Community Event / Creation Elite Gamebook - Working Title: Salvation

Rich H

R
Hi All,

I've upped my pledge to the ED Kickstarter to the Writers Pack but as referred to on the KS, when I posted what I'd done:

***WARNING: Right guys, this Book Pledge is purely made on the assumption that between now and close of play on Jan 5th I can actually come up with a decent plot, game system, and structure to my gamebook idea otherwise I'll have to lower it. So please bear that in mind!!! ***

... So this thread is about me posting my ideas, brainstorming things, and generally just trying to discuss my plans and getting others interested and firing back ideas and, most importantly, support.

I'm going to add a few posts after this, including:

1) Overall book structure/ideas

2) An introduction/teaser to the gamebook - kind of like what you'd read on the back cover if it was published

3) My current musings/thoughts/ideas about the book in general

Any feedback, input, help would be greatly appreciated! I'm a tabletop RPGer but have *never* published a book so have no idea how to get something like this to market - these are the two reasons why I posted that warning above.

Thanks,
Rich
 
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Rich H

R
Elite: Salvation (A Gamebook)
Even amongst the star lanes, truth is something that still has to be fought for.

This is a story with a difference. A story where YOU determine the next step and decide what happens. A story that has a journey and a conclusion chosen by you!

As the Trader: Prove your innocence! A disastrous trade run left you and your partner in debt to the Crime Boss, Severous B. Scrumb. Your partner and friend, now a pirate, pursues you through space bent on your destruction, but why? Only you can uncover the truth and save yourself and your friend from disaster and death.

As the Pirate: Betrayed. Wanted. A Fugitive. A life in ruin. Revenge. No one will take you alive and you will reclaim what's yours. That journey will start with the death of you former partner and friend, now your betrayer and enemy.

As the Bounty Hunter: The Client - Severous B. Scrumb, Crime Lord. The Contract - track and termination. The Targets - one trader, one pirate. The Pay Off - more money than the job is worth and... a cost that you may not be willing to pay.
 

Rich H

R
Another question is about the actual book, what is its structure? Well, it needs:

  • A plot - fairly simple as this is a gamebook so it has options, cool rules, etc to help drive interest as well as the other elements found within a standard novel
  • 3 roles - I like the idea of letting a player choose their role at the start of the game. This lends itself to playability and focussing on different elements depending on the role you've chosen. So my thoughts are that a player can pick from the Trader, Pirate, or Bounty Hunter roles
  • Perspective - these 3 roles will allow me to present the story from three differenct perspectives. Allowing for a differing focus depending on the role chosen. It's important though that these roles have touch points in order to tie their narratives together
 

Celandri

C
Rich, what type of game rules are you looking for? traveler? d&d? or orher ones?

think as a trader is not so easy to make a game book on, as a trader usualy go for safe areas to not loose money, there is always some non safe ones, but thats the miniority.

but pirate, bounty hunter, assasin, explorer? dont know though.

think bounty hunter, pirate and explorer is easier to combine in my head.
 

Rich H

R
A post I made appears to have disappeared so I'll try again...

So one of the questions I need to ask is just what Elite means to me. What is it?

What is Elite?
Trying to keep this to a 10-point high-level list. Elite, for me, is:

  • Trading
  • Space Combat
  • Competence levels - eg, the path to Elite
  • Pulse and Beam Lasers - there's a certain style to Elite weapons rather than 'pew pew' Star Wars lasers
  • Ships named after snakes - really strong design/look
  • Sandbox gaming
  • Exploration
  • Legal status
  • Different worlds - eg, tech level, agricultural/industrial, government types, etc
  • Ship upgrades

I think these things need to be intgrated into the plot, options/choices for the reader, and/or the rule system. Can they? Largely, I think so, yes.

The only point that will prove difficult is the sandbox nature of Elite. Books, and gamebooks, have a plot and Elite (with the exception of its missions) generally doesn't have a 'story mode' attached to it. I could design a gamebook without a plot - just building paragraphs based on trading, encounters, etc... But then the question would be "why not just play Elite, that does it better"? So, I think I still need a plot... I can simulate a sandbox environment to some degree by certain techniques used in other books and ideas I have. More thoughts on that later.
 
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Alien

Alien
Rich
I'd not make players choose a role at the beginning. The whole idea with Elite (and other space sims) is that you can change roles as you wish.
I'd have the three roles as one option each on each page. Switch them around and keep the wording ambiguous so the player doesn't obviously see which one is trader and which is pirate and which is bounty hunter. If you word them right and keep switching them around, the player would be guessing which was a pirate choice and which was a bounty hunter choice, that is if you tell the player there are even those roles there.
 

Rich H

R
So, onto some rough ideas/thoughts...

Skills and Attributes
Elite is all about the ship so we need some characteristics shared by them:

  • Hull strength
  • Shields
  • Weapon strength
  • Manoeuvrability
  • Cargo capacity
  • Speed

Half a dozen solid characteristics there.

As the reader will be playing a character, then they'll need to interact with the ship and maybe beyond that depending on potential encounters. So:

  • Trading skill
  • Pilot skill
  • Personal combat skill
  • Scouting skill
  • Space lore skill
  • Navigation skill

Hmmm, half a dozen as well. No need for any more othewise it will get too cumbersome. May even cut these down further.

Character Roles
The idea I have here is that each of the character roles (Trader, Pirate, Bounty Hunter) will define the starting number for each skill or ship attribute and they'll vary as well - ie, the Trader won't have as high a Combat skill as the Bounty Hunter. A character's Competency (ie, Harmless, Dangerous, etc) will also affect these skill ratings.

In addition, as mentioned above, the character role will also define their ship's characteristics. To give the gameboo some variety I'm thinking that each role has a different ship which will therefore offer varying characteristics. So, for now, I'm going with:

  • Trader - Cobra Mk III
  • Pirate - Mamba (not sure about this one. Thought about a stolen Viper but they have zero storage capacity)
  • Bounty Hunter - Fer de Lance

Therefore role will drive starting character and ship attributes/capabilities.
 
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Rich H

R
I alluded to earlier within my plot/teaser outline that there's a slightly different narrative drive within the gamebook's plot depending on the chracter/role taken up by the reader. Some more thoughts on plot/character drivers and objectives...

  • As the Trader - the main driver is searching for the truth evidence of their innocence and until then avoiding their estranged partner's attention
  • As the Pirate - searching for the partner who sold them out and exacting revenge, all the while avoiding the attentions of the authorities and bounty hunters
  • As the Bounty Hunter - Hunting down and killing both the Trader and Pirate

These priorities will need financing within the game so those drivers will vary depending on the role - eg, the trader will follow cluse and leads from system to system and trade along these routes in order to supplement such investigations.

Therefore they'll be inherently different challenges depending on the role chosen.

  • As the Trader - you're searching for evidence of the truth, so this will play out in a conventional gamebook sense
  • As the Pirate - you're a Fugitive so expect combat in the form of police ships and bounty hunters. While dealing with those threats you'll be tracking down you former partner in order to destroy him
  • As the Bounty Hunter - you're a loner, a hunter, and a killer and have two desparate targets to track down. No easy task as the clock is ticking

This should give a different play experience for each one and allow for increased replay value. I also think the difficult of each role should vary if possible - there's no need for balance between the three as you aren't playing against someone else.
 

Rich H

R
So, what plot and game system drivers am I thinking about...

Limited Time Limit
I think there's an obvious narrative that this is a chase of some kind. One role (the Trader) is being hunted while searching for the truth, another is a hunter and also being hunted (ie, the Pirate), while the third (ie, the Bounty Hunter) is hunting both the other two.

I therefore think a ticking clock should be employed as a narrative device to build tension in the reader so they know they are racing against failure. My idea is to have this time limit as a number that counts down. This naturally means for the reader that they want to avoid it getting to zero before they meet their role's objective(s).

Detailed Combat
I often find fights in gamebooks to be somewhat uninspiring. I'd therefore like each combat to have at least some decisions to be made as well as simple dice rolling. The Way of the Tiger gamebooks had a set of punches, kicks, and throws to liven up combat - some options working better on some opponents than others. I'd like to build something similar for spaceship combat here. I think its easily doable.

Event Codes
As readers could move around systems and revisit place I'm going to adopt an Event Code structure wherein the reader 'collects' codes when they achieve/witness/pass through certain narrative points within the gamebook. That way the reader will be told to go to a different paragraph if they revisit somewhere and they have the applicable Event Code filled in.

Also, these Event Codes will be used to determine progression of objectives so that the game/paragraphs visited will vary depending on the codes collected. This will be particular important in the resolution of the plot line for each role.

As a reader, you don't really have to understand Event Codes - they are simple for the reader to work with/collect. The above is more of a design idea in order to deliver the play experience that I'm aiming for.
 

Rich H

R
So, that's all for now. Going to post some more ideas tomorrow when I've thought things through a bit - mainly to do with content of the book which should give an idea of how it will play.
 
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Celandri

C
sounds good, so each "arch type" get a diffrent ship with diffrent strenghts?

do they choose what stuffs they will get and other things?
 

Rich H

R
Celandri said:
sounds good, so each "arch type" get a diffrent ship with diffrent strenghts?
Click to expand...

That's exactly right.

Celandri said:
do they choose what stuffs they will get and other things?
Click to expand...

Ship Upgrades
I was thinking the reader would get some basic characteristics for the ship and you can expand its portfolio a little before starting the book and then you can extend it further during the gamebook - by ammassing enough wealth and/or completing certain 'Event Codes'. These updgrades/enhancements would expand the capabilities of the ship by either (a) increasing the attributes of the ship - eg, beam laser upgrades would increase the ship's weapon strength attribute or (b) offer 'immunities' or expanded options within the gamebook - eg, an ECM would effectively give you immunity to anyone using missiles against you.

So, if you're familiar with gamebooks such as Lone Wolf then think of them as being a bit like the Kai Disciplines within that series - they offered mecanical bonuses or opened up certain options when reading/playing the gamebook.
 

Rich H

R
Plot, Options, and Freedom of Choice
Okay... The real strength of a gamebook is that:

  • They offer interaction with the reader, meaning the reader (at points within the text) is 'asked' or given options by the author that affect and dictate the route the story takes. These eventually lead to various conclusions to the story ranging from total success to the death/failure of the protagonist (the character the reader is playing)
  • They combine the above interaction with the narrative/plot development not dissimilar to what you'd expect from reading a 'normal' book

For me, those two characteristics are the heart and soul of a gamebook. Therefore, and I touched on this earlier, as Elite (the videogame) offers a very sandbox style of play then how is this achieved within the parameters of what a gamebook *is*. Well, firstly, you could get rid of the plot side of the gamebook but as previously mentioned if you do this I'd rather just go play the actual Elite game than about with a gamebook. The game does it better than any book could hope to achieve. This is why I'm maintaining a plot and narrative as its a key component of what a gamebook delivers.

Within the structure of a gamebook though you can approach how the plot is developed and if done right you can still present it in a more open/sandbox style than what's usually associated with gamebooks. Earlier I posted ideas about a time limit, event codes, etc as providing impetus (the time limit) and an evolving world (the event codes) but now I'd like to throw some ideas around as to how adventuring in the world of Elite: Salvation could be presented within the gamebook.

Location Maps
The main idea I have for 'navigating' the Elite universe is the use of location maps:

  • Firstly, I want to provide the reader with an overview or high-level map, showing the various star systems covered within the gamebook, their relative distances from each other, and other notes such as tech level, mode of government, etc would also be included here. This immediately presents the framework/'playground' of the adventure to the reader and is also used as a high-level planning tool by the reader
  • Secondly, each system covered within the above 'overview map' will effectively have it's own chapter within the book. At the beginning of each 'chapter' there will be a system map presenting 'areas of interest' within that system (eg, asteroid fields, sun, planets, space stations, pirate enclaves, etc) that the reader can decide to travel to. Depending on his role and the narrative driver keyed into each of these roles, certain locations will be more attractive and logical than others, and clues obtained within earlier parts of the book already read will drive the reader to visit certain locations and/or avoid others. Also, depending on the 'Event Codes' that have been unlocked certain options may or may not be available to the reader. When the reader chooses a location within the system then they turn to the numbered paragraph associated with it and continue their adventure based on the text and options offered from then on. When the particular location has been explored they can return to the system map and pick another location or (if possible - ie, they have fuel, etc to do so) they can leave and visit another system and follow another clue/lead, etc.

Obviously travelling to systems and exploring locations will cause the time limit to tick and get closer to zero, so the reader will need to balance their desire to explore with narrative drivers/events and the forever ticking clock.

Prelude Chapters
In order to get the reader started, there'll be 3 Prelude Chapters keyed into the 3 roles which will start the reader off by presenting the background of the story and it will also start them in a particular system and involve them in certain events in addition to presenting differing options. Once the prelude chapter is played through the 'sandbox' exploration will open up to the reader allowing them to follow leads and visit systems/locations as described above.

Combining these elements means that the reader has an initial introduction where they are lead through the early stages (ie, they get to know the basics of the gamebook and how it works) and then once this intro has been successfully navigated they dive into the real detail of the book.
 
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Rich H

R
Having considered all the above, I thought it'd be worth just outlining what the book's contents would be like.

Contents of Book
  • Character Sheet - containing character related attributes and skills, credits, legal status, competency, etc
  • Ship Roster - containing ship related attributes, equipment upgrades, cargo, etc
  • Event Codes and Timer - used to document Event Codes obtained during play and recording status of the timer
  • Rules - an explanation of how to play the game, how to pick a character, role and ship, spaceship combat, hand-to-hand combat, ranged combat (eg, personal ranged weapons), increasing in competency, equipment upgrades, etc
  • Sector Map - contains all star systems that can be explored in the gamebook along with summary information on each one (eg, tech level, industry type, government type, etc)
  • Prelude Chapter - Trader
  • Prelude Chapter - Pirate
  • Prelude Chapter - Bounty Hunter
  • System Chapters - containing a system map and the various sections/paragraphs relating to the exploration of that system
  • End Game Chapter - relates to the resolution of each of the roles and their plot/narratives

I'm currently estimating that I'll need about 25 to 50 sections for each Prelude Chapter, 100 sections for each System Chapter (with about 6 systems covered in the book), and 50 sections for the End Game Chapter. So, all-in-all, I reckon this will weigh in at approximately 600 to 700 sections. That's one helluva gamebook!!! Eeek!
 
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Rich H

R
Feedback, questions, and comments welcomed - they'll really decide whether I actually keep my Writer's Pledge or ultimately withdraw it along with seeing how well Nathan's Elite: Survivor KS does.

Thanks.
 
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Aewarin Jameson

Aewarin Jameson
Rich H said:
Feedback, questions, and comments welcomed - they'll really decide whether I actually keep my Writer's Pledge or ultimately withdraw it along with seeing how well Nathan's Elite: Survivor KS does.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Sounds interesting and I wish you luck - however I am not much of a reader (of fiction) so I am unable to suggest anything for you. Granted when I was younger I enjoyed the Steve Jackson books (which I think yours is emulating) but I do not know of any modern ones to compare with.
 
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