I have avoided checking out the comments for this one and the previous one after resorting to it for the first, where I got stumped by certain items being at "Continue" prompts instead of getting used automatically. Here, though, I still discover something new that way. Namely:
SPOILER
That the electronic strait jacket is not just actually useful in the first place, but happens to be the best way to deal with the Death Bot?! I thought that tossing a smoke bomb and then relying on your luck was the best option available to you.
This is certainly NOT what I expected the strait jacket would be for. My first guess was that you would throw it at the burly man who is "owned by Harry" and beat the right combination to the safe out of him, because come on, that seemed like an obvious use! (And certainly more obvious than just having to restart, one way or another, until you stumble upon the right combination)
The other guess was that you could use it on the pirate leader on the path where you kill the shuttle guard and take his place, thus getting to stay alone with the leader for a while, and this was how you would get the daughter's location. Oh well.
Well, this certainly was shorter than the ones before it!
Not sure what to say here. On one hand, there are two REALLY strong encounters here, with the pufferfish and the hyperspace watcher. Both actually add surprising gravity to the silly premise, and the former also manages to be really funny as well. On the other hand, the boss, such as it is, isn't great - yes, it's intentional, but the other character who is meant to compensate for his charisma void doesn't do it too well either. It doesn't help that conversations with her get the worst of the not-that-interesting running gag this time.
I am also not sure what to say about the character seemingly becoming more of a jerk as he is growing in power (both physical and organizational.) If actually intended this way, then it's certainly character development, and sadly, it's realistic character development as well. However, I have my doubts, and much will depend on the subsequent episodes to show if the scenes I have in mind are representative of the shift, or simply out-of-context.
Mechanically, I suspect this adventure is actually considerably harder to win properly then it was intended to be, simply because of this.
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21 A few are locked, but in the one the space-rat emerged from you find a blaster. – And yet, that blaster is NOT added to our inventory?
END SPOILER
The limitation you have to deal with here can seem particularly arbitrary at times (you get to be equipped with a whole spacesuit, but not with a pack or a bag of any kind?), but then again, the whole series is about arbitrary boons and burdens alike.
Lastly, ther's not AS much proofreading needed this time.
In some ways, this actually felt somewhat easier than the previous installment. Granted, that was probably mostly due to getting used to the series' tricks than anything else. Some time was probably saved by reading the comments on Planet of the Spiders, which revealed a small, yet useful detail
SPOILER
That is, that the blaster is actually useful this time, and not a total waste and a sign you are doing things wrong and are destined to fail, like in the previous two.
END SPOILER
And the experience of Hellfire helped too, partly due to the same "you keep finding things on various paths that are really useful, but not useful enough vibe" (though the previous instalments also had that, it didn't feel remotely as extensive) and partly due to a (thankfully?) rarer element, that of
SPOILER
Violence and cruelty you can avoid in the moment being ultimately necessary to win. Granted, Hellfire also placed a lot more gravity on those slayings than this does when it comes to those two poor tribesmen, but then again, the series has an altogether different tone, and all that. Though, refs 32 and 76 compensate for that, with some standout writing for what are ultimately trap options, and not even particularly compelling ones.
END SPOILER
Altogether, though I would say that in a way, it actually feels like a better Hellfire (not to mention a substantial improvement over its own predecessor) in that you have to do some comparable things to win (including one parallel that is a bit of a spoiler, yet immediately obvious once you get there), but it feels far more satisfying here to get closer and closer to the winning path, simply because this does not have a final boss who effectively does much of the work of removing their own defences for you. Plus, the check that avoids you failing post-boss-battle in Planet of the Spiders and the pathway to neutralize it was undoubtedly funny, yet also truly arbitrary. Here, it actually feels pretty clever once you figure it out. Plus, while the antagonists here are less interesting than in the previous one, and the runnning gags continue to be very hit-and-miss, robot encounters (including that completely skippable one) more than offset this with their impeccable logic (or "logic").
Mechanical things.
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Raft remains in your inventory even though 37 says that it floats away?
At 227, trying to talk immediately locks you out of using the smoke bomb?
The ref shown when you equip the Comet for the first time says it does 4 damage, yet it actually seems to be 5?
END SPOILER
And proofreading.
SPOILER
Background you were blinded by love.Upon arrival + thank-you note.As you + lord Gablentite.If you + That Pomplompotom become your girlfriend! 2, 224, 248 – no question marks after options? 4, 10, 11, 24, 41, 46, 51, 64, 107, 113, 116, 126, 127, 128, 135, 148, 149, 150, 176, 177, 186 188, 194, 202, 220, 222, 241, 244, 255, 277 – occasional issues with punctuation & direct speech At 175, why are you at -2 even if you do have a laser knife? At 179, we are only allowed to use a blaster on our counterpart if we also have an energy whip? 4 you first saw the pirates on deck C , and so 27 After you unappetising meal 30 You are awakened from your peaceful dozing see something ahead. + down the swift flowing canal. 42 the large purple leaches 64 presumably the space-pirate's own. + Just follow the space pirates shuttle + a fee of 50 galactic Roubles (capitalization). 70 you have to pull off the large purple leaches 76 technological superiority you posses in the form of the blaster. + half vaporised + a number of golden skinned fruits 79 Fear of consumption proves the greater motivator that desire to consume 83 the large purple leaches 95 across the leach-ridden waters. 105 "That is almost 2 years from now!" you exclaim (missing period.) 107 it's a Comet : a wi-fi-controlled 114 for more combinations that you can punch 116 into the Pirate's shuttle. 130 and light candles on then other side of the room 144 You sit up in alarm, but it is just your fried. + She is brought to sit at your side.Suddenly, something clicks in your mind
165 has seared closed the wound 187 but it seems you have out paced them! 209 fragments of bejewelled goad leaf
Did I forget to post the proofreading entry after it failed to fit the word count as usual, or did it just get caught up in the filter again? Either way...
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1, 5, 11, 20, 27, 45, 63, 76, 81, 83, 93, 112, 115 - extra spaces before question marks.
26, 100 – no question marks at all
2 - a tree growing out of the ground!" you say.
46 which you failed to see previous + "Let me do the talking!" your lawyer-bot hisses at you,
57 An arachnaphobic!
62 But all means + lack of
63 - Such people have been sent of for fluid extraction
65 a satisfied 'Ahhh!' Soon you are feeling great! + by a regal looking spider queen.
71 she is saying : 'It's your life.'
72 you eat it , stealing glances
76 the official sudden calls out your number
80
as you pull it tight as you can.
88 a levitation red orb than ducks and weaves randomly. + You flop over the spiders head + right down in from
100 then take and experimental sip
102 looking gup and down
112 "You?" the Arachnonan looks at you sceptically. + wrapped in the cacoons of death that they perished in.
118 reaches your ears "Make way for your masters, or be crushed!"
134 Nice Suit is priced in just Roubles, not Galactic Roubles (The implications inherent in the word Galactic Rouble make me experience so many feelings.)
All I have to say is: how is this rated "medium" in difficulty, again? Yes, it's not as arbitrary as the first one, where you have something like a 16% chance of failing midway through REGARDLESS of your stats (with an additional chance of failing due to poor skill alone) and THEN an additional, completely unavoidable 33% chance of failing that's due to completely arbitrary limitations alone
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Why can't we try attaching power packs to the Screwdriver BEFORE we step away from the locker? (Just like here, YOU CAN'T ACTIVATE THE WHIP YOURSELF - only the spider handmaiden can.) Or indeed, why can't we place our things INTO the locker to free up pocket space? Of course, the whole series is absurdist BS aiming for Hitchhiker yet landing somewhere closer to Rick and Morty, so unlike the other stories, there's not much point in asking these questions.
END SPOILER
Yet, it ultimately has an extremely narrow path to victory all the same, where only a couple of deviations are TECHNICALLY allowed, yet in practice leave you with negligible chances of winning fairly, and you have to make incredibly arbitrary guesses to find out the true path.
SPOILER
Literally the only thing which even remotely counts as a hint that the "right" sandwich at the end is salad is getting that one VERY UNLUCKY roll on the false path, I suppose. Otherwise, it is in fact basically Rick & Morty prank: "Starving guy who wants solid food really likes salad the most! Didn't expect that, did you! Gottem!" I also semi-hoped you would have the option to give him those 5 credit crisps but haha, no.
And once you already know that you need a minimum of 100 credits to get any chance of winning, it's asking for a lot to guess that spending 10 to be able to beat the arachnid without a blaster (once you even figure out that's how it works, that is) will end up giving you 50. For a while, I was convinced the whole thing with the music was a trap option as much as being able to use the blaster at any point was.
The spirit guide reroll also seems to be next to useless. It doesn't work when you REALLY need it, which is either if you lose the final fight, or turn out not to know the answer to the last question. When it does get triggered, it seems that you'll most often end up thrown to the lift, with the whip but WITHOUT the ability to visit the barbican (presumably, to stop you from constantly inputting the code?), which ALSO means you cannot get to the vending machine, and so you are not only thrown into another reroll, but get your stats drained as well.
END SPOILER
I decided to check the other works' ratings here again, and altogether, they feel less explicable than ever. Completely trivial Curse Of The Yeti and Any Port In A Storm are rated with the same difficulty as this one? HOW?! So are A Saint Beckons, Beggars Of Blacksand, Below Zero Point, Bloodsworth Bayou and Garden of Bones, which do have some trap paths, but it's way, way easier to spot them and you spend much, much less time on them before getting to the right path, which is trivial. Hunger Of The Wolf and Shrine Of The Salamander are a bit harder than those, but still much easier than this one: you are much less likely to find yourself guessing "what am I doing wrong now?"
I am also REALLY unsure about A Knight's Trial, A Princess Of Zamarra, Midnight Deep and Rebels Of The Dark Chasms rated harder than this one. I feel that they are at most the same. Maybe it's hindsight speaking, but the House of Horror felt much easier: once you get to the wrong path which gives you meta-knowledge (which I don't THINK requires anything much more than to stumble upon the right room), then winning becomes a matter of passing a LUCK check and not getting mauled too badly in an even-skill fight early on (plus making the right choice close to the end, obviously) with the rest largely sorted by then. And the only thing which makes Bodies in the Docks even close to "fairly hard" is the balancing of the final fights, so you at most need to throw a few runs against the wall doing the same things until the dice fall in your favour.
And well, this was quite fast. By now, I went through every other one of your digitized adventures on here, sometimes over a month ago - but this is the very first time I receive a reply, and only hours later.
Yes, writing requires time and effort. So do a lot of things. By now, there are tens of thousands of video games you can download for free - and I am NOT talking about piracy or even abandonware. Often, their creators had to think about code, writing, art and music all at once. There's also the effort that goes into assembling even a short live-action film, or a full-length machinima, and many, many people have done those things for free as well. Let's just move on.
With your second response, I would like to mention theory of mind, if I may.
SPOILER
That is, the ability to accurately judge what a person would see and know at any given point, and make your own decisions based on that. I think this goes to the root of where I find issue with the scene.
1) As a reader, the main thing I know at the outset is that the player character obviously has to get to where he shouldn't for one reason or another - else there's not much of a story, but those reasons can still be good or bad, and it's up to the writing of the scene to make the difference. Here, your character effectively insults well-intentioned villagers there and in ref 1, which instantly creates a negative impression. In horror movies, characters who behave like that usually get themselves killed soon after.
If I am to believe that him driving to that ruin after everyone tells him not to go is worthwhile then yes, giving us a single reason to care about Scott and Jimmy from the outset, to know why it's worth risking life over them, is not a bad idea. As a writer, you might care about them as your creations by default, but I, a reader, do not.
2) Here is the really big inconsistency between player character's knowledge and behaviour.
"Indeed, why should they care about the preservation of Drumer's valuables when obviously they care more for the life and soul of a human being who so far has done them no harm? "
This is the thing. He has NO way to know what any of the patrons "obviously" care about until AFTER he had already revealed where he's going to them. As an out-of-towner, for all that he knows, people in the tavern could well be fans of the "late" Earl and NOT take kindly to him messing about there. (In fact, with how large the cult apparently is, it seems all-but-inevitable that cult members would have visited the place before, probably repeatedly (its name making itself appear Satanism-friendly would have only helped to make that a near-certainty), and the odds that at least one patron present at that time would have been a cultist actually don't seem all that low? Sure, Sid would not have taken kindly once he understood, but the corollary is that the cult could have then identified him as a target a lot earlier?)
Really, looting of recently abandoned estates tends to be frowned upon A LOT - you probably know that plenty of people think using lethal force on anyone looting someone else's property in the wake of a natural disaster is outright commendable. Plus, locals could also suspect them of other undesirable things, like drug smuggling. So, it really doesn't matter if he has no idea about the cult - it only takes ONE patron to call the police and say, "Hey, there are some suspicious blokes from out of town meeting up at the burned-down ruins, mind checking in on that place?" to TOTALLY ruin whatever all three were going for and potentially land all of them in jail as soon as the guns and the lockpicks are found. It may not be a VERY likely risk, but it is still an ENORMOUS downside with basically no upside.
END SPOILER
Lastly, worry not - I would not have committed myself to the effort of going through everything digitized on this website if I did not harbour the ambitions of writing one or more myself. I have certainly learned a lot about what to do (and what not to do) from the authors here, and barring unforeeseen circumstances, I intend to put that to good use, sooner rather than later.
P.S. A reminder to FFProject that one of my posts on this thread is still caught up in the filter?
Well, I did have to eventually resort to consulting this section to go through this - but only because of the interface. I think the only other time when "Continue" wasn't just "go to next ref" (like it is here too, by the time you are about to reach 100, or if your pockets get full when looting the locker) and had actually meant "USE an item now or die later" was in Hellfire, and I completely forgot about it. Almost as awkard as A Flame in the North suddenly caring about the difference between owned and equipped at the very end.
Or perhaps, I thought that if he can call out the code automatically, he would figure out how to try the screwdriver on his own, and that what I was really lacking was the right combination of a power pack and a connecting cable (or two power packs in case it needed combined power, or even grease if that's what would help the screws) for it to occur automatically once it got assembled.
For that matter, there was also a period of guessing that the robot dog blowing some stuff up with missiles could reveal something useful later on, or even that the medbay sobering you up was a necessary precondition to enabling the ship's controls. Oh well.
Not sure what to say about the rest. A lot of it is certainly amusing, but other moments, like the Titanic reference or the twist, are way too ludicrous for the few laughs they add. Together with that mandatory fight with an effectively equal chance of insta-winning or insta-losing, it kinda cancels out.
I'd also like to point out some flaws in the points you made throughout the second paragraph:
SPOILER
1. The backgrounds to both Scott and Jimmy are not so plot important. TCOD is not about their entire life stories. 2. We do learn - confirmed later on during the dialogue with High Priest Isaacson - that they are petty criminals who were poking around in the ruins of a once old, possibly wealthy estate. Word of the great fire got around and somehow reached their ears. Again, it should be enough that they just happened to be in the area at the right time, or heard about it on or in the local news. Both saw the opportunity to hunt for antiques, had already made a start but shifting the heavy door required extra tools and expertise. Both men knew the player was the man for the job. However, by the time he does arrive, both Scott and Jimmy have incurred the wrath of the Brotherhood and been captured. 3. The player character has arranged to meet the friends at the ruins. Why is that idiotic? For the time being, he is unaware of the demonic dangers - as were his friends before being captured. Perhaps they didn't know the full truth of their plight? That they were simply at the mercy of a mad cult with no real power? Who can say? Even the author themself doesn't ponder over every little detail. However, one clue is: how does Jimmy react to the animated zombies and skeletons? Has he (and Scott) seen similar things already? 4. Although the Hero - himself a criminal - 'blurts' out the planned meeting location, then why should it matter? How would the locals know he is of criminal background? Strange as it sounds, he could simply be a tourist keen on exploring the ruins, a contractor hired to assess the damaged site for clearance, or even a photographer going after that special atmospheric location. And even if they suspect he's up to no good, then how are they going to respond to a possible threat to the Drumer estate? Indeed, why should they care about the preservation of Drumer's valuables when obviously they care more for the life and soul of a human being who so far has done them no harm? Saying it out loud shocks them, yet the player character is straight up being honest; attempting to hide the truth or simply shrug and stay silent can backfire with an adverse effect. Furthermore, he is a stranger to those parts, and needs directions. It is also equally possible that they suspect he is a friend of Drumer's, come to visit, but again: saying it out loud at least calms their suspicions. Even if the player was followed by some of the curious locals, what are they going to find? The player cursing and shouting as he makes his way down into the old cellar; hardly very inconspicuous. The meeting wasn't secret because, if anybody had followed them, they would have been chatting in a wide open space, or even the confines of the landrover. If the conversation was overheard, then it would be about looting the ruined house of Drumer, and nothing whatsoever regarding demonic worship or raising Drumer himself. Again, Terry might have followed the player from the Goat and Knife there and then - but then that wouldn't have made exciting material. Besides which, Terry (having already warned the player character who was too stubborn to listen) meanwhile went to Richard for his help in rescuing the Hero and Jimmy, by which time during the graveyard scene.
Thanks for giving The Curse of Drumer a read. It's good to see enthusiasm from fellow fans, and constructive criticism is indeed welcome, in particular regarding gameplay and mechanics. It is important to get a balance. However, speaking of balance, you do yourself need to observe a certain degree of decorum with far less frustration when listing aspects which need work or improvement.
While I do understand your reading TCOD required several hours of your time, please remember planning and writing a standard 400-ref gamebook is at least ten times that amount. Furthermore, while it is done voluntarily, as a hobby, authors contributing to this website are not paid, unlike those within FF, Lone Wolf, and other series. While I'm absolutely fine with that, barbed reviews sting far more on here than on, for example, an Amazon listing - because at least the author is getting paid for their time and trouble. And a customer has a right to feel annoyed when spending a fiver or so on a book they ended up not enjoying. But even world-famous, wealthy paid artists (authors, illustrators, actors, rocks stars, etc) can struggle with difficult reviews. The late, great comedian Les Dawson mentioned in an interview that, during his early stage years, he received some hurtful comments - when his only 'crime' was to make people laugh - and not many were supportive nor positive towards his career in any way.
That you were 'mystified' by comments made by other FF fans in this thread, the answer is really quite simple: most of them enjoyed TCOD for what it was, while you clearly didn't. Fair enough! But if you can do any better, then please, go ahead and show us how it's done....
I suppose I also want to say that ref 333 arguably sets up a bit of a false expectation. You know, the ref with this paragraph.
"The books are set in a plain black binding. They are written in a strange, unfamiliar language, somewhat similar to Latin, as far as you can tell. Flipping through the pages, you spot several disturbing illustrations - faceless beings, writhing on the ground as if in great pain; an opened box with a whirlpool of ghastly clawed things (demons?) springing out; and one of a robed man holding a star shaped crystal that seems to be shooting out a bolt of searing light straight at a group of hideous and evil looking beings standing nearby."
From that, I really assumed that
SPOILER
You could use the Star as a ranged weapon, and so you were intended to blast D'Onofrio with it while he was fleeing. While the real solution is undoubtedly more interesting, I still consider my initial interpretation to have been completely justified based on the text.
1 A sight now seen through more cautious eyes than this morning Terry's words continue to tumble around in your troubled mind. (comma?)
16 raises his havoc staff on high (what is that supposed to mean?! Is that meant to be more understandable if you read the canon book?)
38 stabs at you with his own torch. (?)
39 from a hollowed out section.
69 as sharp pointed teeth
95 Do not take to that sacrificial altar! + "Oh, thank God!" cries her friend. + Yet the arms do not release, only tighten. (their arms?) + could we have run to?" the first woman frowns + "Stay with us!" they both intone.
(I'll also say that this ref is remarkably sparse on detail, telling us little about the room and nothing about their appearance, age, clothing, etc.)
97 The once beautiful carpets
98 a pump action shotgun + sixteen twelve gauge shells
104 "Bonnie thing to have, Rich" (punctuation around it.)
108 a large leather bound notebook
120 and it'll too late
125 "Where is that wretched thing?" growls the torturer.
133 Those devil worshipping fanatics + he continues "you could say
135 "What have you lot been up to?" asks an aghast Sid.
140 "You poor fool!" he sneers at your drawn blade.
156 lying spreadeagled
159 "No!" it snarls.
179 It must be work related
182 "Show some respect!" growls an annoyed Richard.
196 "Home sweet home!" announces Richard . "Such as it is."
210 "The prisoner!" she gasps.
218 -the four 'chosen ones'
219 At first, you hope its Maddesby + "and drop your weapons. " + well placed to remove it
220 Spreadeagled upon
232 filled with the mouldering bones (?) + The ice cold touch
250 skull-face!" he laughs
256 Now that's quite something! you whistle.
265 , stood in the middle of the room next (to?) a brazier
289 "Have we done well, master?" fawns one.
290 on an alter (?) (and the other instances of the word as well.)
313 in locating hand-and foot-holds.
319 A rope nearby is pulled and the whole slab creaks aside. (pulled by whom?)
330 Despite your being more acclimatized + of an eight foot humanoid! (?)
333 signifies the acolytes entry
"Quick!" you lift
338 You lie in wait, listening the acolytes' idle chatter, (to?) + press the now empty gun + "What the-?" + Nicely done! you grin.
348 "Aye!" seconds Jimmy. + I'm sworn to uphold the law -as such, + dangerous men running amuck (?)
350 Mesmerized by these fantastic monsters, they clasp together (you watch as?) + quickly increasing intensity... (in?)
352 And that's all they are, guv!" snarls a younger man + I'll swear to the Lord above, on the bible (inconsistent capitalization?)
365 "Good show, old boy!" jubilates Richard.
368 cabalistic symbols + whatever that might be -as Scott and Jimmy.
378 "The castle is invaded!" it booms.
400 This is where it all started -but
405 "GET HIM!" he shouts whilst fleeing.
444 behind ghost stories and wives tales
496 Add 2 to your FEAR score rest and zeal of hope now flowing through your veins, (?)
On the other hand, the "main path" is just completely illogical. To wit:
SPOILER
Interactions with the police are nonsensical. Priest's notes are triumphantly presented as "hard evidence", yet in no court of law would those scribbles count as anything of a sort. All they seem to contain is a secondhand claim to "hearing moans and screams" from Drumer's mansion on moonlit nights, and an admission to robbing from a museum. It's mystifying why the cultist detective is so stumped by them and settles for calling them a forgery, rather than dismissing it all as vague nonsense from a delusional, thieving clergyman?
For that matter, why wouldn't the detective press a point that if your story is true, you have just admitted that you only drove into town to attend a meeting for unlawful purposes, and to carrying lockpicks and what are likely unregistered firearms, and you should all be arrested just for that?
Or, if he wanted to go further, you have personally admitted to shooting several people, one of your friends admitted to fatally riding over two more, and you had beaten/stabbed another man to death mere hours ago on your way to the scene? Satanism was not illegal even in the 1980s (even protected under freedom of religion, for that matter); murder was and is, and there's zero proof any of it was in self-defence, adhered to reasonable force standards, etc. If the Detective arrests all of them for that (and accuses the Inspector of sympathizing with vigilantism if he tries to intervene), then sure, the investigation would also discover the torture chamber and all the remains in the ruins sooner or later, but if the ritual is literally imminent, then so what? The cult would have already won by then, and any time the police spend in the ruins pulls them away from looking in the direction of the castle.
And if you attempt to infiltrate the building, your supposedly experienced crim apparently doesn't even bother to wear a mask beforehand, as seen at 332. Likewise, you knock out two forensics, then automatically accept a ride from the police (!), and they somehow do not find their colleagues, decide that those weird men are prime suspects and contact the team in the very car you are in?
END SPOILER
Then again,
SPOILER
There should have probably been no reason for the police to be there at all. We are told that even a small silver crucifix is "repellent to their kind". Maddesby had MONTHS to search for Hreinleika: couldn't he have bothered to deck out his dwelling with way more crucifixes in all that time and protect the place? Likewise, there should have been enough time to fit Ettingley Hall with crucifixes and holy water all over the place, so it sounds like that poltergeist is their own fault.
Then again, the same people couldn't figure out not to meet their informer in a dark, large, abandoned building, rather than on the outside in the sunlight, and they failed to see a hundred people coming and going from a castle for who knows who long, so that's in character.
For that matter, that scene is also a hot mess: ref 265 says you have a torch from the start, yet you instead fight with a torch the cultist dropped, after trying to stab (?) you with it, instead of just attacking with a dagger immediately, like he does after losing the torch anyway. (And no, I have to assume the torch was electric, since you get the same reference to "flickering" regardless of whether or not you have a flashlight, and while holding both a shotgun and a flashlight is iffy, I don't even want to think about the mechanics of holding a shotgun and a wooden torch.)
Meanwhile, if you have a shotgun, then the only reason the torturer survives for long enough to be killed later on (unless you fail a sudden LUCK and SKILL check, which is all too possible, and one of the biggest barriers to lower-stat characters here) is because he manages to survive a shotgun blast by hiding behind a brazier then kicking it in your direction. Apparently, a brazier is not only bulletproof, but isn't going to wobble and spill any hot coals after getting shot at whatsoever, unlike when it's kicked. Similarly, your shotgun apparently has a range of 6 meters or so (I'll let you look up real-life ranges yourself) as you do not even TRY to shoot at a high priest when he is close enough to converse with you without difficulty. As I said, the narrative logic around firearms didn't seem to go remotely beyond "blasting cultists with big gun cool!" You do have to go through a SKILL check every time you shoot, though, just like in Bodies in the Docks (wouldn't be surprised if it was a direct inspiration.) The difference is that Bodies in the Docks didn't have scenes like ref 338 here
SPOILER
where you quickly leap at a cultist guard from the shadows, beat down and break his neck, then drag the body away and exchange clothing before his companion returns, mimic dead guy's voice and convince the companion to give you his gun while you clandestinely remove ammunition from it, then knock the companion out.
END SPOILER
- ALL OF WHICH happens without a single skill check. The difference between that, and a skill check fest that is the shootout with two fireball-flinging flying demons (who somehow continue to toss two fireballs at once, which must be dodged individually, even AFTER you destroyed one of them already) is very apparent. This doesn't have THAT big of an issue with long choice-free stretches when compared to most other Douglas' works, but these "pure Hollywood" refs where the character suddenly stops needing the dice and carries out feats many times more complex than the ones he just needed skill checks moments earlier, on autopilot, are incredibly out of place.
It doesn't help that pretty much as soon as you are out of the mansion's ruins (which happens quite quickly), and find characters in addition to Jimmy, the dialogue is either exposition or incredibly cringeworthy sub-Whedonite banter all the time. Jimmy at first stands in place and has a breakdown over father's death while cultists are trying to break through the door, then forgets effectively ALL about it and his personality is reduced to saying "bonnie" in EVERY OTHER SENTENCE. Unfortunately, out of the two paths to victory, it is the far more obvious one that brings you into contact with more people and forces you to suffer through far more dialogue and plot holes. The other path is just much, much better narratively, though it is sadly much less hospitable to characters without max SKILL, and still has some weirdness (317 instakills you even if you DO have the weapon which works in all the "adjacent" refs?)
I have played this right after a House of Horror, almost as a double feature of a sort. After all, both are related to the same canon gamebook, House of Hell.
I'll say that reading the comments here after beating this might be the most mystified I have ever felt on here. One reason was all the discussion about a really simple puzzle early on, (though it seems like it used to be worse than it is right now?) and effectively nothing about everything else in those early stretches. To me, this work is almost every bit as as the House of Horror is good, and nearly everything redeeming about it comes way down the line. The background and early refs in this one are effectively the absolute worst out of every gamebook I have seen here - and by now, that's nearly all of them.
For starters, we literally do not know anything about his friends, Scott and Jimmy from that background and have no idea what that "important meeting" at a ruined house was meant to be about. All we see is the player character doing something obviously idiotic, yet we are supposed to care? The later revelation that they were all crims somewhat explains the venue, yet it effectively means that the protagonist blurted out the location of their secret criminal meeting to everybody at the pub, for zero good reason, so it at best replaces one idiocy with another. We never really learn why those two decided to pick that specific spot, or why they chose to arrive there days earlier, so all of Jimmy's whining rings particularly hollow.
Then, FF struggles to integrate guns at the best of times, for sure, but the approach here is even more arbitrary than that of Bodies in the Docks. The first proper action scene, at 181, is an accidental masterclass in incoherence. At the start, we are told that there are "a dozen" cultists (i.e. 12 at most, including the leader.) Yet, by the time we run past ALL OF THEM to the Land Rover, there are only two in the vicinity and a dog (which we shoot through our own windscreen, yet it apparently does not die.) We shoot one point-blank, the other one manages to struggle for control of the shotgun, the missed shot from shatters the leg of what is apparently another acolyte (since the first one would already be dead?).
Then, you somehow manage to hold onto the shotgun with one hand (even while the acolyte is pulling at it with two?) as you are unsheathing a knife that is now at your belt (even though the preceding ref 98 only mentions it being in your bag, and doesn’t describe you clipping it on) and stabbing with it. Then, you are pushing that guy who is heavily wounded in the stomach into a charging acolyte. (Which charging acolyte? Presumably not the one you shot point-blank or the one whose leg was shattered) So, we somehow go from dozen cultists, to two, to at least four, of whom three would be dead or incapacitated by them (while the high priest is just...forgotten about). Further, you STILL have 13 shotgun shells left at that point - more than there are cultists you could see, and apparently, none of them had any guns! Yet, instead of doing the reasonable thing and shooting them all, you "keep the smoking barrel trained in their general direction whilst darting back towards the relative safety of the ruins". Relative safety FROM WHAT?! If you are the only one who has the gun, for whatever reason, (since nobody shot at you while you were running to Land Rover in the first place - although some cultists do use guns later on), then out in the open you have range to use it. Someone had already tried to grab at your gun once, and the ruins would only give more chances to do just that.
This incredible looseness with setting out the parameters of each encounter (something which the subsequent Robert Douglas works were MUCH better at), makes the chase scenes afterwards feel nonsensical. You, a guy with a shotgun, and Jimmy, can end up hiding in a skull pit from three guys and a demon dog (of course, if you fail, you suddenly get instakilled with a crossbow). There's also a passageway narrow enough for you to shoot at them one by one if you tried - but you have to flee regardless. Yet, later on, you HAVE to fight six guys at once in melee, in the darkness, and you apparently win. It's just totally nonsensical.
Some, initial, aversion to killing COULD help explain this: after all, a criminal doesn't mean a murderer (and committing a lone murder and standing and shooting at a crowd are different things anyway). It doesn't, though, since that's the one thing the protagonist clearly DOESN'T feel. It takes until ref 10, more than halfway into the story, for our character to make ANY comment about anyone he just killed - and it's about the least sympathetic torturer cultist, to (justifiably) say he doesn't care. If you avoid taking a shotgun (you shouldn't) you can get a scene where he beats a cultist to death with a flashlight, with a hilarious lack of emotion.
It's a little hard to talk at length about what makes this work so good, because on the first glance, it is after all, "just" a story about a guy trapped in a mansion worshipping an evil demon. Yet, it is remarkably well-balanced: great pacing (it doesn't even take that long to work out how to get to the "second-best" failure ending), good scene-setting writing (ref 11 is an exception, being rather too straightforward), and consistently interesting encounters. This includes both the obstacles, and the more talkative characters. In particular, I dreaded approaching the room with Aldo and Anna because (ghostly) kids are often a one-note chore in horror, yet it's a surprisingly great moment!
The best character was definitely Anselmo, though, and I doubt I was the only who thought that way! I really like that this story was unafraid to have a bit of humour like that football fan, and actually make it work within the context of the story. (Which still features plenty of unexpected pain like what your character can suffer at 405, or ref 79.) Likewise, I LOVE refs 23 and 144. That kind of a bait is bit of a low blow, I guess, but is still hilarious. Even more so when considering you literally need meta knowledge from failed runs to win - and the writing itself acknowledges that.
Yet, the difficulty felt just about right altogether - I won this without having to resort to checking the guestbook (let alone "right-clicking"/bookmarking), and I really don't think this should be marked as the same difficulty as Phil Sadler's two gamebooks. Perhaps it's just me getting better at these things, but then again, Golem Gauntlet (also marked "hard" here) was one of the first ones I have beaten, and I have also done that without hints. Both of them can be won just through the process of eliminating wrong options (although Golem Gauntlet does feature some brutal skill checks), and neither has ANYTHING like the requirement to USE a limited resource at very specific refs to win - a resource which can be wasted pointlessly, or even in a way which seems to benefit you only to fail later on (Metal Sentinel, anyone?) Not to mention that neither has anywhere near that many trap items, or the ability to exchange quest-crucial items for useless ones without knowing the difference. Perhaps a "very hard" category just for the Hellfire/Riders of the Storm pair is in order?
Anyway, for this work, if there's a particular flaw with the writing, I would say it's how our character is an insurance agent or something, yet his emotional response to fighting and killing others in combat is about the same as that of basically all the hardened adventurers of Titan (i.e. none.) A very common flaw to be sure, but I still feel the need to mention that. There are also a few moments where the writing feels a little constrained, but thankfully a lot less than in most comparable works. I.e.
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We are not allowed to shatter the vase at 3?
We can immediately attack Pravemi’s daughter, but not the creator of zombies? Particularly not at 304? And we cannot try attacking the servant either?
I wish 260 was clearer about what "challenge" meant. You could interpret that as an argument, or as a challenge to a fight.
199 does not say anything about a closet? It does mention the curtains, perhaps suggesting you could attempt hiding behind them?
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A few mechanical issues.
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At 338, it doesn’t seem to prompt for any item when clicking on "another item"? And it can also prompt you to offer a weapon even after you had one broken already.
236 somehow blocks you from going to 324, even if you killed the guy and weren't warned about that passage?
You do not get any FEAR points from 160? Failing to FEAR doesn't seem very likely here (another reason why I don't understand the decision to make Devil's Flight meter so strict) so the character would almost certainly absorb a point or two.
303 is such a delightful ending, that I think it even deserves a "not so bad" ending marker if one becomes available? 239 might as well.
I should also say that while the internal monologue is pretty great on the optional paths, it crosses over into outright frustrating on the main.
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Notably, why should I have any attachment to a character who cannot be bothered to look after themselves, as seen in ref 68: "You are too lost in your introspective thoughts to take any precautions of stealth, so you present a perfect target for any gunmen who may be lying in wait, but no shot comes". HOW did THIS guy (according to ref 83 and others) even survive the war in the first place? Was THAT the best Julian Striker could find?
Also, we didn’t retch after killing the first two cultists, but the rifleman was a step too far? For that matter, we get no such reaction if we are drugged on the train (I expected that to happen, though I thought that the entire champagne bottle being SEALED might have presented an obstacle to that?) and then kill a cultist before going anywhere else? That entire scene feels so pointless - almost as bad as the one in Devil's Flight. Here you at least get your gun taken away as you are captured, but the Cultist is still polite enough not to tie you up or to take your gun for himself, for absolutely no conceivable reason.
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Last not least, proofreading.
SPOILER
15, 19, 37, 38, 39, 48, 55, 67, 84, 96, 99, 101, 106, 118, 118, 119, 124, 128, 132, 226, 236, 251 – extra space before the question marks.
7 You notice that his voice, while soft carries with it a hint of menace. (comma?) + also near to the fireplace. + he says once more "Thank you again
11 their bodies are later found near to the docks, + contacted the police with regard to the matter,
38 you sit up in your seat sending something tumbling from your lap and onto the floor.
48 to catch what she is sating. (stating?)
52 for a further night.He seems rather anxious
56 may keep as evidence.Angry at
57 its forbidding cast iron gates (hyphen?) + But what's worse was there was intelligence behind its eyes
58 "Didja get 'em?" he croaks?
69 a strange, human fish hybrid,
75 Even for this time of the year, such complete (what?) is unusual and unsettling.
83 Antony "Fat Tony" Fletcher is renown as one (renowned?)
86 "So, why are you here?" he asks
87 making it seem almost blood red
92 would be nigh impossible (hyphen?)
96 The wounds horrific wounds
106 (I think.) Were you searching for information on strange local cults ?
Or were you interested in whether there is perhaps an occult connection?
(these options sound very similar? Is there any way to rephrase that?)
And at 5, Spanish Influenza is described as "near-fatal". That seems REALLY wrong, considering that it was most definitely fatal for MILLIONS of people. Again, any way to rephrase that?
