The Expanded CRPG Book is out!

[Abu Antar]

Only complaint I have is that darker screenshots that are small have poorer image quality than the rest.

As I said before, packaging was superb. It was almost like they protected an ancient artefact.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Yea if I ever need to ship a Fabergé egg, I know who to call.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

One thing I do miss however: Classic Mac-RPGs. There are some interesting games there too - Cythera, Jewels of Arabia, Taskmaker 1 and 2, Quarterstaff, Citadel, Xyphus, Odyssey: The Legend of Nemesis,... not to mention the enhanced versions of the M&M games or Ultima III.

Classic Mac gaming is something completely foreign to me, I never had even seen a Mac back in the 80s! I tried out the Mac versions of a few classic RPGs and adventures last year and I'm quite fascinated by these monochrome early Mac games. Therefore, I also bought The Secret History of Mac Gaming, you might like it as well. It seems to be an extremely well-written and comprehensive book so far, just like the CRPG Book. It's a work of art.

Yeah, I myself discovered the rather interesting world of Mac games only last autumn. I began fiddling with Mac emulation and was really astonished by what unique games (not only RPGs) have been made for Macs exclusively. I made my own Mac RPG-Collection, assembling the (in my thought) best Mac-RPGs (or such ones whose original version appeared on Mac or that had technically superior Mac versions). The older black and white ones running with MinivMac (a brillant emulator - if you pay the very small sum to use the generator on the website), the newer ones with BasiliskII or Sheepshaver. There really is a world of fun to be discovered. I already planned to get The Secret History of Mac Gaming soon. It looks like an excellent book.

 

[Konjad]

This is an amazing book, felipepepe

I thought I'll read through the cRPGs I've played, maybe a few other and put it on the shelf to appreciate from afar, but I started reading from the start (the oldest cRPGs) and got completely hooked up. I've read it for several hours today. It does go through the history in a pleasant chronological way.

 

[felipepepe]

This is an amazing book, felipepepe

I thought I'll read through the cRPGs I've played, maybe a few other and put it on the shelf to appreciate from afar, but I started reading from the start (the oldest cRPGs) and got completely hooked up. I've read it for several hours today. It does go through the history in a pleasant chronological way.

Thanks, very happy that even Codex veterans are enjoying it!

 

[Rincewind]

I started reading it today and it got me in such a good mood. Great intro chapters felipepepe. You and I have a very similar background, just substitute Brazil with Romania.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

My printed copy arrived today, it will have a honorable place on my shelf next to the collector's edition of the first issue

Great job felipepepe, this is an amazing work!

Good choice in partnering with Bitmap Books, as others have mentioned the book was packed with great care in a very secure packaging.

 

[Konjad]

How are the sales?

 

[felipepepe]

How are the sales?

Still waiting for the report from the publisher, but seems to be doing well, lots of reviews coming in every day

 

[Lucumo]

Is there any point to buying the new edition physically? I received an update to my digital edition (which was part of the original physical one) which probably covers everything, so in terms of content I should be good.

(Asking because I simply lack space. My basement looks like a warehouse where cardboard boxes with games, books and other cool stuff stack too high already.)

 

[felipepepe]

Is there any point to buying the new edition physically? I received an update to my digital edition (which was part of the original physical one) which probably covers everything, so in terms of content I should be good.

It's honestly for the people who enjoy that kind of stuff. The PDF will always be freely available, updated and has things like hyperlinks, don't feel pressured to get the hardcover version if it doesn't work for you.

 

[PhantasmaNL]

ordered my copy on Saturday, and it was delivered today in pristine condition

excellent work by felipepepe, all the contributors and also bitmap books for the quality of execution and shipping

chatgpt had this to say about it:

In a world of parchment and ink, it gleams,
A magnificent book, the stuff of dreams,
Filled to the brim with knowledge's grace,
A boundless realm, a sacred space.

Its pages whisper secrets of old,
Tales of empires, stories untold,
From ancient scrolls to modern thought,
In its embrace, all wisdom is sought.

Each chapter a journey, a new frontier,
A treasure trove to conquer fear,
With words that dance and ideas that soar,
This book, a key to wisdom's door.

Within its covers, worlds take flight,
Imagination soars to endless height,
A boundless voyage, a cosmic quest,
In every page, we find our best.

So let us cherish this book divine,
A beacon of truth in a world malign,
For in its pages, we're set free,
To explore, to learn, to truly be.

 

[Gamezor]

Is there a link to the physical version?

 

[felipepepe]

Is there a link to the physical version?

Sure: https://www.bitmapbooks.com/collect...g-book-a-guide-to-computer-role-playing-games

 

[Zarniwoop]

Instructions unclear, the link still just opens a website

 

[felipepepe]

How are the sales?

Got the report now, very good results! I can't give all the contract details, but I can say that since launch we raised £8,754! For reference, the previous edition raised £22.84 in like three years or so

 

[ghostdog]

I got mine a few days back. Damn beast of a book. Excellent quality. Very fast shipping by the Bitmap bros.

 

[Infinitron]

https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/2023/10/23/update-31-the-last-update/

Update 31 – The Last Update​

It has now been two months since the Expanded Edition of the CRPG Book was published by Bitmap Books, and I’m very happy to share that we made £8,754 since, bringing us to a total of £31.599 raised for charity. A huge thanks to everyone who supported the project!

I also finally finished updating the PDF to include the proofread text, and made some changes for it to work better as an ebook: DOWNLOAD THE LATEST VERSION HERE

• The font colour was changed, so that accessibility / high-contrast mode works now (I had no idea this would cause issues, sorry);
• Clicking on the table of contents or the cover art gallery now takes you to the review page;
• A few games had screenshots in the wrong aspect ratio or with the wrong scaling applied, they’re now fixed.
• Some screenshots had been converted to CMYK, I restored all of them to the RGB originals, so colours are much more accurate:

There are some small content changes too: due to new findings, I’ve re-written part of the PLATO RPG section, Nox & Anito: Defend a Land Enraged were added to the book, and I changed the layout of the non-English RPGs page to squeeze in ناناولهپ صرع / Age of Pahlevans and Свод Равновесия: Бельтион / Beltion: Beyond Ritual.




To be clear, this is 99% the same as the hardcover version that was released by Bitmap Books in August. Please understand that we will not make a new print of the hardcover version just to add these changes.

Finally, this is the last big update to the CRPG Book. Yes, we could always add more games, as well as post-2019 games. But the book is already way too big, and the goal was to make a curated overlook, not a full catalogue or a collection of modern reviews. I’m happy to stop here.

I want to focus on personal stuff now, maybe finally get my “Online RPGs / MMOs / MUDs around the world” project going. But that will take years, don’t expect anything soon.

Thanks again to everyone who supported the project – it’s crazy to think it all began with a Best RPGs list, almost 10 years ago…

 

[Jack Of Owls]

Just wanted to mention that it was a setting in FoxIt reader I had ticked that gave me issues with the high contrast green-on-black theme (it displayed an almost unreadable pale grey text on black with the cRPG book). Once I unticked that setting in FoxIt it displayed properly, as you can see.

Spoiler

 

[Rincewind]

I use SumatraPDF, which I think is the least bloated & fastest PDF viewer all around that just does the job and nothing more.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

I use SumatraPDF, which I think is the least bloated & fastest PDF viewer all around that just does the job and nothing more.

I liked it no-bloat features too but the reason I don't use Sumatra anymore is because it doesn't have a dark mode/theme, or at least the version as of about a year ago I use didn't. I have an OLED display and white backgrounds can be downright painful to view on a 65" screen. So I go with the high contrast green font on black background now. Plus it looks like a Fallout CRT monitor so I can geek out with that

 

[deama]

Are you going to mention the exodos project in a new update or have you already mentioned it in the newer versions?

 

[felipepepe]

Are you going to mention the exodos project in a new update or have you already mentioned it in the newer versions?

Exodos is cool, but unlike AmigaVision I don't think it's a friendly way to start someone into DOS emulation... Better to go to GOG or get DOSBox / D-FEND + My Abandonware first.

Also, I don't plan on doing any more updates. To me, the project is completed.

 

[Ranselknulf]

Thank you for your efforts. I've enjoyed the books thoroughly.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

The definitive encyclopedic resource on the genre, imo. Never say never though. Maybe 10 years down the line or so, Felip will want to do an updated edition. One can only hope.