[jjsimpso]

So, I decided to make a magazine. I'm doing it mostly for fun but I hope someone else gets some enjoyment out of it. I just released my first issue, the theme of which is Computers and Dragons. I mostly discuss D&D and computer games. In future issues I hope to cover simulations and other such things.

You can grab a free PDF at magcloud. Print version is $7.50.



Here's the blurb:

[The Blueberry Hill]

Is there a way to get the PDF without registering for some jerk website?

I like the map cover.

[Laurel Soup]

I'm getting a major Role of Computers from Dragon Magazine vibe from the review section.
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[T.]

this is very good. looks nice, well written. i could maybe help fill in the taxonomy at some point
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o tempora, o mores

[tacotaskforce]

That cover looks really familiar. Is that the first level of Dark Spire?
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[Persona mobile]

This is awesome! I love seeing more people making zines! Good luck with this!
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[Tulpa]

I love this and it fits into my areas of expertise so if you ever need someone to write something about dungeons I'll do it.
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[Tulpa]

I actually believe Arneson's blackmoor campaign is well documented in places

While not part of the original Lake Geneva set of roleplayers, M.A.R. Barker's notes on his Tekumel setting is both well preserved and started in 1974, coinciding with the earliest days of DnD.

So if you want to dive headlong into one of the most interesting corners of the olden days of RPGs, go with that.
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[Tulpa]

I was correct about Blackmoor, all the earliest notes (1972 onward) on the campaign were anthologized and published in 1977's The First Fantasy Campaign which should be possible to find even today

if I happen to find a pdf of it, I'll upload it to this thread.

edit: I found the pdf, reading it now and it is solid gold for the ten people in the world that care about the earliest days of the hobby. I'll upload it tomorrow.
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[jjsimpso]

Thanks for the positive words guys! I really feared that no one would care at all, so I'm glad that at least a handful of my SBros seem to like it!

Tulpa, have you read Jon Peterson's Playing at the World? That is where I got my info on the Blackmoor campaign. I had heard about The First Fantasy Campaign but didn't realize it was a collection of the original materials. That sounds very interesting indeed.
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PSN: TaipeiGamer

[jjsimpso]

[Wall of Beef]

[jjsimpso]

[Wall of Beef]

If I made something and wanted printed copies to sell myself at a show or something, could I order a bunch at production cost or would it just be the "cover" price?

Do they own any rights to the content when you publish with the service?
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[jjsimpso]

You can create documents and keep them unlisted so that they aren't public. From there you can print copies for your personal use as needed. You can order at production price and get a bulk discount of -- I believe -- 20 or 25 percent if you order 20 or more.

On the question of rights, the author retains intellectual property rights but gives Magcloud a non-exclusive license to use the content for its own purposes(promotion of its service, etc.). More here: http://www.magcloud.com/home/PublicationTerms.
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PSN: TaipeiGamer

[jjsimpso]

[Tulpa]

I suppose this is covered by the proviso that dungeon crawlers are necessarily RPGs, but I've always found it interesting that there's so much crossover between IF and adventure games and tabletop RPGs and more properly defined dungeon crawls.

IF's earliest works, Colossal Cave Adventure, Zork, etc are very indebted to fighting fantasy style gamebooks in particular and roleplaying games more broadly.

Myst itself is based on the creators' dungeons and dragons campaign (with the mechanical age being literally one of the dungeons they created with all the monsters removed and only the puzzles intact)

So, even though they are games all about exploration of an environment and interacting with it in order to survive, I feel like an important part of the taxonomy if one were to disregard the rpg rule for a moment, is the freedom to come up with one's own solutions to a problem. The linearity inherent to early IF and to most adventure games is the detail that truly separates the games from being true dungeoncrawls.
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[jjsimpso]

[cake]

[The Blueberry Hill]

[The Blueberry Hill]

I like this a lot so far. Most of it's new/ish to me, as most of my experience with this games is bits and pieces from old demo discs.

I think I have some more games for the Akalabeth-likes section, though. I'm a pretty big fan of Steve Moraff (because of the Blast games), and some of his games fit as best I remember: Moraff's Dungeons of the Unforgiven (1993), Moraff's World (1991), and Moraff's Revenge (1988)--though that is equally first-person and third-person, maybe.

By the way, don't be shy about frontpaging stuff like this. When it drops out of the Axe I will probably do so, and shift it to KOP, if you don't mind.

Byer the way Steve Moraff makes nice looking games: http://vidconrelated.tumblr.com/post/80117459525

[another coma]

JJ this is pretty cool! I think we should make a frontpage version of this thread so some more people outside of the axe see it. If you don't want to make it personally, I can make it for you (if you don't want to at all that's cool too...)
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[Tulpa]

[Wall of Beef]

I was notified by HP Magcloud that my copy was printed today and put in the mail!
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[dementia]

cool

[jjsimpso]

[another coma]

[Wall of Beef]

FRONTPAGE CONTENT!
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[jjsimpso]

[OffalAl]

[Wall of Beef]

My print copy arrived today, but I have not had a chance to read anything yet. Flipped through it and it looks real nice!

[Wall of Beef]

This was a real nice read. I've never been too into these games as a player, but always love reading about the history of them and their design.

I enjoyed the Dark Sun: Shattered Lands review because that was the D&D campaign that a few friends and me attempted to learn D&D with a year or so ago. It turns out the Pen & Paper RPGs isn't a thing my group could really get into (i'd like to try again with someone more experienced however) and its interesting how they were able to transfer the game from page to screen.

Your review parameters are indeed way more detailed than any other metric I have ever read. Cheers to that!

Whats the scope of the next issue? Will it have a genre focus as well?

[jjsimpso]

I haven't started on volume 2 yet, so I'm still considering my options for the theme. I do like the idea of having at least a loose focus for each issue, so I will probably choose something. Lead contenders at the moment are simulations and cyberpunk. I could probably do five issues on CRPGs no problem, but I'd like to start off with at least a little variety.

If I do simulations I'll definitely be playing Mechwarrior and Wing Commander, and possibly some more detailed flight sim. I really like the idea of making volume 2 about this, the problem is that I'm not really a sim expert.

If I choose cyberpunk I get to cover a wider variety of games. I'd at least do System Shock and probably Syndicate.

Anyone have any games/topics they'd especially like to see in the next issue?
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PSN: TaipeiGamer

[CubaLibre]

Sims is a really broad topic, which could conceivably include everything from IL-2 Sturmovik to Rainbow Six. There's not necessarily a whole lot of audience crossover with the subgenres - usually people come to the games because they're real-life enthusiasts rather than videogamers.
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Let's Play, starring me.

[Tulpa]

I wouldn't ever include Rainbow Six as a sim but that's because we have slightly different ideas of what sims are.

I'd love to see an issue of antiquated game player all about Trading Sims (Elite series, Privateer series, Sid Meier's Pirates!, Patrician series, etc.)
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[Tulpa]

Cyberpunk would be a really fun issue though, you can hit on well known games but also highlight some more obscure works like B.A.T. II the Koshan Conspiracy and the kind of subgenre of hacking sims including stuff like Uplink
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[jjsimpso]