The Expanded CRPG Book is out!

[Konjad]

I'm gonna hunt each and every one of you who got the book within a week.

 

[Grauken]

I'm gonna hunt each and every one of you who got the book within a week.

I will use my copy of the book to defend myself

 

[Kev Inkline]

Reported Grauken for an explicit death threat.

 

[Kev Inkline]

BTW, the book displays a picture of an Amiga 500 but the caption introduces Amiga 1000 on page 75.

 

[Ranselknulf]

I ordered the book the last Friday, and it arrived today on Tuesday, like 2 full work days. That's insanely fast!

The Fed's had a decoy package ready and replaced ur original order.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

Just got my physical version yesterday. I already own the first edition and boy, the new one is sigificantly heavier and bigger. Can't wait to delve into it. I love this project, it's just such a pleasure to read the articles. Although I know most games there still are some surprises in for me. And from the games I already know the reviews are a motivation to give them another play.

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.

 

[Konjad]

 

[Grauken]

I see, no hunting required anymore

 

[Zarniwoop]

Black one looks a bit dinged up

 

[Konjad]

None came without any damage, unfortunately

I hope the one I saved as a gift is in a better shape, but probably not.

 

[felipepepe]

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.

The new edition ads Quarterstaff and Odyssey, I think they were the most interesting ones

BTW, the book displays a picture of an Amiga 500 but the caption introduces Amiga 1000 on page 75.

Good catch, I'll replace it on the PDF.

 

[PapaPetro]

Change the name to cRPG Bible
Less words.
Same meaning.
More pizzazz.

 

[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.

The new edition ads Quarterstaff and Odyssey, I think they were the most interesting ones

felipepepe Ah I didn't look careful enough it seems. Great to have Quarterstaff and Odyssey in the book. Cythera and Jewels of Arabia are pretty interesting titles too... maybe for the third edition.

 

[Grubba]

Logged into this place for this first time in a long time earlier this week, saw this thread, placed my order and got the book two days later, fantastic. This thing is beautiful, well done. I think someone else said it but ya you could kill someone with this, it's a hefty tome. Might hafta order another for a gift.

 

[Zarniwoop]

None came without any damage, unfortunately

I hope the one I saved as a gift is in a better shape, but probably not.

But how?

I got mine on Wednesday and it was possibly the best-packed shipment in human history. The amount of padding on the corners, and cardboard is insane. Amazon should learn a thing or 2.

BTW, review of the book:

Print quality is excellent. Binding, cover not as amazing as the hype made it seem but still, pretty dang good. This thing will last.

At first I was disappointed with the lack of glossyness on the pages, but now I actually prefer it. Colours look accurate, rather than oversaturated.

Articles are well-written, but brief. Although that is to be expected for the number of games crammed into 1 volume. I love how the article for D:OS2 mentions Larian always wanted to create something better than Ultima VII. That's something we call "foreshadowing"

The book is heavy and solid, and comes with an attached bookmark. Suspiciously pre-folded into Ultima VII. Based.

Overall impression: 9/10. You can tell immediately you are holding a quality product.

Content: 8/10

Print: 9/10

Title: 1/10. CRPG Book? Seriously? How about The Big Book of CRPG's? The Compendium of CRPG's? The Definitive Guide, A Brief History of, etc...

How about "The CRPG Codex"? Familiar-sounding but without the threat of infringing on DU's copyroight and having the kangaroo-mounted police kick down your door.


All in all, congrats felipepepe. It's a masterpiece.

 

[Grunker]

None came without any damage, unfortunately

I hope the one I saved as a gift is in a better shape, but probably not.

But how?

I got mine on Wednesday and it was possibly the best-packed shipment in human history. The amount of padding on the corners, and cardboard is insane. Amazon should learn a thing or 2.

This! In fact mine was commically wrapped; two layers of thick cardboard wrapping and then huge foam edges on each of the corners of the book.

It's here And it is indeed a mighty tome. I struggle with where to put it, it's that large (as they say).

 

[Konjad]

None came without any damage, unfortunately

I hope the one I saved as a gift is in a better shape, but probably not.

But how?

I got mine on Wednesday and it was possibly the best-packed shipment in human history. The amount of padding on the corners, and cardboard is insane. Amazon should learn a thing or 2.

idk, it looks as if it was falling from a height a few times. Maybe I'm just unlucky, but DPD didn't seem to care about the package much, especially as all four books are damaged, not just external ones. And the packaging was great, if it wasn't so well packed I imagine the books arriving with completely destroyed bindings

 

[felipepepe]

They tried to deliver it while I was at work, it didn't fit on my mailbox so they left a missed delivery note Tomorrow at last I will have it!

Title: 1/10. CRPG Book? Seriously? How about The Big Book of CRPG's? The Compendium of CRPG's? The Definitive Guide, A Brief History of, etc...

Dungeons & Desktops was taken

 

[Grunker]

Yeah the title is suss

 

[Zarniwoop]

Imagine if Davinci's The Last Supper was just called "Dinner table painting" or Lolita was called "Pedo story book" lel

 

[Rincewind]

My copy of this prestigious publication arrived two days ago, along with The Secret History of Mac Gaming. Less than a week from the UK to Australia, that's pretty impressive!

Zero damage, Bitmap Books are the masters of packaging, that's for sure. It was very well packaged, just like the last time I ordered The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games from them (very much recommended as well).

The colours are fine in the book, just as I thought. So they only screwed up when converting the CMYK master back to RGB.

Congratulations felipepepe & all contributors, this is a monumental achievement. I'm so glad I was able to get my hands on a copy, I will peruse it with great interest for many hours to come.

 

[felipepepe]

Imagine if Davinci's The Last Supper was just called "Dinner table painting" or Lolita was called "Pedo story book" lel

In my defense, it's really great for recall and online search. "The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games" covers the main keywords tied to it, without conflicting with the ocean of Tabletop RPG books out there.

Its cousin, the "JRPG Book", is actually called A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games / 日本のロールプレイングゲームへのガイド and it's hard to find on sites like Goodreads or even reddit, because people call it "the JRPG Book".

 

[Rincewind]

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.

 

[Rincewind]

In my defense, it's really great for recall and online search. "The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games" covers the main keywords tied to it, without conflicting with the ocean of Tabletop RPG books out there.

The title is good, it never seemed bothersome or inadequate to me.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Imagine if Davinci's The Last Supper was just called "Dinner table painting" or Lolita was called "Pedo story book" lel

In my defense, it's really great for recall and online search. "The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games" covers the main keywords tied to it, without conflicting with the ocean of Tabletop RPG books out there.

Well yeah if you want to type all of that each time.

I did and found it on Amazon. For $271