HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)

[Twisting H]

I will probably expand on this idea later but here's a brief sketch.


Chose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) gaming has made somewhat of a comeback on mobile devices over the past three or so years.  And although there are knock out luminaries like 80 Days, the Sorcery series, Heavy Metal Thunder and Ryan North's To Be or Not To Be; personally I can't help but think the talent and creativity on this forum could do much better than most of the mediocre offerings out there.

http://www.inklestudios.com/80days/
http://www.inklestudios.com/sorcery/
http://www.cubusgames.com/heavy-metal-thunder/
http://gamebookadventures.com/gamebooks/to-be-or-not-to-be/

The HP Podcraft podcast was advertising One More Story Games, an engine to make and publish your own story games.

https://onemorestorygames.com/

Instructions here:
https://onemorestorygames.com/write/
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIUMExXBIGs5NCCFYRCG3YSZ01sGfq_5H

Failbetter games (of Fallen London and Sunless Sea fame) had an engine called StoryNexus but it is currently in "maintenance mode" meaning among other things you cannot monetize your product there for the foreseeable future.

Choice of Games is another company that publishes mobile CYOA games.
https://www.choiceofgames.com/category/our-games/

Their engine is ChoiceScript:  https://www.choiceofgames.com/make-your-own-games/choicescript-intro/

And for completion's sake Tin Man Games is another CYOA mobile publisher: http://tinmangames.com.au/blog/

[trinite]

I will probably expand on this idea later but here's a brief sketch.


Chose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) gaming has made somewhat of a comeback on mobile devices over the past three or so years.  And although there are knock out luminaries like 80 Days, the Sorcery series, Heavy Metal Thunder and Ryan North's To Be or Not To Be; personally I can't help but think the talent and creativity on this forum could do much better than most of the mediocre offerings out there.

http://www.inklestudios.com/80days/
http://www.inklestudios.com/sorcery/
http://www.cubusgames.com/heavy-metal-thunder/
http://gamebookadventures.com/gamebooks/to-be-or-not-to-be/

The HP Podcraft podcast was advertising One More Story Games, an engine to make and publish your own story games.

https://onemorestorygames.com/

Instructions here:
https://onemorestorygames.com/write/
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIUMExXBIGs5NCCFYRCG3YSZ01sGfq_5H

Failbetter games (of Fallen London and Sunless Sea fame) had an engine called StoryNexus but it is currently in "maintenance mode" meaning among other things you cannot monetize your product there for the foreseeable future.

Choice of Games is another company that publishes mobile CYOA games.
https://www.choiceofgames.com/category/our-games/

Their engine is ChoiceScript:  https://www.choiceofgames.com/make-your-own-games/choicescript-intro/

And for completion's sake Tin Man Games is another CYOA mobile publisher: http://tinmangames.com.au/blog/

Don't forget this CYOA gem: http://kindlecoverdisasters.tumblr.com/post/128401154195

[CADmonkey]

Haven't seen it yet, but I want to see it, especially after reading Robin Laws' capsule review from TIFF:

High-Rise [UK, Ben Wheatley, 5] Reserved anatomy instructor (Tom Hiddleston) moves into a brutalist apartment tower run by its strangely intrusive architect (Jeremy Irons) just before its descent into orgiastic madness. Phantasmagorical adaptation of the classic JG Ballard conjures weird beauty from the ugliest elements of 70s design.

This feels more purely a Ballard piece than Cronenberg's Crash, which was such a quintessential Toronto movie. That opening shot of a cold morning Gardiner Expressway lays bare the weird dark heart of my beautiful city. High-Rise on the other hand keeps it British to the bone--1975 Britain to be precise. The spirit of Cronenberg isn't absent but there's a bunch of Lindsay Anderson and Python in its lineage too.

[CADmonkey]

Playing at one of the local independent theatres (the one that does monthly showings of The Room).

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[trinite]

Here's an interesting academic paper on RPG books in libraries: http://boingboing.net/2015/09/24/study-tracking-every-rpg-book.html

The short version: libraries have pitifully small collections of RPG books.

Obviously, someone needs to give me a $3 million grant to create a dedicated RPG Industry Research and Preservation Library. Hasbro? Lisa Stevens? Eh? Eh?

[clockworkjoe]

Here's an interesting academic paper on RPG books in libraries: http://boingboing.net/2015/09/24/study-tracking-every-rpg-book.html

The short version: libraries have pitifully small collections of RPG books.

Obviously, someone needs to give me a $3 million grant to create a dedicated RPG Industry Research and Preservation Library. Hasbro? Lisa Stevens? Eh? Eh?

Better idea: tell rpg publishers how to market to libraries and give grants to libraries that buy rpgs.

BUY MY BOOKS

[trinite]

Here's an interesting academic paper on RPG books in libraries: http://boingboing.net/2015/09/24/study-tracking-every-rpg-book.html

The short version: libraries have pitifully small collections of RPG books.

Obviously, someone needs to give me a $3 million grant to create a dedicated RPG Industry Research and Preservation Library. Hasbro? Lisa Stevens? Eh? Eh?

Better idea: tell rpg publishers how to market to libraries and give grants to libraries that buy rpgs.

BUY MY BOOKS

I'm confused. How does that plan get me $3 million to build the ultimate RPG library?

[Tim]

Better idea: tell rpg publishers how to market to libraries and give grants to libraries that buy rpgs.

BUY MY BOOKS

I'm confused. How does that plan get me $3 million to build the ultimate RPG library?

The way I am reading this is buy enough of Ross's books and he will give you the money.

[Alethea]

Here's an interesting academic paper on RPG books in libraries: http://boingboing.net/2015/09/24/study-tracking-every-rpg-book.html

The short version: libraries have pitifully small collections of RPG books.

Obviously, someone needs to give me a $3 million grant to create a dedicated RPG Industry Research and Preservation Library. Hasbro? Lisa Stevens? Eh? Eh?

Better idea: tell rpg publishers how to market to libraries and give grants to libraries that buy rpgs.

BUY MY BOOKS

Unfortunately, it very rarely works that way (as far as I know) - libraries have to go chase down donors and try talking industry into sponsoring a partnership or something. But if you could talk an RPG publisher into donating, they'd probably want to target library systems with decent graphic novel and manga collections because the teen and children's librarians there are more likely to be receptive to the idea. Also focus on libraries with Maker spaces - again they are more likely to be able to find advocates there for innovation. Or you know, go right to the ALA group on this topic: Games and Gaming Round Table (http://www.ala.org/gamert/). And get in on International Games Day and Games in Libraries - Nov. 21st this year: http://igd.ala.org/

Hey Trinite, what kind of library you want to build here? Public/lending, academic/research or an archive? Either way, you better be taking my resume for a technical services position 

[trinite]

Here's an interesting academic paper on RPG books in libraries: http://boingboing.net/2015/09/24/study-tracking-every-rpg-book.html

The short version: libraries have pitifully small collections of RPG books.

Obviously, someone needs to give me a $3 million grant to create a dedicated RPG Industry Research and Preservation Library. Hasbro? Lisa Stevens? Eh? Eh?

Better idea: tell rpg publishers how to market to libraries and give grants to libraries that buy rpgs.

BUY MY BOOKS

Unfortunately, it very rarely works that way (as far as I know) - libraries have to go chase down donors and try talking industry into sponsoring a partnership or something. But if you could talk an RPG publisher into donating, they'd probably want to target library systems with decent graphic novel and manga collections because the teen and children's librarians there are more likely to be receptive to the idea. Also focus on libraries with Maker spaces - again they are more likely to be able to find advocates there for innovation. Or you know, go right to the ALA group on this topic: Games and Gaming Round Table (http://www.ala.org/gamert/). And get in on International Games Day and Games in Libraries - Nov. 21st this year: http://igd.ala.org/

Hey Trinite, what kind of library you want to build here? Public/lending, academic/research or an archive? Either way, you better be taking my resume for a technical services position 

Alethea, the lottery-winner dream scenario is to build an academic research library, with a primary mission of providing resources for researchers and designers studying the history and development of RPGs as an art-form and craft. There would be an additional mission for the preservation of rare and/or historically-significant works, which would involve archiving techniques, including digitizing unique items. Obviously, over time the library's expansion would necessitate a growing staff.

[Twisting H]

Not mine but looks interesting.

From the HP Podcraft Forums a year ago by user aasgier.

I expect many Lovecraft fans will also have an interest in decadent literature and 19th century gothic atmosphere in general, so I'm just leaving this link to the download here so anyone who wants to give this a try can download, play and hopefully enjoy it. This game is sort of a Huysmans/Lovecraft mashup as far as the themes and atmosphere are concerned. Purple prose and literary references abound. The game is set in 19th century Paris where the protagonists are two decadent poets trying to outdo each other in decadence (by collecting occult books and binging on Absinthe and possibly contracting syphilis). The design of the board was inspired by Art Nouveau to get that lovely 19th century atmosphere. Rules are simple.

You can download it (.zip file containing PDFs of the board, cards and pieces, manual) here:

https://aasgier.wordpress.com/2014/11/02/la-bas-a-weird-and-literary-board-game/

All you need apart from the printable material are three differently colored tokens and one dice.

'La-bas' is a two player game where players attempt to become the most decadent poets of 19th century Paris, while being hunted by a supernatural entity. It was inspired by weird tales such as those by H.P. Lovecraft, Robert M. Chambers and Algernon Blackwood and by the lifestyles of decadent artists of the 19th century. And of course by the novel La-Bas by J.K. Huysmans.

This is how it should look after some cutting & pasting

Short description
- 2 player game
- Both players are being hunted by a supernatural entity, being found results in possession which changes the gameplay as long as the possession lasts
- The goal is to get the highest score
- A game can last between a few minutes to more than an hour
- Both luck and strategy play a part in the game
- More or less horror themed, but also quite funny (depending on your sense of humor of course)

A lot of work went into designing the game so I hope people will play and enjoy it. Recommended for Lovecraft fans, lovers of decadent literature, connoisseurs of the weird and people who enjoy 19th century atmosphere.

One of my next projects is a board game adaptation of Hodgson's The Night Land..  Grin
I'll get my coat

[Alethea]

YouTube channel from very funny bunch of folks (friends of mine) playing terrible games: "We play all those games people say you should have played, but never did." FYI, their humor tends towards expletive laden and raunchy.

Go check out NoNostalgiaFilter
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyRm9hNPW4Wz82bgqvzPfYA/feed

[CADmonkey]

The Mask (a.k.a. Eyes of Hell)



I haven't seen this (just read about it in Incredibly Strange Films) but there's a new digital restoration coming to the TIFF Lightbox Cinemas next week, and hopefully elsewhere soon.

The first feature-length Canadian horror movie and the first feature-length 3D film made in Canada, Julian Roffman's 1961 cult classic has now been digitally restored in 2K anaglyph 3D by TIFF and the 3-D Film Archive. A psychiatrist comes into possession of an ancient tribal mask that, when worn, assails him with nightmarish visions of monsters, occultists, and ritual torture. Believing that he has discovered a portal to the deepest recesses of his mind, he continues to explore this terrifying new psychic world — even at the risk of his sanity. With its riot of psychedelic 3D imagery now restored to its full, dizzyingly surreal glory, The Mask has returned!

[CADmonkey]

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From the 1970s thru the 1990s, there was no hipper, no more outrageous comedy in print than The National Lampoon, the groundbreaking humor magazine that pushed the limits of taste and acceptability – and then pushed them even harder. Parodying everything from politics, religion, entertainment and the whole of American lifestyle, the Lampoon eventually went on to branch into successful radio shows, record albums, live stage revues and movies, including Animal House and National Lampoon’s Vacation. The publication launched the careers of legends like John Belushi, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Christopher Guest and Gilda Radner, who went on to gigs at Saturday Night Live and stardom.

Director Douglas Tirola’s documentary about the Lampoon, DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON, cleverly chronicles its founding by two former Harvard students, its growth, demise and everything in between. Told thru fresh, candid interviews with its key staff, and illustrated with hundreds of outrageous images from the mag itself (along with never-seen interview footage from the magazine’s prime), the film gives fans of the Lampoon a unique inside look at what made the magazine tick, who were its key players, and why it was so outrageously successful: a magazine that dared to think what no one was thinking, but wished they had.

[Twisting H]

NEWS

PDF of the Alpha is available here: http://ironspine.com/wp/en/rpgs/chthonian-highways/

Art is killer!

Found this from a post on the Something Awful forums.

...[T]wo Finnish RPG designers are working on a generic RPG system called Ironcore and the pilot game for the system is going to basically be Cthulhu meets Mad Max: http://ironspine.com/wp/en/blog/2015/08/12/ironcore-engine/

According to the website

We chose Chthonian Highways as our pilot project that combines two fairly well-known and popular genres: Chtulhu mythos and post-apocalyptic demolition derby in style of Mad Max and Fallout.

Chthonian Highways is set in a world where nightmarish creatures have ravaged the world and otherworldly landscapes have merged with ours. Strange and dreadful beings prowl in the shadows and dangerous alien flora is taking over the green forests and grasslands. The few remnants of civilization are held together by the chthonian highways – a webbing of roads that are still traversable by ground vehicles. The characters are dauntless road warriors who roam the cursed highways with their rigged cars and motorcycles – for as long as there is gasoline to keep the engines roaring.

We are making a short demo of the Chthonian Highways and it will be available as a free pdf download during September 2015.

The other setting with this Ironcore system is dungeon crawling in space.

Hyperstorm RPG is a space opera tabletop role-playing game based on the Finnish science fiction RPG Heimot. Hyperstorm is more of a reboot rather than a simple translation or a new edition of the game. We have revised a lot of stuff from the setting and Hyperstorm will the first “full-sized” role-playing game to use Ironcore Engine expanded with rules for advanced character creation and progression, space battles and psionics just to name a few rules we are adding to the core engine.

The main idea in Hyperstorm is to transfer the well-tested idea of dungeon crawling into outer space. Instead of dungeons, the heroes in this game will be exploring wrecks. In game terms, wrecks can be anything from crash-landed space ships, wrecked space stations, and abandoned colony settlements to mysterious alien ruins.

You can read more about Hyperstorm RPG here: www.hyperstorm-rpg.com