Wizard's choice

Рони# Мейдей писа: писа:

Освен това ми е интересно, какво би станало, ако пуснем наши апликации на символична цена (примерно 49 или 99 стотинки).

Рони# Мейдей писа: писа:

Сам Ландстром ще даде интервю за Списанието. Ако някой иска да пита нещо, моля да пише тук.

Ronnie: We are happy to continue getting in touch with the people around the world who write or publish gamebooks nowadays. Kudos to Sam Landstrom for agreeing to give an interview for our small community. Sam is the author and software designer of a series of 6 gamebooks, called Wizard’s Choice) published in the form of apps for iOs and Android. Each of them is 45- 55 k words long, which is the size of the Assasins of Persia). The 1st installment is free and has been downloaded by more than 50 000 readers, the others are paid, but the prices are very low (around 3 BGN for each). It was natural for me to get hooked to the gamebooks as they are characterized by excellent narrative, high quality choices, no use of dice. The challenge for the reader is to carefully balance between manna, health and morale.
Sam: Besides iOS and Android, it’s also on NOOK, Kindle, Windows Phone, and Windows 8 Store.
Q1: Sam, would you like to tell us a bit more about yourself. Like where you are from, how old you are, what your occupation is.
I’m a 39 year-old technical writer and project manager at Microsoft who lives in the Seattle area of the United States. I love to write (besides Wizard’s Choice, I’ve written a sci-fi novel titled MetaGame that was optioned for TV). I like to snowboard, SCUBA dive, and hang out with my wife and kids.
Q2: What are your favourite gamebooks that helped you become such a good gamebook author.
When I was a kid, I loved Choose Your Own Adventure even though I thought they were severely flawed. I think my experience reading them helped me write better games of my own because I knew what I did *not* like about CYOA’s including seemingly random outcomes for choices and rather childish storylines… I mean I was a child, but I didn’t like the book treating me like one!
Q3: How do you feel about the use of dices in gamebooks? Do you feel that they take away some of the power of the reader, or do you think they bring an element of surprise to the gameplay?
I don’t like them. To me, there should be logical (but not obvious) consequences to your actions, not random results.
Q4: Who are your target readers? WC1 seems to apply to the soft spot of dungeon crawlers, WC4 and WC5 might be more suitable for fans of Twilight.
There is some romance building up by V4 and V5, but I’d say it still is more aimed at males than females. Indeed, the majority of my fans are males and according to the statistics that I can get from Android, only about 15% are female.
I’d say it’s mostly fantasy fans, particularly Dungeons & Dragons fans (like myself).
Q5: About your application, I find it simple and efficient. Have you considered adding bookmarks and the function to go back to the section you came from?
I have just implemented checkpoints into my Windows Phone and Windows 8 versions. I plan to add that to Android as well. These prevent you from having to go back to the beginning after you die, but unless you die right after you reach a checkpoint, you won’t be able to go back to the last choice every time you make a mistake. I think that strikes a balance between convenience and not allowing the game to be too easy.
Q6: How important do you think is the role of art for the success of your books? In each volume there is a small number of very beautiful illustrations.
I think good art for your cover and icons are particularly important because it attracts readers to download the game in the first place. Art within the game is nice, but not essential. Heck, I’ve heard feedback from a handful of readers that do *not* want any illustrations because it ruins the picture they have built in their heads.  Even still, I have invested a few thousand dollars into art. It’s worth it and heaven knows the artists can use the money. 
Q7: What do you think about linearity in gamebooks? Is it always to be avoided or are there occasions in which it can be a valuable tool for streamlining the plot?
Not sure what this means. Does linearity mean not branching off of the main plot too much?
Q8: You have a talent for making strong female characters. Which is your favourite?
In my books, I like Narissa. She’s good to the core, but vicious toward evil. She also has an innocence about her founded on her faith and natural optimism (versus being simple or naive).
I also like all my female villains. There’s something fascinating about a powerful, treacherous, cold-hearted, and beautiful woman. 
Q9: Since you are married, I can’t ask you if you would date a succubus. So, would you suggest any of your readers do so?
They will drain your soul, so no, not worth it… Almost, but not quite.
I have met a few in real life.  And I would dare to speculate that there are far more male succubi out there than females, so ladies watch out!
Q10: In WC6, the wizard has to cruel things in order to survive. Do you expect criticism about that?
I did expect some criticism for that, but strangely have received almost none. I think people enjoy making interesting and difficult choices and adding a layer of moral dilemma to some of these choices makes it all the more interesting.
Q11: Do you think that WC1 might be the most read gamebook from the New Wave?
The New Wave? I’ll have to research that.  Overall, I’ve had about 800,000 + downloads. Of course not everyone who downloaded it read it, so my real viewers are fewer than that number, but still certainly significant. I don’t know how that compares to other gamebooks from the New Wave.
Q12: Could you update us about the sales of the paid versions. I know that each of them has scored more than 1 000 sales on the Android market, but what about iOs?
I’ve made about $1,200 off of iOS, although I only get a percentage because I went through Hosted Games for iOS instead of writing the software myself like I did on the other platforms. I’ve made about $8,000 off of Android so far. So in summary, although the money is not impressive yet compared to the effort I’ve put in, I’m hopeful for the future because my sales are growing… And of course money isn’t the primary driver of my work since I can’t exactly expect to pop up on Forbs List by producing gamebooks.
Q13: Do you know Tin Man Games? Have you tried their gamebook apps?
I’ve heard of them, but haven’t played them yet. Obviously, I need to get on that because I know they’re classic gamebooks.
Q14: In your interview for Nokia, you say that someone else is going to use your software to publish a gamebook. Could you elaborate a bit about that? What can we expect?
I have hired a few writers to create additional gamebooks through me. I have several in the works:
- Zombie High: A book about being a high-school student in a zombie apocalypse.
- A H. P. Lovecraft-style book set in the 1930’s. Cults, monsters, and other fun!
- An X-Files sort of game where you hunt monsters in the modern world.
- Another D&D style fantasy book, but instead of a wizard, you’re a thief/rogue.
Q15: Anything more about your future plans? I know you will probably not write a fantasy again, but would you keep the mechanics?
As I mention above, I have several books in the works through other authors and will probably expand this list to other genres like space opera, romance, maybe even erotica.
Yes, I expect similar mechanics, at least for the first few titles. Keep it simple and fun, that’s my objective.