Choices series - Add-on Adventures

Today I am pleased to announce a major development with regards to my gamebook series, "Choices". 

My first book in the series, "The Wounded Falcon" was released on March 17.  I have visited various markets over the past two weeks, attempting to garner interest in the series.  So far, I am quite pleased with the number of sales.

If you have not read earlier entries on my blog (or on the official Choices website) you may not be aware of the primary gamebook mechanic that the Choices series uses: My new "Hidden Choices" system.  I will not explain how it works once again in this entry, but you can read more about how it works in my blog, here or on the Choices website here.

Moving right along, I realised (only recently) that the operation of the "Hidden Choices" mechanic had potential to be used in a manner that I had not originally intended.  Once I discovered this, and worked out the mechanics of how it would operate (which turned out to be quite straightforward) I was quite excited.

The instructions for the system are now complete (and work very well), so I can now announce the introduction of:

CHOICES - ADD-ON ADVENTURES

For those of you who are familiar with computer games, you will be aware that many games include things like "bonus missions" or "expansion packs" to continue the game once you have completed the original game.  These are normally provided via an internet download.  I have created the same system for the Choices series, and ironically, it is the workings of the "Hidden Choices" system that makes these Add-on Adventures work extremely well.

Looking at the first book in the series, "The Wounded Falcon", I am currently writing the first Add-on Adventure for this gamebook.  Once complete, I will be placing the story extension on to my Choices website, for free download (as a Doc/PDF file).  Without going into the mechanics in detail, the reader will use both the original book and the Add-on adventure together, discovering new areas of the story to explore and (here's the great part) using the add-on Adventure module to alter the outcome of scenes in the ORIGINAL story, without me having to re-write the original story!

The Add-on Adventures will be regularly updated in a manner similar to a downloadable patch to a piece of computer software.  The first module: The Wounded Falcon - Add on Adventures - Version 1.0 will be released as soon as it is complete.  Over time, I will add extra scenes to the Add-on Adventure and then re-release it as version 1.1 and so forth.  Therefore, the adventure will become like a Never-Ending Story (while getting bigger and bigger each time).

I envisage that the first release will be (approximately) 25 sections long.  Having the story released in shorter segments will enable me to release them more quickly.  Having an expansion adventure taking me a year to write sort of defeats the purpose, time-wise.  I may as well write another gamebook, instead.

In a sense, this setup has similarities to the Fabled Lands series, for those of you who are familiar with it, however, I am approaching it from a slightly different perspective.

I plan to utilise this system for each book I write in the Choices series, so the second book in the series, The Lost Diary (which I am also currently writing) will have the same idea - Release the major gamebook first, followed by the Add-On Adventures afterwards.

For those of you who have already bought, or eventually buy "The Wounded Falcon", I encourage you to take advantage of these "Add-On Adventures".  They will be free and be downloadable from my Choices website.

Thanks for reading,

Jasan

Win a copy of "The Wounded Falcon"

To celebrate the release of my second gamebook, "The Wounded Falcon", I am holding a competition.

To enter, send an e-mail to me at jumpsterhopper@bigpond.com with the answer to the following question?

Who is the archenemy of The Noble Ranger in my Woodland Forest Chronicles series?

Entries close on March 31, 2011.

There will be two prizes:

- The winner will receive a signed copy of my new gamebook, "The Wounded Falcon".

- The runner-up will receive a signed copy of my first gamebook, "Invitation to a Feast".