#gamebooks

[fhtagn-and-tentacles]

THE PRISONERS OF TIME

Cover art by Jean-Baptiste “Djib” Reynaud

[kerubimcrepin]

Liveread: Dofus tome 3 - Les larmes turquoise

I finally got around to reading the bits of this book that have a crepinjurgen cameo. Like the last time, I learned about this cameo from a post by @julith-jurgen, and have sourced the translation of said book from a discord server, where @uelman runs games using these books and translates them.

Unlike last time, there are sadly no crepinjurgen illustrations in this book, the only thing we get is text — and Joris's appearance is far smaller than Kerubim's in the other book. Still, it's very nice to see even more Dofus MMO-era content of the two of them... (<- Guy who is normal about Dofus MMO-era crepinjurgens)

In these books, you make up a character, and try to get the six dofus, one book at a time. That is all of the context that you need.

You attempt to delay the inevitable by moving to a spot that'll make things harder for your enemies. You defend yourself doggedly, drawing power from the two Dofus. One sea creature is taken down by the crimson fire. The other two intensify their assaults. You lose 1 Hit Point. Thanks to the Emerald Dofus's energy you don't feel tired yet, but you know that soon your movements will be slower, more uncertain. Defeat seems inevitable... Suddenly, a huge piece of wood knocks down on a cultist's skull. A few seconds later, another assailant is biting the dust, knocked out. The two last robbed monsters try to understand what's happening. You take advantage of their surprise to attack... Very quickly, the fight's finished. Your opponents lay on the floor, unconscious. Now that's a turnabout!

Yeaa that's a classic Joris entrance, especially in the MMO times, since this series of books canonically more-or-less takes place in the same timeframe. He has a knack for drama.

[I am referencing the moments at 5:44 and 18:07, he has overdramatic ways of meeting the player two times in a row...]

In disbelief, you discover the source of this unexpected rescue: a small-sized being, wearing white and blue, whose face is hidden by a hood. To whom do those eyes filled with intelligence and that long pointy nose belong? Your benefactor is probably not an Imp: judging from the size of the imposing bludgeon he handles like a feather, this strange person wields extraordinary strength. Also, his hoarse voice isn't that of a child. "Best go back up without delay. The mermaids will take care of the Sea Witch's servants."

This is all very accurate except I really doubt Joris's eyes are filled with "intelligence". I'm sorry.

With bewildering agility, the gnome rushes upstairs. You follow on his heels, but you have a hard time doing so. A few instant later, you're at the beach, before the turquoise sanctuary. Girle Pylot is swinging over the palm trees. The creature you owe your life to turns towards you. "You can join your friends in an instant. But first, I have a question to ask you. Who do you serve?" (Answer chosen by the discord players): 2. "You proclaim that you're at the service of the witch Meriana, who saw in you the future wielder of the six Dofus."

Like in the last post I made about these gamebooks, I want to point out that Meriana is an important character to the lore of Krosmoz, especially the Dofus MMO era.

Also, she's friends with Kerubim: and both in the last book, and the game proper, she often has you contact him for various information and tips.

The hooded figure gives you an inscrutable stare. "You're loyal to the one who guided you to the Dofus, and that's commendable. But take care not to take a wrong turn." Are those words threats, or well-intended warnings? It's hard to say.

I'm pretty sure this is just his idea of small talk because he's crazy.

You ask the enigmatic person who they are. The gnome lets out a small laugh. "You do not need to know my name. Know only that I am interested in dragons. Bolgrot is attempting to force its way into the World of Twelve and, if it succeeds, nothing good will come from such an event." You ask your mysterious benefactor if his help was merely coincidental. "It's Furye's minions that lead me here. You earned the attention of the Sea Witch: she ordered her creatures to get ride of you. When I saw you in a bad spot, I decided to intervene. I do not think you'll have any complaints regarding my decision..." The conversation with your saviour having ended, you go back to your friends.

Loving his decision to stay anonymous ngl. Girl why? Anyway, of Course he'd be interested in dragons. Fork in kitchen spotted.

"We were starting to get worried! At one point, I thought I noticed some suspicious movements near the building's entrance, but that must've been my imagination playing tricks on me... You seemed to be talking to someone earlier, since when do you speak to yourself?" You turn back: the hooded gnome has disappeared as quickly as he appeared. But something tells you that you'll meet him again in the future... You check that you still have Aguabrial's tear on your bag, then announce to Girle Pylote that you're ready for your next destination: Badmorva's mark.

I really do hope you meet him again, lmao! Here's to hoping we may see him or his family in this book series once again in the future.

[bryanharryrombough]

Steve Jackson Games is running a kickstarter to reprint the first 5 Fighting Fantasy Adventure Gamebooks:

Fighting Fantasy - Solo Adventure Gamebooks - Back In Print!

I had great fun playing these back in the '80s. I think I still have all of them in a box somewhere, but look forward to seeing them back in print. And since the kickstarter has already funded (and overfunded by an additional 382% as I type this) more of the series might be coming in future kickstarters.

[arconinternet]

Adventure 101: Intro. to Tourist Traps, Dwarfs and Chivalry (Sony Data Discman/DOS, Tsunami Media, 1991)

A choice-based adventure game for the early e-book reader. You can download it here; you can play it via DOSBox using the included Data Discman emulator.

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Sagard the Barbarian - art by Richard Corben (1985)

[transistoradio]

“Sagard the Barbarian Gamebook,” vols. 1 & 2, with cover art by Richard Corben.

[dndhistory]

347. Morris Simon - Endless Quest #23: Blade of the Young Samurai (1984)

A second Asian inspired D&D Endless Quest book, after Duel of the Masters, this one is more explicit about its setting as instead of following an established D&D class such as the Monk, it goes into a more strictly East Asian setting with Samurais and Ninjas showing up.

D&D Oriental Adventures would be coming out in 1985 and this gamebook clearly anticipates both then and eventually in 1988 the Asian inspired sub-setting of Forgotten Realms: Kara-Tur.

As I didn't get my hands on this on time for the review I can't really speak about the interior of the book or its illustrations, but reviews around the internet praise the story as being quite good, I can't vouch for that, but I am curious! 

[gontijolab]

What I've learned so far on Gamebooks

While studying gamebooks I'm taking notes on what works and what doesn't on them so I can build layout directives for future works. I'm learning a lot on what "not to do". What I've noticed so far is that most of them are visually poor: No icons, no graphics. Just text + art.

For example this entry of W40k gamebook "Hive of the Dead" (left). If I was to layout it I would propose we set a visual logic to the options, like this one (right). To show it's flexibility, I've set two options: for long entries and short entries.

I would humbly advise the author to change all the entries text to first person form. Instead of "you decide to...", we would go for "I decide to..." Imho it makes much more sense and brings much more immersion to the whole 'you are the hero" idea of gamebooks.

Another interesting thing is the use of shades of grayto bring attention to important stuff. This doesn't raise the print prices a single cent and adds more aesthetic depth to the typography. The shades of gray on details would bring more depth to the illustrations as well.

If I had to list what good game design practices on gamebooks it would go like this

"checkpoints" on a few entries (and permadeath only as a hard difficulty option)

Icons

First person form: "I decide to..."

Usage of "logic/pencil puzzles' (ex.: sudoku, cryptograms, mazes etc)

Flow chart with all the possibilities by the end of the book

Usage of stopwatch timer (as an exception) to uplevel the difficulty on some challenges and bring some pressure.

Random encounters instead of certain ones (ex.: "if you roll 5 or 6 the corpse is a zombie")

More graphics (text+illustration is the bare minimum!)

Map exploration at some point

Thematic character sheet (what's the deal with all these Microsoft Word style sheets on all the books?!)