'm not really on expert on the subject, but it seems a Kindle type of digital publication is the future. The problem with physical books (much as we enjoy collecting them) is limited in the amount they print, and it's no longer cost effective to keep printing with a lack of demand. In the beginning, millions of copies were printed and sold, then sadly, demand plummeted for both FF and Lone Wolf titles in the mid-90's. Who knows? Perhaps we'll see commissioned gamebooks under Wizard? Until then, it's a shame younger generations are missing out on memorable titles such as Legend of the Shadow Warriors, Vault of the Vampire, Moonrunner, etc.

Last I heard, Joe Dever decided to post his Lone Wolf adventures online - for free, I assume. However, FF's commisioned authors may be tied down by legal reasons; Wizard probably has the last word and may be holding back their adventures for the right moment. In other words, a money-making moment. It's a shame that we live in world driven by money, but on the other hand the author's finances would see that much better.

Sorry to hear you're having trouble with Wizard Books replying - but it's a truly optimistic person who expects a positive result. Many businesses operate through ruthless, cut-throat methods. Bernard Cornwell (one of my fave authors outside FF) was turned down time and again by publishers. Can you guess what it was...? Sharpe. Now, loads of books published, most of which adapted for television. Right. My point: don't always take a publisher's opinion/response as gospel. Sometimes they're right, sometimes not - and often, good ideas get trampled on. It's sad to think how many never get through.

I've read some gamebooks on here - and the Official FF site run by Jamie Fry - written by people with real potential. Sadly, Wizard Books won't offer a contract to new gamebooks designers while most commissioned authors from Puffin FF have gone out of print. It may seem unfair for online contributors who put in just as much work and effort in - but obviously, we 'amateur' authors all share a common trait called ego. It's not a bad thing and can be uplifting to both parties; I get a buzz whenever somebody reads my writing, and hope they have a good experience.

Okay, I may not be getting paid for my writing, but this is certainly the next best thing. Authors like myself have made a conscious decision to put their hard work online for free. I've done four adventures so far, and quite happy to show it off for all to see, for free, with others planned for the future. The choice is always there for us to approach publishers (however daunting!) or post it online. As long as author's copyright is not violated. There is a chance publishers may like what they see and offer a deal (it would have to be a new project) but I wouldn't hold my breath. Still, we live in hope.

Perhaps - as you're probably suggesting - digital, online versions of books are the future. When people download these, they pay a certain amount, and established authors can enjoy a continued trickle of royalties. Meanwhile, the reader suddenly receives an extensive choice of FF (nearly seventy titles, I think) without worrying how long they'll be 'in print'! Such a phrase will soon become obsolete, I hope.

You certainly do have a point about availability of titles in various formats. And my Green side always guilted about how much rainforest we're chopping down to sate our literary appetites!

dark
Mon Sep 5 08:07:09 2011
General Chat

speaking of original ff, does anyone know how to get hold of wizard or who is currently publishing the books?

Myself, I always wanted to play ff, but along with the majority of computer games produced after the release of the ps1, as well as reading standard fantasy books, lack of ability to read print rather got in the way until! htmlified or other text copies of books got online, which also means the majority of books I've played have been produced by ameter authors, ---- not that that's a bad thing.

Thus, I never played lone wolf back until 2005 on the project.aon site.

I've been trying to get hold of wizard to point out selling html, or even pdf versions of the original books would make them accessible to people who weren't able to play them as book form, but this has had no luck thus far sinse they refuse to answer my E-mails.

While I'm pleased generally more people are interested in gamebooks, I do have to admit to being quite frustrated that when we now have the technology to make those books playable by print impared people, the money grabbing publishing houses reffuse to do so.

I freely admit I'm a litle irritated by this, sinse where as making computer games accessible is a lengthy process, making gamebooks that way requires nothing but producing in a text friendly format, yet it doesn't happen.

If anyone has a suggestion for whome I could contact, I'd appreciate hereing it.

Robert Douglas
Sun Sep 4 11:29:18 2011
General Chat

Jamie Fry has taken over from Dave Holt, it seems. Will titles from other commissioned authors be available under the Wizard publication?

Robert Douglas
Fri Sep 2 17:22:31 2011
General Chat

Hi, thanks for the info on Dave Holt's site. It's nice to know what's happening! :-)

Haoie
Fri Sep 2 00:09:44 2011
A Midwinter Carol

Just played a Midwinter Carol for the first time and I thought it was quite cute! Especially since Deathmoor was criminally underrated despite its flaws. But didn't the Baron die in the book officially?

Glen
Thu Sep 1 10:09:13 2011
General Chat

I've just found this website after rekindling my interest in FF by purchasing Talisman of Death on the PSN. Although I do really wish the dice would roll as fast in that game as on this website, it is still lots of fun.

I'm going through the gamebooks on this site in order, and am still on the first one, Hellfire! It is really, really difficult! Thanks to the webmaster for keeping this site alive. It's a real gem.

ffproject
Wed Aug 31 15:57:27 2011
News

Robert Douglas has kindly emailed me four gamebooks. They are :

Snakeland Scorpion
Prison Of Pestilence
The Curse Of Drumer
Below Zero Point

I have added them to the Downloads page.

Robert Douglas Tue Aug 30 15:36:04 2011 General Chat	I recently contacted Dave Holt via e-mail. He told me that somebody called Icon has taken over the Official FF website. However, there's been no 'latest news' since 27th May. The only thing that seems to update is the blog section. Does anybody know what's happening? I hope it's not going the same way as past FF site!
	Here's a bit of information on the subject : http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/fighting_fantasy_gamebooks/message/3746 http://fightingfantasy.eamped.com/2011/02/22/official-forum-now-free-of-spam/

Maxim
Mon Aug 29 09:29:57 2011
I'm Writing A Gamebook

Hello, I have been working on an ff of my own, set in more modern times, after being inspired by the content on this website.

Anyhow i was wondering if there was anyway of posting my ametuer ff on here? Or do you have to have special priviliges?

As it says on the FAQ page :

I've written a gamebook, will you put it on the site?
So long as it is complete, I will certainly put it on the Downloads page. Whether I make an online version depends on several factors : how good it is (in my opinion) - it needs to be at least as good as those already there, how close the rules are to Fighting Fantasy, and how much free time I have. All submissions are welcome and can be emailed to me using the contact link.

Ulysses
Sun Aug 28 01:54:16 2011
Publicity

@Robert Douglas

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

Robert Douglas
Sat Aug 27 18:03:07 2011
Publicity

Hi Ulysses,

Your Temporal Bend was a curious blend of philosophy and humour. I enjoyed reading it!

As regards to the 'Is a ship still a ship when it's aground?' -yes, the only thing lacking is water directly beneath; practically speaking, a complete ship with full sails is useless unless it has something to float on.

Zharradan Marr's ship flies using magic (so that doesn't count in my arguement), as does Banedon's ship - unless both lost their magical ability; then they suddenly become as any other ordinary ship...smashed asunder by the sudden drop!

If the crew are children - or adults in practice - using their imagination as if on the ocean, is another possibility.

A ship is still a ship - but needs wind-power, man-power, or fuel by which to operate. Non-existence of the latter doesn't cancel out the former, only its current purpose.

If a ship sinks to the bottom of the ocean, it becomes a ship-wreck

Maxim
Fri Aug 26 09:21:51 2011
General Chat

Yes, took me sometime finding a website like this. Firstly i would like to congradulate the author of Bodies in the docks and ask if there is a continuation. Secondly i enjoyed House of Horrorand found it to be An excellent story. Lastly, why is Hellfire so friggin hard, where the HELL are the gaunlets?

Robert Douglas
Thu Aug 25 22:09:16 2011
General Chat

When writing 'The Globesphere Case' in the mid 90's (aka, the improved 'Below Zero Point') Hereward FM played in the background. It had a repetitive selection of music - one song would be played a total of four times in one day. 'Searching', by China Black, 'Shine' by Aswad, 'Right Beside You' by Sophie B Hawkins...a couple of others from the 80's: 'Africa' by Toto, and 'Running in the Family' by Level 42. When I hear these songs, they instantly evoke memories of writing a poorer version of BZP.

One last memory:

'...You'll alway be my first choice,
'my first,
'my number one...
Premier Kitchens and Bedrooms'

Hee, hee.

Robert Douglas
Tue Aug 23 20:06:49 2011
General Chat

Hi, me again!

I was just reading something on Popp's old site (via the Download section). It's hard to believe that Jonathan Green's 'Bloodbones' - now available in print - caused all that trouble in the mid 90's.

However, I remember it all too well...Questions and frustration were thrown back and forth between fans, even FF's artists were kept in the dark. Amazon (bit naughty, in my opinion) actually advertised the title - even though it hadn't been published!! Steve and Ian were approached with concerns over Bloodbones 'FF#60' - the former proved unreachable, the latter seemed indifferent to the whole thing.

Although, both had the foresight to move onwards and upwards, taking advantage of improvements in computer technology. Eidos gave birth to Lara Croft and 'Deus Ex' (one of my all-time favourite games with, er, multiple routes to achieve goals, inventory of items, combat...sounds familiar, eh?), while Steve Jackson later joined Lionhead studios to assist in development of 'Black and White'. Much as I love gamebooks, computer games always add that bit more to adventures.

I think Puffin (Penquin) publishers stalled for time, either deliberating whether to finish on a nice round number (60), or had actually made up their mind on the matter and hoped the badgering questions would melt away. Perhaps Steve and Ian were angry at Puffin pulling the plug on the series? Perhaps they both wanted to move on? Who knows what really went on behind the scenes? Who cares?

In the end, gamebooks had to admit defeat in face of a more sophisticated, hi-tech enemy. The market was advancing, gamebooks had become an obsolete method of gaming - much as I hated it at the time. But, how many of you (like myself) gradually embraced such games over the years? While gamebooks were relegated to bedroom storage and rare showings on second-hand bookshelves, it was a case of: shrug, go with the flow. If both Steve and Ian managed it, why couldn't fans share in the journey onwards?

The main thing is both puzzling and pleasurable: FF is BACK! What's more, Bloodbones has finally been printed - via Wizard Books - it's taken 10 years, but it's finally here!. As a necromancer from beyond the grave, FF has returned with a vengeance. I'm probably hoping too much in expectation of more old commissioned works being reprinted. Still, who knows what the future holds?

Now, after all that...what does everybody think to it?

P.S. To Jupiter Jack: I also collected Lone Wolf and Freeway Warrior quadrology, by Joe Dever.

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