Bug Fix

It seems that Escape somehow stopped working. I've fixed this now. My apologies to all cowards, and to people stuck on Riders Of The Storm.

James H
Wed Mar 7 13:03:32 2007
The Diamond Key

In 'The Diamond Key', it seems to me that a spear will always be better than any other weapon (and in general, that the smaller the skill penalty and damage bonus, the better the weapon is).

slejfund
Thu Mar 8 13:56:28 2007
The Diamond Key

weapon choice is like a difficulty setting, where spear is easy.

Al Sander
Fri Mar 9 02:20:28 2007
The Diamond Key

That's one way of looking at at.
Another thing is that you very early in the adventure get the chance to gain one or more fine or magic weapons which are better (in some case much better) than the base "regular weapons."
One easy fix is to change the base damage from 2, 3, 4 and 5 to 2, 4, 6 and 8. This will make an axe do 3 extra points of damage on a successful hit, but will hit much less often (due to -3 SKILL penalty). Still better to use a spear, but not as good.

Claire
Fri Mar 9 18:01:09 2007
Hunger Of The Wolf

Hey,
Great site. Just have one question. In "Hunger of the Wolf", what kind of endings are there and what are the best ones? I've finished it twice and got different endings, one good and one ok.
Thanks.

Claire
Sat Mar 10 21:06:42 2007
Midnight Deep

Hey,

Just wanted to ask, you know in midnight deep when you're at the thre doors in Shadnezzar, I've gone through them all in turn and the story just ends there. What do I need to have in order to get through one of them without dying?

Kieran Coghlan
Sun Mar 11 14:31:11 2007
Hunger Of The Wolf

There's only one good ending in Hunger of the Wolf:

SPOILER

END SPOILER

, though there's two which aren't too bad.

Claire
Sun Mar 11 19:14:19 2007
Hunger Of The Wolf

Oh thanks. i got that ending. It was a really good game though. Well done!

Al Sander
Wed Mar 14 04:08:52 2007
Hunger Of The Wolf

I second that, very nice Gamebook.

Ulysses Ai
Wed Mar 14 09:09:53 2007
The Diamond Key

Hello.
I am definately interesting in feedback about the combat system in The Diamond key. The values for SKILL Penalty and Damange Bonus definately need to be calibrated. The idea was for different weapons to offer a stategic choice rather than any one being better than the others. I wasn't sure if I achieved this with the current values.

Thanks

Al Sander
Wed Mar 14 22:20:05 2007
The Diamond Key

At your current damage values the spear is always better. The sword does 1 extra damage but has -1 SKILL so for any particular dice roll it does exactly the same damage as the spear - and it fails to win the attack round more often. Same (but even moreso) with the other weapons.

I have suggested one fix above, but as I noted you get access to magic weapons and fine weapons pretty quick which throw out these base comparisons anyway.

Ulysses Ai
Thu Mar 15 01:04:13 2007
The Diamond Key

Thanks Al and others.
I just checked my values for SKILL Penalties and Damage Bonuses. I always meant to do this, but I procrastinated, and now I look like a fool!

With the current values, the range of possible damage is always the same. For example, with a SKILL of 9, the raw damage (assuming an opponent with an Attack Strength and Armour of 0) possible is:

Spear:
SKILL - SP + DB + MIN. DICE ROLL = 9 - 0 + 2 + 2 = 13
SKILL - SP + DB + MAX. DICE ROLL = 9 - 0 + 2 +12 = 23

AXE:
9 - 3 + 5 + 2 = 13
9 - 3 + 5 + 12 = 23

Meaning that all the weapons can inflict the same range of damage with varying handicaps. This certainly wasn't what I intended.
The solution is as Al suggested, to change the Damage Bonus values; but with DB values going up by two, the range of raw damage increases only by one.

Spear: (DB 2) Range: 13 to 23
Sword: (DB 4) Range 14 to 24
Mace (DB 6) Range 15 to 25
Axe (DB 8) Range 16 to 26

The difference between a spear and an axe is supposed to be much greater that 3 points of damage, since an axe can sever limbs and so on.

Therefore I will probably revise the Damage Bonus as follows:
Spear: (DB 2) Range: 13 to 23
Sword: (DB 6) Range 16 to 26
Mace (DB 10) Range 19 to 29
Axe (DB 14) Range 22 to 32

That should fulfill the original intent. Let me know what you all think. Andy has agreed to test out this new combat system in the online version, so it's important that it works effectively.

Thanks again.

Davy
Thu Mar 15 15:18:39 2007
Bad Moon Rising

First up, got to give praise for Hunger of the Wolf, real fun adventure, some nice original ideas and use of the old classics too. Top notch. :)

Ibrahim (and everyone else who's interested) - Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I only check in here every once in a while.
I've started work on and eventually scrapped Bad Moon Rising sequels/expansions several times, resons for quitting on them ranging from losing interest to lack of time to computer exploding. :) I've been playing round with a short sequel to it since around new year, though, and since I've got a lot of free time right now, it might just get finished this time.

Here's the intro, as a dirty, dirty tease. :)
------------------------------------------------------------

GOING FOR IT

You’d almost made it out through the Western Gates before a squad of Cleefs’ men jumped you, took you down, beat you, and dragged you back to the Bleeding Martyr Tavern.
You and Jak sit shamefaced in Cleefs corner booth, a pair of mean, wiry thugs behind you blocking any flight, and the mountainous bulk of Cleef across the table ahead. He’s without doubt the biggest, fattest man you’ve ever seen. Six foot six and a hundred tons, the children chant behind his back, the undisputed king of the slums. The flickering lamplight gleams off his narrow, coffee black eyes and the huge, shiny pink dome of his head. He pours a little wine from the clay jug into a bulbous pewter goblet, and stares impassively at you for a while.
“So then,” he says at last in his surprisingly high pitched voice, “Last night didn’t go very well, did it?”
Neither of you say anything.
“Care to tell me what happened?”
“A wizard did it!” blurts Jak. You kick him in the shin.
“Shut up Jakob,” Say you and Cleef in unison. Cleef turns his eyes towards you.
“You were sent to break into the tailors. Steal four rolls of purple silk and all the dragon-hide you could find, leave the place without getting caught. Simple job, right? But that isn’t what happened, is it?”
“Look, there were… complications, see…”
“What was it that happened instead, Martine?”
“Well, the whole street’s kind of burned down, but…”
“Yah, the whole streets burned down!” yells Cleef, slamming his hands onto the table and knocking over his wine, “You know how much you’ve cost me? Cordwainer Lanes the richest street in the city! Jewelers! Haberdashers! Galleries! Apothecaries! Not to mention the merchants houses! A whole long row of them, all stuffed with gilt and gold and valuables, and now they’re all ashes and dust and I’m not going to get my hands on ANY of them!”
“Guards came, Cleef! We tried to hide, and one of us dropped a lamp, and the top mustn’t have been on right, because…” you begin.
“Yah, I mean, who knew fabrics could be so burning-able?” adds Jak.
Cleef covers his face with his huge, ham like hands.
“First you don’t pay me your tithe for two months. Then I send you out with good old reliable Billy-Goat Stamen, and I don’t know what goes down, but I never see dear Billy-Boy again...”
“We dunno what happened to Billy, Cleef” says Jak, and you kick him again.
“…and now this. Do you know how much you’ve cost me in the last few months? Do you know?”
He peers at you through sausage fingers.
“Tell me, Martine, tell me why I shouldn’t have you killed right now, huh?”
Behind you, the thugs shift their weight slightly in anticipation. You fancy you hear the skish of blade on scabbard.
“Look,” you say quickly, “We can pay you back for it. We can get you money. See, we’ve got.. we’ve got...”
Cleefs eyes gleam at you through his fingers, then he slowly raises his head.
“Gemstones! Magic gemstones!” yells Jak.
You stare at Jakob incredulously for a second.
“Uh, yah, we’ve got them hidden.,” you say, “And.. they’re Necro-Magic’ed. Cursed, really bad ju-ju. If you look at them, you die. We’ve got to take them to a spell-boy we know tonight to get the curse lifted. We’ve got to do it tonight, see, cause the moon is in alignment with the sun and, uh, a planet. But we can get it done and then we’ll sell the gems to the guy who’s after them and bring you the money here!”
Cleef laughs, shakes his head, and manages to grin angrily.
“You don’t have any gems. Where would you two have got your hands on magic cursed wonder gems, eh?”
“Chance’s tomb,” you say quickly, making up the tale as you go, “When you sent us down for the sword and shield. Found them in a little box, made of bone. Took it to a friend of ours, they told us what we had, got the deal set up.”
“Uh, you didn’t mention the gems when you,” offers Jak “You know, sent us down there, so we thought…”
“Thought you’d hold out on me, eh?” says Cleef, but his attitudes changing, he’s maybe going to buy it… “Hah! Well, we’ll check this out. You can go get the gems and take them to the spell-boy. I’ll send a couple of my boys with you…”
“Uh, no, see, the spell-boy, he’s all shy, nervy, city-hermit type. We have to go alone, he wouldn’t deal with anyone else.”
“Hu

Davy
Thu Mar 15 15:20:55 2007
Bad Moon Rising

Dammit, I killed the guestbook, sorry. :( here's the last bit of that.

--------------------------------------
“Huh, convenient,” mutters one of Cleefs’ men from behind you.
“The truth, Cleef, I swear.”
“Alright. I’ll let you go. I want you back here by midnight. I’ll have boys on every gate – don’t think of leaving town.”
Relief flows through you like a cold wave. That’s twelve hours, twelve hours you can work something out in, and then Cleef leans back in his seat and knots his hands behind his head, then he says –
“So how much are these gems worth?”
And Jakob says –
“Um, two-grand.”
It’s not the first time you’ve wanted to kill Jak, but it might well be the last.

Turn to 1
-----------------------------------------------------

No promises on when/if it gets completed, but I'm having fun with it, so who knows. :)

Claire
Thu Mar 15 16:48:17 2007
Midnight Deep

Hey, could someone please please please help me with Midnight Deep. It's driving me mad! How do u get through one of the three doors in Shadnezzar, I die every time I go through one. I must need something to get through one of them. If someone knows, will they please help me out!

Gamebook Fanatic
Fri Mar 16 11:57:29 2007
Midnight Deep

I haven't played Midnight Deep for a long time, so I can't give you the details. This is what I can remember:

SPOILER

END SPOILER

Sorry I can't be of much help. I know those are rather vague, but if you've already encountered any of those I mentioned above, you should know which "door" you have to take. You may want to flip through the earlier pages in the guestbook. I believe others have asked similar questions before (and were answered).

Claire
Fri Mar 16 15:07:45 2007
Midnight Deep

Thanks a lot for that, I actually don't have any of those items, don't know how that happened. I think I'm going to start the game over again. Should be fun, thanks again.

Ibrahim
Sat Mar 17 08:46:56 2007
The Diamond Key

Hi Everyone.

I like the new book The Emerald Key. Could I please just ask the author to correct the numerous typographical errors in the document before it gets published online? As I am blind and use screen reading software, it is extremely annoying for me to come across these as it makes the text difficult to understand at times.

Ibrahim
Sat Mar 17 08:48:32 2007
The Diamond Key

Hi.

Talk about errors, who am I to complain when I get the dam title wrong. The book I am refering to of course is the Diamond Key. Wish you could review your entries before they appear on this guestbook thing.

All the best, Ibrahim

Claire
Sat Mar 17 14:02:26 2007
Midnight Deep

Hey everyone,

I've just finished Midnight Deep. What a classic!! I think that and Outsider are the best gamebooks I've finished so far. Can't wait to do more.

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