Thursday 15 May 2014

Various bits of Fighting Fantasy-related news

I've been swamped with work lately so things have been a bit slow around here, but here are a few bits and pieces of news relating to the world of Fighting Fantasy:
  • Issue 13 of Fighting Fantazine (website currently down due to server malfunction seemingly) is out, featuring an interview with Lord of FF Darkness, Peter Darvill-Evans, a Western-themed FF adventure by Gaetano Abbondanza, author of the Tin Man gamebooks Slaves of Rema and Sultans of Rema (this link's not working either right now; what the hell is wrong with the internet today?!), and loads of other stuff.
  • Dave Morris keeps us dreaming of what might have been over on the Fabled Lands blog with his outline of the 'lost' FF gamebook, The Thief of Arantis, which ultimately became the Virtual Reality book Twist of Fate (now the Critical IF book Once Upon a Time in Arabia). More Arabian Nights themed action in southern Allansia would have been a lot of fun!
  • Steve Luxton, master of the FF map, has produced an amazing MapMaker package which allows you to draw your own fantasy maps using over 200 predefined map symbols drawn in his inimitable style. I've had a brief play with it and it's a doddle (and pleasure) to use.
  • Jon Green has arranged the first ever Fighting Fantasy convention, to take place in Ealing on the 7th of September, 2014 (cost £50). Guests will include Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, and the convention will also see the official launch of Jon's eagerly awaited history of FF, YOU are the Hero.
I'll be back soon with more FF news, analysis and comment.

5 comments:

  1. Great news round up. I'll check out those maps. I've uploaded FF13 to my Google Drive. You can get it here https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw3nCQKxLG5_N0JMLXc1ZTF1a1k/edit?usp=sharing

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    1. Good stuff. The site is still down, I haven't seen any word from Alex (or Simon for the Outspaced Shrine which was on the same server and is also down) on what's going on.

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  2. Glad you like the MapMaker, there will be more symbols every now and again. And now you've found Gundobad, have you drawn any maps yet?

    Jon has invited me to attend the convention but I can't positively commit at this time...

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    1. I haven't had much time this month to do anything other than work unfortunately. I'm looking forward to having a proper play. I once did a Paintshop job on the Titan Khul map, adding Gundobad and what not - we didn't use it in the Fantazine, with Alex providing his own drawing instead, but maybe I'll post it here one day.

      The convention looks good, but the practicalities and cost of getting there from Edinburgh mean I'm unlikely to manage it. No doubt it's a lot worse for those from outside the UK...

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