I've finished all the gamebooks here, so everything is certainly not alright!

I guess maybe I should buy some hardcopy guys that I haven't played before.

Robert Douglas
Wed Aug 22 19:59:18 2012

As another little topic: has anybody ever watched 'The One Game'? It was a four-episode series televised in 1988 and renowned for its bizarre story and surreal atmosphere.

Nicholas Thorne is a suave, confident tycoon of a games company, Sorcerer. Years ago, he overstepped the mark with his old partner and genuis games designer: Magnus. After being sacrificed to save the company, Magnus now returns to exact his revenge, ensnaring Nicholas Thorne in an elaborate web that is a reality game, THE ONE GAME! And yet...perhaps he's seeking some kind of redemption from his protege?

I mention this because I have fond memories of both FF gamebooks and the timely appearance of this excellent story which was a powerful blend of drama, thriller, and mysticism. It just goes to show how popular adventure games were back in those days of the late 80's.

Shadow Dragon
Thu Aug 23 02:50:01 2012

That sounds surprisingly close to the Daemon book and it's sequel, Freedom. That might be worth checking out.

Robert Douglas
Thu Aug 23 08:57:15 2012

@ Shadow Dragon,

Just had a quick look at 'Daemon' and 'Freedom' novels by Daniel Suarez on Amazon. They seem quite intriguing, but seem to me more of a hi-tech, dark conspiracy, futuristic thriller than the reality game nightmare of Nicholas Thorne. The network of operatives is something both Daemon and The One Game have in common, and that the main protagonist of either story is suddenly in for a rude awakening. However, Magnus's plans are more contained to target Nicholas himself, and - what's more - he despises computers!

Anyway, thanks for the heads-up! :)

III
VII
XXI
The Magic's in the numbers...

duffmeister
Thu Aug 23 12:40:33 2012

I seem to recall reading that back when the Book of Revelation was written numerical codes were pretty popular. Some hebrew code or other that was big at the time translates '666' to 'Nero' who was a big opponent of early Christianity. A lot of the Book of Revelation can be read as an allegorical criticism of the Roman Empire as viewed by Christians of the time. I think 616 is meant to translate as something else appropriate but I can't recall what. Though of course fans of Marvel comics will draw other connections to the number 616...

Robert Douglas
Fri Aug 24 00:16:49 2012

@ duffmeister,

Mmm, a room number perhaps? Afraid I'm not familiar with Marvel comics (but I love the Batman, Spiderman, and X-Men films!). The closest I came to comics were the Warlord annuals, Commando comics, and Starblazer. Oh, and playing Steve Jackson's 'Appointment With F.E.A.R'.

Robert Douglas
Sun Aug 26 00:05:01 2012

Famous quote of the day: 'The future...? The future scares the hell outta of me. It's like driving a ten tonne truck through rush hour downtown, you're loaded with dangerous chemicals - and, what's worse, the brakes have failed! So, the only thing you can do is pray for a less bumpy ride.'

NEIL ARMSTRONG, RIP.

Robert Douglas
Wed Aug 29 19:51:18 2012

@ Phil Sadler,

YOU'RE the culprit! That was the adventure I was talking about...'Doom Demon'! Why on earth didn't you finish it?? It looked like you were on to something there.

Phil Sadler
Thu Aug 30 06:58:00 2012

Haha I'd forgotten about that! The fact is that two things happened with it that stopped me. Firstly, it was never meant to be a full story but rather a collaberative effort between myself and other people on an old webpage. I had a falling out with the editor of that page though and never went back. Secondly, I actually did write a bit more of it but somehow it got deleted and I never had a backup. I was so disgusted with myself that I vowed never to continue it even alone.

Robert Douglas
Thu Aug 30 10:21:40 2012

@ Phil,

Ah, sorry to hear that. And it's a shame when ppl do fall out over things. More of a shame that you decided not to continue with the adventure. Perhaps, one day, you might start it up again or do another one?

It's strange your mentioning the deletion: the same thing happened with me when I was checking up on 'The Globesphere Case' (this was around 2001). I'd accidentally deleted the whole lot! However, I then realized it was probably one of those 'lucky accidents'; it really needed a major overhaul and, referring to my notes, I was compelled to re-write the whole thing. That's what became the more refined 'Below Zero Point'.

bcyy
Tue Sep 11 03:36:24 2012

@Robert Douglas:

Thanks for the insightful background on BotZ.

Sorry if you don't like the term "nerd". I am one, and am most definitely proud to be one. :-)

Since you were so nice as to tell everybody your age, I feel obliged to do the same. I'm in my twenties.

Sorry I couldn't tell you more about myself. If I did, I would be compromising my true identity.

bcyy
Wed Sep 12 02:38:14 2012

@Robert Douglas:

I'm afraid I don't know. I've never been called an 'egghead' before, and am consequently unfamiliar with this urban jargon, especially any subtle differences it may have in comparison to other similar expressions.

@C-star:

Sorry, didn't see your post earlier.

I agree that this website is a bit quiet. Perhaps this is partly because any search for "FF" is usually drowned out by Final Fantasy.

C-Star
Wed Sep 12 19:21:55 2012

Yeah but at least there's no trolling on this guestbook! Silver lining guys :-D

While Final Fantasy is a bit of a factor in this site's anonymity (no offense to the poor webmaster! It's a good site, a hidden gem if you will.) But I can't imagine people who aren't already Fighting Fantasy fans visiting this website. I'd imagine most of said fans would have been kids during Fighting Fantasy's genesis back in the 80's. I think Steve Jackson (or was it Ian Livingstone, I Can't quite remember) put it really good himself when talking about the Blood of The Zombies launch. I don't have the exact quote, but he said he was expecting it to be full of 34 year olds saying it's for their kids. Most of the old fans of my generation grew out of it and replaced chasing warlocks and fighting demons with chasing girls and fighting away other lads! Me... well lets just say I failed *a lot* of LUCK rolls...

And btw, I'm not too offended by the words nerd or egghead etc.. I know I probably should be, but there's a lot worse names to be called.

Glen
Wed Sep 12 21:14:42 2012

Just for the record, I'm a researcher in mathematics, around 30. I don't like labels like nerd or egghead or whatever, and although I love my job, I also have a family and love sport. I'm far from alone also. These labels can have lasting negative social impact; it is almost always better to use more precise descriptions (say: he likes math instead of he is a ners/geek/etc).

Robert Douglas
Thu Sep 13 08:59:43 2012

I think it's how it's said rather than what's been said. If someone (a stranger) in the public library sneers something like: 'Huh! Look at that 'im on that computer - is he a nerd or something?' and then you might have a bit of cheeky ribbing from a friend: 'Ah, so you're into computers, eh? Bit of a nerd, are you?'

It all depends on tone and context. Working in a factory one time, one of my colleagues said something and the other responded a bit sharply. The first then said: 'Oh well, if you're going to take offence...' then the second colleague replied: 'It's how you dish it out, mate!'

Often, I've had employees have a bit of a go because I'm a new starter. Often, it's their method in weighing people up: have a bit of a laugh but don't be too hasty to appease them, come back with something a bit witty but don't take offence too easily at a couple of friendly jibes. However, you still have to watch for those who tend to dominate the workplace, think they're in charge (when really they're not), and boss and bully their colleagues around, that kind of thing.

Still, it all makes for good material when writing. Some characters have a sense of balance when socializing, many can be prone to little tweaks of temper, others are emotional time-bombs. In TCOD

SPOILER

END SPOILER

C-Star
Thu Sep 13 15:54:01 2012

Yeah, I agree with that. There's a difference between messing around and straight out abuse! The tone of voice used and the current situation and context are important to help distinguish between the two. You certainly don't want to sound too angry or serious when you're not consciously trying to hurt anyone. Which you really never should be!

The complex workings of the human mind have always intrigued me. I doubt I'll ever understand it or have the patience to actually try, but it's still interesting nonetheless.

@Glen

Researcher in mathematics, eh? Sounds well paid :-D Doesn't exactly sound like an easy job to get either. What do you do for work?

MB
Fri Sep 14 09:14:28 2012

Hi! Thought I should write something here after checking this guestbook quite often for the last months. I've played some of the adventures and all praise to the authors who put down lot of time and effort.

I liked Grekgun a lot, very well-written adventure and I always like the feeling I get from these winter worlds with ice caves and stuff. Allibor's Tomb was fun, but maybe a little too difficult for my patience with all the instant death paragraphs that comes without any warning. Managed to beat it with some cheating though. Guess House of Horror or Curse of Drumer is up next for me since I liked House of Hell.

bcyy
Fri Sep 14 13:52:17 2012

@Glen:

A mathematician? Great!

I've been having a bit of a disagreement with a few of my buddies over whether there could exist a cardinality larger than aleph 0 but smaller than aleph 1. I remember from one of my undergrad classes that it can be proven that no such cardinality exists, but couldn't find my notes. Could you help me out on this one? Thanks!

Being a mathematician used to be my dream in high school, but after a not-so-good score on my entrance exam, my undergrad institution informed me that I didn't qualify to be one. Sorry I can't tell you what I work on in reciprocation - if I did, I would have posted more than enough constraints for a dedicated googler to find out who I am.

@C-Star:

Good luck with your future rolls. I know how it feels - I only ever had to roll once, and it was a failed roll.

By the way, for both our sakes, let's hope it's a SKILL roll, not a LUCK one. LUCK decreases for every roll, and rarely gets replenished if you keep failing the rolls...

bcyy
Fri Sep 14 14:13:11 2012

@Glen:

Oh, and I nearly forgot, if I have an arbitrary functional F=F(t,g,dg/dt), where g=g(t), is there any way to analytically solve for g(t) such that F is maximized under the constraint that {g(t) integrated from 0 to 1} equals 1?

I know that once the constraint is removed, calculus of variations (Euler-Lagrange equation) gives the g(t) which would either maximize or minimize F, but I don't know if something similar could be done *with* the constraint.

By the way, these are just a few fun things I thought up, nothing to do with the progress of mankind, so no need to spend too much time on it if the answers are not intuitive to you.

Thanks again!

C-Star
Fri Sep 14 15:35:48 2012

Wow... I haven't the slightest clue what any of that meant :-o

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