Support NeoGAF

[felipepepe]

Shadows over Rivia will be mentioned on the Star Trail review. I love the Realms of Arkania games, and already made Blade of Destiny and Star Trail different reviews, but giving a separate review for each game is a bit too much...

All due this annoying pagecount limit. The Mass Effect trilogy is especially a challenge, it's "too big" to be bundled on a single review, yet too similar to deserve a separate review for each game. Still unsure how to proceed here.

 

[Lucumo]

Subscribed.

I would be interested in a paperback copy of this.

I am definitely as well. Would probably cost some, as it's quite a lot of pages and screenshots in color but eh, if it's worth it...

 

[felipepepe]

Would probably cost some, as it's quite a lot of pages and screenshots in color but eh, if it's worth it...

You would be surprised. The project is non-profit, so the book will be sold at cost-price.

I'm still working on this front, but if all goes well we're talking of a colored 480-page paperback for about $25-30. And that's printed on-demand via Amazon. If I could make a deal with a publisher & print something like 5000 copies at once, it would cost about $15 each.

 

[Bl@de]

You would be surprised. The project is non-profit, so the book will be sold at cost-price.

I'm still working on this front, but if all goes well we're talking of a colored 480-page paperback for about $25-30. And that's printed on-demand via Amazon. If I could make a deal with a publisher & print something like 5000 copies at once, it would cost about $15 each.

I would definetly get one. the preview is already very good and the finished book would be the definite crpg compendium.

 

[ParityBit]

You would be surprised. The project is non-profit, so the book will be sold at cost-price.

I'm still working on this front, but if all goes well we're talking of a colored 480-page paperback for about $25-30. And that's printed on-demand via Amazon. If I could make a deal with a publisher & print something like 5000 copies at once, it would cost about $15 each.

I would back this!

 

[Lucumo]

You would be surprised. The project is non-profit, so the book will be sold at cost-price.

I'm still working on this front, but if all goes well we're talking of a colored 480-page paperback for about $25-30. And that's printed on-demand via Amazon. If I could make a deal with a publisher & print something like 5000 copies at once, it would cost about $15 each.

That would be super cheap. Even the HCG 101 books cost more and they have less content.
What about spelling and grammar? Will you check that all? That's always a concern and something that bothers me. I wouldn't mind paying more to help with quality-control.

 

[Sanctuary]

Was browsing through your top 70 list, and I don't know why Dark Souls is being listed as a cRPG, unless by cRPG you don't really mean PC specific/styled RPGs and are counting ports too. I also agree with Bubbles, that it's more of an action game than RPG. But it does have that sense of exploration and atmosphere you find almost exclusively in an RPG.

edit: finished the list, and it obviously is not all about just cRPGs.

 

[FrontalMonk]

Man. I just killed an hour reading the preview (reading some reviews, skimming others). This looks fantastic. I am mega excited for the completed tome.

 

[felipepepe]

Yes, there will be a strong spellchecking effort at the end, I might even get a paid pro for that, but I hope we can solve it just with volunteers. No one is getting a cent for their contributions, paying just one guy feels weird...

 

[Joseph Merrick]

jesus, this is beautiful

Was browsing through your top 70 list, and I don't know why Dark Souls is being listed as a cRPG, unless by cRPG you don't really mean PC specific/styled RPGs and are counting ports too. I also agree with Bubbles, that it's more of an action game than RPG. But it does have that sense of exploration and atmosphere you find almost exclusively in an RPG. edit: finished the list, and it obviously is not all about just cRPGs.

crpg as opposed to rpg, the not video game kind.

 

[Sanctuary]

jesus, this is beautiful


crpg as opposed to rpg, the not video game kind.

I'm not sure how many people reading this thread would be confused that they are talking about PnP RPGs or even LARPing. Usually cRPG is used when talking specifically about exclusive PC RPGs that typically play very different to a console specific RPG. In this case though, it's mostly made up of cRPGs, but also has a handful of console ports. Not a big deal, but I was simply expecting to see nothing but cRPGs. Regardless, it was a good list. Wasn't surprised at all with their top five though.

 

[Durante]

All due this annoying pagecount limit. The Mass Effect trilogy is especially a challenge, it's "too big" to be bundled on a single review, yet too similar to deserve a separate review for each game. Still unsure how to proceed here.

Make it one review for the RPG (ME1) and one for the TBS (ME2/3)
Joking of course, but I do feel like 2 and 3 are more similar to each other than to 1, so it would make sense to group them.

 

[Lord Panda]

Great project and I'd love a physical copy too. Please dedicate an entire chapter to Ultima. And another chapter just to Ultima VII; there are aspects of that game that has yet to be surpassed.

I'm half-joking ...

 

[Fugu]

Yes, there will be a strong spellchecking effort at the end, I might even get a paid pro for that, but I hope we can solve it just with volunteers. No one is getting a cent for their contributions, paying just one guy feels weird...

This topic is of great interest to me. PM me if you decide to go the volunteer route; I can contribute a fair bit of my time seeing as I'm probably going to be reading the whole damn thing anyway.

EDIT: I'd also be interested in doing some reviews but I've a feeling based on the thread date that this ship may have already sailed.

 

[FACE]

Make it one review for the RPG (ME1) and one for the TBS (ME2/3)
Joking of course, but I do feel like 2 and 3 are more similar to each other than to 1, so it would make sense to group them.

Or he could just include a ME1 review and skip the rest, after all this is a book about RPGs

 

[ricki42]

Very nice project! I was impressed to see a Phantasie review, played Phantasie III on the Amiga and never heard about it again.

Make it one review for the RPG (ME1) and one for the TBS (ME2/3)
Joking of course, but I do feel like 2 and 3 are more similar to each other than to 1, so it would make sense to group them.

Well I certainly I hope you are joking, if ME2/3 were turn-based strategy I was playing them wrong.

 

[felipepepe]

Usually cRPG is used when talking specifically about exclusive PC RPGs that typically play very different to a console specific RPG. In this case though, it's mostly made up of cRPGs, but also has a handful of console ports. Not a big deal, but I was simply expecting to see nothing but cRPGs

Some people do follow this line of though nowadays, but the term began back in 80's to differentiate electronic RPGs from pen & paper titles. That's the way I'm using it.

Besides, I personally think that dividing RPGs as PC-or-Console style doesn't mean much. Take something like The Elder Scrolls series. It began on the PC, then became a multi-platform title, and the biggest transformation was in the UI, the rest of the game still plays pretty much the same (although streamlined, but I don't think we should blame consoles as much as Bethesda for that).

Even back in the 80's, Dragon Quest I, the quintessential console JRPG, was a mix of Wizardry & Ultima, that played very similarly to Phantasie - all PC-exclusives. Severance is a grand-father to Dark Souls and it's a PC exclusive, as were Die-by-the-Sword, Anachronox, Septerra Core, Silver, Soulbringer and many other games one could say "belong in a console".

So yeah, as long as one can play it on a PC - console emulators aside -, it's eligible for the book.

EDIT: I'd also be interested in doing some reviews but I've a feeling based on the thread date that this ship may have already sailed.

No, we still need volunteers! About 20% of the reviews are still unassigned, and we definitely need more writers! Here's our list of games that need reviews:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1t-49SyrsdP0M5re68sDH9cB2MrPqVKwQQiFF_54VibI/edit#gid=0

If you're interested in any, please e-mail me at crpgbook@gmail.com

 

[BigWeather]

I don't know if this qualifies me in any way, but I played Telengard on my C=64 as a kid and still have the box, cassette, and instructions. Hate to see it not getting any love, if no one else wants it I can snarf it up. About how many words for a one-pager? What is the deadline? Are you supplying the screenshots and title banner or is the contributor responsible for that? Did you want pics of the packaging or anything?

 

[discoalucard]

You would be surprised. The project is non-profit, so the book will be sold at cost-price.

I'm still working on this front, but if all goes well we're talking of a colored 480-page paperback for about $25-30. And that's printed on-demand via Amazon. If I could make a deal with a publisher & print something like 5000 copies at once, it would cost about $15 each.

If you're using Createspace though, the cheapest you can sell a 480 page color book on Amazon is about $58. (based off here):

https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/

You can price it at about $43 to have it sold directly through their eStore, but this is not a great option.

Amazon will usually discount books published through Createspace though. It can be anywhere from 5% to 40%, though it fluctuates day by day for seemingly arbitrary reasons.

 

[felipepepe]

Awesome, the preview had 10,000 downloads in less than a week, without any support from the gaming press!

I don't know if this qualifies me in any way, but I played Telengard on my C=64 as a kid and still have the box, cassette, and instructions. Hate to see it not getting any love, if no one else wants it I can snarf it up. About how many words for a one-pager? What is the deadline? Are you supplying the screenshots and title banner or is the contributor responsible for that? Did you want pics of the packaging or anything?

Have you played it recently? I'm sure you understand, I cannot accept reviews written purely on nostalgia.

Otherwise, a one-page review has about 2500 characters, and it would be nice to get int in a month or so. You can send the screenshots (in .png, please), but I can capture them myself as well. And no need for package pics, I already have those (and Telengard's art is awesome!)

Telengard has one particularity as well: the fight over it being a dnd (a PLATO game) ripoff or not. Might be interesting to mention that on the review, but I can edit that in if you prefer.

If you're using Createspace though, the cheapest you can sell a 480 page color book on Amazon is about $58. (based off here):

https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/

You can price it at about $43 to have it sold directly through their eStore, but this is not a great option.

Amazon will usually discount books published through Createspace though. It can be anywhere from 5% to 40%, though it fluctuates day by day for seemingly arbitrary reasons.

Weird, you are right... I'm at my parent's house for the holidays, so I can't check my files on this, but I will do so when I get back. Maybe I mistook it with IngramSpark or something like that.

 

[felipepepe]

Yeah, I'm back home now, I had mistaken the prices with IngramSpark.

Anyway, the physical copy is a matter for when the e-book is ready. I already got two offers from small publishers willing to print the book, maybe I can get a better deal when the book is ready.

Also, good news everyone, I got in contact with the guys from TSI (former SSI employees) and they agreed to answer a small interview and offer some comments on the design & development process of many SSI RPGs.

 

[mhznet]

So is this project still going on?
What's up with the lack of updates?
Thanks.

 

[JSoup]

So is this project still going on?
What's up with the lack of updates?
Thanks.

At a cursory glance, felipepepe has been banned. That would probably stem the flow of updates pretty well.

Aside, are all of you aware of The CRPG Addict blog? It's this book, but free and by someone who isn't trying to cash in on other work.
http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/

 

[FlyingSaucer]

He has been banned over the Neogaf essential RPG quarrel, if I remember correctly

You can follow him up on twitter, too. He keeps on regularly posting new reviews for his book when they are ready. Always an interesting read.

 

[Overside]

I know this name.

Hes the gaming history guy. Read his stuff on Gamasutra whenever I can find it.

Ah and hes been banned. All righty then.

 

[nonadventurer]

A shame he was banned, but you can also follow his updates over at https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

I'm hoping Felipe Pepe's allowed back in supposing the misunderstanding over language is clarified and then unrepeated. Didn't seem like he needed to be perm'd (supposing that's happened) over using another forum's lingo.

Anyway, the book's still in progress no matter what's happened here.

 

[hemtae]

The preview hit 20,000 downloads

 

[hemtae]

Update 6: The many news of April

First, the book’s preview is now over 30.000 downloads! That’s almost as many people as the population of the town I grew up, which is quite scary.

Second, I expanded the “Hot Ratios” post I wrote last year into a full fledged article at Gamasutra. The article was very well received (Ron Gilbert even retweeted it!) and I hope more people become aware of the issue of non-square pixel aspect ratios and learn a few tips on how to solve it.

Third, I’m almost finished with the 20 pages of gaming history that will serve as chapter division, splitting the reviews in intervals of five years: 1974-1979, 1980-1984, 1985-1989, and so on… These will give some context as to what was going on at the time, pointing out key events (and not just console releases).

 

[Aselith]

He has been banned over the Neogaf essential RPG quarrel, if I remember correctly

You can follow him up on twitter, too. He keeps on regularly posting new reviews for his book when they are ready. Always an interesting read.

More likely for this: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=147143567&highlight=#post147143567

 

[hemtae]

Update 7: Alpha release 2 – The 200-page preview

It took a lot longer than it should but here it is, the CRPG Book Project 200-page preview:

CRPG Book Preview 2.1

Articles:

Beneath the Apple Manor - Scorpia
Ultima - Richard Mitchell
Moria - Maciej Miszczyk
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar - Scorpia
The Bard's Tale - Robert Bailey
Alternate Reality: The City - Guilherme De Sousa
Phantasie - Brian Stratton
Defender of the Crown - Richard Mitchell
Rings of Zilfin - Felipe Pepe
Deathlord - Crooked Bee
Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna - Crooked Bee
Dungeon Master - Octavius
Zeliard - Jörn Grote
Neuromancer - Reggie Carolipio
Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny - Ian Frazier
Wasteland - Chris Avellone
Hillsfar - Christopher Ables
Castle of the WInds - Andre Stenhouse
Ultima VI: The False Prophet - Kenneth Kully
Eye of the Beholder - Árni Vikingur
Moonstone: A Hard Day's Knight - Rob Taylor
Legend - Mathias Haaf
FATE: Gates of Dawn - Scrooge
Might & Magic: World of Xeen - Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Ishar: Legend of the Fortress - Thomas Ribault
Star Control 2 - Tim Cain
Darklands - Hannah and Joe Williams
Shadowlands - Ferhergón
Veil of Darkness - Thomas Ribault
Bloodnet - Thomas Ribault
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - Branislav Mikulka
Princess Maker 2 - James McDermott
Lands of Lore: Throne of Chaos - Reggie Carolipio
Dungeon Hack - Richard Mitchell
X-COM: UFO Defense - Garfunkel
Ultima VIII: Pagan - Casiel Raegis
The Elder Scrolls I: Arena - Reggie Carolipio
Ravenloft: Stone Prophet - Daniel D'Agostino
Witchaven - Nicole "Jaz" Schuhmacher
Entomorph: Plague of the Darkfall - Felipe Pepe
Albion - Frank "HiddenX" Wecke
Diablo - SniperHF
Lands of Lore 2: Guardians of Destiny Felipe Pepe
An Elder Scrolls Legend: Batlespire - Nicole "Jaz" Schuhmacher
King's Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity - Felipe Pepe
Gorky 17 - (MA)
Jagged Alliance 2 - Shanga@Bearpit
Ultima IX: Ascension - Kenneth Kully
Silver - Arkadiusz Makieła
Final Fantasy VIII - Felipe Pepe
System Shock 2 - Nicolas Hennemann
DIablo 2 - Grant Torre
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn - Suzie Ng
Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption - Thomas Ribault
Soulbringer - Vadim Keilin
Grandia II - Felipe Pepe
Gothic - Darth Roxor
Severance: Blade of Darkness - Thomas Ribault
Geneforge - Blobert
Divine Divinity - Darth Roxor
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - George Weidman
Prince of Qin - Deuce Traveler
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obsura - James McDermott
Fable - Felipe Pepe
Space Rangers 2: Dominators - Deuce Traveler
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines - Werner Spahl
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup - Maciej Miszczyk
Titan Quest - Ivan Mitrović
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - Geo Ashton
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale - Felipe Pepe
The Witcher - Wojtek "Micro Selva" Misiurka
7.62 High Caliber - Silver Girl
Eschalon: Book 1 - Árni Víkingur
Fortune Summoners: Secret of the Elemental Stone - Crooked Bee
Barkley: Shut up and Jam! - Gaiden - Grant Torre
Mount & Blade - B. White "MrNovanova"
Divinity II: Ego Draconis - Felipe Pepe
Venetica - Felipe Pepe
Yumina: The Ethereal - Felipe Pepe
Cthulhu Saves the World - (GR)
Marauder - Felipe Pepe
Alpha Protocol - Gabor "J_C" Domjan
Fallout: New Vegas - George Weidman
Mass Effect 2 - Grant Torre
Dungeons of Dredmor - Jack "Highwang" Ragasa
Frayed Knights: The Skull of S'makh-Daon - Deuce Traveler
E.Y.E Divinie Cybermancy - Darth Roxor
Dark Souls - Durante
The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings - Wojtek "Mico Selva" Misiurka
Magical Diary - Felipe Pepe
Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten - Ryan Ridlen
Legend of Grimrock - Árni Víkingur
Paper Sorcerer - (CV)
Banner Saga - Ryan Ridlen
NEO Scavenger - Felipe Pepe

The Legend of the Sword and the Fairy - Nostaljaded
Generation Xth: Code Hazard - Felipe Pepe
Labyrinth of Touhou - Crooked Bee

SSI - Reggie Carolipio
Sir-Tech - Reggie Carolipio
Origin - Reggie Carolipio
New World Computing - Reggie Carolipio
Interplay - Reggie Carolipio
Westwood Studios - Reggie Carolipio
FTL - Reggie Carolipio
Looking Glass Studios - Reggie Carolipio
Ion Storm -
Troika - Reggie Carolipio

 

[Arulan]

Update 7: Alpha release 2 – The 200-page preview

Looks like it's coming together quite nicely.

 

[hemtae]

Update 8: I really should keep these monthly…

So, it has been 2 months since the last update… that went fast.

The second preview didn’t get as much press as the first one, but apparently hosting it on a direct link made it easier to share, since it surpassed the first preview, with almost 40k downloads!

I’m working on reviews of a few big games right now and finishing the timeline, but there isn’t much to show besides the reviews I post twitter. Overall, we’ve been doing steady progress.

To help promote the book and share some interesting stories I recently began a series of articles on Gamasutra titled “CRPG History Abridged”, where I list and not-so-briefly describe a handful of lesser-known titles. I wrote two of those so far, covering 33 RPGs:

CRPG History Abridged – 21 RPGs that brought something new to the table

CRPG History Abridged II – 12 more RPGs that brought something new to the table

 

[hemtae]

Update 9 – One year anniversary + Video

I couldn’t believe when the wordpress pop-up appeared, but it’s been a year since I began this blog – and 18 months since I began the whole CRPG Book Project. To think I first expected to finish it all in just 6 months… heh. But the project is so much better now and so many cool things happened that I wouldn’t want it any other way.

The big news I hoped to share this month aren’t ready yet, but these days I’ve managed to recruit some great new contributors, such as the man behind the excellent Ludo Lense youtube channel, the journalists Richard Cobbett and GB ‘Doc’ Burford, plus Internet Archive’s Jason Scott, who kindly agreed to write an article on video-game preservation.

 

[hooijdonk17]

If this ever gets finished and has a hardcover printing, I'll grab a copy.

 

[hemtae]

Update 10 – Welcome to the machines

Another month, another update! Some may have noticed that I’ve posted few reviews this past month on my twitter account. There are two reasons for that:

First, it was a busy month. I’m a freelance video-editor & teacher, so my routine changes a lot. Some weeks I mostly derp around & work on the book (awesome!), while others I endure crazy work hours in the basement of evil ad agencies (not awesome!). This month was mostly the later. Brazil is in a tough economical crisis and I’m in no position to refute work. :/

Second, I’m focusing now on a different part of the book: the hardware section!

To us who grew up with these machines, things like a floppy disks, VGA/EGA and MS-DOS are fairly obvious. But those under 20 certainly don’t feel the same. So if we want to talk about old games, I think it’s important to also talk about the computers in which those were played, showing some machines, screenshots, specs and that yes, games where sold in cassette tapes.

It’s tough work. Consoles are easily divided into 8 generations and are mostly constant trough their life-time. Explaining the Apple II family or what the hell is an IBM-Compatible isn’t as easy, and I have to avoid long rants on things like MIDI cards and AdLib, but we’re getting there…

 

[hooijdonk17]

Dude.. I'm so getting this book...

 

[Lucumo]

Yay, I love reading about hardware. Can't wait to buy the finished product.

 

[Arulan]

Merry Christmas! A new 300-page preview has been released!

 

[socksfelloff]

Love the preview. Count me in for a physical copy!

 

[Jotaka]

Amazing work!!!

 

[Durante]

It's really coming together nicely. A work for the ages.

 

[Radnom]

This is fantastic, I'd definitely be keen to buy a physical copy.

 

[Purkake4]

Wow, just ran across this on Reddit, really good job. Hope this bring more players and developers to the subgenre.

 

[Durante]

Looking at this December I do wonder if the project will run into the issue of having the frequency of CRPG releases outpace the frequency of review submissions.

Not the worst problem to have though

 

[thecrpgbook]

New release is out, now with 350 pages and over 200 reviews: https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/2016/06/08/update-14-the-fourth-release/

Download here: https://crpgbook.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/crpg_book_preview_4a.pdf

Looking at this December I do wonder if the project will run into the issue of having the frequency of CRPG releases outpace the frequency of review submissions.

The real "problem" comes from the massive wave of JRPGs being ported to PCs... when we began this, Final Fantasy VII and VIII were the only games with PC versions... now almost all of them have.

But I agree, it's not a bad problem to have.

 

[Phediuk]

Fuuuuuuuck, awesome.

 

[Purkake4]

Awesome!

 

[disappeared]

For what it's worth, and it's probably a very late request, but I would love to write an article on the original Quest for Glory/Hero's Quest sometime. If there's room I'd love to take a stab at a write-up.

 

[thecrpgbook]

For what it's worth, and it's probably a very late request, but I would love to write an article on the original Quest for Glory/Hero's Quest sometime. If there's room I'd love to take a stab at a write-up.

Sorry, but RPS's Richard Cobbett already did it: