Category: Art

I Went Crazy And Purchased 27 Gamebooks for About $150…

September 13, 2012

…and over 70% of the price was ‘shipping and handling’ 🙂

Anyway, here’s the proof:

And yes, I know one is missing from that photo. Every single one of these was purchased from Amazon, and all but one came from sellers in the USA. The average book price was about $1.50, and the average shipping cost was about $4. It took about 3 weeks for everything to arrive. Three of the books are (brand) new, and the others used, although many of them are obviously still ‘new’ (even if 20+ years old).

In this rather lengthy entry, I’ll offer opinions on many of these books, most of which I’ve read or played these past few weeks.

Sagard The Barbarian series (I have books 1, 3 and 4)

I was attracted to this series since Gary Gygax was co-writer. Much like Sagas Of The Demonspawn, this is a 4-book gamebook series with a single hero that spans all books, leveling up as you play through them. The writing isn’t terrible, and the stories mostly interesting, but the structure is weak, there is very little section randomization (you are often referred to the next section, or the one after) and the books are short. Combat is often overly easy as well. After finding the first few battles trivial, I simply ended up reading the books from that point on.

Perhaps the most notable thing about these books is that in book four, I found this incredible paragraph:

It’s almost like someone was having a joke on the readers expense?

1-on-1 Gamebooks (I have ‘You are Fafhrd’ and ‘You are Garth’)

TSR may have been late to the gamebook party, but they certainly made up for it with many different ranges of gamebooks. This 1-on-1 series was packaged as a pair of books meant to be played simultaneously (a ripoff of Clash of The Princes, in other words) and based on these two I have read were poorly designed and edited. They both suffer from the usual half-rate gamebook problems of jarring transitions, overt forcing (too many decisions made for the character) and infinite loops. The Fafhrd one in particular is a dreadful Monty-Haul-y city-dungeon hack filled with unlikely scenario upon unlikely scenario. Two ‘for the collection’.

Starlight Adventures (I added books 2 and 4)

I already had a couple of books in this ‘FF for the girls’ series. There’s no combat, and the game ‘system’ utilizes only your Zodiac sign and lucky number, but after reading book 2 thoroughly I have to say the series hardly falters for lack of complexity. You play a private detective on the search of a missing heir, and the search takes you around the world (including through Albany, NY!) and into the world of a traveling rock-and-roll band. ‘Failure’ in these books doesn’t mean death, it just means your life took some alternate path (like, no joke, marrying a wealthy oil baron you meet in a Vegas casino)! I liked it a lot, and plan to read the others I have in the series.

AD&D Gamebooks (I added 1, 9, 11, 12 and 18)

I already had a few in this series (and the Marvel Super Heroes series, which uses the same system) and added five more. Inexplicably, although high numbered books in this series can fetch ridiculous ($100+) prices, I was able to get the last book published, Prince Of Thieves, for a song. The books are neither bad nor good, and notable for a style of writing that tends more toward prose and contains far less combat than gamebooks that originated in England. I like that the series sets different books in different AD&D worlds, although I wish they’d written a Spelljammer one when they had the chance!

Virtual Reality (book 3)

Staggeringly thinly-veiled allegorical story in which you, messianic representative of the oppressed ‘Judain’, lead a rebellion against ‘The Overlord’ and ultimately the physical embodiment of ‘Hate’ (the thing on the cover). At one point, you are emboldened by finding and reading a magical text called Song Of Suleimon. No I’m not joking! A very depressing and dreary book, in which most allies or even acquaintances die and the final, good ending feels like a bitter pill. Amusing since the author clearly tries to shoe-horn fantasy tropes (giant spiders, crystal golems) into a work that would probably have been better served as a (bad) novel. In short: another curious installment in a most curious series.

Catacombs (Book 3)

Another weirdo gamebook series from TSR. I have one already, the astonishingly-well-illustrated Fairy Mound Of Dragonkind, but am glad to now own the only ever Top Secret (an old 1980s TSR RPG) gamebook in the form of book 3 of this series, The Final Bug. I tried to play this one in full, but about half-way through the impossibly complex rules – which involve a dossier of secret documents (stored inside the back cover) and a villian’s complex that you assemble room-by-room using random die rolls – led me to continue by simply reading. Very well written, very interesting, and probably one of the more complex gamebooks every written. I’m happy my copy is essentially mint, including most of the secret documents still being sealed 🙂

The Renegade Wizard

This gamebook was published only months ago, and is the first of a proposed series. My opinion: If you’re going to write a new gamebook in 2012 you had better make sure it’s better than the hundreds that came before it (such as Destiny Quest). In that sense, this book fails miserably. The author throws a very average Warlock Of Firetop Mountain clone at players, full of all the cliches and inconsistencies that gamebooks should have evolved beyond. It’s lengthy (over 500 entries) and reasonably well written, but lacks a soul and is ultimately a disappointment. I’m not sure a second book in this series will ever exist. Oh, and there’s hardly no illustrations, including zero full page ones 🙁

Fabled Lands (books 5 and 6)

No comment, except to say that all installments in this superb series have now been republished. Get them while you can!

Treachery in Drakenwood (book 1)

I haven’t played it yet, but this is one of two (I have the other coming in a few days…) in a series from 1985 that is viewed highly by enthusiasts. Much like Fabled Lands, the player is free to explore as he sees fit, and careful notes (and a map!) must be kept since locations can be revisited. The game system looks satisfying complex and I look forward to playing both once I have the whole series (although, unlike Fabled Lands, the books are not connected).

Oh, and the art is terrible. As in I could almost draw better terrible:

Car Wars (book 1)

Flipping through this, the first in a series of 6 books written by Steve ‘the American one’ Jackson, I was intrigued by the complexity of the system, especially combat. Lots of statistics, combat diagrams and damage maps to keep track of. Then I played the game, beat it in one sitting, and only got into one very brief fight! That said, I enjoyed this quite a bit. The story is suitably gonzo (as if Mad Max was set in the US) and the pace quite leisurely without abandoning a strange and constant menace due to the setting. I’m not sure if my first-play victory was dumb luck or if the book is easy, but I liked it enough I’m interested in others of the series.

I also purchased a few other books in my mega-order, as you may have noticed in the photo at the top. These included another Lone Wolf (I now have the first 20), some more Middle Earth series books, Bloodfeud Of Altheus (book 1 of Cretan Chronicles) and Dragon Warriors book 2. And lastly, this gem:

A case of gamebooks expanding into genres they had no right venturing into perhaps? We shall see…

The Lovely and Picturesque Golden Gate Bridge

August 14, 2012

Yesterday B and I drove up to San Francisco for some sightseeing and shopping. We started with a visit to Fort Point, which is an old fort that has stood for over a hundred years at what is not the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. You can see it in the lower left of the photo above.

When we got there, the sole access rode to the fort was being blocked by some police since CSI:NY was filming on a pier on the road. The place was full of ‘hollywood types’ and gawking onlookers. It’s very likely we drove right past some ‘famous’ actors. But we wouldn’t have known since neither Bernard or I have ever seen the show.

It was cold at the fort. As in really, really cold. As in frigid winds of Tartarus cold. The entire structure was open, and the icy winds from the ocean raged through it endlessly and mercilessly. The above shot was taken on the roof, and Bernard and I were mere seconds away from hypothermia at the time. Insignificant shelter was afforded by the rooms inside the walls, most of which held exhibits of fort life back when it was occupied or art installations to celebrate 75 years of the bridge. It is perhaps evidence of how interesting much of this material was that we didn’t run screaming back to the car within seconds.

The above is Bernard posing before a tapestry said to be evocative of the emotions of the bridge.

Two more shots of the bridge, one from inside the fort and one from the roof. The shot from inside is taken through a camera obscura used as part of one of the (very good, actually) artworks. The fog persisted during out entire stay, and made the bridge very mysterious and looming. We were also treated to the periodic wail of the foghorn, which must be virtually unnecessary in these days of GPS.

After the bridge we headed to Fisherman’s Wharf, a tourist location on the bay. I’d never been here before, and it was much better than I expected.

As you can see the weather was quite nice away from the freezing hall that was the bay entrance. Lunch was expensive but delicious (‘Alaskan cod’) fish and chips:

It was very tasty. Bernard said it was the best fish and chips he’d had in the USA.

While wandering and shopping at Pier 39 we found an ‘infinite mirror maze’. Tourist trap it may be, I couldn’t resist and bought us each a ticket.

It was extremely well engineered. The mirrors were at 60 degrees to each other, and very clean. They actually have guests wear plastic gloves to avoid fingerprints! Darkness and flashing lights make it quite tricky to navigate, and after we’d done it in both directions (taking about 10 minutes each way) the attendant showed us the map and it was amusing how short it actually was. Thumbs up for this if you’re in the area 🙂

The rest of the day included shopping at Japantown, at which Bernard purchased some origami paper to add to his massive collection. He’s very good at origami, and there are lots of it scattered around the house. Over dinner I asked what the most difficult piece he’d ever made was, and afterward he took me to his work cubicle and showed me this elephant:

It’s made from a single piece of paper, and stands only about an inch tall. Impressive, isn’t it?

The most famous origami fold is probably the crane. I asked Bernard how fast he could make one, and he said “Two minutes”. My question had no motive, but he was so confident I just had to put him to the test. Do you think he was able to finish it in two minutes? Let’s see…

Sound Interface Devices

July 29, 2012

Before I start, open this in another window and listen to it while reading.

That’s a piece of commodore 64 game music being played by the SID chip, which was the sound processor inside the C64. This particular tune was composed by one of the maestro’s of the SID, Ben Daglish.

Wizball was a another classic Commodore 64 game. In my opinion, maybe the best I ever played. It had great graphics, great gameplay and famous music. Listen to it here, and marvel that Martin Galway managed to coax that tune from a (now) 30 year old 3 channel sound chip! Apparently he based it on the work of Jean-Michel Jarre, but it just sounds like Kraftwerk to me. I was in my early teens when I played these games. I can recall for a long time having the C64 in my bedroom, and I’d often load up games (including Wizball) and leave them in the attract mode while I did other stuff. Cauldron 2 was another example (and another great theme), I’d be plotting my path via a map while listening to the songs. And Sanxion was another. In an interview I recently read with the composer of the Sanxion theme, he said that at the time he looked at his tunes and disposable. Not so Mr Hubbard, you and your ilk created an entire genre of music that persists today!

Game music is a funny thing. Much like songs by our favourite artists, the music of the games we play stick with us as well, and can trigger powerful memories. This post was originally going to be about SID music exclusively, but after starting I found myself thinking about – and then listening to – beloved music from a lifetime of gaming. Such nostalgia!

In 198X I used to wait on Hunter Street, for the bus, in front of an old arcade. This would not have been coincidence – likely the money for the bus was the only cents I had left after spending everything else in that very arcade. I even sometimes skipped food and drink for a few extra games. At the time of this memory, the arcade prominently featured Gauntlet II at the entrance, speaker turned up to 11. To this day, the theme tune evokes powerful memories of my youth.

Many of these games are almost lost to us now. I can’t easily play Wizball or Gauntlet II anymore. But the music lives on, and I suspect will live on longer than the games ever can. Some of the tunes have already become immortal, such as this one or this one. They were both composed by the same person: Koji Kondo. Games containing his work have been played by hundreds of millions of players, and his signature themes have become as important to the series they were created for (Mario and Zelda) that they have survived and evolved through 30 years of sequels.

18 years ago, when I reviewed Final Fantasy VI for SNES in my fanzine, with regards to the sound I said: “This game exceeds in every possible way!”

Even then I may have occasionally exaggerated, but with regards to this comment I can look back and say I was indeed correct. Final Fantasy VI was a masterpiece of game design, with incredible graphics, gameplay and innovative and complex game systems. That it has barely been equalled – much less surpassed – by the 7 games in the series since 1994 is testament to just how great it is. But what is perhaps most remarkable is that the best feature of the game is the story, and specifically the way the story is intertwined with the soundtrack.

Composed by Nobuo Uematsu, the music in Final Fantasy VI was not digitized, and all created by the sound chip in the SNES. Although only about 10 years had passed since the heydays of the SID chip and C64 music, you’d never tell by listening to what Uematsu managed to achieve from the SNES. Take this example, Terra’s Theme, which isprobably my favourite game music of all time (and yes, this is played by a SNES):

The game was loaded with impressive music, and many fans (including myself) would just pause the game to enjoy the music by itself. A pivotal and very emotional scene in the game was played out via an opera scene with modulated simulated voices. This signature scene (shown in full in the video below) is one of the most inventive and successful ‘cutscenes’ in game history – all realized with 16 bit animations and chip music from an SNES. Even watching it now it brings back powerful memories of the entire game. Because of how much I grew to love the music in this game, Final Fantasy VI was the first game soundtrack that I ever bought.

These days virtually all our music comes from computers. Since the technical limitations are gone, there is no longer a distinction between ‘game music’ and ‘real music’. Where once the composers had to create not only beautiful tunes, but also cram them into impossibly small amounts of memory or sound channels, now they can utilize complete orchestras and record as much music as their budget allows. And yet far too often game music is still seems to be an afterthought (especially the worst offending games, which just license charts hits and play them in the background). But the best games are often as good as they are not just because of gameplay or graphics, but because of music as well. I’m sure that 18 years from now the music of the games I remember playing at age 40 will still be strong in my memory.

Robot Claw