I enjoyed this video George, I like when people are genuinely passionate about something. I never tried these books back in the day only the poor choose your own adventure versions but I know what you mean about a stain left on the mind. Bloodborne is engraved on my mind for it’s overbearing sense of bleakness even more so than Dark Souls series.
yes mate bloodborne is “the one” as far as those games are concerned, for me. it’s pitch perfect (and pitch black !). such a hate filled, terrifying depiction of a world in the throes of demented, persecuted decay ! thanks for watching the video mate i loved these books. i did try a few choose your own adventure books but that was after i’d played a lot of the fighting fantasy and sorcery ones and those were so much better written with better puzzles, much better illustrations (mostly) and they seemed more adult and vicious, especially the sorcery books ! i am happy some people enjoyed this video and could understand the passion i have for these books 🙂
Thanks for opening my eyes for these books and their artworks, love hyper detalied stuff like this! There’s even a South Park-edition of one of Jacksons books, is it any good?
this is where it gets weird, mate. and confusing. right. there are two steve jackons in the fantasy gaming hobby. one is responsible for steve jackson games, headquartered in austin, texas, and the other is the chap responsible for the fighting fantasy books, based in the uk. only, er, they’re BOTH responsible for the fighting fantasy gamebooks :-/ Steve Jackson wrote Scorpion Swamp, for example. No, not the British Steve Jackson, the other one. He did it in an afternoon, when he was visiting (you guessed it) Steve Jackson. He also wrote “demons of the deep” and “robot commando”. Furthermore, he was the first author to appear under the “steve jackson and ian livingston present” banner. The whole thing is a complete mindfuck mate and i prefer not to think about it. He also made the excellent Car Wars (the American Steve Jackson, not the British one), but then Games Workshop, Steve Jackson (British one) and Ian Livingston’s company, released Battle Cars, which was actually by Ian Livingston and Gary Chalk, not Steve Jackson. My head is hurting now mate that’s enough for today.
1
Jim
10 months ago
Re: the intent of Sorcery being pitched as a bit more grown up, there’s a note in the SJ interview below: https://www.theregister.com/2013/06/06/feature_interview_steve_jackson/?page=2
Admittedly that could have been (and probably was) just marketing gubbins, and from the above it seems the intent of Steve Jackson was to branch out somewhat as you say – so a little from column A and a little from Column B.
good stuff mate well found, i didn’t know that so, yes, a little from both columns 🙂
Jim
10 months ago
Smashing video George, interesting stuff and great to hear an enthusiast in full flow.
Weren’t the Sorcery series originally touted as a more ‘grown up’ version of FF?
not sure mate, i always presumed that steve wanted to do an epic story and they couldn’t just say “okay, the next four books in the fighting fantasy series are going to be all inter related”, or something like that. there are some linked ff books, such as deathtrap dungeon and trial of champions, firetop mountain and return to firetop mountain etc BUT they’re a long time apart. i don’t think there are any that sit next to one another as continuations of a story. also gave them a chance to make more income as they were being released at the same time as books in the original series. they were very popular books for a while.
Loved these books and read them all back in the day. Death trap dungeon was my favourite. I feel sorry for kids today who I imagine would have little interest in these type of books. I enjoyed reading them over and making different choices everytike. Never knew about the book’s connection to the dark souls series and how they influenced the design. Make absolute sense when you think about it, and the games have nailed that hopeless and foreboding atmosphere well
This was an excellent listen mate, really enjoyed it. A real trip down memory lane to my early childhood. Back in the early 80’s and my infants school days we used to have the Puffin book club, which was basically a colour folded brochure of sorts, but only a couple of pages, and it advertised all the latest Puffin books that were available at a reduced subsidised price for young school kids. I remember seeing Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone’s “Warlock of Firetop Mountain” and being totally mesmerised by it! I had to have it and thankfully my parents gave me the couple of quid needed to order it. I remember the excitement when it arrived in the classroom about a week later. Me and my mate Bjornar played the book to death, hundreds of times I’d say. Then I moved onto secondary school and my focus moved to different interests, and I never bought or played any other books in the series, which was a real shame.
It probably explains my huge love for the Soulsborne games like yourself, and your observation about the similarities between the books and the games is a brilliant one. No two games of a Soulsborne game are ever the same, and there’s always something new to learn no matter how many times you’ve played, and that’s similar in many ways to these books. Very interesting to hear of Miyazake’s interest and influences taken from these books too. It all makes sense when you think about it!
Tempted to buy the Warlock of Firetop Mountain again for a big nostalgia hit as you’ve definitely brought it back into my consciousness again. Excellent video mate, thanks 👍🏻
no problem mate i’ve been meaning to make this video for ages but just thought i would get it done today as i was in the mood for a ramble. thanks for listening and i’m glad you enjoyed it. i recommend getting hold of khare: cityport of traps from ebay if you can, i think it’s the best one ! (original printing, or the red zigzag edition if possible !)
God, I loved these books. I had a full set 1 to 23 plus Sorcery and another set that was a more realistic set that I can’t remember the name of. It was something to do with being on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. It was a bit boring and never got in that one. I had the Bestiary book as well.
My favourite location was Port Blacksand, it felt really alive. I understand your love of these books completely, they were so immersive.
Unfortunately when I moved house everything got left behind and now they are distant memory. Recently I managed to find all the books in PDF format from (ahem) somewhere or other. It’s not the same as holding the book in your hands.
But I’m 100% with you. These books are awesome.
“It was something to do with being on a pilgrimage to Canterbury” i think that’s maelstrom mate yes it’s not great. i had 1-59 of the fighting fantasy books (all of them !) but had to sell a lot in the last couple of years, was getting almost £200 for some books 😮
i am actually working on writing a gamebook with my mate we got quite far BUT it’s set in the modern day and the people we gave it to to test said they found it very depressing and disturbing lol. i am thinking maybe to go back to it soon though i’ve just not had the time lately but it was fun to do and it’s actually supposed to be funny but i think people mistook the intentionally negative and bleak tone for negative and bleak, not a piss take as it is. i mean, the third location has a “kill yourself” option. then again, so does the 4th location lol :-p
I enjoyed this video George, I like when people are genuinely passionate about something. I never tried these books back in the day only the poor choose your own adventure versions but I know what you mean about a stain left on the mind. Bloodborne is engraved on my mind for it’s overbearing sense of bleakness even more so than Dark Souls series.
yes mate bloodborne is “the one” as far as those games are concerned, for me. it’s pitch perfect (and pitch black !). such a hate filled, terrifying depiction of a world in the throes of demented, persecuted decay ! thanks for watching the video mate i loved these books. i did try a few choose your own adventure books but that was after i’d played a lot of the fighting fantasy and sorcery ones and those were so much better written with better puzzles, much better illustrations (mostly) and they seemed more adult and vicious, especially the sorcery books ! i am happy some people enjoyed this video and could understand the passion i have for these books 🙂
Thanks for opening my eyes for these books and their artworks, love hyper detalied stuff like this! There’s even a South Park-edition of one of Jacksons books, is it any good?
this is where it gets weird, mate. and confusing. right. there are two steve jackons in the fantasy gaming hobby. one is responsible for steve jackson games, headquartered in austin, texas, and the other is the chap responsible for the fighting fantasy books, based in the uk. only, er, they’re BOTH responsible for the fighting fantasy gamebooks :-/ Steve Jackson wrote Scorpion Swamp, for example. No, not the British Steve Jackson, the other one. He did it in an afternoon, when he was visiting (you guessed it) Steve Jackson. He also wrote “demons of the deep” and “robot commando”. Furthermore, he was the first author to appear under the “steve jackson and ian livingston present” banner. The whole thing is a complete mindfuck mate and i prefer not to think about it. He also made the excellent Car Wars (the American Steve Jackson, not the British one), but then Games Workshop, Steve Jackson (British one) and Ian Livingston’s company, released Battle Cars, which was actually by Ian Livingston and Gary Chalk, not Steve Jackson. My head is hurting now mate that’s enough for today.
Re: the intent of Sorcery being pitched as a bit more grown up, there’s a note in the SJ interview below:
https://www.theregister.com/2013/06/06/feature_interview_steve_jackson/?page=2
Admittedly that could have been (and probably was) just marketing gubbins, and from the above it seems the intent of Steve Jackson was to branch out somewhat as you say – so a little from column A and a little from Column B.
good stuff mate well found, i didn’t know that so, yes, a little from both columns 🙂
Smashing video George, interesting stuff and great to hear an enthusiast in full flow.
Weren’t the Sorcery series originally touted as a more ‘grown up’ version of FF?
not sure mate, i always presumed that steve wanted to do an epic story and they couldn’t just say “okay, the next four books in the fighting fantasy series are going to be all inter related”, or something like that. there are some linked ff books, such as deathtrap dungeon and trial of champions, firetop mountain and return to firetop mountain etc BUT they’re a long time apart. i don’t think there are any that sit next to one another as continuations of a story. also gave them a chance to make more income as they were being released at the same time as books in the original series. they were very popular books for a while.
Loved these books and read them all back in the day. Death trap dungeon was my favourite. I feel sorry for kids today who I imagine would have little interest in these type of books. I enjoyed reading them over and making different choices everytike. Never knew about the book’s connection to the dark souls series and how they influenced the design. Make absolute sense when you think about it, and the games have nailed that hopeless and foreboding atmosphere well
This was an excellent listen mate, really enjoyed it. A real trip down memory lane to my early childhood. Back in the early 80’s and my infants school days we used to have the Puffin book club, which was basically a colour folded brochure of sorts, but only a couple of pages, and it advertised all the latest Puffin books that were available at a reduced subsidised price for young school kids. I remember seeing Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone’s “Warlock of Firetop Mountain” and being totally mesmerised by it! I had to have it and thankfully my parents gave me the couple of quid needed to order it. I remember the excitement when it arrived in the classroom about a week later. Me and my mate Bjornar played the book to death, hundreds of times I’d say. Then I moved onto secondary school and my focus moved to different interests, and I never bought or played any other books in the series, which was a real shame.
It probably explains my huge love for the Soulsborne games like yourself, and your observation about the similarities between the books and the games is a brilliant one. No two games of a Soulsborne game are ever the same, and there’s always something new to learn no matter how many times you’ve played, and that’s similar in many ways to these books. Very interesting to hear of Miyazake’s interest and influences taken from these books too. It all makes sense when you think about it!
Tempted to buy the Warlock of Firetop Mountain again for a big nostalgia hit as you’ve definitely brought it back into my consciousness again. Excellent video mate, thanks 👍🏻
no problem mate i’ve been meaning to make this video for ages but just thought i would get it done today as i was in the mood for a ramble. thanks for listening and i’m glad you enjoyed it. i recommend getting hold of khare: cityport of traps from ebay if you can, i think it’s the best one ! (original printing, or the red zigzag edition if possible !)
God, I loved these books. I had a full set 1 to 23 plus Sorcery and another set that was a more realistic set that I can’t remember the name of. It was something to do with being on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. It was a bit boring and never got in that one. I had the Bestiary book as well.
My favourite location was Port Blacksand, it felt really alive. I understand your love of these books completely, they were so immersive.
Unfortunately when I moved house everything got left behind and now they are distant memory. Recently I managed to find all the books in PDF format from (ahem) somewhere or other. It’s not the same as holding the book in your hands.
But I’m 100% with you. These books are awesome.
“It was something to do with being on a pilgrimage to Canterbury” i think that’s maelstrom mate yes it’s not great. i had 1-59 of the fighting fantasy books (all of them !) but had to sell a lot in the last couple of years, was getting almost £200 for some books 😮
i am actually working on writing a gamebook with my mate we got quite far BUT it’s set in the modern day and the people we gave it to to test said they found it very depressing and disturbing lol. i am thinking maybe to go back to it soon though i’ve just not had the time lately but it was fun to do and it’s actually supposed to be funny but i think people mistook the intentionally negative and bleak tone for negative and bleak, not a piss take as it is. i mean, the third location has a “kill yourself” option. then again, so does the 4th location lol :-p