• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

I'm working on a free book about every CRPG [Up: Open call for reviews]

A

Arulan

Member
http://crpgbook.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/update-1-waving-to-each-other/

Wow, it has been a month already since I last posted here… I kind of get why kickstarter projects have such a hard time posting regular updates. Can’t really blame them.

Anyway, a lot of things happened in this past weeks. It has been hard to get big websites to cover the project, so I decided to do it myself and wrote an article on Gamasutra about the current (sad) state of video-game history and my work on the book.

It payed off really well, I got a lot of good feedback from that, reposts in various websites, over 2500 visits to the blog over the month and e-mails from developers willing to take part in the project and give interviews. A guy even translated the whole article to Spanish. Es un honor!

If you’re interested in nerd talk with a Brazilian accent, I also gave an interview about the project to Jeremy Smith of General Protection Fault, a US radio show about technology & games.

Thanks to those, about 30 more games have been assigned and 23 new reviews were delivered, meaning we now have 70% of the game assigned. The list of games to be featured on the book also had new additions, with the release of the amazing Legend of Grimrock II and the announcement of PC ports for the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy and Valkyrie Chronicles. What a great time to be a CRPG fan!

Last, but not least, there’s one specific interview being arranged that I’m really excited for. I won’t spoil it yet, but it’s with a huge Wizardry & Ultima fan… from Japan. ;)
Click to expand...

Yes it is.

You're doing great work, and I hope finishing what is left goes smoothly. It will be great to have the history of CRPGs remembered like this.
 
F

felipepepe

Banned
Got some new stuff to show, such as this Ultima V review from Ian S. Frazier, aka Lead Designer on Mass Effect 4:

5FspwHJ.jpg


And this one from Scorpia on Beneath Apple Manor, one of the first comercial RPGs ever and a pre-Rogue Rogue-like:

ReAHMfU.jpg


Also posted some new stuff on the blog, including a list of 15 CRPGs that were canceled: https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/wish-you-were-here-15-crpgs-that-never-made-it/

And I'm still looking for volunteers for some games... amazing how not a single soul wants to write about Fallout 3. :p
 
D

Durante

Member
felipepepe said:
Got some new stuff to show, such as this Ultima V review from Ian S. Frazier, aka Lead Designer on Mass Effect 4:
Click to expand...
Oh, I didn't know that. Maybe ME4 will be decent!

Edit: just read the blog post, really fascinating. I never even heard of Ultima VIII: The Lost Vale.
 
F

felipepepe

Banned
Durante said:
I do hope you have a higher-res version of the cover, bad first impression ;)
Click to expand...
That won't be the final cover, an artist that worked on King of Dragon Pass has volunteered to make a proper art. ;)

But yeah, I should have encoded the whole .pdf in higher resolution...
 
F

felipepepe

Banned
Dizzy-4U said:
Wow, really impressive stuff. I'd buy a hard copy of that in a heartbeat. Good job felipepepe.
Click to expand...
Thanks. :)

But I also want/need criticism, so please guys, tell me all that sucks so I can fix it. And don't worry, I have a thick skin - unless you call me ugly. ;)
 
Risible

Risible

Member
Thanks for keeping the thread updated! Looking good. I'll try and review it and give you any thoughts or criticisms that come to mind.
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
felipepepe said:
And here's a 100-page preview .pdf: https://www.mediafire.com/?66nybfqbxfn3p2g

Hope you guys enjoy, happy holidays!
Click to expand...

"I'll give it a quick look."
I'm stopping almost two hours later after reading essentially the whole thing.

negativeman.png


What a nostalgia trip. There are a bunch of absolutely unjustifiable absents you'll definitely need to put it, by the way. But I'm guessing you already know it and that's just part of this being work in progress.
 
DJ_Lae

DJ_Lae

Member
Pretty damn cool so far - still have a ways to go, though, I'm only about 10 pages in. I'm totally dumping it onto my ereader for later.
 
F

felipepepe

Banned
TucoBenedictoPacifico said:
"I'll give it a quick look."
I'm stopping almost two hours later after reading essentially the whole thing.

negativeman.png


What a nostalgia trip. There are a bunch of absolutely unjustifiable absents you'll definitely need to put it, by the way. But I'm guessing you already know it and that's just part of this being work in progress.
Click to expand...
What you mean? This is a preview, only 36 reviews - the full book will have 300.

Or are you saying that the full list also has absolutely unjustifiable absents? D:
 
A

aScaris

Member
Wow, thats a huge and impressive project! The preview looks great, too! Best of luck and when you are finished look into a paperback release :p
 
K

kiyoaki

Member
This looks really good. I subscribed to this thread and will keep an eye out for the book. You might want to consider releasing a single-page version of the preview PDF for easier reading especially on tablets.
 
V

ViciousDS

Banned
omg....this is utterly amazing,

I would gladly pay to possibly get a hardcover book of this....if not at least a giant paperback,
 
A

aravuus

Member
Quickly skimmed through and while there aren't that many games I've actually played myself (due to the chronological order), I can't wait to read the whole thing

Fantastic work so far dude, I would definitely pay money for the final version
 
H

hooijdonk17

Member
This guy should have already won his thread creation previleges as far as I'm concerned. Hell, take mine and give them to him.
Don't :(
 
G

Gunsmithx

Member
Only had time too look over like 20 pages or so(and counting) but man this is something else. Can't wait to have a printed copy at some point. I'm sure it's been said a bunch but this is an amazing project and looks fantastic so far.
 
F

felipepepe

Banned
Dragoon En Regalia said:
Going to concur with the others: this preview is great! It has the articles + a good variety of reviews to show off the different writers' entries.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I tried to keep it varied not only in the author's style, but also in the games we cover. So we go from Moria to Mass Effect 2, from Puzzle Quest to Magical Diary, from X-COM to Grimrock.

However, I'm seeing too many praises and not a single criticism... come at me bros, give me some help on how to improve this. ;)
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
felipepepe said:
Thanks, I tried to keep it varied not only in the author's style, but also in the games we cover. So we go from Moria to Mass Effect 2, from Puzzle Quest to Magical Diary, from X-COM to Grimrock.

However, I'm seeing too many praises and not a single criticism... come at me bros, give me some help on how to improve this. ;)
Click to expand...
If you want some criticism, here it is: judging by the preview I have to admit reading this was a heartwarming look back, but most of those "reviews" aren't particularly informative about the games they are talking about.
They read more like "I'll speak briefly of an old game I was fond of". Then again, I guessed that was more or less the point.
 
H

hooijdonk17

Member
If you need writeups for any Amiga/PC RPG from the 90s, shoot me an email, and chances are I played it and can submit for the book.
 
D

Durante

Member
felipepepe said:
However, I'm seeing too many praises and not a single criticism... come at me bros, give me some help on how to improve this. ;)
Click to expand...
Well, in the "Welcome" part you have three "l"s in "they’lll" ;)
On a more serious note, it is my feeling that you shouldn't use too many contractions in writing something like this, which is a point that applies throughout the entire book. I've just spent a bit of time investigating this topic, and it seems to be debated somewhat heavily though.
 
F

felipepepe

Banned
OMG, I'm busting my ass to do something free here, and you guys do is criticize! D:

Ok, now seriously. Yeah Tuco, I would love to feature RPG Codex-like detailed reviews, but there's just not enough room, especially on the one-page reviews. So the best I can do is explain more or less how the game is, and what makes it interesting, influential or so damn good.

But if you think that some reviews are too insubstantial, just say which and I'll give them another look.
 
H

hooijdonk17

Member
I think reviewing each game on their merits and flaws, especially for games released before the last decade, is quite meaningless. A good summary of its highlights, what it meant for players back then, which games it influenced, and what it introduced to the genre etc. are much more important than a vg journalist review kind of approach.

I quite like it for what it is; I'll probably be back for more comments later today. As I said, if you ever do a hardcover printing, I'll grab it. Also, if you want writeups for any games, feel free to drop me a message.
 
F

FlyingSaucer

Banned
The preview is fantastic, I can't wait to read the Ultima Underworld feature ! (and the rest of the book, of course) (even if there isn't an Al-Quadim AGC article ;p )

felipepepe > I know you have a google drive doc with all the planned work somewhere but it seems I can't find it right now so if I may ask directly : as you already have an article about Ishar, have you planned to talk more at lengths about Crystals of Arborea too ?
 
F

felipepepe

Banned
FlyingSaucer said:
felipepepe > I know you have a google drive doc with all the planned work somewhere but it seems I can't find it right now so if I may ask directly : as you already have an article about Ishar, have you planned to talk more at lengths about Crystals of Arborea too ?
Click to expand...
The list is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1t-49SyrsdP0M5re68sDH9cB2MrPqVKwQQiFF_54VibI/edit#gid=0

However, it isn't set in stone yet. For a colored paperback release the book cannot be longer than 480 pages, so I'll do what's currently on the list, collect more articles & guides and then see how many pages I still can use. Games like Crystals of Arborea, Alien Fires 2199 A.D, Spirit of Adventure and others are pending on that.

Of course, you can always more games or make a case for why game X should be in no matter what. ;)
 
D

Durante

Member
Shadows over Riva should be on the list. At least on the "B list". While it's not as seminal as the other Arkania titles it's worth at least a page IMHO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes | Review Thread
Analysis Review 2 3
143
8K
BadBurger replied
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | Review Thread
Rumor Community 8 9 10 11 12
597
51K
sncvsrtoip replied
The Last of Us: Part II Remastered [Review Thread]
2 3 4
171
11K
Paulxo87 replied
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth | Review Thread
Analysis Review Hype 2 3
146
10K
Nankatsu replied
Alone in the Dark | Review Thread
Analysis Review 2 3
136
8K
Alan Wake replied
Top Bottom