Hi. This is exactly the idea I had and have been (slowly) working on. Is it possible to have a post of the ship combat system please (or is it already on here somewhere?) I had a idea of a boat/ship yard on Sempura where you could buy and sell boats with different specs and abilities. I did come up with a (few) ship to ship combat systems myself but if one is already in use then that saves me the trouble of refining it/them. Pirating, privateering and trading across the archipelago! Wo Ho! We gonna be rich!

Ulysses has made a ship combat proposal, it's on the downloads page.

I'm not taking any stance on what mechanisms the text version will use, as far as I'm concerned that's for the authors to decide. For the online version, however, ship combat will be based on the system from Seas Of Blood. It may or may not one day be expanded to include manoeuvrability / boarding tests, fire arrows, cargo etc.

Jest
Sun Jan 10 01:36:34 2016

OK I found it, march 15th 2014! Almost two years ago! I can't believe it! Where does the time go? I'm getting old!

Jest
Fri Jan 15 22:50:53 2016

Thank you.

Just out of interest, how is the crew strike and crew strength calculated on the first ship that you obtain? Is it random rolls, or a set stat like the characters have? It would really helpful to know with my idea.

Also while I'm here, how does the trading work in fabled lands (I've never played them). Is it simply 'Buy item from location A, and then sell them at B,C or D at varying prices?' I don't want to miss a good idea or trick, though I don't want to/am not going to blatantly copy another's idea either. Just want hints and ideas that's all.

Thanks again.

For now, I've chosen CREW STRIKE 10, CREW STRENGTH 10 for Wavedancer simply because that gives it a fighting chance against the piracy targets. However, it doesn't really make much sense for it to be that powerful, and once there is the ability in place to add enhancements (such as the ram) I will probably lower these initial values.

I should mention that I have assumed Wavedancer not merely to be the first ship you obtain, but the only one available ever. Some of the authors (can't remember which) have also made the same assumption as they refer to 'Wavedancer' not 'your ship'. Obviously you can write what you like, I don't want to discourage you at all, but please be aware that the online version might never feature other ships, and almost certainly will not allow the ownership of several at once.

Rather than use Fabled Lands as an example of how trading works, it might be better to look at the existing gamebooks in this particular collection, such as Isle Of The Cyclops and Island Of The Tyrant.

Yaztromo
Sat Jan 16 16:22:18 2016

@Jest
Under this point of view it makes sense for marketprices to be different between the various ports, so that trading can become more appealing.

Jest
Sun Jan 17 10:03:00 2016

Thanks all again.

Only owning one ship certainly makes life easier (especially for me!) I can remove a lot of my material and place it in a different folder for another game book one day, which simplifies everything for me, and thus allows me to get straight on and start writing up.

Just for conformation, is the trading on IOTC the Hyena pelts and nothing more (or have I missed something)?

And is IOTT part of the Bird island game books?

Thanks again.

It is possible to trade quite a few items in Isle Of The Cyclops, it isn't limited to hyena pelts. I can give you a list if it's important. Yes, Island Of The Tyrant certainly is one of the bird island gamebooks. By the way, the entire collection as it stands can be downloaded here - this might resolve similar questions.

Ulysses
Mon Jan 18 09:34:07 2016

Hello all.

I'm just wondering with the gamebooks we have written so far, are there any loose ends in terms of quests that are supposed to be done elsewhere, or vital/helpful objects still needed to be sourced elsewhere?

To allow new authors to make contributions it might be a good idea to write a 'How to Contribute Page', which I can have a go at drafting the text for, but the info that provides connections between the islands would need to be updated on an ongoing basis.
Using these connections is only an option of course and a completely independent island can always be included; but I don't think it is too ambitious to have this kind of information available so prospective authors can contribute a more integrated offering if they want to.

I am tending away from the over-arching quest idea we have talked about previously. Instead I think it is a better idea if individual authors can look at the world that has been established and create adventures from small to epic scales using the elements available to them. This means an epic, monster slaying adventure can still emerge, but it will be easier to create such an adventure and easier to manage the world overall.

Thoughts?

Seems reasonable. If you draft this page I'll put it up and maintain it.

Jest
Tue Jan 19 15:13:08 2016

Sounds like a brilliant idea!

Though all my own fault, I think I've broken every single writing rule that was originally set and intended for the Bird isles, and I'm going to have to heavily edit and scrap at least 25% of my ideas. Over enthusiasm I'll put it down to, though I did enjoy coming up with them all.

Can't wait for this new page, once again it sounds brilliant and - I'm sure will be - immensely helpful!

Jest Thu Jan 21 16:29:41 2016	Hi Is it possible to have a list of all the trade items from all the islands so far (hidden in a spoiler slot if appropriate) to make life easier please?
	OK. You can buy and sell : Pelt, Leather Jerkin, Chain Mail Hauberk, Plate Mail, Shield, Lantern, Candle, Rope, Pearl, Potion Of Healing, Insect Repellent, Salt, Sulphur, Myrrh You can sell : Panther Pelt, Pipe You can buy : Provisions, Garlic, Belladonna, Wolfsbane, Purity Plant, Sword, Club, Broadsword, Dagger

Jest Thu Jan 21 16:32:25 2016	I can't seem to open the bird isle collection of game books for some reason? Am I being stupid?
	I've just tried it and it works fine for me. It's just a ZIP file containing all the gamebooks. Are you having problems downloading it, or with unzipping it, or with any of the gamebooks in particular?

Jest Sat Jan 23 13:40:33 2016	Thanks for the list of items. I thought there was going to be a lot more than that. I must be doing something wrong with the zip folder/file thing. When I click on it it just gives me a list of programs that I could try to use to open it, and nothing works. Probably me, am not that computer savy (if you hadn't guessed) :)
	There are a lot more items in general, but the ones I've listed are the only ones that can currently be traded.

Phil Sadler
Sat Jan 23 19:22:37 2016

Perhaps you must download Winzip? Or, reinstall it if you already have.

Yaztromo
Sat Jan 23 19:32:22 2016

The download works with no problems for me too.

Yaztromo
Sat Jan 23 19:33:22 2016

Try right-clicking and choosing "save target as..."

Jest Sun Jan 24 14:36:50 2016	I've downloaded it fine, but can't open it. Guess I haven't got winzip? Oh well it's fine, isn't that important to know all the ins and outs of all the books anyway. Was a little interested in them but that's all. It was more important (to me) to know the tradeable items really. Thanks for the replies anyway. :-)
	I don't understand why you are so concerned with tradeable items in particular anyway. You can have whatever items you like in your own gamebook. You can even introduce dependencies on items that are meant to be found elsewhere but don't exist yet.

Phil Sadler Sun Jan 24 16:37:02 2016	AFAIK Winzip is free (could be wrong).
	It looks as though only the trial version is free. An alternative that definitely is free, though, is 7-Zip.

Jest
Tue Jan 26 15:15:31 2016

Thanks all.

I got it working. I can't seem to open it if I download it but can view them if I don't. Computers baffle me?

Have been playing the online versions quite a bit to get myself up to speed with it all and get back into the general flow of it all and am commencing writing.

Another question if I may (sorry |I always have a lot). Is the map posted on dec 17th 2014 still the most up to date one? And would it be possible to buy a map in game (maybe incomplete with hidden islands that appear on it as you discover them) and you can view it when aboard your ship? Just an idea, I love the map.

Cheers. :-)

Thanks. The December 2014 map is indeed the latest. However, it's only meant to be a rough guide to the general arrangement of the islands, and is there to help authors rather than be part of the game itself. As you've seen, at the moment there isn't really any navigation or discovery, you just pick destinations from a list so an in-game map isn't much use anyway.

Ulysses
Wed Jan 27 09:11:40 2016

Jest:

Maps could be a special (and very limited in number) object in the game that effectively expands your 'sail to' list if you possess the map. The maps would be special because they would have to carry across gamebooks and we can't have too many objects like that.

This is different from the feature of a graphic map that you were talking about, but it might give you some options for writing if you were thinking of your gamebook involving finding a map to open up new locations.

Jest
Fri Jan 29 11:10:02 2016

Thank you.

Yes, the idea of a map as an object in the game is a good one. :-)

The reason I liked the graphic map is because it gives a sense of location and scale to the archipelago (like the numerous fantasy books with a map at the front. I believe some of the Fighting fantasy books also had some?). It just seems a shame to not use it, though no one else seems that keen? :-(

Not trying to be difficult or controlling by the way, was just an idea that I thought was good, that's all. :-)

I like maps too, but the one that I've drawn just isn't good or detailed enough to constitute an improvement to the game if included.

Jest
Sun Jan 31 09:22:43 2016

So you'd be happy to include the map if it was improved? By someone who knows how to do such things?

Yaztromo
Fri Mar 25 09:22:31 2016

Bird Island: http://www.corriere.it/foto-gallery/esteri/16_marzo_24/vacanza-un-isola-piccola-tutta-te-bd96ae1c-f

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