Expanding books?

[Banjo]

Have any fans ever set about 'expanding' a favourite gamebook or two, for personal enjoyment?

As a kid, I always wanted to 'mod' the Freeway Warrior books (my favourites), and since the PA release of Highway Holocaust, I have had a blast doing just that... adding new paths, choices, encounters, etc. (now up to 450 sections), purely for fun (I highly doubt sharing such a thing would be looked kindly upon!!!).

I've read that Mongoose (building on the hard work of the heroes of Project Aon!) have actually 'expanded' the re-releases of the Lone Wolf books (or at least, the first one). I wasn't going to bother with the new versions (overseas shipping from Mongoose is quite painful, from past experience!) but this does appeal to me.

But my own little personal 'project' - and what I've heard of Mongoose's 'expansions' - has made me wonder if I am alone in such thoughts... have any other fans tried their hand at such a personal project as 'modding' a Lone Wolf (or other) gamebook?

EDIT: I just found a topic here called "expanded fights"... maybe that will answer my question after all!

[beowuuf]

the expanded fights are the only thing like this i have seen - I'm not sure if anyone except JD himself has expanded a game!

If you ever feel like making these available, we would be interested to see them, i am sure!

Oh, i don't think i said before - welcome to the forums!

[Black Cat]

Can we count the bonus adventures in the new version of the gamebook to be some type of modding? Some of them expand on the main adventure (like how Loi-Khymar was actually kidnapped). Just a thought.

[Banjo]

Thanks for the welcome!

I'm a bit surprised to hear that the expanded fights is perhaps the only 'mod' out there so far... I'll definitely have to try and track it down (the links here don't seem to work).

I was thinking more about FFTD's expansion than all-new adventures, though I'd heard of the added mini-adventures... they certainly count as incentive to get the new releases (which I still haven't done yet... have to check out Mongoose's options again, but as I said, I had "experiences") and they no doubt expand the backstory and characters, which is very cool.

Beowuuf, although what I've done with Freeway Warrior so far was for my own enjoyment, I would be very happy to share it... but would this be allowed? To be honest, I was even a bit hesitant mentioning I've done this... I know some folks get quite strict about copyright and even more (justly so) about altering someone else's (JD's) much-loved material. While I don't see it as anything different to 'modding' a video game (e.g. adding new quests to an RPG or new weapons to a shooter), I figured some people might see a difference between PA fixing grammar and typos to some fan adding and changing whole sections of a book!

If it IS ok, though... sure! I'd love to share and maybe even get some feedback on things that might need tweaking.

[beowuuf]

well zipp shared his extended fights without anyone trying to prosecute him, and we have fan fiction around, so I think you can share this sort of thing!

[Banjo]

Thanks. I was just a bit wary since I've actually changed sections as well as addng them, and I didn't want anyone to get offended.

I have about another ten sections I was planning to add, then I will happily share here! What would be the best format for it, though? Currently, the only way I have what I've done is as edited PA html files (same as the "real" ones).

Also, the sections are not 'mixed up' very much... it wasn't something that I worried about since the html format of the PA releases means you don't see sections you don't click on... but for "old time's sake" maybe I should?

I've also just started modding some of the rules for FW, such as expanding the missile weapon system a little (an easy way to allow more than four stock weapons), armour rules, etc. Would folks be interested in those too? (maybe I need to start a seperate topic for this... I was originally just interested in what others had done!)

[Oiseau]

I've dreamt of doing this to LW 1-12 for a long time, actually, but I never got around to it — I couldn't shake the feeling that it would be seen as presumptuous to "improve" the LW books. Things I had planned to alter : more items, more actual uses for items, and less linearity. And I wanted to remove the unfair bits as well, like actually giving the choice of entering the Temple of the Sword in Vol 8, or that other temple on the Isle of Ghosts in Vol 10 ... as well as allowing the player to choose whether or not to use the Sommerswerd in certain fights. You know the ones.

The Psychic Ring would actually boost your Psy powers (all the time), the Dagger of Vashna would actually give a CS bonus (all the time), the Magic Spear as well, and so on ... The right Disciplines and/or items would allow you to avoid all instances of falling masts (random number picks yielding instant deaths) ... Bunch of random ideas which would have yielded "expanded and improved" adventures. Anyway, it never happened. ^_^

[Taryn]

Book 8 was one of my first gamebooks ever, and I was very frustrated by the whole Temple of the Sword thing. The CS of the Helghast is what, 38? I believe that if this is your first book, you are guaranteed to be in the -11 or lower column!

19 (base) + 3 (Weaponmastery) + 4 (Psi-surge) = 26

(EDit: Unless this is one that's scaled if you have the Sommerswerd...I'm too lazy to try to find it in the book, but now that I think of it, I dimly recall the Helghast being weaker if you don't have the 'swerd.)

[Banjo]

Hi all! Sorry for the 'bump'!

I just wanted to pop by after a looooong time to see if there was still any interest in this little vanity project of mine. I thought a HDD crash wiped out all my plans for this, but I found a backup today of all my work so far (more than I thought I'd done, actually)! ;D

I know FW isn't as popular aw LW, but the series has fans... still, I didn't want to go to the trouble of finishing up all the sections (about an extra 100) for Highway Holocaust and integrating them if nobody but me still cared.

Again, as I said ages ago, I am a bit wary doing this in terms of not wanting to offend... I'm not Joe, despite efforts to keep within the style of the books. But I've always wanted more choices and consequences in this book series, and decided it might be fun to add them myself.

Cheers,
Banjo

PS apologies to the PA staff... I wanted/offered to help out with your work on the FW series, but after a major PC crash, it took a long time to get back up and running and by then I'd forgotten my offer - and lost your mail - until today!

[outspaced]

I'd still definitely be interested in reading expansion to Highway Holocaust, if it was in the same basic style as the original (no fantasy monsters! ).

[Banjo]

Thanks... knowing at least one person is interested makes it worth me getting back to work on this project.

Mar 2, 2009 17:53:23 GMT outspaced said:

I'd still definitely be interested in reading expansion to Highway Holocaust, if it was in the same basic style as the original (no fantasy monsters! ).

The main reason I always preferred FW to LW is my love of the post-apocalypse genre, so rest assured all additions would be in that spirit, as well as attempting to keep within the style and universe of the FW books themselves. Incidentally, I'm very pleased that FW never included mutants to fight, just humans and wild animals.

Some of the things I've added are simple slight extensions to some of the combats (such as more tactical choices when I found them a bit limited/unrealistic), others add more alternative courses of action in an attempt to make some parts seem less linear and give the reader more control over Cal... eg. not being forced to brave the path to Mountain Goat's lair with a lousy Stealth and no light, being able to 'chicken out' of searching for the Rodriguez girl in Abilene, choosing not to go to Lake Sweetwater and risk an ambush, etc.

Some tweaks may make some parts easier (eg. more chances to find useful equipment, if you take new risks), others may actually make things tougher (usually your own choices, however).

If I manage to get it done, and it isn't universally hated, I'd love to do the other books when they are finally released, too (especially to teach those survivalists in The Omega Zone a lesson in manners, or give the player a chance against the half-dozen random instant deaths in California Countdown's search for Atropine sections!)