Tag Archives: gamebook

Update on Volume Two of Beyond the Morning Mountains

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The creation of content for Volume Two of Beyond the Morning Mountains continues, although my current progress isn’t as advanced as I would wish it to be at this time. Despite this frustration, I’m really happy with the quality of the new material – both written and visual – and feel that I’m producing a lot of entertaining gamebook content.

There are two exciting additions to Volume Two. I’ve now increased the frequency and significance of the RARE items – both existing and new items created for the second volume, offering even more player options and adding extra replay value for the keen adventurer. I’ve also added TASKS. These are single or multi-part activities requiring you to search for hidden items, travel to a particular location or perform a series of actions to trigger a favourable event. Successfully completed TASKS offer a range of bonuses and add increased purpose to your journey.

Above is a preview of a completed illustration of a peculiar middle-aged man named Tulland, and below is a small preview of the map created for the village of Baylorn, which may be the first settlement you visit after leaving Balquis. There will be plenty of new maps in the second book – each one drawn with a different technique to maintain the diverse visual style of my artwork in this series.

Volume One of ‘Beyond the Morning Mountains’ turns to 400

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An important milestone has just been reached: the layout of Volume One has now been completed, and with the guidance of the gamebook gods to help it finally emerge in finished form, the overall page count has arrived at that most significant of all numbers – 400!

Four illustrations still remain to be completed, and the links are not yet set, but the progress made recently means that I’m now rapidly reaching the finish line. The layout process has been quite lengthy, as I’ve reread the book again and updated a few written sections that didn’t exactly capture the moment that I had envisaged, and I’ve subsequently then picked up a few minor errors, various typos and general inconsistencies that had frustratingly avoided detection until now.

December update and art preview

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As 2015 comes to a close, progress continues on Volume One of Beyond the Morning Mountains and its upcoming release is within sight! All writing is complete, the time-consuming editing and checking process is now done, and plenty of illustrations have been finished.

Above you can see a partial preview of a few new illustrations. The total of images to feature in Volume One has continued to rise throughout the development period as I balance the book’s visual presentation, creating the level of content I believe the project demands. As of now, the book will feature a total of 45 full-page illustrations – a significant increase over my initial aim of just 25!

Volume One of Beyond the Morning Mountains written!

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My first Tales of Quahnarren gamebook has now been written. Volume One of Beyond the Morning Mountains consists of 1000 sections and over 145,000 words, growing from what was originally planned as a ‘large’ project to an absolute behemoth – and it’s only half of the full adventure!

From the initial conception for a gamebook series, I was always prepared to simply write what I wanted, without technical or creative constraints hampering my ideas or plot lines. Volume One has steadfastly refused to be hobbled or simplified, repeatedly increasing in scope and detail as the writing process continued to evolve naturally. I’m really pleased with the construction of the finished text, as the opportunities for exploring this ancient land of Quahnarren are plentiful, engaging and often brutally dangerous.

Now I just have to complete the proofreading, editing and play testing; illustrate the remaining colour images; renumber all the sections; finish setting the page layout; create the hyperlinks for the pdf version; and check, check, check again. So, only a few more tasks before completion …

100,000+ words

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Volume One of Beyond the Morning Mountains has recently passed 100,000 words! There’s been plenty of good progress as this first part of your journey to Liust nears completion; including a few new illustrations (preview of the dangerous Bathouk shown above) and the creation of a new wrap-around cover design for this ongoing gamebook series. My revised word count of 110,000 is also likely to be exceeded before the adventure is finished, so there really is a wealth of included content – and therefore gameplay options – for all Quahnarren adventurers to discover.

Creature Compendium

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Progress on Beyond the Morning Mountains, Volume One continues to go very well, including the recent creation and design of a Creature Compendium insert, which details all of the creatures, monsters and spirits that the player may encounter during the first volume of their journey south – including many new adversaries not already featured on this site.

I’ve also been busily writing some of the bonus material and completing numerous new illustrations (which I’ll likely preview here sometime soon) and have also started the final page layout, which includes a few adjustments from the formatting previously seen in the free preview edition released earlier this year.

Beyond the Morning Mountains expanded!

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Due to a not entirely unexpected excess of written content (currently at around 80,000 words) I’ve decided to split the Beyond the Morning Mountains adventure into two books. Volume One will take you from your home north-west of Ustahm down to Balquis, where you can extensively explore this large major city, meeting many of the beggars, thiefs, tradespersons and fellow travellers that this unique city has to offer. Volume Two will then continue your journey over the Morning Mountains to your final destination of Liust; a tough four-day journey across some of the most spectacular scenery available in Quahnarren.

Each book is expected to consist of approximately 800 sections (100,000+ words), with the first book scheduled for release in late 2015, and the second to follow in 2016.