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Post by blueswift on Jun 7, 2024 23:30:06 GMT
That is great news. Assuming that some of those playtesters are members of this forum, as they were for the last couple of gamebooks, then that augers very well indeed. (Considering how well Shadow of the Giants and Secrets of Salamonos both turned out.) 😀👍🏻 Weell.. Both those gamebooks had too many technical errors for my liking, so we shall see whether those playtesters(s) were (ahem) the sort of people who would have said anything at all Ian Livingstone had just written were his "best ever". Also whether Sylas or someone like him managed to have entire bits of the gamebook completely rewritten, hopefully in good ways. Sylas and others like him hardly need my endorsement. However, I did want to undescore that: just because a playtester identifies an error and brings it to the attention of the author, it does not guarantee that the error is ultimately corrected by the author. Therefore, we ought not blame playtesters for overlooking an error until we gather the facts about whether they overlooked the error or not. The rub is that those facts are likely hidden behind NDAs so we'll never know. What we can do is be thankful for those that playtest, glad that this series is still getting publications four decades on, and being sure to utilize our coins to buttress this book series. Even so, it would be a fascinating fluke if this book was mathematically possible to beat as an initial skill 7 player but impossible at initial skill 8.
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Post by petch on Jun 8, 2024 9:04:02 GMT
In a past life I worked (briefly) as a subeditor and I was terrible at it. The human brain is wired to correct errors as it reads them - how many of us completely missed a recent thread title about pubic libraries until it was pointed out to us, or when I accidentally posted a thread title about 'Final Fantasy' as opposed to 'Fighting Fantasy'? If it's so easy to overlook such glaring errors, the attention to detail that's needed to pick up minor spelling or grammatical mistakes in long reams of text is enormous. I can only imagine that the job for gamebook testers is by a wide margin even more difficult as there are all kinds of other considerations to take into account as sylas points out above. I don't envy them their task at all, but if they can help to make The Dungeon on Blood Island as fair, fun and balanced as Shadow of the Giants and Secrets of Salamonis were then I am very grateful to them indeed!
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Jun 8, 2024 13:12:40 GMT
I can reveal that this time round, I again had the pleasure of playtesting Ian's new adventure along with one other playtester called Morten Gottschalck, a Danish gamebook author who also translates FF for the Danish market. Although we never got to correspond with each other, I hope that together we managed to cover the majority of errors, imbalances and narrative problems between us for The Dungeon On Blood Island.
Obviously, I have to be discreet in the information I'm allowed to share but I can say that I really enjoyed Ian's new book and, while it's no Deathtrap Dungeon (different era, different audience), I'd say it's probably my favourite NEW adventure from the Scholastic series.
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Post by scouserob on Jun 8, 2024 14:46:57 GMT
.... I'd say it's probably my favourite NEW adventure from the Scholastic series. That is damn good news and pretty damn cool on your part Sylas. It is getting more and more difficult to temper my expectations! 😂
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Post by tyrion on Jun 8, 2024 20:55:05 GMT
While I don't doubt your abilities sylas, I do wonder why there were only two playtesters. The last three books I playtested had at least four. Most free dragon warriors ones have three (and obviously without any expectation of even a complimentary book at the end), so it's not like there's a shortage of playtesters.
Saying that, I am looking forward to this.
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Jun 8, 2024 21:21:52 GMT
While I don't doubt your abilities sylas, I do wonder why there were only two playtesters. The last three books I playtested had at least four. Most free dragon warriors ones have three (and obviously without any expectation of even a complimentary book at the end), so it's not like there's a shortage of playtesters. Saying that, I am looking forward to this. I appreciate the confidence but after Shadow of the Giants and Secrets of Salamonis, I realized that having just one playtester was never going to be enough as it was too easy to miss something on my own. I suggested to Ian that he should have at least 2 or more people working on the project and better yet, be able to bounce ideas off each other as we worked. In the end, Ian chose a Danish playtester who had already written some of his own gamebooks but we never contacted each other. I could tell after we'd finished that we had very different approaches to the project where his focus was mostly on grammar, story, narrative and timelines whilst mine was more on gameplay, errors, logic and balance. Ian did see it as an effective combo, to my relief. More playtesters would've been welcome but hopefully the two of us was enough. We'll see. It's an improvement considering previously Ian never had any playtesters at all, and now he's actually taking on board reasonable suggestions and applying them.
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Post by pip on Jun 20, 2024 17:53:15 GMT
I can reveal that this time round, I again had the pleasure of playtesting Ian's new adventure along with one other playtester called Morten Gottschalck, a Danish gamebook author who also translates FF for the Danish market. Although we never got to correspond with each other, I hope that together we managed to cover the majority of errors, imbalances and narrative problems between us for The Dungeon On Blood Island. Obviously, I have to be discreet in the information I'm allowed to share but I can say that I really enjoyed Ian's new book and, while it's no Deathtrap Dungeon (different era, different audience), I'd say it's probably my favourite NEW adventure from the Scholastic series. I don't know if you're allowed to share this, but if you are, how challenging would you say this book is compared to DD and ToC?
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Post by CharlesX on Jun 20, 2024 18:06:38 GMT
I can reveal that this time round, I again had the pleasure of playtesting Ian's new adventure along with one other playtester called Morten Gottschalck, a Danish gamebook author who also translates FF for the Danish market. Although we never got to correspond with each other, I hope that together we managed to cover the majority of errors, imbalances and narrative problems between us for The Dungeon On Blood Island. Obviously, I have to be discreet in the information I'm allowed to share but I can say that I really enjoyed Ian's new book and, while it's no Deathtrap Dungeon (different era, different audience), I'd say it's probably my favourite NEW adventure from the Scholastic series. I don't know if you're allowed to share this, but if you are, how challenging would you say this book is compared to DD and ToC? I don't want to know, I'd rather it were a surprise! Perhaps if Sylas were to share, he could do so as a spoiler? I think as well he'd then be asked questions about the background, the length, the encounters, Lord Carnuss and the Golden Orb, etc., basically the whole book.
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Jun 20, 2024 22:35:23 GMT
AFAIA the new books, being aimed at a younger audience, are intended to be more forgiving than the original series so they will never reach the lethality of Trial of Champions or Crypt of the Sorcerer. That being said, Dungeon on Blood Island can be tricky at times.
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Post by blueswift on Jun 21, 2024 22:44:38 GMT
Could be fun to make some predictions of what you think will be displayed on the front cover. I would find it highly amusing if Lord Carnuss wasn't pictured even a single time in the book. If Sir Livingstone has total contempt for the character, he might choose not to dignify Carnuss with an image.
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Post by CharlesX on Jun 22, 2024 20:46:03 GMT
Could be fun to make some predictions of what you think will be displayed on the front cover. I would find it highly amusing if Lord Carnuss wasn't pictured even a single time in the book. If Sir Livingstone has total contempt for the character, he might choose not to dignify Carnuss with an image. Well, in TOC Lord Carnuss was only illustrated wearing a ginormous mask (it reminded me of the one worn by Doctor Who's Omega), so it will certainly be interesting which of the three options Sir Livingstone goes with:
1. Similar to the first time around, you don't even see his face (boo!) 2. There is no illustration at all, possibly because you do not fight him (boo!) 3. You see him, hopefully in full battle dress (good!)
I imagine that now Livingstone has written two books with Lord Carnuss as such a prominent antagonist he might not have total contempt for him.
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Jun 22, 2024 21:00:44 GMT
An illustration of Lord Carnuss will likely be similar to this from Pandaemonium miniatures. ![](https://storage.ko-fi.com/cdn/useruploads/post/164429c6-fa36-4630-a942-f4f4bcd266ef_32lordcarnuss.jpg)
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Post by soulreaver on Jun 30, 2024 21:26:56 GMT
I find it interesting that the art is being done by Krisztián Balla.
For those who don't know, Krisztián Balla (re)did the art for the Hungarian version of Assassins of Allansia, where his art replaced the original art by Robert Ball. It's interesting they tagged him to do the art for the new book upfront. Personally I preferred Krisztián Balla's art to Robert Ball (sans the silly-looking photoshopped Ian Livingstone-faced shopkeeper), though I would still prefer a pen-and-ink, pure black and white style like we had in Secrets of Salamonis and Shadow of the Giants.
Still, nice to see the art is likely to be decent quality again this time around.
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Post by misomiso on Jul 4, 2024 14:16:33 GMT
While I don't doubt your abilities sylas, I do wonder why there were only two playtesters. The last three books I playtested had at least four. Most free dragon warriors ones have three (and obviously without any expectation of even a complimentary book at the end), so it's not like there's a shortage of playtesters. Saying that, I am looking forward to this. I appreciate the confidence but after Shadow of the Giants and Secrets of Salamonis, I realized that having just one playtester was never going to be enough as it was too easy to miss something on my own. I suggested to Ian that he should have at least 2 or more people working on the project and better yet, be able to bounce ideas off each other as we worked. In the end, Ian chose a Danish playtester who had already written some of his own gamebooks but we never contacted each other. I could tell after we'd finished that we had very different approaches to the project where his focus was mostly on grammar, story, narrative and timelines whilst mine was more on gameplay, errors, logic and balance. Ian did see it as an effective combo, to my relief. More playtesters would've been welcome but hopefully the two of us was enough. We'll see. It's an improvement considering previously Ian never had any playtesters at all, and now he's actually taking on board reasonable suggestions and applying them.
Really looking forward to it Sylus!
Glad there was more than one palytester - I would have loved to have contributed as well but Sir Ian has the right to be very selective.
Will be very interesting to see how it turns out.
Are you going to be at the Fighting Fantasy Fest for the launch?
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Jul 4, 2024 15:19:12 GMT
I appreciate the confidence but after Shadow of the Giants and Secrets of Salamonis, I realized that having just one playtester was never going to be enough as it was too easy to miss something on my own. I suggested to Ian that he should have at least 2 or more people working on the project and better yet, be able to bounce ideas off each other as we worked. In the end, Ian chose a Danish playtester who had already written some of his own gamebooks but we never contacted each other. I could tell after we'd finished that we had very different approaches to the project where his focus was mostly on grammar, story, narrative and timelines whilst mine was more on gameplay, errors, logic and balance. Ian did see it as an effective combo, to my relief. More playtesters would've been welcome but hopefully the two of us was enough. We'll see. It's an improvement considering previously Ian never had any playtesters at all, and now he's actually taking on board reasonable suggestions and applying them.
Really looking forward to it Sylus!
Glad there was more than one palytester - I would have loved to have contributed as well but Sir Ian has the right to be very selective.
Will be very interesting to see how it turns out.
Are you going to be at the Fighting Fantasy Fest for the launch?
Playtesting is rather tricky to get right and I would've loved to have more playtesters on board. This is not so much being able to share out work but more on the lines of having a team for the extra eyes and ideas to bounce off. Maybe Ian will have more next time? Yes, I'll be at the Fest.
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Jul 4, 2024 17:11:10 GMT
Been talking to Ian who mentioned 'You will be pleased to know that Lord Carnuss is illustrated in the book.'
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Post by trialmaster on Jul 4, 2024 19:31:29 GMT
Thanks for the info sylas. Any idea when the eagerly awaited front cover will be revealed?
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sylas
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Post by sylas on Jul 4, 2024 19:32:12 GMT
Thanks for the info sylas. Any idea when the eagerly awaited front cover will be revealed? No idea on this one.
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Post by misomiso on Jul 11, 2024 19:15:00 GMT
Do we know if there is going to be a Hardback edition at all?
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Post by CharlesX on Jul 13, 2024 18:43:52 GMT
Do we know if there is going to be a Hardback edition at all? FF isn't usually published in hardback except for special editions of TWOFM on anniversaries. However, limited special editions of previous FF such as Assassins Of Allansia were sold at FF fests, they may well sell them there. The Assassins Of Allansia Special Edition had a specially commissioned cover by a different artist, but aside from that I believe nothing else was changed, so possibly not worth £40 purchase price or whatever price above that it can be re-sold to suckers collectors (Ebay Madness - a quick glance shows copies priced at £230, £250, get the picture). I wouldn't pay anything like £40 unless the Hardback had multiple special features and was one of the 'great' FFs, there's just not the demand seemingly even for TWOFM DD COH.
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Post by misomiso on Jul 13, 2024 19:33:35 GMT
I would buy the hardback at FF5 if it's there.
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Post by paperexplorer on Aug 2, 2024 2:46:45 GMT
A little over a month away now... I wonder when we'll get a cover reveal
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Post by scouserob on Aug 9, 2024 11:46:55 GMT
A little over a month away now... I wonder when we'll get a cover reveal We have a cover reveal and a couple of internal artworks. (Including what looks like the line-up of contestants!)
Cover by Iain McCaig. (Covers of The Forest of Doom, City of Thieves, Deathtrap Dungeon and Island of the Lizard King.) Internal Art by Krisztián Balla. (Internal art of the Hungarian Edition of Assassins of Allansia)
Fighting Fantasy Blog - The Dungeon on Blood Island - Post 09-08-24
![](https://i.imgur.com/jQtlumh.png)
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Post by CharlesX on Aug 9, 2024 11:50:01 GMT
I'm liking this artwork. If cartoonish and aimed at a kid audience, it doesn't look too generic, and it looks like this gamebook may be distinctive and have some surprises.
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Post by scouserob on Aug 9, 2024 12:38:04 GMT
What do you all make of the contestants?
Working from back row to front row, nearest to furthest, my initial guesses on their profession/class.
I'm not sure on the nearest fellow at the back, many small pouches and a curved dagger/short sword, ... Ranger? Cleric? Wizard? Then it looks like an Orc Warrior, a Barbarian and a Ninja.
Moving onto the five in front we have a Dwarf Warrior, Knight, Warrior, possibly a Thief or Dark Mage and then, as a guess, a pirate or bandit.
I wonder if any of them are YOU.
Assuming not... There is some good potential for some rivalries or team ups there, especially with the Barbarian and Ninja mirroring Deathrap Dungeon. That hooded fellow definitely looks like prime villain material whilst the Orc and the Dwarf could make for either a good villain or companion. The remaining four look a little generic but who knows, perhaps one of them will be the Throm style breakout star!
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Post by CharlesX on Aug 9, 2024 13:11:50 GMT
What do you all make of the contestants? Not sure what to make of the bloke in armour. My first guess was Chaos Warrior, especially with the evil small slits, but the wings might mean he is a Paladin. He could be a generic knight.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Aug 9, 2024 13:13:00 GMT
What do you all make of the contestants?
Working from back row to front row, nearest to furthest, my initial guesses on their profession/class.
I'm not sure on the nearest fellow at the back, many small pouches and a curved dagger/short sword, ... Ranger? Cleric? Wizard? Then it looks like an Orc Warrior, a Barbarian and a Ninja.
Moving onto the five in front we have a Dwarf Warrior, Knight, Warrior, possibly a Thief or Dark Mage and then, as a guess, a pirate or bandit.
I wonder if any of them are YOU.
Assuming not... There is some good potential for some rivalries or team ups there, especially with the Barbarian and Ninja mirroring Deathrap Dungeon. That hooded fellow definitely looks like prime villain material whilst the Orc and the Dwarf could make for either a good villain or companion. The remaining four look a little generic but who knows, perhaps one of them will be the Throm style breakout star! Seems like rather a lot of them! They look pretty cool though.
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Post by IoannesKantakouzenos on Aug 9, 2024 13:59:28 GMT
Let me be heretical and say that the inside artwork looks a lot better than than I hoped - and it beats the cover (sorry, Iain). What do you all make of the contestants? Not sure what to make of the bloke in armour. My first guess was Chaos Warrior, especially with the evil small slits, but the wings might mean he is a Paladin. He could be a generic knight. Nah, doesn't look evil enough to be a Chaos Knight - at least has his spikes covered. I'm more inclined to the "generic knight" version.
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Post by evilwizard on Aug 12, 2024 1:17:20 GMT
I like the illustrations, the imp in the wheel looks like an interesting encounter
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Post by pip on Aug 24, 2024 10:55:08 GMT
I'm a bit disappointed by the front cover. Possibly because the background is just black.
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