Friday, April 18, 2014

April A to Z - P is also for Path of Light by Ivailo Daskalov

Ivailo Daskalov is a gamebook author who wrote Dating A Witch for the Windhammer competition and then followed up with The Path of Light gamebook app on Google Play.  Ivailo's gamebooks focus a lot on relationships rather than your standard hack and slash and so there is plenty of depth in them.  Give them a go.

Q:Why did you start being involved with gamebooks?
A:I have always been a gamer. I also enjoy reading and writing books. Gamebooks are a crossing point between these hobbies.

Q:Where do you get your ideas for gamebooks?
A:Mainly PC games, other gamebooks and novels. I believe the World of Warcraft has a big impact on what I write. I could say the same for Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth Series.  

Q:Do your gamebooks have common themes?
A:Yes. I like writing about priests and demonologists. My protagonists also have the tendency of having a significant other. Maintaining a good relationship with them is one of the goals of the game.

Q:What advice would you off to someone who thinks that they want to write their own gamebook?
A:Just go ahead and do it. It is not that hard. Sometimes, having a scheme with the numbers of episodes helps a lot.

Q:What do people need to think about when converting a gamebook into an app?
A:One of the important issues is related to what the developer's software can do. Some can only support a pure CYOA adventure (no inventory, no variables, no dice rolling). Others are much more advanced. I am very happy with my developer XS Gamebooks. What he does coincides with my vision of the good gamebook app - simple and effective.

Q:What spoils a gamebook for you?
A:Being punished for a uninformed decision. Getting killed for entering the wrong door without any possible warning, for example.

Q:What makes a gamebook stand out for you?
A:I think I value most the narrative and strong characters.

Q:What is the hardest thing about writing a gamebook?
A:Keeping in mind what might or might not have happened on your way to a particular episode.

Q:What is the most exciting thing about writing a gamebook?
A:It is pleasant to know that you are making a game of your own, just the way you want to do it so that you enjoy it.

Q:What future projects do you have that you can talk about?
A:I plan to enter the Windhammer Prize competition for short gamebooks. I participated two years ago and made a lot of contacts with fellow gamebook authors. Some of the pillar's of today's new wave of gamebooks participated. Simply participating is a great honour for me. I am writing the prequel to the gamebook I wrote (and was published as an app for Android) - The Path of Light. I hope to generate awareness in potential readers as well.

Q:What is your wish for gamebooks?
A:To come back and be as popular as they were in the 90s.



2 comments:

  1. Something I didn't know about.
    Nice to meet and connect through the atozchallenge. http://aimingforapublishingdeal.blogspot.co.uk

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  2. I love the choose your own adventure books and a couple of years ago even found a Interactive Fiction gaming community I hadn't heard of before. It's one of those unexplored parts of the writing and book community that is awesome to explore!

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