The Gamebook Loop

Note: Gamebook Theory is a very interesting and well-trodden territory. Unfortunately, due to laziness on my part, I have not read and researched into these things while writing this post. I will, however, re-iterate my promise to link in these blogs, other better blogs that explore these things, the best of these, are from my favorite gamebook author(s): Dave Morris, Jamie Thomson, ... and other(s) who have managed to avoid the internet all these years. Once I get a few posts in, I will do my due diligence and start linking them here.

Every gamebook I have read that lends itself well to digitization and implementation can be represented as a loop (in the programming parlance). It is quite simple really:

1. Tell a story or a scene
2. Present a choice
3. Continue the story/scene or enter a new scene
4. Unless you die, disappear, or the story ends, cycle back to 1

There is probably a formal, gamebook-book-theoretic-or-esque names for steps 1-4 or more (or less) steps for that matter. I call this the Gamebook Loop. (Of course, someone on the internet may have coined the term first).

The point is, in spite of its simplicity, there are several, if not, infinitely creative ways to go about steps 1-4. Each gamebook series that came to existence, (e.g. Choose Your Own Adventure, Virtual Reality Adventure, Critical Interactive Fiction/Critical IF, Fabled Lands, Which Way Books, Fighting Fantasy), have differentiated themselves from the other by the ways they have innovated on the Gamebook Loop.

For example, in Critical IF, step 2 involves checking whether or not you have the requisite skill(s) to accomplish some feat. Sometimes it could be possession or lack of an item or a codeword (Note: a clever piece of implementing memory or a gamebook that remembers things! Thanks o, great gods of gaming Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson). Sometimes, step 2 is a combat sequence pitting the reader/protagonist against another character/creature/force of nature, as in the case of Fabled Lands. If step 2 in itself is a pocket universe of possibilities, step 4 is its never to be outclassed peer.

In fact, gamebooks of yesteryears are also remembered for the copious amounts death; lots of creative, inventive, horrible ways at that, too. Again, someone on the internet call it InstaDeath. (Note to self: start linking already!).

While Step 2 and 4 are full of possibilities and essential, Step 1, if not written well, could doom the entire book. Step 3 is just mechanical. In physical terms, Step 3 is just turning a page. Step 1 is you reading and immersing yourself.

Gamebook Loop and Games

The gamebook loop is important for at least one reason: It is our model for programming or adapting the book into a computer game. By breaking down a page or paragraph sections (in some gamebook series) into one of these steps, we are mapping out or planning ahead for building systems or modules to handle these parts.

Step 1 could be as simple as printing out lines of text onto the screen. In some games, they may even come with an illustration or a computer graphic depiction of the scene. Step 3 usually involves loading a new set of text/graphics onto the screen. Step 4 is the the computer program's out or exit from the loop. Step 2 is the most involved and probably the most complex system you will build for your game. Indeed, Step 2, is THE GAME in the gamebooks.

Next

In the coming weeks, we will explore each of these steps and provide some examples from our work (programming).