Information CRPG Book Project Alpha Release 2 - 200 Page Preview

[Infinitron]

Tags: CRPG Book Project

CRPG historian and Codex contributor Felipe Pepe has reached an important new milestone in the development of his CRPG Book Project, which he first launched over a year ago. I'll let his blog update speak for itself:

It took a lot longer than it should but here it is, the CRPG Book Project 200-page preview:

CRPG Book Preview 2.1

I apologize for delaying it so much. As you read on the last update, I had created a “few 5-year summary” pages to split the reviews and give some context of what was going on around that time. They were mostly finished, but I couldn’t get them to feel satisfactory and keep delaying the preview to re-write them… after a while I got a bit burned down and was going nowhere, so I decided to shelve them for this update (I’ve kept only one, as a prototype). However, that meant I was suddenly 20 pages short, so it took me a while to fill that blank in with more reviews.

Another factor that delayed it was my big mouth. The whole P.T. & Konami deal in the last month led to a lot of debate about gaming history, and I just couldn’t keep my mouth closed, so I went and wrote A LOT about that in a Gamasutra article.

Regardless, this release marks about 50% of the book being done AND released, which feels great. The feedback for the 100-page preview was great, with over 32k downloads and a lot of e-mails, and I hope everyone enjoy & comment on this preview as well. There’s still a lot of work ahead, but it should go smoother from now on.

One thing that we still need a lot of help are reviewers. I’ve updated the games list, so if you see any game there that you would like to write about, please contact me at crpgbook@gmail.com

Thanks for reading and for all the support!
​

It looks fantastic! And important people are already standing up and noticing. I think this project could have a bright future.

 

[karnak]

This project is grandiose. And even more so, considering that it's supposed to be destined for public domain.
Thanks to Felipe and everyone who is contributing to this project.
Obrigado, irmãos!

 

[Lurker King]

Here, have a newfag brofist.



It doesn't have the same worth of a oldfag's brofist, but it is equally sincere.

I think there is a small typo in the gamasutra article. Instead of "And thing is" the correct is "And the thing is".

And please, whenever possible, show your support for people like the EFF, Rolo Kipp, Carey Martell, the CRPG Addcit, Matt Barton and countless other heroes out there. And especially to Brewster Kahle and the folks at the Internet Archive. We can't even comprehend how important their work is.

I don't like knee-jerking, but you are a hero too, you know? But don't let the success go to your head.

I just wish that I were more knowledgeable to write those damn reviews!

 

[ghostdog]

felipepepe show your ass here to get some well-deserved fisting.

 

[LeStryfe79]

Would donate 1 hundred dollars to a hardcover KS.

 

[Infinitron]

Felipe has uploaded a new version of the PDF: https://crpgbook.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/crpg-book-preview-2-1.pdf

 

[felipepepe]

Yeah, the first release had a few issues, like a broken NEO Scavenger review and cover gallery, so I uploaded a new version and added bookmarks to every page. Thanks for updating the link 'Tron.

Would donate 1 hundred dollars to a hardcover KS.

I would accept 100 dollars to give you a hardcover print. But all things in due time...

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

I am proud to be a part of this!

 

[MRY]

felipepepe Not that you need me to say this -- or that my praise matters -- but this is a beautiful, remarkable piece of work. Congratulations to you and to the many contributors! It's said that in the Dark Ages, some abbot opined that "Every letter written is a wound inflicted on the devil." I hope the book receives the attention and applause it is owed, but no matter what, you guys have achieved the historian's trick of turning the messy ephemera of the past into something that should last at least a little while longer.

 

[HiddenX]

Great milestone felipepepe - I hope some yougsters are trying some of the old game gems - this is not only history - many games are still playable today and major fun.

 

[Diablo169]

I'll wait for the full release before I dive in. What an amazing project though, you and all your contributors should be extremely proud felipepepe . Ensuring the rich history of gaming is preserved is something criminally overlooked.

 

[darthaegis]

 

[Rahdulan]

Looks absolutely great, although from what I've seen some info needs to be updated for accuracy. Project Vaulderie for Bloodlines comes to mind because it was actually shut down some time ago after they received C&D letter from CCCP, for example.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Really enjoying reading through this today.

(Surprised to see some of the games that are not yet allocated. Although the one I'd love to write about is already taken - first RPG I ever played, PoR - I'll have a look at some of the other old gems and see if I can replay them and then offer some assistance.)

 

[mindx2]

Would donate 1 hundred dollars to a hardcover KS.

I would accept 100 dollars to give you a hardcover print. But all things in due time...

Wait a minute! Does that mean your thinking about printing these?!! Please say "yes" as I want this as a coffee table sized hardcover book!!!* Please make it happen!!




*

Spoiler

...and if I don't have to do the printing, formatting, etc. work myself I'll throw money at you!

Also, where's the list of games that still need entries/reviews?

 

[HiddenX]

Also, where's the list of games that still need entries/reviews?

-> Spreadsheet of all games in the book

 

[Weirdstuffinspace]

Well done bro, look forward to reading this on commutes

 

[mindx2]

Also, where's the list of games that still need entries/reviews?

-> Spreadsheet of all games in the book

Huh, no ones done Savage Empire yet... think I might write that one as I loved it "back in the day." I have some time coming up so I can replay it for a fresh perspective. It's been decades since I played it but when I did I remember playing it straight through in just a few days without much sleep at all ! I remembered starting it shortly after finishing Ultima 6 so I was already comfortable with the UI, etc.

 

[LeStryfe79]

Will we have to wait for Grimwa to be released?

 

[felipepepe]

Wait a minute! Does that mean your thinking about printing these?!! Please say "yes" as I want this as a coffee table sized hardcover book!!!* Please make it happen!!

Yeah, of course I want to make one of those, I want one on my table as well. But it's a tricky process, especially since I live in Brazil. :/

I'm not really found of making a publisher deals, it's hard to trust those and the only one who proposed me a deal was Vox Day (no, I'm not kidding). Besides, would it really be fair for all of us to do all this work for free, only to have a publisher making money over it while no one else gets anything? Better to crowdfund a limited hardcover release or make it on-demand.

Will we have to wait for Grimwa to be released?

Duh, obviously. What kind of shitty book about RPG history this would be without it?

BTW, remind me of asking Cleve to review Wizardry VII.

 

[LeStryfe79]

Crowdfund it. Fargo, Barton, and Vincke will get on board.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

BTW, remind me of asking Cleve to review Wizardry VII. write the chapter on Sir-Tech

 

[Jaesun]

I'm am fairly certain that if you did a 100% open and transparent Kickstarter/IndieGoGo just for doing a Hard-Cover Publication of the book, it would do very well (I know I would buy one for certain). Just list the cost to print the books (at various quantities), the shipping costs, and possibly use a fulfillment house to do all of the packaging and shipping for you (and their cost as well). And any proceeds left over would go to a charity.

 

[SCO]

Moonstone
is not just my favorite RPG

triggered

Spoiler

RE3 is not just my favorite RPG

 

[felipepepe]

I'm am fairly certain that if you did a 100% open and transparent Kickstarter/IndieGoGo just for doing a Hard-Cover Publication of the book, it would do very well (I know I would buy one for certain). Just list the cost to print the books (at various quantities), the shipping costs, and possibly use a fulfillment house to do all of the packaging and shipping for you (and their cost as well). And any proceeds left over would go to a charity.

Yeah, I'm sure that it would work, but I have to find trustworthy people to work with. Living in Brazil means I can't use Kicksatrter, have to pay a lot of taxes on foreign money and will have to deal with printing companies by phone & e-mail.

Not the easiest thing to plan, a lot could backfire, so I want to take this slowly. Everyone can download and read the .pdf for free, so lets focus on this first. The physical copies are just an (very cool) extra.