Now who saw that one coming. The script rights to 'Deathtrap Dungeon' from the 'Fighting Fantasy' series by Ian Livingstone appear to been bought. That's kinda surprising but could be very cool (or of course terrible?)
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/05/26/choose-your-own-adventure-book-deathtrap-dungeon-to-become-saw-meets-gladiator-movie/ (http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/05/26/choose-your-own-adventure-book-deathtrap-dungeon-to-become-saw-meets-gladiator-movie/)
Off on a tangent, but Stevie wouldn't say, "No" to a film version of Alastair Reynolds' Diamond Dogs
That was my favourite FF book at the time, but I couldn't imagine it making anything but a dire movie. But who knows?
I remember the half decent but ridiculously difficult Deathtrap Dungeon videogame on the PS1. It was fairly good, gory fun.
Can't really see a film in this without a horribly contrived afterthought of a storyline stapled on.
I am perversely intrigued by this, even though the description as 'Saw meets Gladiator' is an immediate turn-off - but hey, whatever it takes to sell it to the non-fantasy-inclined. I'm very fond of 'Deathtrap Dungeon' the book - I remember it being quite a tricky one - and I even loved the game (hell, the introductory cut scene was narrated by Paul Darrow, what more do you want?) But imagine the Sorcery! series as an epic quadrilogy instead... crossing the Shamutanti Hills... watching as the hero tries to remember whether GAK is a spell or not... epic battles against the Seven Serpents... ah, that's the stuff.
Quote from: Greg M. on 27 May, 2011, 10:04:53 AM
But imagine the Sorcery! series as an epic quadrilogy instead... crossing the Shamutanti Hills... watching as the hero tries to remember whether GAK is a spell or not... epic battles against the Seven Serpents... ah, that's the stuff.
Don't forget the terrible puns and wordgames that are crucial to your success ("[spoiler]You've searched for him... Farren Whyde![/spoiler]"), or the need to remember details from illustrations several books earlier... I loved that the number of serpents you were able to stop in
Seven Serpents affected your success in the next book, but didn't actually prevent your progress. Definitely the high water mark of the Fighting Fantasy genre.
Quote from: TordelBack on 27 May, 2011, 10:17:44 AM
I loved that the number of serpents you were able to stop in Seven Serpents affected your success in the next book, but didn't actually prevent your progress. Definitely the high water mark of the Fighting Fantasy genre.
Deduct 40 from the current reference anytime someone refers to you as 'Analander' if you have dealt with all Seven Serpents. That's burned into my brain for some reason. And those flamin' Throben Doors...
Yay, still got all those. Wonder if they'll have a directors cut where the protagonist wanders repeatedly around the same chambers for an extra 2 hours!? I know I did :D
+1 for the Sorcery series too!
I have loads of those books (FF, Sorcery!, the ninja ones) in the cupboard under the stairs, and I'll be getting rid of them soon when we move house.
If anybody wants them, I'd be happy to swap them for some comic bags.
- Trout
Quote from: King Trout on 27 May, 2011, 12:52:48 PM
If anybody wants them, I'd be happy to swap them for some comic bags.
- Trout
You've got mail!
Quote from: King Trout on 27 May, 2011, 12:52:48 PM
I have loads of those books (FF, Sorcery!, the ninja ones) in the cupboard under the stairs, and I'll be getting rid of them soon when we move house.
If anybody wants them, I'd be happy to swap them for some comic bags.
- Trout
Are the ninja ones 'Way Of The Tiger'? Do you have a full set of those, Trout?
If Chris wants the Ninja ones, Trout, I don't want those ones.
As I recall, the ninja ones were the best. :)
Gents, you're welcome to them but (as I just PM'd Usher to say) it'll take me a week or two to dig into that cupboard. Be patient with me, and you lads can have first refusal.
Cheers
- Trout
Deathtrap Dungeon first got me by the eyeballs. That cover was excellent. Had to find out how I'd escape that nasty piece of work. As Chris Askham said, it became my favourite too.
Quote from: King Trout on 27 May, 2011, 01:16:13 PM
As I recall, the ninja ones were the best. :)
Gents, you're welcome to them but (as I just PM'd Usher to say) it'll take me a week or two to dig into that cupboard. Be patient with me, and you lads can have first refusal.
Cheers
- Trout
Thanks, Trout!
Yeah, Sorcery! was wicked - as were the ninja ones. Anyone remember the Lone Wolf ones too?
Yeah I loved the Lone Wolf books. And in fact, you can play them all on line for free here...
http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Books (http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Books)
Coool. Cheers! :D
And on the subject of the brilliance of Sorcery! let us not forget the bit where it is possible to travel through time to an earlier point of the series, which may have been helpful or not, depending on your point of view.
The ZED spell in the Mampang Fortress... ah yes.
Nerdgasm! I hope it's a success i love those books and still have Deathtrap D,City of Thieves and the Forest of Doom. The B&w illustrations in them are fabulous.
Deathtrap Dungeon was my favourite of them too. Remember the sequel - Trial of Champions, as far as I can remember. Can't see it being a good film.
I liked Way of the Tiger too. Although as an immature adult I do real ninjutsu these days, and am a bit disappointed to discover that all the moves in WOTT were made up.
And let's all be honest with ourselves here: None of us used dice to play FF books, did we? No we did not. What did we do instead? I will tell you. We skipped through the fights and nearly dislocated all our fingers trying to mark as many pages as we possibly could in case we died and decided to go back to when we were alive.
Heresy, sir! I used dice. Of course I did. I rolled them repeatedly until I got the numbers I wanted. ;)
Quote from: chris_askham on 27 May, 2011, 01:53:17 PM
Yeah I loved the Lone Wolf books. And in fact, you can play them all on line for free here...
http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Books (http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Books)
Cool, those were the first ones I read/played, before discovering the FF ones. Also the Grail Quest series I remember being really funny and the Skyfall series which was like, I dunno, hardcore version of that kind of thing. Hardcore as in difficult, not that :D
You can get Deathtrap Dungeon, Sorcery Book 1, Warlock of Firetop Mountain and others on the iPhone btw. They're a replica of the books. :)
The Fighting Fantasy gamebooks were quite a cult at my school. It peaked with House of Hell in 1984. I had dreams about that one after staying up very, very late watching The Tube. The next in the series, Talisman of Death, was regarded as a bit of a clunker, but redemption came in the form of Freeway Fighter. No. 17, Appointment with F.E.A.R. was the last one my friends and I talked about before we all grew out of it or it became a solo occupation, if you pardon the expression.
Yep, that's pretty much how I remember it. Freeway Fighter was great, all post apocalyptic n that. Ooh, just checked, I can see your Appointment with F.E.A.R. and raise you 18 - Rebel Planet. I seem to be ever so slightly younger than you :lol:
Missing 8 and 11, whatever they were. I'm now thinking of Eagle, similar time. And Thunderbirds.
Cheers
Gah! I'd love some Trout FF action.
But as I'm just in from work I'm too late for any Friday fun.
Hollywood has picked up Deathtrap Dungeon for a movie cus they could buy the rights for a pittance.God forbid they'd actually pay out for something decent..AND..put the time,effort and money into making it good.
If/when this does come out it will have the usual 12 rating in an attempt to get as many arses on seats as possible.
Cheap indeed, some good pulp fantasy stuff all the way though. Maybe not DD itself but yeah, probably not the best choice?
Isn't all that stuff kind of um, proto-Warhammer stuff? No idea how much, if at all (excuse ignorance) SJ & IL were involved in the writing of Warhammer stuff, as well as the GW thing itself. I imagine game-wise more than lore? No idea, I'm sure there are folks here that'll know though :D
Creature of Chaos is almost impossible to beat even if you DO cheat!
It's also one of the most bonkers FF gamebooks ever. You play as a hideous monster who can heal himself by eating the corpses of his enemies.
As for Deathtrap Dungeon the movie, I hope they go with the "bad" ending form the book, where you [spoiler]run to the exit and fall foul of a tripwire which triggers a crossbow[/spoiler].
Nah ...never get a 12 rating for that! :D
Quote from: Lobster Doug on 27 May, 2011, 10:58:00 PM
Isn't all that stuff kind of um, proto-Warhammer stuff? No idea how much, if at all (excuse ignorance) SJ & IL were involved in the writing of Warhammer stuff, as well as the GW thing itself. I imagine game-wise more than lore?
For dim but fond memory, I actually think the gamebook and Warhammer phenomena are quite separate strands from the same roots - Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson were two of the founders of GW as a games company, which produced Citadel Miniatures, which aquired their own simple wargame rules, which became Warhammer. Separately Livingstone and Jackson initiated the FF book line for Puffin (or was it Penguin?), which also grew into a nice little RPG with Advanced Fighting Fantasy - I don't think GW was involved. Obviously kids (me) mgrated from one to t'other, but they seem to have existed in parallel rather than one leading to t'other, and indeed they were also created in parallel with the inferior Choose-your-own-Adventure books in the States (aside from TSR's
Hero Of Washington Square, which was unbelievably ace).
My first exposure to fantasy gaming was the computer game 'Adventure' on a neighbour's Radioshack computer. You know, the one where you type 'i' or 'inventory' to get a list of the items you are carrying, and one of the puzzles involves 'get cage' in order to catch a bird, which you then have to release to kill a snake, etc.
In my first year at seconday school, the FF gamebooks were doing the rounds. I went for Forest of Doom before picking up the other two that were out at the time. I devised my own Fighting Fantasy dungeon during the school holidays when the book Fighting Fantasy came out in 1984, and then a school friend called Frank introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons and Warhammer. From September 1984, for three years, four of us would meet up every Saturday to play Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer, Traveller, Judge Dredd, Golden Heroes, Paranoia and Battlecars, which I liked, or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons or Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, which I didn't.
We never got round to playing Runequest, which didn't look like fun to me anyway, or Call of Cthulhu, which did. Warhammer 40,000 barely existed at all back then, and Space Marine chapters certainly didn't.
My apotheosis was even more rapid than Usher's.
My family won an all-expenses week's holiday to London in a quiz (still remembered as the best thing that ever happened to us as a family). My Dad was always on the lookout for new and interesting books for us, and on the first day of our trip he bought me Warlock of Firetop Mountain in Foyle's, which was just out and being heavily promoted with cut-outs etc. To our astonishment, my brother and I were in our our own room in the Kensington Close hotel, and I sat up all night playing that book, and probably spent most of the successive days ignoring my surroundings. By the end of the week I had forced my Dad into buying the Basic D&D boxed set (purple box? Or was that expert?), which came with Keep on the Borderlands (in Hamley's no less, who had a whole D&D section at that point), and that was that - one week from never having heard of roleplaying to obsessive DM. I moved through three main gaming groups over the next ten years (and some shorter situational ones), initially with my brother and friends from my road (a single long running D&D game from Basic through Expert and into a bastardised version of Advanced), a larger rotating group of friends from school (where we played literally everything on Wednesdays and Saturdays), and eventually a group of friends from my first job, where I met both my future wife and my best man. Roleplaying's been good to me. But I could never warm to Warhammer.
I started out with D&D and cos of that I read the FF books. Here's a site dedicated to D&D stuff should have whatever D&D box you started with!
http://www.acaeum.com/
By the time I got into Dungeons & Dragons it was into its third edition - red box for Basic, navy for Expert, teal for Companion and black for Masters - I remember a time before the Companion and Masters rules came out. They just had bigger and badder monsters, and my friends and I had been managing quite happily with Basic and Expert up to that point. We could have managed without.
Warhammer (second edition) was really good fun when I was a teenager. Meagre funds were spread very thinly across just about every race in the Warhammer bestiary, so there were lots of units of two or three or six models; the only sizeable units were composed of models owned by up to four different people. Many hours were spent painting models while watching a black and white portable TV that was a wedding gift for my mother's second wedding or listening to Kate Bush, Eurythmics or Propaganda on a twin deck radio cassette player.
It took three years of practice and painting models naturalistically before I cracked it and started turning them out painted in a proper eye-catching style. I did some of my best work in the summer holidays after the 'O' level exams and before 'A' levels started and there was homework, girls and going out to compete for my time. When university came along, and then moving house ten times in 10 years, there were few windows of opportunity for painting models, but I took them and so did my partner who quite enjoys painting skaven and goblins herself. I still haven't had a proper game of Warhammer in about 20 years though. Maybe when/if I retire!
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 28 May, 2011, 11:37:49 AM
I started out with D&D and cos of that I read the FF books. Here's a site dedicated to D&D stuff should have whatever D&D box you started with!
http://www.acaeum.com/
Cheers Zarjazzer! Here's my baby (magenta, 2nd Revision, 8th Printing FWIW):
(http://index.rpg.net/pictures/show-water.phtml?picid=9859)
Incidentally, here's what diverts me RPG-wise now:
(http://blog.carnifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/HackMaster_basic.jpg)
Coincidence? ;)
That looks grand TordelBack. I knw there's a few "original" style D&D type games being produced,(though they're called summat else). I might give this a look. Lovely "inspired by" type illustration on the Hackmaster box! :)
Thanks for the info all. I never got into the tabletop role playing games myself, most exposure to Warhammer is in the last couple of years playing the online one, which was fun for a while but it's dying a bit now. Great fun though, especially all the greenskins, well funny. Oi oi oi!
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 28 May, 2011, 03:32:45 PM
Lovely "inspired by" type illustration on the Hackmaster box! :)
Best of all, it's actually by the original artist, the, errr, unique Erol Otus!
(Also responsible for the creepiest RPG illustrations ever made, for the
Alma Mater High School game (
NSFW! http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=11831 (http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=11831))).
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 May, 2011, 04:32:09 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 28 May, 2011, 03:32:45 PM
Lovely "inspired by" type illustration on the Hackmaster box! :)
Best of all, it's actually by the original artist, the, errr, unique Erol Otus!
(Also responsible for the creepiest RPG illustrations ever made, for the Alma Mater High School game (NSFW! http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=11831 (http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=11831))).
Show what I know! :-[ Blimey some of those Alma Maters pics are freaky!
Quote from: Jared Katooie on 27 May, 2011, 11:05:53 PM
Creature of Chaos is almost impossible to beat even if you DO cheat!
It's also one of the most bonkers FF gamebooks ever. You play as a hideous monster who can heal himself by eating the corpses of his enemies.
Yep, could never complete this one. Seem to recall the following book (Beneath Nightmare Castle) was really hard too.
The ninja ones were definitely the best. I have a vague recollection of the same guys doing a time-travelling sci-fi series, but can't remember the name.
There was a Fighting Fantasy book called Starship Traveller i think...
Quote from: Emp on 29 May, 2011, 12:36:13 AM
There was a Fighting Fantasy book called Starship Traveller i think...
That was also impossible to complete.
Quote from: The Cosh on 29 May, 2011, 12:33:36 AM
The ninja ones were definitely the best. I have a vague recollection of the same guys doing a time-travelling sci-fi series, but can't remember the name.
Falcon?
(http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic737455_md.jpg)
Some lovely design in the tech and the setup, but I don't think the games ever quite lived up to that promise.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://home.exetel.com.au/storage/falcon/Falcon%2520Map.png&imgrefurl=http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php%3F390565-Let-s-Play-Falcon-Agent-of-TIME&usg=__EzkGbMsk6PYJ87Mvau6iPfLo6fE=&h=322&w=514&sz=21&hl=en&start=18&sig2=0-F4QCOwzLtdLLRXZhkRbQ&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=nduLDIH60eRHyM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=131&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfalcon%2Bgamebook%2Btime%2Btravel%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbm%3Disch&ei=T8HhTZfYFtGJhQffn5zsBw (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://home.exetel.com.au/storage/falcon/Falcon%2520Map.png&imgrefurl=http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php%3F390565-Let-s-Play-Falcon-Agent-of-TIME&usg=__EzkGbMsk6PYJ87Mvau6iPfLo6fE=&h=322&w=514&sz=21&hl=en&start=18&sig2=0-F4QCOwzLtdLLRXZhkRbQ&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=nduLDIH60eRHyM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=131&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfalcon%2Bgamebook%2Btime%2Btravel%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbm%3Disch&ei=T8HhTZfYFtGJhQffn5zsBw)
Quote from: Misanthrope on 29 May, 2011, 01:36:32 AM
Quote from: Emp on 29 May, 2011, 12:36:13 AM
There was a Fighting Fantasy book called Starship Traveller i think...
That was also impossible to complete.
There was actually a route through Starship Traveller where you could complete the book without once needing to pick up a pair of dice. My older brother went to great pains to point that out to me.
Quote from: TordelBack on 29 May, 2011, 04:49:14 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 29 May, 2011, 12:33:36 AM
The ninja ones were definitely the best. I have a vague recollection of the same guys doing a time-travelling sci-fi series, but can't remember the name.
Falcon?
Some lovely design in the tech and the setup, but I don't think the games ever quite lived up to that promise.
That ship's totally Proteus.
I remember really liking them. The sci-fi setting stood out and, as with Way of the Tiger, the progression of the character and storyline intrigued the young Cosh. However, I also remember the series ending on a cliffhanger and, based on that thread, this wasn't the case.
Yeah the Falcon books were great and Agidy Yelov was a top villain. I also seem to recollect that the series wasn't completed - I'm sure there was a planned book that never appeared.
QuoteMy Dad was always on the lookout for new and interesting books for us, and on the first day of our trip he bought me Warlock of Firetop Mountain in Foyle's, which was just out and being heavily promoted with cut-outs etc
The first one I ever read was my brother's Warlock of Firetop Mountain too, in magazine form. The artwork made a profound impression on me and I still refer to it (in my mind at least) when designing murals, window paintings and the like - in fact I'm designing a mural for a cafe as we speak, which is full of goblins, lanterns and burning torches which I have just realised come from the WOFM.
(Fortunately the owner likes goblins too.)
Anyone remember the multi-player Riddling Reaver? Never played it, but it was a great read
This would be a grand idea to keep it like the books. Straight to Blue ray and have it as an interactive disc. At certain pivotal points of the adventure give you a choice which then play out same way as the book. If it works it could be a great new direction of film making.
Also if you didn't want this direction you have the option of watching the film as winning script intended with no interuptions.
V
Quote from: vzzbux on 30 May, 2011, 12:38:20 PM
This would be a grand idea to keep it like the books. Straight to Blue ray and have it as an interactive disc. At certain pivotal points of the adventure give you a choice which then play out same way as the book. If it works it could be a great new direction of film making.
Also if you didn't want this direction you have the option of watching the film as winning script intended with no interuptions.
V
Like it. As long as the fecking dice aren't involved.
Okay, heroes - here they are. I had some spare time on Sunday and managed to get into the cupboard. It involved lots of crawling through dust in the dark. My boot is now full of other stuff for the charity shop. I HOPE YOU PEOPLE ARE HAPPY NOW! ;)
As you can see, they've seen some use! Many have had the "keeping score" page written on in pencil, then rubbed out repeatedly. They are all well-thumbed, but that's the nature of these things. :)
(I know I could have PM'd people but it seems more fun to post pics that everyone can get a nostalgia kick out of.)
Usher has first dibs on these, the Fighting Fantasy books:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/king_trout/DSC02676.jpg)
Chris has first go at these mad ninja books:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/king_trout/DSC02678.jpg)
I also dug out the Sorcery books, mentioned above:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/king_trout/DSC02679.jpg)
I'd forgotten I had these Greek mythology-themed adventure books, which were pretty good, IIRC:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/king_trout/DSC02677.jpg)
I'd rather Ush or Chris took the Sorcery and Greekish ones, to simplify postage, but if they don't want them then anyone can have them.
As for their price, I haven't a clue. Suggestions or offers would be welcome. If it's not unrealistic, I'd like to get the cost of postage (which I'll find out when I know who wants what) and a bundle of comic bags or just something via Paypal.
Although I know I'll never get any use out of them again, I feel a little sad in parting with them. I hope you love them in a rare and tender way. :)
Cheers
- Trout
Now I think of it, I had Forest of Doom, too. That's the one where you could go back on yourself.
If it turns up, I'll post it, but it's doubtful that it will before I move house. Maybe it's long gone.
Bloodfeud of Altheus! There's one I'd completely forgotten, and no longer own. I won't trouble our King with the horrors of overseas postage by even making a request, but wow, that brings back some good memories. And I never even saw the slipcase set of Sorcery. Thanks for the nostalgia!
EDIT: I have now resolved to play WoFTM with the Boy. He's old enough to learn how to fudge rolls.
Quote from: TordelBack on 30 May, 2011, 02:02:49 PM
the slipcase set of Sorcery.
I still recall the thrill of unwrapping that one. Thanks, Santa!
But the damn box was always a pain. It's as tight as a gnat's chuff!
Nice one Trouty. I too had completely forgotten those Greek ones but I definitely had the first book.
One question. Where's the Sorcery spell book in that set?
Quote from: The Cosh on 30 May, 2011, 05:04:48 PM
Nice one Trouty. I too had completely forgotten those Greek ones but I definitely had the first book.
One question. Where's the Sorcery spell book in that set?
'Twas included in the back in the second editions - the ones with the orange spines (which Trouty has - recipe for cheating, I calls it). Only the first editions had the separate spellbook - my copy of
Shamutanti Hills came in neat slipcase with the Spellbook, cool as feck it was.
Thanks, Tordel. The books are at least eight feet away across the room and I was working up to getting them. :D
- Trout
Deathtrap Dungeon was the first one I bought - one wet holiday in Brean - must have been 1984? From there, all geekness followed. I mean, I liked 2000AD, but that was about the extent of my geekdom before that darned book!
Sorcery are just brilliant - John Blanche can do no wrong in them there books.
I think my trajectory of interest followed HOUs... I suspect the farming out of the books to other writers made them all a bit inconsistent in tone, and the art dived somewhat with notable exceptions in the 10-20+ range i recall, leadiWng me to move on - Lone Wolf lasted a but longer I think in my affections, given one writer and a couple of good artists
Wow, looking at the photos of those covers just brought back a surge of geeky delight. I carbooted my 20+ FF books years ago, and of course now wish I hadn't - if only for hte illustrations. I have very fond memories of Russ Nicholson's dazzling linework in particular.
Here's the blog for Russ Nicholson:
Blast! This link should have been in this last post:
http://russnicholson.blogspot.com/
You guys know the a lot Fighting Fantasy books were rereleased twice in the last few years, with some new additions?
http://www.fightingfantasy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=9
The Advance Fighting Fantasy rulebooks have just been rereleased too:
http://shop.cubicle7store.com/epages/es113347.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es113347_shop/Categories/Advanced_Fighting_Fantasy
And the Lone Wolf gamebooks have got rereleased & revised (storywise) in hardback deluxe format and a roleplaying game has been released too:
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/series.php?qsSeries=24
So there's a bit of interest in this stuff still...
I've just ordered the re-released Deathtrap Dungeon book from Amazon off the back of all this nostalgia.
It was only three pounds and change. Me and my lad are going to enjoy playing through it together.
citidal of chaos was pretty arsom
perhaps a dvd feature could be incorporated with the forward and back button in regard what choice you took?!
think i saw a homage in the simpsons or was it family guy recently - where the protagonist protested that had still had his finger on the page and could therefore choose the other option
If you thought "That joke would have been funny if they'd stopped hammering it into the ground ten minutes ago" then you were watching Family Guy.
If you thought "That joke would have been funny five years ago" then you were watching The Simpsons.
Glad you are all interested in the Deathtrap Dungeon movie - I wrote the screenplay!
I met Ian Livingstone a few years ago, and suggested that Warlock of Firetop Mountain would make a great movie, but he said Deathtrap Dungeon was his favourite and I should write that.
So I did. I took two years, and Ian L was quite heavily involved, we finally got a script we were happy with - that combines Deathtrap and Trail of the Champions as well, as they were both set in the Dungeon, (a fighting fantasy book isn't actually that long, when you write it out properly), and took it to a few production companies until Mark Holdom got it, read it, liked it, and did an option.
I've tried very hard to make it faithful to the books and interesting to the fans, I love the books, so really want it to be very cool and a success, hoepfully they will get a decent director in who has a clue.
I just finished directing my feature film DEATH - which has a cameo from Ian Livingstone (playing Derek the postman) and the illustrations for the animation were done by Russ Nicholson.
Hopefully if DEATH or Deathtrap Dungeon are a success then Rebellion might let me do the Bad Company movie, that I wrote the screenplay for back in 2008! It's all there sitting in the hard drive waiting for them to let me do something with the rights. Maybe if Dredd is a success then something will happen with lots of 2000AD related stories.
Check out the trailer for DEATH here - http://vimeo.com/22618055
and a bit about the Deathtrap Dungeon screenplay here - http://www.martingooch.com/screenwriting.html
Yay! Always up for a bit of FF. All mine have gone to my eldest- who absolutely loves them, and plays them with the same healthy disrespect for the rules, and lack of dice, as I did. Deathtrap Dungeon is one of his favourites, so I will tell him the news of the movie later.
The Sorcery set was always my favourite. Especially Khare, Cityport of Traps. Groovy!
SBT
@Goochoid.
Will you be doing an interactive Blue Ray so you can play it out like one of the books, ie filming extra bits for failed choices?
V
Quote from: King Trout on 30 May, 2011, 01:44:41 PM
Now I think of it, I had Forest of Doom, too. That's the one where you could go back on yourself.
SCORPION SWAMP, surely?
Ah, it may have been. Thanks, EP.
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 24 June, 2011, 06:49:56 PM
Quote from: King Trout on 30 May, 2011, 01:44:41 PM
Now I think of it, I had Forest of Doom, too. That's the one where you could go back on yourself.
SCORPION SWAMP, surely?
Not necessarily, because at the end of Forest Of Doom I seem to remember if you hadn't completed it properly, you had to walk back around the outskirts of the forest and begin again from section 1.
@Vuzzbux-
At the moment it is a stright forward movie - like anything you see in the cinema. But when it gets to DVD/Blue ray I hope there will be about 4 alternate endings, which will cover the last 15 mins of the movie or so, But it's still a while away for even pre-production and anything can happen.
We considered making two films - following two different adventurers through the dungeon, and you could chose who you followed and flip between then, but the problem is you have to shoot twice as much footage and thus your budget skyrockets.
After King Trout was kind enough to do me a swap for some Fighting Fantasy game books I find I have spare copies of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and Citadel of Chaos. If anyone would like to have my spares, gratis and postage free, please stake your claim in a reply on this thread and send me your address in a private message.
I always liked the Grail Quest series written by JH Brennan and illustrated by the one and only John Higgins.
House of Usher, I'm interested.
Quote from: Emp on 02 July, 2011, 04:43:21 PM
I always liked the Grail Quest series written by JH Brennan and illustrated by the one and only John Higgins.
Yes, they were masterpieces of the genre. I regularly used to try and play through them entirely honestly, one after the other without getting killed. I never manged it. I also liked Brennan's Fire*Wolf gamebooks despite the insane system, and a few years ago I picked up a copy of his roleplaying game,
Monster Horror Show. That was bonkers, too.
Regards
Robin
A quick wiki check shows Mr brennan to be a little bit out there....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.H._Brennan
Quote from: Robin Low on 02 July, 2011, 06:24:21 PM
Quote from: Emp on 02 July, 2011, 04:43:21 PM
I always liked the Grail Quest series written by JH Brennan and illustrated by the one and only John Higgins.
Yes, they were masterpieces of the genre. I regularly used to try and play through them entirely honestly, one after the other without getting killed. I never manged it. I also liked Brennan's Fire*Wolf gamebooks despite the insane system, and a few years ago I picked up a copy of his roleplaying game, Monster Horror Show. That was bonkers, too.
Regards
Robin
Ah yes, I remember owning Monster Horror Show, but don't have any memories of it whatsoever. How bizarre. Didn't J.H.Brennan also do a couple of Dracula / Frankenstein books too?
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 02 July, 2011, 05:50:13 PM
House of Usher, I'm interested.
That's that one sorted out then. Please send me a personal message with your address and I'll sort it out in the fullness of time. May take me a week.
Quote from: House of Usher on 02 July, 2011, 09:16:51 PM
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 02 July, 2011, 05:50:13 PM
House of Usher, I'm interested.
That's that one sorted out then. Please send me a personal message with your address and I'll sort it out in the fullness of time. May take me a week.
If he changes his mind I will take second dibs.
V
I'll PM you on either Monday or Tuesday if you don't mind!!!