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Post by Black Cat on Jan 14, 2021 23:54:50 GMT
Something struck me last night: here on the PA boards, we have the chance to have a regular visitor with the username of zorkraan. It is public knowledge now that behind that name hides Vincent Lazzari, co-author of the last three books of the series (and of some of the bonus adventures, and some other official material...)! So I thought why not creating a thread so we could ask him directly questions about his work? Think about this as a never-ending Q&A session! zorkraan: Of course, if you don't want to answer questions, just say so and I'll delete the thread, as I didn't ask your permission to set up such thread. But since now people know who you are, you'll probably get a lot of questions otherwise. ********** So, to get the ball rolling, I'll ask the first question! How much of the elements of book 31 are your creations compare to book 30? What I mean is that up until he went to the hospital a final time, Joe mentionned on social medias that he was planning to publish book 30 in the following weeks (which, sadly, he never got the chance to do). That made me think that book 30 was probably very much advanced before Joe died. With book 31, although he knew in general what was going to happen, I don't think that it was as much advanced as book 30. That's why I think that there was more room for Ben and you to put your own ideas. But, that is just my feeling hence my question: how much of book 31 are your original ideas, to Ben and you, if you compare to book 30?
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Post by zorkraan on Jan 15, 2021 10:28:17 GMT
Hello Blackcat,
I won't say I don't feel honoured, deeply honoured by this initiative. I came to PA long ago as an humble fan, loved what I found, and I have now the opportunity to work directly on the Magnamund material. I love Magnamund so much I'll never refuse discussing the books and the world. If people want to know more about my work, why not too - I'm just amazed people can be interested by that.
Regarding your first question, actually I already addressed it in an interview by the italian magazine Librogame's Land. As it is released, I can share it here since my answer will be the same: "I must admit that between the 3 last tomes, book 31 will be our most “personal” issue. Indeed, Joe completely shaped the paths and plots of book 30, and prepared a lot of things for book 32, the conclusion of the saga. For book 31, he rather left notes, ideas, and more importantly, goals and milestones to be reached absolutely at the end of the book. He wanted us to bring some crucial events in shape so that book 32 can occur, he wanted a lots of question to be answered and specific characters (some not seen in decades) to be involved, but for this, he gave us a free rein. Well, not entirely since our creative team (including Joe Dever of course, but also Florent Haro, Alexander Kühnert, August Hahn and myself) started to prepare the climactic events of LW31 before Joe’s passing through the bonus adventures published with the English Collector Editions, notably the bonus adventures of LW22, 23, 29 and 30. LW31 has arguably the most complex scenario in all LW gamebooks because we were tasked by Joe with concluding a lots of storylines, following his notes, before the great final. I must also say we had discussions with the other Magnamund authors, and we are notably indebted to Ian Page, August Hahn, Martin Charbonneau, Gavyn Duthie, Florent Haro and Andreas Andreou for their help concerning specific aspects of the setting of this massive adventure!"
Regarding book 30: some correction required. Joe had actually prepared the flowchart, but Ben and I wrote each section ourselves, with editing by August Hahn, Gavyn Duthie and Andreas Andreou. Joe wasn't lying: the book was vivid in his mind, and he was such a great writer that he was genuinely able to write a gamebook in one month. So when he said he could release it in a few weeks, it was true; just he hadn't written it. He gave us the flowchart, explained each part of the book.
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Post by kolinovic on Jan 15, 2021 12:25:17 GMT
Wonderful idea and thank you so much Vincent/Zorkraan for going along with it! Based on the answer to Blackcat, is there any little bit of 'you' in either Book 30 or 31 that you're particularly proud made the cut? And on a related note, is the teamwork that goes into this process full of camaraderie or are there either lots of discussions here and there, or certain types of sections that get farmed out to those who they suit better? (Like combat ones?) And how long did the writing process take compared to Joe's amazing 1-month achievements?
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Post by Black Cat on Jan 15, 2021 14:09:21 GMT
Regarding book 30: some correction required. Joe had actually prepared the flowchart, but Ben and I wrote each section ourselves, with editing by August Hahn, Gavyn Duthie and Andreas Andreou. Joe wasn't lying: the book was vivid in his mind, and he was such a great writer that he was genuinely able to write a gamebook in one month. So when he said he could release it in a few weeks, it was true; just he hadn't written it. He gave us the flowchart, explained each part of the book. Don't get me wrong: I know that you wrote the book yourself and Joe didn't write it. But you confirm what I was suspecting: not only Joe knew the beginning and the ending of book 30, but he had also planned what was going to happen between section 1 and section 350, which was not the case with book 31. He just didn't had the time to write it himself. Sorry I wasn't clear enough.
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Post by zorkraan on Jan 15, 2021 14:18:23 GMT
Don't get me wrong: I know that you wrote the book yourself and Joe didn't write it. But you confirm what I was suspecting: not only Joe knew the beginning and the ending of book 30, but he had also planned what was going to happen between section 1 and section 350, which was not the case with book 31. He just didn't had the time to write it himself. Sorry I wasn't clear enough. Yes no problem, you are all right here. We had few degrees of freedom in LW30, more in LW31.
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Post by zorkraan on Jan 15, 2021 17:45:22 GMT
Wonderful idea and thank you so much Vincent/Zorkraan for going along with it! Based on the answer to Blackcat, is there any little bit of 'you' in either Book 30 or 31 that you're particularly proud made the cut? And on a related note, is the teamwork that goes into this process full of camaraderie or are there either lots of discussions here and there, or certain types of sections that get farmed out to those who they suit better? (Like combat ones?) And how long did the writing process take compared to Joe's amazing 1-month achievements? A making-off question then ? Here's how we proceed : - Joe Dever explained everything about the story, and gave us myriads notes and details about the universe. - When needed, I asked other members of the LW creative team supplementary information about the setting. August Hahn and Ian Page notably were consulted a lot for book 31. - I write the first draft, all sections, combats, gameplay included. ==> every bug is my fault!!! Duration: 12 to 15 months for a 350 gamebook. I'm extremely slow, yes, compared with the Supreme Master... I hope you're not too worried for the release date of LW32 after that... - Ben rewrites the first draft, turning my prose into good English and style. Duration : 6 to 8 months. - The draft is reviewed by a committee of around 8 LW experts, including members of ProjectAon, Scriptarium and Raven (all credited in the book), who check the lore and the gameplay. Each problem is discussed by the comittee and us and the manuscript is corrected accordingly. For info, around 100 sections of LW31 were corrected after the work of the committee! I can't say we always agree of course; Ben and I have the last words when something must be decided. duration: 3-4 months. - The corrected draft is proofreaded and edited by Andreas Andreou, our English prof :-). Duration: 4 months. - At the same time, we prepare the illustrations with the 3 illustrators (cover, map & inner illustrations). A lot of discussions too!!! Duration : 3 months. - the final draft is reviewed a second time by the various publishers. The italians are especially eagle-eyed in this regard. Please note some of the steps above occur simultaneously. The committee for instance reviews the drafts at the same time Ben rewrites the book, and we incorporate the correction in his rewriting. Everything must be controlled... Also, a reason why these processes seem so long : none of us is a full-time writer, we have all a job irl…. My favourite personal creations? Difficult to say, given the amount of shared stuff. A large part of the personal things I included come from the rpg sessions set in Magnamund I had with my dedicated players, so I’m not even a single creator for these. The infiltration of the camp of the Acolyte of Vashna in book 30, for instance, is based on one of the scenario I ran years ago, and I admit it works pretty well in a gamebook too. In book 31, I’m pretty proud of the « discussion scenes » in the skyship, when you can chat with your allies to investigate, have fun or relax, the gameplay behind is something brand new and I think you noticed it .
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andyc
Kai Lord
Posts: 210
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Post by andyc on Jan 15, 2021 21:17:03 GMT
Great topic idea Black Cat and thanks to Vincent for answering our questions.
Here's mine: The bonus adventure Shadow Stalkers that was originally planned to be part of the Dusk release has got moved to the future release of Vampirium for understandable book size reasons. Was there originally a different BA planned to release with Vampirium that has now been set back, potentially to release with book 28? If so, does that mess up where the originally planned BA for Hunger of Sejanoz goes, or had you all not got that far in bonus adventure planning? Yes. I do have an obsession with the bonus adventures. Sorry. (not sorry)
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Post by zorkraan on Jan 15, 2021 21:30:29 GMT
Here's mine: The bonus adventure Shadow Stalkers that was originally planned to be part of the Dusk release has got moved to the future release of Vampirium for understandable book size reasons. Was there originally a different BA planned to release with Vampirium that has now been set back, potentially to release with book 28? If so, does that mess up where the originally planned BA for Hunger of Sejanoz goes, or had you all not got that far in bonus adventure planning. Yes. I do have an obsession with the bonus adventures. Sorry. (not sorry) This obsession is quite understandable and I share it Actually, in our misfortune with Shadow Stalkers we were somehow lucky. The content and authors of the bonus adventures of LW23-28 had been decided around 2014 with Joe himself, another evidence of our planification for the conclusion of the saga. Actually the Scriptarium team and August Hahn had proposed scenarios that Joe validated for each book... except LW27! Actually no proposal was made for that book by the team of writers (as far as I'm concerned, I had no great idea to submit at the time). So believe me or not, there was a blank for LW27, so it was all natural to move Shadow Stalkers there, even if unintentional. So don't worry, it won't impact the BA of LW28 .
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andyc
Kai Lord
Posts: 210
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Post by andyc on Jan 16, 2021 1:34:37 GMT
Here's mine: The bonus adventure Shadow Stalkers that was originally planned to be part of the Dusk release has got moved to the future release of Vampirium for understandable book size reasons. Was there originally a different BA planned to release with Vampirium that has now been set back, potentially to release with book 28? If so, does that mess up where the originally planned BA for Hunger of Sejanoz goes, or had you all not got that far in bonus adventure planning. Yes. I do have an obsession with the bonus adventures. Sorry. (not sorry) This obsession is quite understandable and I share it Actually, in our misfortune with Shadow Stalkers we were somehow lucky. The content and authors of the bonus adventures of LW23-28 had been decided around 2014 with Joe himself, another evidence of our planification for the conclusion of the saga. Actually the Scriptarium team and August Hahn had proposed scenarios that Joe validated for each book... except LW27! Actually no proposal was made for that book by the team of writers (as far as I'm concerned, I had no great idea to submit at the time). So believe me or not, there was a blank for LW27, so it was all natural to move Shadow Stalkers there, even if unintentional. So don't worry, it won't impact the BA of LW28 . That's very good to hear, thanks for the reply Vincent. Definitely looking forward to the last two Collector's Edition releases. The quality of the BAs in the Mantikore Verlag and Holmgard books have been consistently high.
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Post by Black Cat on Jan 16, 2021 15:32:18 GMT
Speaking of book 28, since Joe planned to add the missing 50 sections from the original release, will Ben and you write these missing sections or did Joe had already written them before his passing?
And I agree about the BA: since the first ones over at Mongoose, they became more and more interesting, fun and more connected to the main adventure or overall story in general over time. I think it started with Mantikore who had some great ones (although with Mongoose, some of them were also very good, The Key to the Future being one the best from that period IMO).
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Post by zorkraan on Jan 16, 2021 16:05:05 GMT
Speaking of book 28, since Joe planned to add the missing 50 sections from the original release, will Ben and you write these missing sections or did Joe had already written them before his passing? Really sorry, I won't answer today regarding this issue. LW28CE is scheduled to be released in 2021, we'll make an official announcement at Holmgard Press in this regards I think (I mean I don't want to answer without Ben ^^). Let's talk about it again in a few months. And I agree about the BA: since the first ones over at Mongoose, they became more and more interesting, fun and more connected to the main adventure or overall story in general over time. I think it started with Mantikore who had some great ones (although with Mongoose, some of them were also very good, The Key to the Future being one the best from that period IMO). Totally agree that Key to the Future is a fantastic BA, and easily the best among the 2 first series in my view. Actually, big changes occured in the creative team when the Collector Editions moved to Mantikore. Each BA was planned years before the book release (as explained above), and intended to be part of the great scheme under Joe's supervision (or the conclusion of a great saga, cf. the Dire series).
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Post by Black Cat on Jan 16, 2021 18:10:12 GMT
Really sorry, I won't answer today regarding this issue. LW28CE is scheduled to be released in 2021, we'll make an official announcement at Holmgard Press in this regards I think (I mean I don't want to answer without Ben ^^). Hey, he could also come here and answer questions if he wants! Unless he is already here, watching in the shadows what we are writing on these boards...
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Post by jmisno1 on Jan 17, 2021 10:45:20 GMT
I've just had a idea for A Epic 8 VS 8 Showdown at Book 32's Climax. What do you think?
Have The Characters learn of A Alternate Reality in which Naar, Shasarak, The Ceners, Agarashi and The Darklords were Good, Ishir, Grey-Star, The Herbalish, The Eldar Magi and The Order of The Kai were evil, Vassagonia were A Evil Nation that turned Good, Vonotar was A Evil Wizard that turned Good and Kai was A Neutral God that turned Evil
Imagine the fight
On The Side of Good is our realities Lone Wolf, Grey-Star, Lord Rimoah and Banedon that are backed up by The Alternate Realities versions of Vashna, Shasarak, Vonotar and Agarashi that are their realities 4 greatest followers of good
On The Side of Evil is our realities Vashna, Shasarak, Vonotar and Agarashi that are backed up by The Alternate Reality versions of Lone Wolf, Grey-Star, Lord Rimoah and Banedon that are their realities 4 greatest followers of Evil
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Post by zorkraan on Jan 17, 2021 23:15:54 GMT
jmisno1 Your enthusiasm is nice! Actually the scenario of LW32 was established with Joe Dever in 2016, and you'll understand it won't be changed, whatever the proposals here are, and I won't comment them either to avoid soft spoilers .
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Post by jmisno1 on Jan 18, 2021 10:54:35 GMT
Here's a idea for a tribute to Joe Dever that you could put on the 1st few pages of Book 32, I'm posting what I think would be the best small tribute and I mean this suggestion in a very nice way. What do you think?
We dedicate this great book to the great memory of the great man that was The great Joe Dever, a great person who was a great author and a great parent
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