In other news, late last night I came across this interesting brief exchange on Twitter:
Something to think about.
Gamebook store
Friday, 4 October 2013
How to deal with Doomsday
More kung fu hullabaloo coming up on Monday. If you can't wait, take a look at these Way of the Tiger style shenanigans c/o Andrew Drage. You'll believe a man can catch an arrow.
In other news, late last night I came across this interesting brief exchange on Twitter:
Something to think about.
In other news, late last night I came across this interesting brief exchange on Twitter:
Something to think about.
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In a (good) action movie we're pretty sure the heroes will win, the interesting question is more what will it cost them*. This would be a tragedy; we know the protagonist will lose, but what will they do about that?
ReplyDelete* In a bad version we know the heroes will win and it won't cost them anything.
The Battle of Maldon deals with how heroes meet the end, and of course there's Horatio:
Delete"And how can man die better than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods?"
Horatio didn't actually die on the Sublicius Bridge, but why spoil a good poem? Whether any of this can be usefully explored in an interactive novel is another matter. If Oblivion had ended without sacrifice then it would not have been nearly so satisfying, but a gamebook version would presumably have to allow for that possibility.
Wasn't that more or less the idea behind the last Blood Sword book?
ReplyDeleteNot exactly. Ragnarok is a defeat. Gods and heroes fight nobly against it but in vain. The Day of Judgement is a fulfilment of the promise of Creation, the culmination of God's purpose.
DeleteI should clarify that in the second instance there I'm talking about the True Faith of Legend, not Christian myth. The True Faith is modelled on medieval Christianity, but I don't know enough about either the medieval or modern versions to speak for what is considered theologically correct. On Norse myth, on the other hand, I am pretty sound.
The gamer in me does not like that as it seems like you lose whatever happens. However, there are other options besides stopping the end of the world. There might be an immense freedom in knowing that in a certain amount of time, the end is inevitable. Maybe all those things holding you back will finally fall away and you can achieve your wildest ambitions, knowing that it is your last chance. You can do things that you never would have thought possible if the world wouldn't end. Discover what people would say to you if they just laid their feelings bare. It will really make you think about what we would all do when we decide to let go of all the trivialities of life.
ReplyDeleteSo in conclusion, I don't think it would make a great game, but it would make a great exploration of the human condition.
What you're saying there reminded me of On The Beach. Both the novel and the movie are interesting and surprisingly uplifting examinations of how humanity faces up to its final days.
DeleteThe gamebook paradigm still offers so much opportunity for exploration and development of the medium. Well, that's what I think, anyway.
ReplyDelete