I've read Cretan Chronicles and quite enjoyed them. There were some pretty interesting ideas in them, although I felt the last book in the trilogy was a little dissapointing. I liked the honour/shame mechanic too.

Ulysses
Thu Jun 16 00:43:08 2011

In the absence of any other discussions at the moment, what do people think about the suggestion that this Guestbook has the entires in reverse order (most recent at the top)? The benefit is that you don't have to scroll down, but then it could create confusion (might need an entry number along with the date-time stamp).
Alternatively, the most recent entry (or all entries within the past 12 or 24 hours) could be in a special box at the top.
Or it could just stay as it is...

All good suggestions. I prefer to keep the default display as it is, but there's certainly room for adding extra options. Most of all I like the sound of the 'all entries within...' idea, which I envisage as an extra choice at the top of the page (after 'first' and 'last').

I don't think adding the ability to reverse the order would be all that difficult either (although probably not necessary if I do the above).

john
Thu Jun 16 13:12:12 2011

I like the concept, but the problem I can see people running into is that they wouldn't be able to read the messages as a conversation. This, at least to me, is a major plus for the current setup. I do, however, like the idea of the newest messages at the top, somehow separated from the rest of the guestbook. The only difficulty with this is that it could take a lot of work to create, but I may be entirely wrong seeing as I have no experience creating guestbooks, or even websites in general.

john
Mon Jun 20 11:37:53 2011

Speaking of soul tracker, have you ever considered writing a short story and/or a novel; you've certainly got the nack for it! One of these days I'm going to get around to playing through soul tracker and copying the sections into a file and turning it into a book for myself.

Gaetano
Tue Jun 21 05:07:00 2011

Thanks, John. I've done some creative writing, but mostly interactive fiction. I'm getting set to write another book for http://www.gamebookadventures.com

john
Thu Jun 23 12:24:53 2011

interactive finction? That wouldn't happen to be in inform or tads? I'd love to give it a shot. If you don't write in either of those languages, could you point me to an interpretter? I'm a major fan of if, so would be glad to know of anything you've wrote.

Gaetano
Fri Jun 24 04:25:46 2011

@ John
No, by interactive fiction I simply mean gamebook style writing. I don't have any programming expertise (Didn't even know about TADS until I looked it up.)

Ulysses
Mon Jul 25 23:51:28 2011

Gaetano:

You mentioned a while ago that you were writing a gamebook for the GamebookAdventures people. How did you get involved with that?
I think in this day and age publishing to a smartphone app is probably the way to go for gamebooks rather than the traditional book form.

Gaetano
Tue Jul 26 22:02:07 2011

Thanks Heidi, glad you enjoyed the book.

@Ulysses As I recall, the gentleman who was starting up the company came on a forum (might have even been this site) and stated that he was looking for writers for a new project he was putting together. Several of the writers that have contributed to ffproject, besides myself, took him up on it. It's been a fun experience.

As far as your statement about online vs print books, I think you're mostly right, but I think there's still an audience for print books as well. (Heidi's request being a telling example). The Fabled Lands series, should it ever be completed, would sell very well in print. There's also a brand new printed gamebook that recently came out, called Destiny Quest, that has gotten rave reviews (not sure on the sales figures, but I it appears to have done well enough to warrant a sequel).

Ulysses
Thu Jul 28 23:28:14 2011

@ Gaetano

Sounds like something I would have leapt at if it was on here. Anyway, let us know when one of your stories is available. Hopefully they will make their app available for Android soon.

Robert Douglas Wed Aug 17 18:44:27 2011	Hi All! Has Dave Holt resigned as webmeister? I'm really not sure what's happening over there! I clicked on the above link posted by Craig and Adam and it took me straight to the FF site in question. Has there been a re-shuffling of ranks? If so, I hope Dave Holt isn't ill - he mentioned being unwell some months ago. Does somebody know what's happening?
	I don't know about Dave Holt's health, but I believe that the link above is to an unrelated site with a similar name to his old one.

Robert Douglas
Mon Aug 22 09:01:05 2011

It took a bit of investigating - both 'Prison of Pestilence' and 'Snakeland Scorpion' are still available in the HTML version. You'll have to go to Titannica and click the link from there, if anybody's interested.

That's probably why Dave Holt hasn't posted them; not sure if net policy allows adventures to be posted on more than one site.

While certain websites close down, essays, articles, etc seem to be stored in archives. Even so, it's a shame that sites such as The Black Tower and Shadow Vault eventually slide into history - it's almost as if losing part of the community. On the other hand, there's always someone there to keep the flag flying!

When the Puffin series was discontinued in the mid-90's, I (like so many others), was at a loss. 'Snakeland Scorpion' was originally a submission sent to Marc Gascoigne (FF editor at the time) who replied they were interested. However, I don't believe it was quite up to FF's standards - and the timing wasn't great either. Six months later, 'Curse of the Mummy' turned out to be the 59th and final gamebook.

However, I enjoyed (and still enjoy) creating gamebooks; Mark J Popp's site provided a great outlet for fans and writers of FF. In turn, this was eventually replaced by various websites you can still find today. Two more recent gamebooks appeared earlier this year: 'The Curser of Drumer' and 'Below Zero Point'. I'm more than happy to keep writing and have them posted on-site.

However, is it possible to have them posted on more than one site?

If I hadn't stumbled across Mark J Popp's site back in 2003, I would not have thought to make this site. However, it seemed to be abandoned, and I thought it would be a shame if it disappeared and all the work was lost. So I made a backup, and when the site finally did vanish, I put this backup on the downloads page. The backup, of course, contains Snakeland Scorpion and Prison Of Pestilence.

Generally speaking, I would say that it's up to the author on which sites they would like their work to appear. Given that sites come and go, I would recommend as wide a distribution as possible. If you want anything on here then just email it to me (click on 'contact'). Also, people sometimes upload their gamebooks to the Yahoo! groups (see the links page), and they seem to have been around forever, so they look like a good bet.

Jupiter Jack
Mon Aug 22 13:48:02 2011

I was a great fan of Fighting Fantasy game books in the 1980s and early 1990s. I loved them passionately; collecting them all from one to fifty-nine and the extras like Sorcery! too. In my opinion, they were superior to other game books that existed at the same time, such as the Lone Wolf, Way of the Tiger and Blood Sword series among other copycats.

I liked the sword and sorcery ones best, such as #6 Deathtrap Dungeon and #24 Creature of Havoc. However, I wasn't impressed so much by the sci-fi books in the series that weren't as good, such as #13 Freeway Fighter and #33 Sky Lord. They were okay, the best being #18 Rebel Planet, but the medieval/magic setting was always where Fighting Fantasy excelled.

My all-time favourite Fighting Fantasy title was the 1987 book #26 Crypt of the Sorcerer. For some reason, it left a big impression on me. It’s a epic quest to slay a evil sorcerer called Razaak involving finding allies who journey with you, Razaak’s old sword, cave fighting the Gargantis beast and a cool balloon ride! Great book that set the standard, although was quite tough and unforgiving if you took a wrong path.

Another I always liked was #2 Citadel of Chaos. The battle against Balthus Dire was cool and I liked the creatures in the courtyard and the Ganjees. I don’t know what the MIKs were about; is that supposed to be an acronym for something?

Special mention must go to #32 Slaves of the Abyss. This is a really cool book that I never appreciated at the time when I first read it and failed to solve way back in 1988. Since then, I've read it and finished it. It's a good book up there with Creature of Havoc for originality, but seems to be an unappreciated gem!

I went back to the series and read a few others again recently for the first time in many years, like #7 Island of the Lizard King and #25 Nightmare Castle. I was disappointed to discover they weren't as long, complex or as difficult as I remembered them to be!

I suppose that I shouldn’t moan. After all, I’ve changed over the past twenty years, but the books haven't. With this in mind, I can't criticise Fighting Fantasy for not being as cool as I fondly imagined it to be for all those post-80s years!

You can't recapture your childhood; once it goes; it's gone forever. Happy memories though!

Robert Douglas
Tue Aug 23 09:57:51 2011

Hi again,

Thanks for the reply - it's nice to know a bit of FF history besides! I'll have a go at sending you my files. However, my e-mail yahoo! account has sometimes terrible trouble connecting (which can be annoying to say the least!) so let's see how we get on. Good job on making a backup of those files before Popp's site disappeared.

To Jupiter Jack: Ah, this sounds a very familiar story! Like you, I started collecting FF in the 80's (1987, to be more precise), and Crypt of the Sorcerer proved one of the most memorable adventures. It's an interesting point you bring up where first impressions are concerned;

SPOILER

END SPOILER

However, there is something to be said for maturity. It wasn't all that long ago I sat down properly and

SPOILER

END SPOILER

'Citadel of Chaos' was very good (which also included Magic) but for me, 'House of Hell' also turned out to be a fantastic read - one of Steve Jackson's best adventures, a true classic. However, commisioned authors also had their moments: 'Dead of Night', 'Vault of the Vampire', and 'Legend of the Shadow Warriors' - and many others - all brought something to the FF table.

In this regards, revisiting some of the earlier adventures can be a little disappointing; after the introduction of additional rules and attributes, besides some well-written adventures, even the classics appear a little jaded, and somewhat basic, to how we remember them. To be fair, 'Deathtrap Dungeon' (for example) was a great idea which endured for so long, nobody can take that away - but later adventures, with their colourful characters, and intriguing locations, at times even DD has its limits.

I'm a big fan of 'Rebel Planet', and some years ago I slated 'Sky Lord' as being (comparatively) too weird. However, you rightly pointed out that with age a person's opinion can change; Sky Lord has more unique qualities than I gave it credit for!

Robert Douglas
Tue Aug 23 20:06:49 2011

Hi, me again!

I was just reading something on Popp's old site (via the Download section). It's hard to believe that Jonathan Green's 'Bloodbones' - now available in print - caused all that trouble in the mid 90's.

However, I remember it all too well...Questions and frustration were thrown back and forth between fans, even FF's artists were kept in the dark. Amazon (bit naughty, in my opinion) actually advertised the title - even though it hadn't been published!! Steve and Ian were approached with concerns over Bloodbones 'FF#60' - the former proved unreachable, the latter seemed indifferent to the whole thing.

Although, both had the foresight to move onwards and upwards, taking advantage of improvements in computer technology. Eidos gave birth to Lara Croft and 'Deus Ex' (one of my all-time favourite games with, er, multiple routes to achieve goals, inventory of items, combat...sounds familiar, eh?), while Steve Jackson later joined Lionhead studios to assist in development of 'Black and White'. Much as I love gamebooks, computer games always add that bit more to adventures.

I think Puffin (Penquin) publishers stalled for time, either deliberating whether to finish on a nice round number (60), or had actually made up their mind on the matter and hoped the badgering questions would melt away. Perhaps Steve and Ian were angry at Puffin pulling the plug on the series? Perhaps they both wanted to move on? Who knows what really went on behind the scenes? Who cares?

In the end, gamebooks had to admit defeat in face of a more sophisticated, hi-tech enemy. The market was advancing, gamebooks had become an obsolete method of gaming - much as I hated it at the time. But, how many of you (like myself) gradually embraced such games over the years? While gamebooks were relegated to bedroom storage and rare showings on second-hand bookshelves, it was a case of: shrug, go with the flow. If both Steve and Ian managed it, why couldn't fans share in the journey onwards?

The main thing is both puzzling and pleasurable: FF is BACK! What's more, Bloodbones has finally been printed - via Wizard Books - it's taken 10 years, but it's finally here!. As a necromancer from beyond the grave, FF has returned with a vengeance. I'm probably hoping too much in expectation of more old commissioned works being reprinted. Still, who knows what the future holds?

Now, after all that...what does everybody think to it?

P.S. To Jupiter Jack: I also collected Lone Wolf and Freeway Warrior quadrology, by Joe Dever.

Robert Douglas
Thu Aug 25 22:09:16 2011

When writing 'The Globesphere Case' in the mid 90's (aka, the improved 'Below Zero Point') Hereward FM played in the background. It had a repetitive selection of music - one song would be played a total of four times in one day. 'Searching', by China Black, 'Shine' by Aswad, 'Right Beside You' by Sophie B Hawkins...a couple of others from the 80's: 'Africa' by Toto, and 'Running in the Family' by Level 42. When I hear these songs, they instantly evoke memories of writing a poorer version of BZP.

One last memory:

'...You'll alway be my first choice,
'my first,
'my number one...
Premier Kitchens and Bedrooms'

Hee, hee.

Maxim
Fri Aug 26 09:21:51 2011

Yes, took me sometime finding a website like this. Firstly i would like to congradulate the author of Bodies in the docks and ask if there is a continuation. Secondly i enjoyed House of Horrorand found it to be An excellent story. Lastly, why is Hellfire so friggin hard, where the HELL are the gaunlets?

Robert Douglas Tue Aug 30 15:36:04 2011	I recently contacted Dave Holt via e-mail. He told me that somebody called Icon has taken over the Official FF website. However, there's been no 'latest news' since 27th May. The only thing that seems to update is the blog section. Does anybody know what's happening? I hope it's not going the same way as past FF site!
	Here's a bit of information on the subject : http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/fighting_fantasy_gamebooks/message/3746 http://fightingfantasy.eamped.com/2011/02/22/official-forum-now-free-of-spam/

Glen
Thu Sep 1 10:09:13 2011

I've just found this website after rekindling my interest in FF by purchasing Talisman of Death on the PSN. Although I do really wish the dice would roll as fast in that game as on this website, it is still lots of fun.

I'm going through the gamebooks on this site in order, and am still on the first one, Hellfire! It is really, really difficult! Thanks to the webmaster for keeping this site alive. It's a real gem.

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