kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,451
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
|
Post by kieran on Sept 14, 2020 11:00:06 GMT
Forest of Doom was my first and I have massive amounts of nostalgia for it. I wouldn't say it's one of the best books or even one of my favourites but it gives me an enjoyment that some of the other books that I think are technically better don't. My second FF was Stealer of Souls which is probably why I rate it a lot higher than most fans do. The main complaint about it is it's a generic dungeon adventure but dungeon adventures were a brand new experience to me at the time so it's never given me that feeling.
Books that I first played as an adult and now would rate very highly include House of Hell, Appointment with FEAR, Creature of Havoc, Spectral Stalkers, Moonrunner, Siege of Sardath, Magehunter, Bloodbones and Howl of the Werewolf.
Books that I didn't really like all that much as a child but am now more fond of would include Demons of the Deep (I used to think it was too silly) and Black Vein Prophecy (I used to think it was boring and depressing).
|
|
|
Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 14, 2020 12:32:55 GMT
Update (14 persons have voted) The very favourite book - ONLY ONE - choosed by each person: - Howl of the Werewolf (Greenspine, Daredevil & Iaw) - Deathtrap Dungeon (kieran & bloodbeast) - Siege of Sardath (wilf & count) - Legend of the Shadow Warriors (sylas) - Talisman of Death (linflas) - Crypt of the Sorcerer (vagsancho) - Slaves of the Abyss (vastariner) - Masks of Mayhem (stevendoig) - City of Thieves (peasantsribbler) - Magehunter (sleepyscholar) I think you can knock off that last one. Magehunter is my favourite book of mine, but I don't think it's quite my favourite FF. Which is? That's very hard to say. It's a long time since I read them, but I'm pretty sure there was a Stephen Hand which I preferred. I can definitely state, however, it wasn't the first FF I read ( Warlock) and nor was it the second or third. It took me quite a long time to acquire a favourable view of FF...
|
|
vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
|
Post by vagsancho on Sept 14, 2020 13:15:32 GMT
I did not understand. Did you write Magehunter?
|
|
|
Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 14, 2020 14:38:24 GMT
I did not understand. Did you write Magehunter? Yes. That's why my avatar is the real cover of the book.
|
|
|
Post by philsadler on Sept 14, 2020 15:50:38 GMT
House of Hell. The only book to scare me as a child. So good that I wrote my own sequel.
|
|
vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
|
Post by vagsancho on Sept 16, 2020 10:57:38 GMT
Update (15 persons have voted) The very favourite book - ONLY ONE - choosed by each person: - Howl of the Werewolf (Greenspine, Daredevil, Iaw & Schlendrian) - Deathtrap Dungeon (kieran & bloodbeast) - Siege of Sardath (wilf & count) - Legend of the Shadow Warriors (sylas) - Talisman of Death (linflas) - Crypt of the Sorcerer (vagsancho) - Slaves of the Abyss (vastariner) - Masks of Mayhem (stevendoig) - City of Thieves (peasantsribbler) - House of Hell (Philsadler)
Glad to see House of Hell in this list (my favourite book side by side with Crypt of the Sorcerer) I intend to buy, to play and to feel in the future Siege of Sardath, having seen here that is the most favourite book chosen by two persons)
|
|
|
Post by Wilf on Sept 16, 2020 13:00:40 GMT
I intend to buy, to play and to feel in the future Siege of Sardath. In which you might team up with a demon, walk among dark elves, or defeat an evil sorcerer. Or you might not. Either way, have fun finding your way through it...
...if you can!
|
|
|
Post by tyrion on Sept 18, 2020 22:47:52 GMT
I'm going to have to go with warlock of firetop mountain. No storyline, no motive other than greed, no intricate pathing, your basic dungeon crawl. But I'm afraid nostalgia is playing a big part here. I loved mapping out the dungeon, including the maze. I must have got this out of the local library more times than anyone else (I even remember going in one week and someone else had taken it out!).
It's certainly not the best (howl of the werewolf, creature of havoc, any of Stephen Hand's or Paul Mason's are undoubtedly superior in terms of writing, gameplay or storyline) but I love it.
The levels of the dungeon are classic dnd - basic orcs and goblins (level 1), random harder stuff like trolls and giant spiders (level 2), lycanthropes and undead (level 3), classical maze (level 4), which I actually like.
And does anybody do a better dungeon creature than Russ Nicholson?
|
|
|
Post by linflas on Sept 19, 2020 7:41:08 GMT
Iain McCaig, undoubtedly.
|
|
|
Post by dragontyrant on Sept 19, 2020 8:15:23 GMT
To me it's gotta be my very first FF book, bought to me by my father when I was 11 I believe, House of Hell.
|
|
|
Post by nathanh on Sept 21, 2020 18:51:02 GMT
Tough battle between Moonrunner, Howl of the Werewolf, and Night of the Necromancer. I think I'll go with Night of the Necromancer.
|
|
Blackheart
Squire
Formerly known as Symm. Razaak raised me from the dead.
Posts: 42
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
|
Post by Blackheart on Sept 22, 2020 8:02:47 GMT
House of Hell
|
|
vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
|
Post by vagsancho on Sept 22, 2020 21:23:28 GMT
I did not understand. Did you write Magehunter? Yes. That's why my avatar is the real cover of the book. Paul Mason? Of crimson tide? Ow.. A very, very good idea, poorly executed.
|
|
|
Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 23, 2020 1:14:15 GMT
Yes. That's why my avatar is the real cover of the book. Paul Mason? Of crimson tide? Ow.. A very, very good idea, poorly executed. I've heard it sucks seawater.
|
|
|
Post by linflas on Sept 23, 2020 8:35:34 GMT
I did not understand. Did you write Magehunter? Yes. That's why my avatar is the real cover of the book. Sorry I didn't understand. Magehunter "real" cover is not the one from Ian Miller ?
|
|
|
Post by Wilf on Sept 23, 2020 8:47:41 GMT
I'd like to see the "real" cover of The Crimson Tide, 'cos I've no idea what the randomness on the front of that book has to do with the content of it!
(I'd also like to read the book from which that painting is a scene!)
|
|
|
Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 23, 2020 9:04:55 GMT
Yes. That's why my avatar is the real cover of the book. Sorry I didn't understand. Magehunter "real" cover is not the one from Ian Miller ? As Black Vein Prophecy demonstrates, I've always been crap at specifying covers ( Slaves was Steve W). With Magehunter I remember some pressure to have a central monster figure, and being ever willing to please, I sent Ian Miller a description of the Pit Beast monster that appears somewhere in the book. He then did a really interesting rough. Trouble was, the Pit Beast encounter was a rather minor element of the story, and the picture did nothing to convey the flavour of the book (and contradicted the internal illo drastically, I now remember). So I got my wife to work on alternatives, and the one we came up with derived from one of my favourite scenes, the aerial battle. She depicted it with only the legs of the bird of prodigious size visible, and YOU being viewed from behind, staring into the gullet of the flying serpent. We sent this rough in to Puffin, along with a revised cover description. I have a strong suspicion that Puffin did not forward the rough to Ian Miller, and they were probably right not to, as he's a famous artist, who doubtless doesn't like having his composition decided by an amateur. Nevertheless, although I love Miller's work, I thought his cover for Magehunter was lacklustre, and I still regard my wife's version as the real cover. If I ever did an FF-free version of the gamebook, this would be the cover it would have. I mentioned that I liked Miller's work, and I liked his original cover rough. I ended up basing the idea of my subsequent book, The Wailing World, entirely around that rough. I thought the least I could do for Miller was to enable him to go ahead and do that cover too!
|
|
|
Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 23, 2020 9:13:20 GMT
I'd like to see the "real" cover of The Crimson Tide, 'cos I've no idea what the randomness on the front of that book has to do with the content of it! (I'd also like to read the book from which that painting is a scene!) What is the 'real' cover of The Crimson Tide? I never managed to work it out, hence the randomness (a scene which occurs frequently in the book, though is not described: it being the tribunal of Death at which you are judged after a death paragraph). To be honest, if I were doing it now, it would probably just be a Hannya Noh mask, or rather, a still from Oni Baba.
|
|
|
Post by tyrion on Sept 23, 2020 16:40:07 GMT
Paul Mason? Of crimson tide? Ow.. A very, very good idea, poorly executed. I've heard it sucks seawater. I think you're being a bit harsh on yourself. Any book that has an ending as a basket weaver is a winner for me.
|
|
|
Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 23, 2020 16:47:28 GMT
I've heard it sucks seawater. I think you're being a bit harsh on yourself. Any book that has an ending as a basket weaver is a winner for me. I wasn't being harsh on myself. It wasn't a Trump-style 'I've heard...' (as in, 'I believe this fantastical proposition, but I'm going to attribute it to some unspecified source'). I was quoting a running gag on the old FF mailing list. Personally, I always felt that sucking seawater was a potentially useful property (if not as useful as basketweaving).
|
|
|
Post by dragonwarrior8 on Sept 23, 2020 17:55:35 GMT
I think you're being a bit harsh on yourself. Any book that has an ending as a basket weaver is a winner for me. I wasn't being harsh on myself. It wasn't a Trump-style 'I've heard...' (as in, 'I believe this fantastical proposition, but I'm going to attribute it to some unspecified source'). I was quoting a running gag on the old FF mailing list. Personally, I always felt that sucking seawater was a potentially useful property (if not as useful as basketweaving). Magehunter is the most sought after book in the whole series though so that must make you feel pretty good!
|
|
sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,678
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
|
Post by sylas on Sept 23, 2020 19:35:55 GMT
Sorry I didn't understand. Magehunter "real" cover is not the one from Ian Miller ? As Black Vein Prophecy demonstrates, I've always been crap at specifying covers ( Slaves was Steve W). With Magehunter I remember some pressure to have a central monster figure, and being ever willing to please, I sent Ian Miller a description of the Pit Beast monster that appears somewhere in the book. He then did a really interesting rough. Trouble was, the Pit Beast encounter was a rather minor element of the story, and the picture did nothing to convey the flavour of the book (and contradicted the internal illo drastically, I now remember). So I got my wife to work on alternatives, and the one we came up with derived from one of my favourite scenes, the aerial battle. She depicted it with only the legs of the bird of prodigious size visible, and YOU being viewed from behind, staring into the gullet of the flying serpent. We sent this rough in to Puffin, along with a revised cover description. I have a strong suspicion that Puffin did not forward the rough to Ian Miller, and they were probably right not to, as he's a famous artist, who doubtless doesn't like having his composition decided by an amateur. Nevertheless, although I love Miller's work, I thought his cover for Magehunter was lacklustre, and I still regard my wife's version as the real cover. If I ever did an FF-free version of the gamebook, this would be the cover it would have. I mentioned that I liked Miller's work, and I liked his original cover rough. I ended up basing the idea of my subsequent book, The Wailing World, entirely around that rough. I thought the least I could do for Miller was to enable him to go ahead and do that cover too! Do you happen to still have that 'rough' by Ian Miller? Would love to see it.
|
|
|
Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 24, 2020 0:21:15 GMT
Do you happen to still have that 'rough' by Ian Miller? Would love to see it. Wasn't it reproduced in a Fighting Fantazine? Issue 11 I believe (which also reproduces my wife's Magehunter illo, and an Ian Miller rough that I think was better than the final cover).
|
|
|
Post by cirroid on Sept 24, 2020 11:28:44 GMT
The Crimson Tide (but Creature of Havoc is a close second). So much ingenuity in both. sleepyscholar actually you and Steve Jackson are my favorite FF writers overall as well. Thank you for writing those wonderful books!
|
|
|
Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 24, 2020 12:34:01 GMT
Magehunter is the most sought after book in the whole series though so that must make you feel pretty good! Not really. The book had a lower print-run than earlier books, and didn't sell very well. It's sought after because its rarity makes it collectable, not because of any intrinsic quality. And the inflated prices on eBay don't benefit me a whit, just remind me of how much I could have done with the money in the early 90s. If I were to republish the book, giving good old Russ a fair sum for the chance to reuse his artwork, I would make a stonking loss. And I would be setting myself up for grief over who has the rights to Kallamehr, too. My recollection is that Steve W and I created it, and as Marc was doing Titan at the time, we liaised with him and he put details in the book. Titan came out the month before The Riddling Reaver. So am I at liberty to use Kallamehr or not? And lets face it, if I did release a version of Magehunter, and it depressed the resale price of the original, there would be loads of collectors who would hate me for that, wouldn't there? Having said all that, I do still have the text, and since I've been tempted back into the idea of republishing my RPG, I quite like the idea of giving Magehunter a spin. "Qalamair", anyone?
|
|
|
Post by tyrion on Sept 24, 2020 16:08:32 GMT
Magehunter is the most sought after book in the whole series though so that must make you feel pretty good! Not really. The book had a lower print-run than earlier books, and didn't sell very well. It's sought after because its rarity makes it collectable, not because of any intrinsic quality. And the inflated prices on eBay don't benefit me a whit, just remind me of how much I could have done with the money in the early 90s. If I were to republish the book, giving good old Russ a fair sum for the chance to reuse his artwork, I would make a stonking loss. And I would be setting myself up for grief over who has the rights to Kallamehr, too. My recollection is that Steve W and I created it, and as Marc was doing Titan at the time, we liaised with him and he put details in the book. Titan came out the month before The Riddling Reaver. So am I at liberty to use Kallamehr or not? And lets face it, if I did release a version of Magehunter, and it depressed the resale price of the original, there would be loads of collectors who would hate me for that, wouldn't there? Having said all that, I do still have the text, and since I've been tempted back into the idea of republishing my RPG, I quite like the idea of giving Magehunter a spin. "Qalamair", anyone? Copyright and IP would really bite you in the bum, as I think you've mentioned before. Who owns the rights to the actual text? I wouldn't worry about collectors though. The puffin edition of Curse of the mummy still fetches high prices (~£100), despite it being republished twice and being available for a fiver. Are you thinking of finishing the water margin rpg? Or is there another one? I'm sure if you finished that, or wailing world, it would be well received. But that's why Kickstarter exist I suppose. I'm intrigued, though. What would you do with magehunter, given the chance (other than change the cover)? And more importantly, what is your favourite ff book?
|
|
sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,678
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
|
Post by sylas on Sept 24, 2020 16:31:12 GMT
Do you happen to still have that 'rough' by Ian Miller? Would love to see it. Wasn't it reproduced in a Fighting Fantazine? Issue 11 I believe (which also reproduces my wife's Magehunter illo, and an Ian Miller rough that I think was better than the final cover). Aye, you are right. It's been a while since I revisited that issue. A pretty good cover that would've looked great when colour rendered. On the other hand, Ian Miller's rough sketch for Magehunter looks miles better than the colour version.
|
|
|
Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 25, 2020 0:16:29 GMT
Copyright and IP would really bite you in the bum, as I think you've mentioned before. Who owns the rights to the actual text? I wouldn't worry about collectors though. The puffin edition of Curse of the mummy still fetches high prices (~£100), despite it being republished twice and being available for a fiver. Are you thinking of finishing the water margin rpg? Or is there another one? I'm sure if you finished that, or wailing world, it would be well received. But that's why Kickstarter exist I suppose. I'm intrigued, though. What would you do with magehunter, given the chance (other than change the cover)? And more importantly, what is your favourite ff book? "Who owns the rights to the actual text?" I do, of course. That's why none of my books have ever been republished -- I wasn't prepared to cede copyright to Ian and Steve. Yes, it's the Water Margin RPG I'm working on again. A bunch of guys over on the RPG Pub convinced me that it didn't actually need much work to finish it. They're wrong, but if I accept that I'm not going to cover all the things I want to cover, it's possible I could get something that feels more complete than the current files, which virtually stop in mid- Wailing World would require far too much time to complete! And I've given away the gimmick as well. With Magehunter I'm not sure I'd change too much. I'd go through fan critiques, and see if there are any 'mudworms' that need fixing. But I wouldn't really be aiming at rewriting the book. We don't exactly have a lockdown here, but I don't get in to the office (where my FF books are) all that often. I have a feeling it's Moonrunner, but I'd need to check to be sure. I'm fairly sure my favourite is a Stephen Hand, just for the atmosphere. Maybe I'll have a look this Sunday?
|
|
vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
|
Post by vagsancho on Sept 25, 2020 9:37:15 GMT
Yes. That's why my avatar is the real cover of the book. Paul Mason? Of crimson tide? Ow.. A very, very good idea, poorly executed. To be just, crimson tide is a bad book, but with an apology, because it make us wonder how it would be if... If it was not so obligatory linear... If the hero would not win the book with only 15 or 16 years old... Yes... I think it is a bad book, but i also think that without that flaws it would be a good book. For example, deathmoor is a bad book, and even with if"s" it would continue to be a bad book.
|
|
|
Post by james on Dec 1, 2020 21:26:21 GMT
My favourite is Creature of Havoc.
I love the story, and amazing sense of progression throughout the adventure (deciphering the language code, escaping the dungeon, activating the secrets, discovering and accessing Marr's location).
I also love the huge amount of lore you get at beginning.
|
|