The gamebook endings I'm quoting have something special beyond the standard 'Your adventure ends here.' and I would like to make sure that any of my future gamebook endings should have one of these special features.
Here is an ending from The Fellowship of Four, a Heroquest multiplayer gamebook by Dave Morris.
Some adventurers you are! If you have not even got the gumption to get involved when you see there's something wrong, how do you ever expect to be heroes? Obviously, you would rather just stay by the comfort of the hearth with your beer. Perhaps later on in the evening, you would be as so daring as to risk a game or two of darts? It is clear that you are not cut out for swashbuckling, and so your adventure ends here before it's even begun.
Why I like this paragraph
This ending breaks from the norm of failure paragraphs in many ways and I like breaking from the norm.
First of all, you don't die. In most gamebooks, all of the failure endings end in your death. Although you are on a dangerous quest, the non death failure is underused. Multiple non failure endings are underused even more? What's so bad about a good ending, a better ending and the best ending? It will allow you to 'score' your adventure and may even provide a pleasant surprise when you try a different route and realise that there was a better way.
Second, the book berates you for behaving inappropriately. Some gamebook authors have a set of rules based on morality, logic or common sense that the reader can work out in order to make it easier for them to make more successful choices. Morris wants the reader to behave like action seeking, heroic characters and tells them this in the paragraph.
Third, you can get to this paragraph from paragraph 1. Yes, you've turned to one other paragarph and you've failed. Why such an early failure? It's a possible choice - no one makes you go on quests. Maybe Morris was screening his readers for characteristics such as curiosity and a desire to help others.
Fourth, Morris speaks to the reader. Unless you are playing Grailquest, gamebook paragraphs rarely give you more than a description of your surroundings and dialogue and only break the fourth wall in failure paragraphs or when they tell you that you are a big cheat. Morris really lays into the reader for making such an obvious mistake even to the point of sarcasm. If you are being dissed by a gamebook, then you really know you've gone wrong. Speaking to the reader is another underused feature in gamebooks.
How did I get into this mess?
You are in a tavern when a worried looking man walks in and says something to the elders who shake their heads. He then stands by the fire, looking chilled and concerned. You decide to ignore him and carry on drinking beer.
What have I learnt from this?
Failure endings do not just have to be a grim description of how you die. They can still contain useful information for your next read through. Morris is reawarding characters who want to help people in need. If you do not do that then your adventure will be a lot harder. A lot of gamebooks contian rules that the author has made. He or she may make them obvious or not, but if you work them out then you will be much more successful.
Failure endings can contain useful bits of advice, so that when the reader starts again, they now feel more knowledgeable about what is expected of them. This is something failure endings can provide - clues and hints for the reader in order to help then succeed on thier next attempt.
There is also much more to endings than just 'You die.'. You do not have to die. You can fail right at the beginning. You can fail and still be told something useful. You can have the author talk to you and tell you what an idiot you are. All of these things are tools for writing a memorable failure ending.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Your adventure ends here - snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Here's a crushing failure ending from the Crimson Tide by Paul Mason.
400
He leads you through the labyrinthine corridors of the palace until you come to an area of old dusty stonework. He gestures you through the doorway, then tugs a lever. The floor gives way; you are plunged into a deep, bone filled pit. Pantu cackles an unnerving high pitched sound. There is no way out of the pit; you are trapped. Your adventure is over.
I like this paragraph because Mason makes you think that this will be the victory paragraph. He places it near the end of your adventure under paragraph 400 - numericaly, the final paragraph in the book.
Traditionally, in Fighting Fantasy, 400 is the winning paragraph. I'm guessing this is where this amusing Fighting Fantasy blog got its name from. So this may be a surprise for people who check the ending first.
However,, this is also Fighting Fantasy 47 and the Crimson Tide was not the first book to have a non victorious paragraph 400. Depending on your point of view, the first book to do this is either Demons of the Deep (FF 19) or Starship Traveller (FF 4).
Demons of the Deep is quite straightforward. It has 400 paragraphs and paragraph 400 tells you about how delicious some crab meat is. It's a nice treat but it's not victory by any means.
Starship traveller is the first book where the victory paragraph is not 400 because it has fewer than 400 paragraphs. The victory paragraph is 340. However, Starship traveller has 343 paragrahs - the last 3 give you rules for combat.
However, this death is particularly crushing as I will explain below.
How did I get into this mess?
The killer with this paragraph is that up until this point, you do not think that it is a mess. You have managed to cross the country, train in Baochou Monastery in accordance with your father's final wish, saved some peasants, obtained the Sacred Sword of Tsui, made friends with an ambassador and made your way into the palace.
You are standing before the God King and he is offering you a high up positition in his Kingdom. You are offered the choice of accepting his postition or turning it down. Both options, however, lead you to 400 so it makes you think that you have won as you now have the God King's help to stop the mercenaries that slaughted your village and murdered your father before your eyes.
And then some official drops you into a pit.
I was surprised, then annoyed, then impressed at just how Paul Mason had built your hopes up, gave you a tantalizing taste of victory and then dropped you into a pit of bones. Brilliant.
What have I learnt from this disaster?
I won't tell you how to get to the proper victory paragraph, but I'll tell you to follow the advice in the notes section of the rules and when you see the God King, make sure you know what all the options are.
As a writer, I have learnt that you can turn a reader's expectations on their heads make sure that they don't end up metagaming. I don't feel cheated by turning to 400 to find out that I'm dead. I guess it's because it just became an assumption of mine that the last paragraph is always the victory paragraph. This means that Mason has a good understanding of the habits of gamebook readers.
As a writer, I have learnt that you can turn a reader's expectations on their heads make sure that they don't end up metagaming. I don't feel cheated by turning to 400 to find out that I'm dead. I guess it's because it just became an assumption of mine that the last paragraph is always the victory paragraph. This means that Mason has a good understanding of the habits of gamebook readers.
Other news
I have ordered the first 4 Fabled Lands books from Amazon. They have been republished and hopefully we will have books 5-6 too. And if we're really lucky, we may get the six books that were intended to be released but never were.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Your adventure ends here - my favourite fiascoes
I wanted to write a post about failure endings in gamebooks, but so many of them were good for several reasons that I imagined having to write a huge post. However, I didn't. I'm going to write posts with one good failure ending and say why I like it. This also solves the problem of lack of updates as I start out with a big idea I can never complete. However, this way, there will be lots of updates.
To me, failure endings in gamebooks have less impact on my enjoyment than success endings. I think this is because when I see the fateful phrase 'Your adventure ends here.' I would rather go back to the beginning (OK, he previous page that I had my finger on) and get on with it.
However, good failure endings can have a positive impact on your experience for many reasons which I will cover in this post and others.
So here is the first of my favourites, from Beneath Nightmare Castle (Fighting Fantasy 25) by Peter Darvill-Evans.
To me, failure endings in gamebooks have less impact on my enjoyment than success endings. I think this is because when I see the fateful phrase 'Your adventure ends here.' I would rather go back to the beginning (OK, he previous page that I had my finger on) and get on with it.
However, good failure endings can have a positive impact on your experience for many reasons which I will cover in this post and others.
So here is the first of my favourites, from Beneath Nightmare Castle (Fighting Fantasy 25) by Peter Darvill-Evans.
157
You open the door and find the blade of a curved sword inches from your nose. You duck and crouch instinctively, ready to fight, but the hiss of many swords leaving their scabbards deters you. You have no choice but to surrender. You have walked into the section of the outer bailey that houses the hordes of southern warriors. They remove all your possessions and clothes , lock you into an iron cell and provide you with decent rations. Each evenig, they bring you out to play a game called 'Stone-drop': you are pegged spreadeagled on the ground at the foot of one of the towers and two swordsmen, chosen by lot, have one chance each to drop a boulder from the top of the tower on to your head. All the soldiers in the barracks come to watch and much excitement is generated. Gold pieces change hands at furious rates as wagers are laid on which man will drop a boulder nearer to your head and on how many days it will be before one of the drops is accurate enough to crush your skull. Eventually one of them is, and does.
Why I like this death ending.
I love the old 'you open the door and there's a sword (or gun) pointing in your face' image. The only image better than that is the image of several people holding guns or swords to your face.
Sing your way out of this one.
The only thing that would have made that entrance more awsome is if you had gotten out of it somehow, but then the paragraph wouldn't be in this blog.
This could have so easily been a 'You get cornered by hordes of mooks; they kill you.' ending, but Peter Darvill-Evans made it a lot lot more. Instead of just being sliced up on the spot, you are captured (fair enough) but then well fed (what's going on here?).
You then realise that instead of being quickly executed, you are actually the main entertainment for the southern soldiers for the next few days. Peter Darvill-Evans goes into great detail about how much excitement, joy and profit your enemies get from making you the object of some sick game. There is a very slow build up as you imagine boulders crashing nearer and nearer to your head before you are finally killed.
In fact, the author has a knack for writing detailed and brilliantly gruesome endings for you in this book. I will be posting more failure endings from Beneath Nightmare Castle on this blog in future.
Bonus points to the author for using the word spreadeagled. I don't see that word enough in books.
How did I get into this mess?
You can end up on this paragraph while wandering around Neuberg Keep. You are given the option of going to the outer bailey or the keep. This is what happens if you go to the outer bailey. I think the author wants you to head inside the keep and towards the main action rather than hang around with the mooks on the outside, not getting anything productive done.
What have I learnt from this disaster?
The good thing about death in gamebooks is that you can learn from it after you start again.
Next time, I would head for the keep. Or, even better, I would find a more discrete entrance and not wander around a dangerous castle full of swordsmen and strange monsters in the middle of the day. In fact, I would try to get under the castle as fast as possible. The title of the book is quite a hefty clue.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Happy new year!
Happy new year!
I have been neglecting the blog recently - december is both a hectic and a tiring time for me at work and then there are all the holidays. However, I am now refreshed and relaxed. You could say that my stamina has been replenished.
However, I have been working quietly away and keeping my finger on the pulse.
First of all, there is a new gamebook blog, written by Andrew Wright who has also written tons of great gamebooks which you can find on http://www.ffproject.com/download.htm.
The blog can be found on:
http://fantasygamebook.blogspot.com/
http://fantasygamebook.wordpress.com/
http://fantasygamebook.livejournal.com/
It has only been active for a short time, but it already contians several well written posts with references for further reading. In fact, it was Andrew's post about gamebook blogs that has inspired this post as it showed me that people are taking notice that I haven't updated yet.
So read it - it is really informative. Andrew's latest posts contain a great review of Heart of Ice, a gamebook by Dave Morris. You can find it on his blog for free (it is half way down the page). I'm ashamed to say that I haven't read it yet, but I am putting it on the top of my list.
Secondly, it was announced that Advanced Fighting Fantasy (AFF) is being revised, re-written and reorganised by Arion games. It is due to be released in Spring 2011. The website for the new Advanced Fighting Fantasy is here: http://www.arion-games.com/AFF.html.
I am looking forward to it. I have the AFF gamebooks and I enjoyed the unique way in which it was presented. Adventures were presented as films with scenes, characters and props. The approach did not take itself too seriously, either, which I enjoyed. It made the book an entertaining read for the director while they were planning an adventure.
The side of me that was all about games mechanics noticed a few things though (and when I was younger, I went through a phase that was all about games mechanics. Sometimes I would scan gamebook paragraphs to see if I needed to changed stats or gain an item and jsut ignored all the lovely description that the author had gone to lots of trouble to write - sorry!).
First of all the old problem of having a skill range between 7 and 12 was exacerbated by the rule that every point in skill you had allowed you to pick a point in a special skill.
The value of that special skill was your skill + the number of points you had allocated to that skill (maximum 4).
This means that a skill 7 character had 7 points to use and the maximum value they could have was 11.
A skill 12 person had 12 points to use and the maximum value they could have was 16. The minumum value they could have was 13.
So a skill 12 character could have 12 special skills with a value of 13, while a skill 7 character could have a value of 11 for their best skill and only 3 points left to spend.
I also think that there needs to be clarification on what the skills do and how balanced the skills are. Some skills overlap with others.
The scouting skill allowed you to sneak and hide outdoors. However, there was already a sneak and hide skill.
The heavy armoured combat skill which allowed you to fight in heavy armour. However, there were no rules for what heavy armour did.
There was a battle combat skill and siege combat skill which allowed the character to fight well in a mass battle and siege. What did that mean exactly?
Excellent vision and excellent hearing are both self explanatory, but there is also an awareness skill which allows the character to detect anything.
The strength skill allowed you to increase the damage you inflict in combat by 1 - I'll have that one! Heal allowed you to restore other peoples' stamina.
The magic system also needs tidying up. There was a priest magic list and a sorcerer magic list. However, they were too similar. Priests had offensive spells and sorcerers had healing spells. Priests had to follow a moral code of their god or be excommunicated and lose the chance to learn more spells. They only had a few spells that sorcerers did not have. Sorcerers, on the other hand, could do what they liked and had lots of spells that priests could not access.
I just read what I wrote and realised that I was sounding a bit down on AFF. I enjoyed reading the books immensly. I was never able to find a group to play with, but I'm sure I would have liked it. These issues are easily tidied up and I look forward to the new releases!
I am working on my post about endings in gamebooks which are a result of bad choices (I really wanted to say bad endings there, but that would be ambiguous). However, I am getting sucked in to reading a lot of endings. A lot of them are very entertaining.
I have been neglecting the blog recently - december is both a hectic and a tiring time for me at work and then there are all the holidays. However, I am now refreshed and relaxed. You could say that my stamina has been replenished.
However, I have been working quietly away and keeping my finger on the pulse.
First of all, there is a new gamebook blog, written by Andrew Wright who has also written tons of great gamebooks which you can find on http://www.ffproject.com/download.htm.
The blog can be found on:
http://fantasygamebook.blogspot.com/
http://fantasygamebook.wordpress.com/
http://fantasygamebook.livejournal.com/
It has only been active for a short time, but it already contians several well written posts with references for further reading. In fact, it was Andrew's post about gamebook blogs that has inspired this post as it showed me that people are taking notice that I haven't updated yet.
So read it - it is really informative. Andrew's latest posts contain a great review of Heart of Ice, a gamebook by Dave Morris. You can find it on his blog for free (it is half way down the page). I'm ashamed to say that I haven't read it yet, but I am putting it on the top of my list.
Secondly, it was announced that Advanced Fighting Fantasy (AFF) is being revised, re-written and reorganised by Arion games. It is due to be released in Spring 2011. The website for the new Advanced Fighting Fantasy is here: http://www.arion-games.com/AFF.html.
I am looking forward to it. I have the AFF gamebooks and I enjoyed the unique way in which it was presented. Adventures were presented as films with scenes, characters and props. The approach did not take itself too seriously, either, which I enjoyed. It made the book an entertaining read for the director while they were planning an adventure.
The side of me that was all about games mechanics noticed a few things though (and when I was younger, I went through a phase that was all about games mechanics. Sometimes I would scan gamebook paragraphs to see if I needed to changed stats or gain an item and jsut ignored all the lovely description that the author had gone to lots of trouble to write - sorry!).
First of all the old problem of having a skill range between 7 and 12 was exacerbated by the rule that every point in skill you had allowed you to pick a point in a special skill.
The value of that special skill was your skill + the number of points you had allocated to that skill (maximum 4).
This means that a skill 7 character had 7 points to use and the maximum value they could have was 11.
A skill 12 person had 12 points to use and the maximum value they could have was 16. The minumum value they could have was 13.
So a skill 12 character could have 12 special skills with a value of 13, while a skill 7 character could have a value of 11 for their best skill and only 3 points left to spend.
I also think that there needs to be clarification on what the skills do and how balanced the skills are. Some skills overlap with others.
The scouting skill allowed you to sneak and hide outdoors. However, there was already a sneak and hide skill.
The heavy armoured combat skill which allowed you to fight in heavy armour. However, there were no rules for what heavy armour did.
There was a battle combat skill and siege combat skill which allowed the character to fight well in a mass battle and siege. What did that mean exactly?
Excellent vision and excellent hearing are both self explanatory, but there is also an awareness skill which allows the character to detect anything.
The strength skill allowed you to increase the damage you inflict in combat by 1 - I'll have that one! Heal allowed you to restore other peoples' stamina.
The magic system also needs tidying up. There was a priest magic list and a sorcerer magic list. However, they were too similar. Priests had offensive spells and sorcerers had healing spells. Priests had to follow a moral code of their god or be excommunicated and lose the chance to learn more spells. They only had a few spells that sorcerers did not have. Sorcerers, on the other hand, could do what they liked and had lots of spells that priests could not access.
I just read what I wrote and realised that I was sounding a bit down on AFF. I enjoyed reading the books immensly. I was never able to find a group to play with, but I'm sure I would have liked it. These issues are easily tidied up and I look forward to the new releases!
I am working on my post about endings in gamebooks which are a result of bad choices (I really wanted to say bad endings there, but that would be ambiguous). However, I am getting sucked in to reading a lot of endings. A lot of them are very entertaining.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Your adventure is over part 1 - Victory in gamebooks
"Nothing in life is certain except death and taxes"
- Benjamin Franklin
However, in the world of gamebooks, neither is certain. For one thing, in a world where evil sorcerers are plotting to bring down civilisation and brutal monsters roam the land, decimating whole populations, no one has had much time to collect taxes (unless you live in Port Blacksand where Lord Azzur invents a new one every week or want to save the world from the Shadow Warriors where your first great opponent is a short fat man who wants a load of gold. It led to a great chase sequence though).
So in the world of gamebooks, you are more likely to end up on the wrong end of a sword rather than having to fill in a tax return. However, even this is not certain as you may reach the victory paragraph.
Endings in gamebooks are strange as you need several endings but only one will be used at any given reading. However, after scouring the forums and reviews, all endings - good and bad - need to be well done to maximise the level of entertainment.
For example, there are some books where the victorious ending is a couple of lines saying congratulations, such as these endings
'"There" You say to Abdul, flinging your coffer open to reveal an amount of gold substantially greater than his own. "I am the victor, I am the greatest rascal, the best sacker of cities!" Abdul bows his head, admitting your victory. You have won." - Seas of Blood
'Victory is yours! The Masks of Mayhem will not be released upon the land. At least not in your lifetime...' - Masks of Mayhem
'With the capture of 'Blaster', you have wiped out the leadership of the criminal organisation. Congratulations. You have smashed the drug ring. Your victory is a complete success.' - Rings of Kether.
'You drag the unconscious Cyrus from the Waldo. Your mission is a complete success. Congratulations' - Space Assassin.
(A Waldo is a bit like this except way less awesome.)
These endings give me and other people a sense of 'Is that it?'. These endings do not give justice to the trials and tribulations I have gone through to get to the end. I know that they were all in my head, but as this article about video games states (under number 4), we are hard wired to collect rewards, whether real or imaginary. I want an epilogue to the story stating exactly how everyone in the world acknowledges my awesomeness and/or how I used the hordes of riches that all sorcerers inexplicably seem to be sitting on (in the case of Return to Firetop Mountain, this is literal) pile of treasure.
All of the above paragraphs do not do this. First of all, they give very little hint as to the story you have experienced that led you up to this moment of triumph. From above, I wouldn't know that the Rings of Kether was a Sci fi book. I could just have easily been a modern day cop adventure. If you didn't know that the first paragraph was from a book called Seas of Blood, you could imagine that you were a kind of barbarian sacking cities in the mainland.
Second, what happens after you have reached this moment. Now that you and Abdul have established that you are the best pirate, what happens next? Do you both go back to plundering as usual, confining this adventure to your log books? What's going to stop him saying he won? After all, you're both on a deserted island with only a severely beaten up cyclops and some aged creature to adjudicate.
In Masks of Mayhem, how is your journey home? In Space Assassin, what happens to Cyrus's ship? How do you get Cyrus off the ship where his crew are still loyal to him and get him to a nice safe cell? Who knows?
Thirdly, all of the paragraphs above say congratulations or make some obvious statement about you winning. I know I've won. Now please tell me what I've got. Eyes on the prize, people!
I guess part of the reason why some victories are short is because of the original aim of the adventure. If the aim is to slay the warlock to save the world and you have just beaten the warlock in the fight, then what more is there to add apart from 'You saved the world'? I guess the endings are efficient. They could be written like this.
'Let's look back at the aims of today then, shall we. Right, one. Capture mad scientist. Check. We've done that. Well done!'
However, even if the book has a simple aim and it's obvious when you achieve it, you can still add more to a victory. Books involving Zagor do this well. The aims are always simple - slay Zagor. However, the endings are not short and simple.
In The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, the aim is simple and it is not too surprising to find a ton of treasure in Zagor's chest, but then there is also his spellbook. Ah. Do you take the treasure or do you stay and rule over Firetop Mountain? The rest of the story is left to your imagination.
In Return to Firetop Mountain, after you slay Zagor, you return with some villagers to gloat over Zagor's corpse, only to find the left arm missing dun dun DUN. Cue sequel...
In Legend of Zagor, you kill Zagor for good by dropping him in a chasm full of fire (although in the novels, even this isn't enough to off him) and you are told that you land is still a very trouble place but you have given it a chance of survival.
Some gamebooks treat your victory with an in depth epilogue full of people telling you how great you are. All Lone Wolf books and Grailquest books have this kind of ending with all but one Lone Wolf book (Masters of Darkness) giving you the title of the next adventure to look forward to. That is what I'm talking about.
Some gamebooks have endings that are good because they are intriguing as well as complete. Slaves of the Abyss does not end as you would expect, but it grows (literally) into a bigger story.
Finally, I'd just like to point out the ending to Night Dragon which has me thoroughly confused. You have defeated the eponymous Night Dragon and leave its mountain to have the Lord of Dragons fly you somewhere. However, you are not told where. You are merely told that while you are on the Lord of Dragon's back, you fall asleep and that when you awaken '...you will be glad that it was a dreamless slumber.'
What the hell does that mean? Answers in a comment please.
I was going to write about death endings at this point, but this post is long enough. I will put them in a separate post.
- Benjamin Franklin
However, in the world of gamebooks, neither is certain. For one thing, in a world where evil sorcerers are plotting to bring down civilisation and brutal monsters roam the land, decimating whole populations, no one has had much time to collect taxes (unless you live in Port Blacksand where Lord Azzur invents a new one every week or want to save the world from the Shadow Warriors where your first great opponent is a short fat man who wants a load of gold. It led to a great chase sequence though).
So in the world of gamebooks, you are more likely to end up on the wrong end of a sword rather than having to fill in a tax return. However, even this is not certain as you may reach the victory paragraph.
Endings in gamebooks are strange as you need several endings but only one will be used at any given reading. However, after scouring the forums and reviews, all endings - good and bad - need to be well done to maximise the level of entertainment.
For example, there are some books where the victorious ending is a couple of lines saying congratulations, such as these endings
'"There" You say to Abdul, flinging your coffer open to reveal an amount of gold substantially greater than his own. "I am the victor, I am the greatest rascal, the best sacker of cities!" Abdul bows his head, admitting your victory. You have won." - Seas of Blood
'Victory is yours! The Masks of Mayhem will not be released upon the land. At least not in your lifetime...' - Masks of Mayhem
'With the capture of 'Blaster', you have wiped out the leadership of the criminal organisation. Congratulations. You have smashed the drug ring. Your victory is a complete success.' - Rings of Kether.
'You drag the unconscious Cyrus from the Waldo. Your mission is a complete success. Congratulations' - Space Assassin.
(A Waldo is a bit like this except way less awesome.)
These endings give me and other people a sense of 'Is that it?'. These endings do not give justice to the trials and tribulations I have gone through to get to the end. I know that they were all in my head, but as this article about video games states (under number 4), we are hard wired to collect rewards, whether real or imaginary. I want an epilogue to the story stating exactly how everyone in the world acknowledges my awesomeness and/or how I used the hordes of riches that all sorcerers inexplicably seem to be sitting on (in the case of Return to Firetop Mountain, this is literal) pile of treasure.
All of the above paragraphs do not do this. First of all, they give very little hint as to the story you have experienced that led you up to this moment of triumph. From above, I wouldn't know that the Rings of Kether was a Sci fi book. I could just have easily been a modern day cop adventure. If you didn't know that the first paragraph was from a book called Seas of Blood, you could imagine that you were a kind of barbarian sacking cities in the mainland.
Second, what happens after you have reached this moment. Now that you and Abdul have established that you are the best pirate, what happens next? Do you both go back to plundering as usual, confining this adventure to your log books? What's going to stop him saying he won? After all, you're both on a deserted island with only a severely beaten up cyclops and some aged creature to adjudicate.
In Masks of Mayhem, how is your journey home? In Space Assassin, what happens to Cyrus's ship? How do you get Cyrus off the ship where his crew are still loyal to him and get him to a nice safe cell? Who knows?
Thirdly, all of the paragraphs above say congratulations or make some obvious statement about you winning. I know I've won. Now please tell me what I've got. Eyes on the prize, people!
I guess part of the reason why some victories are short is because of the original aim of the adventure. If the aim is to slay the warlock to save the world and you have just beaten the warlock in the fight, then what more is there to add apart from 'You saved the world'? I guess the endings are efficient. They could be written like this.
'Let's look back at the aims of today then, shall we. Right, one. Capture mad scientist. Check. We've done that. Well done!'
However, even if the book has a simple aim and it's obvious when you achieve it, you can still add more to a victory. Books involving Zagor do this well. The aims are always simple - slay Zagor. However, the endings are not short and simple.
In The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, the aim is simple and it is not too surprising to find a ton of treasure in Zagor's chest, but then there is also his spellbook. Ah. Do you take the treasure or do you stay and rule over Firetop Mountain? The rest of the story is left to your imagination.
In Return to Firetop Mountain, after you slay Zagor, you return with some villagers to gloat over Zagor's corpse, only to find the left arm missing dun dun DUN. Cue sequel...
In Legend of Zagor, you kill Zagor for good by dropping him in a chasm full of fire (although in the novels, even this isn't enough to off him) and you are told that you land is still a very trouble place but you have given it a chance of survival.
Some gamebooks treat your victory with an in depth epilogue full of people telling you how great you are. All Lone Wolf books and Grailquest books have this kind of ending with all but one Lone Wolf book (Masters of Darkness) giving you the title of the next adventure to look forward to. That is what I'm talking about.
Some gamebooks have endings that are good because they are intriguing as well as complete. Slaves of the Abyss does not end as you would expect, but it grows (literally) into a bigger story.
Finally, I'd just like to point out the ending to Night Dragon which has me thoroughly confused. You have defeated the eponymous Night Dragon and leave its mountain to have the Lord of Dragons fly you somewhere. However, you are not told where. You are merely told that while you are on the Lord of Dragon's back, you fall asleep and that when you awaken '...you will be glad that it was a dreamless slumber.'
What the hell does that mean? Answers in a comment please.
I was going to write about death endings at this point, but this post is long enough. I will put them in a separate post.
Friday, November 19, 2010
News and links
Hi, I've been busy recently. I've been planning more posts on gamebooks and buying gamebooks on Amazon, including familiar and unfamiliar Choose Your Own Adventure books.
I've also been reading gamebooks that I have had for ages but never tried. For example, I am flicking through Duelmaster gamebooks 3, The Shattered Realm.
I meant the plural - the duelmaster series is made up of four parts, each one consists of two gamebooks. More is explained here on an encylapedic gamebook website, which I recommend:
http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=124
The books seem very innovative. One contains even numbers and the other contains odd numbers. The aim is that two players battle each other with the books.
In The Shattered Realm, the players take the roles of rulers of two countries that are going to war. Each player picks from three rulers. They are different by name, but each country's three rulers follow the same kind of description - one ruler is in charge of the army, one is a magic user and the other is a woman (really - that's her USP).
The plotis split into two halves. The first halve involves travelling the land to recruit allies to your cause. You have to sweet talk several rulers to provide soldiers to boost your army. However, if you both decide to visit the same country at the same time, you may end up duelling your opponent.
you would wonder how some of the other countries manage to not implode. There is a country ruled by the priesthood of death. There is also an anarchic city. It makes you wonder what our moderate democracies are doing that is so wrong if a country ruled by a priesthood that has no problem with spreading disease and sacrificing babies is able to thrive.
The second half involves a battle, which I haven't taken part in because I haven't found someone to play against. However, I enjoy the format and flavour of the books. In the future, I will write a post about multiplayer gamebooks. There are four Duelmasters, The Scarlet Sorcerer by Joe Dever and The Fellowship of Four (based on the heroquest boardgame - http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/699/heroquest).
Just as one competition ends, another begins. http://www.adventurecow.com/ is holding a competion where you enter a 50 or 150 Choose Your Own Adventure gamebook using its program found on the website. Check it out. The deadline is December 15th. I'm going to write for it as it fills the void left by the Windhammer Competition.
Which brings me to the competition - I won it! I'm so pleased. I have entered it for the 3 years and I feel I have improved a lot. My first gamebooks were not very descriptive and quite linear - in fact, everything I didn't want my gamebooks to be. However, I have taken the feedback provided from this group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gamebooks/messages?o=1
and looked at what made the winners so successful. I would like to thank everone who voted, provided feedback over the last few years and to Wayne Densley for providing a platform for me. If it wasn't for this competition and Yahoo group, I wouldn't have written any gamebooks. I have learnt a lot about gamebooks and writing because of it.
Look at his Arborell gamebooks online.
http://www.arborell.com/
One last website I would recommend is Litopia, a writers' community website:
http://litopia.com/
I have listened to several 'after dark' podcasts and found them entertaining and informative.
I have ideas on other things to analyse in gamebooks and will be posting them soon. Have a nice time!
I've also been reading gamebooks that I have had for ages but never tried. For example, I am flicking through Duelmaster gamebooks 3, The Shattered Realm.
I meant the plural - the duelmaster series is made up of four parts, each one consists of two gamebooks. More is explained here on an encylapedic gamebook website, which I recommend:
http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=124
The books seem very innovative. One contains even numbers and the other contains odd numbers. The aim is that two players battle each other with the books.
In The Shattered Realm, the players take the roles of rulers of two countries that are going to war. Each player picks from three rulers. They are different by name, but each country's three rulers follow the same kind of description - one ruler is in charge of the army, one is a magic user and the other is a woman (really - that's her USP).
The plotis split into two halves. The first halve involves travelling the land to recruit allies to your cause. You have to sweet talk several rulers to provide soldiers to boost your army. However, if you both decide to visit the same country at the same time, you may end up duelling your opponent.
you would wonder how some of the other countries manage to not implode. There is a country ruled by the priesthood of death. There is also an anarchic city. It makes you wonder what our moderate democracies are doing that is so wrong if a country ruled by a priesthood that has no problem with spreading disease and sacrificing babies is able to thrive.
The second half involves a battle, which I haven't taken part in because I haven't found someone to play against. However, I enjoy the format and flavour of the books. In the future, I will write a post about multiplayer gamebooks. There are four Duelmasters, The Scarlet Sorcerer by Joe Dever and The Fellowship of Four (based on the heroquest boardgame - http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/699/heroquest).
Just as one competition ends, another begins. http://www.adventurecow.com/ is holding a competion where you enter a 50 or 150 Choose Your Own Adventure gamebook using its program found on the website. Check it out. The deadline is December 15th. I'm going to write for it as it fills the void left by the Windhammer Competition.
Which brings me to the competition - I won it! I'm so pleased. I have entered it for the 3 years and I feel I have improved a lot. My first gamebooks were not very descriptive and quite linear - in fact, everything I didn't want my gamebooks to be. However, I have taken the feedback provided from this group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gamebooks/messages?o=1
and looked at what made the winners so successful. I would like to thank everone who voted, provided feedback over the last few years and to Wayne Densley for providing a platform for me. If it wasn't for this competition and Yahoo group, I wouldn't have written any gamebooks. I have learnt a lot about gamebooks and writing because of it.
Look at his Arborell gamebooks online.
http://www.arborell.com/
One last website I would recommend is Litopia, a writers' community website:
http://litopia.com/
I have listened to several 'after dark' podcasts and found them entertaining and informative.
I have ideas on other things to analyse in gamebooks and will be posting them soon. Have a nice time!
Dice in game books - conclusion
how to Anyone ever played Civilisation 3*? It's great to be able to build up your civilisation and lead them through exploring unknown territories, building cities and wonders, barbarian attacks, natural disasters, wars and finally get them to Alpha Centauri? It's even better when you've lost a few times before.
Then you can do it on cheat mode. You can create hordes of units, build cities all over the place, have nukes when every other civilisation has bows and own every wonder in the world. Then you wait a while as you watch the other civilisations desperately struggle amongst themselves before you crush them like flies. And then you realise that it wasn't half as much fun because you knew what was going to happen.
*Can apply to almost any game with a cheat mode.
When I started writing about random elements in gamebooks, I had a bit of a downer on them. Then I started writing about the good points of dice in gamebooks, thinking that it would be a short post with lots of 'but they only work if...' after each good point.
However, after reading the post, I realised that there are a lot of good points of having a random element in gamebooks.
Basically it boils down to the escitement of having an element you are not completely in control over. You can play the game to improve your chances, but you will never know for certain. You might win or lose depending on the roll of the dice.
It's straying into psyhology here, but there is a sense of excitement about the unknown. Knowing everything and being in complete control can get boring. So in theory, gamebooks with dice last longer than diceless gamebooks.
The flipside is that it has to be done very carefully to be done well, otherwise it will spoil the whole gamebook. It completely destroys the thrill of the risk to know that you will lose.
There are a lot of gamebooks that are spoilt by requiring you to perform an almost impossible series of dice rolls. This just gives a sense of frustration. This is the reason why I had such a downer on dice in gamebooks.
Before I wrote this series of posts, I was against using dice. Now, I'm open to it again, but I need to make sure I do the following things with any gamebook I write where I include random elements.
Less than a week left to vote for your favourite Windhammer books!
http://www.arborell.com/windhammer_prize_2010.html
Then you can do it on cheat mode. You can create hordes of units, build cities all over the place, have nukes when every other civilisation has bows and own every wonder in the world. Then you wait a while as you watch the other civilisations desperately struggle amongst themselves before you crush them like flies. And then you realise that it wasn't half as much fun because you knew what was going to happen.
*Can apply to almost any game with a cheat mode.
When I started writing about random elements in gamebooks, I had a bit of a downer on them. Then I started writing about the good points of dice in gamebooks, thinking that it would be a short post with lots of 'but they only work if...' after each good point.
However, after reading the post, I realised that there are a lot of good points of having a random element in gamebooks.
Basically it boils down to the escitement of having an element you are not completely in control over. You can play the game to improve your chances, but you will never know for certain. You might win or lose depending on the roll of the dice.
It's straying into psyhology here, but there is a sense of excitement about the unknown. Knowing everything and being in complete control can get boring. So in theory, gamebooks with dice last longer than diceless gamebooks.
The flipside is that it has to be done very carefully to be done well, otherwise it will spoil the whole gamebook. It completely destroys the thrill of the risk to know that you will lose.
There are a lot of gamebooks that are spoilt by requiring you to perform an almost impossible series of dice rolls. This just gives a sense of frustration. This is the reason why I had such a downer on dice in gamebooks.
Before I wrote this series of posts, I was against using dice. Now, I'm open to it again, but I need to make sure I do the following things with any gamebook I write where I include random elements.
- With the combat system, I will work out the probabilities to make sure that all combats are challenging but not impossible. By doing this, I can estimate how many hits the hero will take and then plan how damaging other situations will be. I will only place super powerful monsters if there is a means of making the combat easier in the book, or if it is a result of the hero doing something completely stupid.
- I need to playtest the book to see if the dice rolls needed for victory are not too unlikely. This opens the new question of what should the probability of victory be if you make all the right choices. Should it be 100% or a little lower to add tension. If so, what should it be. 95%? 90%? 85%? How low could I go before it becomes frustrating?
- If I use die rolls to add variety (random monsters, random items or random encounters for example), I need to make sure that they do not unbalance the gae one way or another.
- I will give my hero alternatives in the adventure so they can increase scores that they have low values in or choose not to if they want a challenge.
- I need to make sure that I don't overdo it on the numbers and bookjeeping. I need to keep it simple. This raises the question of how simple or complex I can go.
Less than a week left to vote for your favourite Windhammer books!
http://www.arborell.com/windhammer_prize_2010.html
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