The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [65]
In 1984, the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks were released in electronic format for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. Six gamebooks were published between 1984 and 1987. The majority were straightforward adaptations. Later games offered a parser supplemented with graphical illustrations (Barton 2008:92).
The first of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook line was The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, published in 1982. It was written by Jackson and Ian Livingstone and illustrated by Russ Nicholson, whose evocative black-and-white artwork filled the original Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Fiend Folio and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. The Warlock of Firetop Mountain sold out of its print run in weeks. It would eventually sell over a million copies worldwide.
I remember The Warlock of Firetop Mountain fondly. It was a breath of fresh air to the otherwise increasingly stale gamebook format, because characters could battle it out, thus adding an element of chance to the decisionmaking process. As an important footnote, these books proudly declared they were compatible with Dungeons & Dragons, which meant they were a great means for a solitary player to “solo” his character, advancing him independent of a gaming group (Jackson 1982).
The character that would become my namesake in many fantasy games was drawn from a gamebook. Talien appeared in one of the Swordquest adventure books, Quest for the Unicorn’s Horn. The quest involved a young Kuven named Talien. Talien gained his position after the premature death of his father at the hands of ogres, and he soon found that a position of power didn’t make his life any easier (Fawcett 1985).
Gamebook technology continued to advance through the fantasy interactive scenario by telephone (FIST) system by Steve Jackson. This was essentially a Fighting Fantasy gamebook with audio; players controlled their characters over the phone. At each juncture, a player would press a button to determine actions and combat. Professional actors and realistic sounds gave the results and the character was saved so that a player could pick up where he left off.
Eventually, gamebooks were supplanted by video games in the 1990s. The Fighting Fantasy series concluded with book 50, Return to Firetop Mountain, but its success prompted an increase in demand for the Fighting Fantasy back catalog. As a result, nine more were published, concluding with Curse of the Mummy in 1995.
In 2002, Wizard Books bought the rights to Fighting Fantasy and reprinted many of the books, with some tweaks to change the order of the series. In 2005, Eye of the Dragon was released by Wizard and 2006 saw the production of two more installments.
Fellowship
Gamebooks didn’t provide for a party as such, since there was usually only one player. Later iterations allowed for party members and allies such as the one-on-one adventure gamebooks, which included retinues of retainers that the player could start with or pick up during his adventure. Generally speaking, playing a character was a solo activity, which helped further immerse the reader and control the events as they took place.
Nick Montfort explained in a personal interview that although there might be only one character controlled in interactive fiction, people could play together online by sharing the same session, play together in person around a computer screen, or consult with a network via forums and newsgroups, phone, or email. In essence, those who wish to play IF games might be solitary in the game but they are not necessarily alone (Montfort 2010).
Narrative
Gygax characterized gamebooks as “role assumption” rather than roleplaying games. By his definition, role assumption games provide a persona that is not unique, and the situations are prescribed by the game. Choices are limited