Closing an educational gap - Ian Livingstone et al.

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Gambit37
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Re: Closing an educational gap - Ian Livingstone et al.

Post by Gambit37 »

Yep, agreed. The "History Of..." book will be launched at the Fighting Fantasy Festival, on Sunday 7th Sept. There's a still a few tickets left:

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fighting- ... 1436642305
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Re: Closing an educational gap - Ian Livingstone et al.

Post by linflas »

Thanks Matt for the link, i've shared it on gamebooks forum :)
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Re: Closing an educational gap - Ian Livingstone et al.

Post by Gambit37 »

Anyone going to FFF today? I'm on my way there now...
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Re: Closing an educational gap - Ian Livingstone et al.

Post by oh_brother »

Would have gone, but was away at a wedding. Any good?
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Re: Closing an educational gap - Ian Livingstone et al.

Post by linflas »

I hope you'll post tons of photos of you with the legendary writers ;)
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Re: Closing an educational gap - Ian Livingstone et al.

Post by Gambit37 »

I didn't get any pics of me with writers or artists, but I have a few shots of some of the original art. I'll post them later this week (although they have lots of bad reflections).

It was nice that Jonathan Green gave me a little shout out for my work on cleaning up the Shamutanti Hills cover and the golden dragon title banner (both of which are used in the book). All those years of PhotoShop finally put to good use!

To be honest I wasn't that interested in most of what was on offer. I only wanted to see the original art and meet the Inkle guys, and I achieved those, so that made me happy.

I didn't even meet Steve and Ian properly but that was fine. I think the day made me realise a lot of important things about childhood nostalgia and growing up and how sometimes it's better to leave these things in the past as golden memories. FF was a hobby that I enjoyed that helped me through some bad times but really that's all it was. I didn't identify with the true gamers at the event and it really helped me understand that my interest in gamebooks was really only ever about the book, not the game. Stories are what interest me, not gameplay or mechanics, and the FF day helped clear this up for me.
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Re: Closing an educational gap - Ian Livingstone et al.

Post by linflas »

How great you participated in "You Are the Hero" book ! I hope there will be a french translation soon.
I have the same feel about gamebooks : stories and illustrations are what you keep in mind afterall. Sometimes I read some old FF or GD book in my sofa but never play the rules.

I'm still writing my "Dave Morris hommage" gamebook (approx. 120 sections at the moment) when I have some time for that. It takes Golden Dragon, Blood Sword and Dragon Warriors RPG elements : i try to build some kind of "bridge" between the stories. And that'll be illustrated of course. I hope meeting Dave Morris one day and show him ! :)
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Re: Closing an educational gap - Ian Livingstone et al.

Post by oh_brother »

Yeah, nice that you have had direct input into the book, I didn't realise. :D

As for the gamers, it is weird that people find the mechanics that interesting. It was quite a simple and, looking back, imperfect system. Certainly I was more into the storytelling. In fact I consistently cheated at the rule-based sections, and always had a 12/24/12 character. I don't think I ever allowed myself to lose a fight.
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Re: Closing an educational gap - Ian Livingstone et al.

Post by Gambit37 »

Resurrecting this old thread to post a weird find: erotic gamebooks!

I think my childhood might have been different if these had been around at the time!

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Re: Closing an educational gap - Ian Livingstone et al.

Post by Gambit37 »

Sooo... I've finally got around to selling all my remaining gamebook related stuff. I've no idea why I've been holding onto it so long.

My renewed dalliance with gamebooks a few years back was just something born out of nostalgia and I now regret the money I spent on that as it was all rather pointless. They were a thing I was into as a kid, but held no meaning for me as an adult, so it was a bit weird that I latched onto them again. I *was* going through some difficult things between 2012-2014, so perhaps the retreating to gamebooks again was a repeat of a childhood behaviour that got me through hard times as a kid...? Who knows!

Anyway, the point is that I now realise I don't need any of that stuff in my life and it's time to clear it all out.

I just sold the Fighting Fantasy Fest Goodybag for £51 and the associated poster for £15. That rather surprised and pleased me :-) I also sold an original set of Golden Dragon Gamebooks for £25.

I'll be adding a load of gamebook stuff to eBay over the next few days: if you're a gamebook fan, or know anyone who is, please take a look at my eBay Page. Thanks! :-)
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Re: Closing an educational gap - Ian Livingstone et al.

Post by oh_brother »

So, I have gone/am going through a Renaissance of my love affair with gamebooks, this time on mobile devices (Android, though most or all are available on iOS too). Here are some quick reviews in the order in which I played them.

The Great Tournament (One book)
This was the one that started me off. I normally just played mobile games when commuting, but I found myself spending my Saturday going through this game. It is not hugely original, and there are several spelling errors throughout (it needed a good editor). But it was hugely engaging. You play a kid who becomes a squire, who wants to become a knight (did I mention that it is not very original?) and it covers a period of several years. A simple tale done very well.

Wizard's Choice (Six books)
Not recommended despite the fact that I tend to play as wizards in any fantasy setting. You have no control over the story - it happens and you either live long enough to see it unfold or you die. Your choices make no difference: all major actions including who lives or dies are out of your control. If two people reached the same point in the story the only difference would be in their stats (health, gold, etc.), there is no memory of your decisions. This would be tolerable if the story was good but it is veers from decent to mediocre to poor. I finished it because I had started, but at the end I was not very satisfied.

Magium (Second book in progress)
A work in progress that currently is half-way through the second book. More original than the previously mentioned titles, you play an average person who enters a tournament for mages in a somewhat non-traditional fantasy setting. Some parts I did not appreciate, especially the fact that your "stats" are explicitly discussed in game (there is an in-game reason, but still it was jarring). However it is fun and well written with a well-fleshed out setting/history, and your companions are particularly entertaining. I really liked it so far and I'm looking forward to seeing how it pans out.

The Lost Heir: The Fall of Daria (Trilogy)
Again not hugely original: as the title suggest you were supposed to be the heir to a kingdom but were usurped. But I really enjoyed it and got drawn into the narrative. You can train in different classes (knight, priest, assassin, sage, etc.) and this does affect how things turn out. This suffers from a flaw that The Great Tournament also has in that there is no save option nor is there any checkpoint feature. So if you want to start again you need to start at the beginning of the book you are on, which could be annoying but also meant you made your decisions carefully. Overall a really great experience and well recommended.

So if you liked Fighting Fantasy in your youth - and if like me you have not matured too drastically since then - I recommend checking some of them out.
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