tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post2400495069636484365..comments2024-03-22T19:07:21.790+00:00Comments on The Wertzone: A History of Epic Fantasy - Part 24Adam Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-4622158025105331372019-07-13T20:52:02.362+00:002019-07-13T20:52:02.362+00:00You should also mention Temple of Apshai, a relati...You should also mention Temple of Apshai, a relatively large dungeon crawler (with graphics) from 1979. I played it to death on my TRS-80. TLRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04744616454522088033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-8466079228330244452015-11-04T22:53:28.546+00:002015-11-04T22:53:28.546+00:00It may be worth revisiting that at the end of the ...It may be worth revisiting that at the end of the series, although the next part will touch on it in a big way.<br /><br />Certainly when I was discussing it with a publisher they said it would be a very short project and seemed bemused when I mentioned stuff like Vance, Howard, Peake etc. Not as part of the subgenre, but as important influences on it.<br /><br />I would say that my working definition is that an epic fantasy involves a group of characters tackling an existential threat to their world/existence, which is a well-defined secondary world (and this can be an alt-history/alt-universe Earth as well as an outright fantasy world). This is the dividing point from sword and sorcery, which more frequently focuses on only one or two protagonists (like Conan or Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser) and where often the stakes are much smaller or more personal. It's a fairly broad church, though, as I think epic fantasies can also be set using much later technology than most series do; Chris Wooding's aeria steampunk KETTY JAY series I think could count as an epic fantasy even if a lot of people would argue with that.Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-3190091629658710092015-11-04T02:51:15.843+00:002015-11-04T02:51:15.843+00:00That should have been "One thing I noticed&qu...That should have been "One thing I noticed" of course... Shouldn't post stuff at night time!<br />Adam, feel free to edit.Jenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03623941508503788134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-66908963353616749932015-11-03T19:21:01.842+00:002015-11-03T19:21:01.842+00:00No thing I noticed -and please correct me if I'...No thing I noticed -and please correct me if I'm wrong!- is that you never specified what exactly "epic fantasy" is to you, except occasionally by exclusion. I guess many have their own understanding of what puts fantasy in the "epic" category but I doubt that these individual ideas are identical.<br />Did you intentionally refrain from formulating a definition?Jenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03623941508503788134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-80956520571494950182015-11-03T19:03:53.709+00:002015-11-03T19:03:53.709+00:00No, I write them and then post them the second the...No, I write them and then post them the second they are done, usually after I've spent the day at work (hence the occasional bout of incoherence and misspelling). I had zero idea it was going to be this long, or involved, or extensive when I started.<br /><br />The book version will be a lot more polished, it has to be said.Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-1447098578091060902015-11-02T17:28:35.968+00:002015-11-02T17:28:35.968+00:00Adam, I'm curious. Did you have all the entrie...Adam, I'm curious. Did you have all the entries in this series written and ready to go before posting part 1, or do you just whip a new one up every few days?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-18109860089028759722015-11-01T16:52:58.502+00:002015-11-01T16:52:58.502+00:00Playing Dungeon Master on the Atari ST with my Dad...Playing Dungeon Master on the Atari ST with my Dad is responsible for my love of all thing fanatsicalMicknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-55857409027684483932015-11-01T02:11:44.083+00:002015-11-01T02:11:44.083+00:00BLOOD AND GOLD is definitely a different game (a s...BLOOD AND GOLD is definitely a different game (a strategy game) to DESCENT TO UNDERMOUNTAIN (a FPS/RPG, kind of), as I own both :)<br /><br />And yes, there are many, many other games that should have been mentioned. More than any other, this is the article which had to sacrifice a lot of detail in the interest of space :)Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-4952132198312778812015-10-31T23:39:24.549+00:002015-10-31T23:39:24.549+00:00I'm really enjoying this series. I hope once y...I'm really enjoying this series. I hope once you are finished you look at expanding it into a book.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-64700517789669058782015-10-31T19:53:05.233+00:002015-10-31T19:53:05.233+00:00Great article Adam, again. I lost a lot of time in...Great article Adam, again. I lost a lot of time in Pools of Radiance and the <br />Curse of the Azure Bonds. They were the first PC games that I played which felt like D & D , at the time they really captured the essence of what an epic fantasy game should be. I much preferred them over the Ultima games.JohnBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07339459282910554255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-50665238781093578622015-10-31T19:31:45.126+00:002015-10-31T19:31:45.126+00:00Wow, this one's huge. A very enjoyable read. I...Wow, this one's huge. A very enjoyable read. I think you managed to hit most of the important titles. Some I would have liked some more detail about: SSI Gold Box (hugely influential I think), Ultima (Ultima VII is probably still the greatest achievement of fantasy world simulation in a game), Lands of Lore, the Zork spinoffs (Enchanter series and the graphical games of the 90s).<br /><br />Let me throw some names around that also come to mind: Stonekeep for an Interplay title between their glory days of Bard's Tale/Wasteland and Black Isle. Dungeon Siege for a notable Diablo clone. Lots of strategy games besides Heroes: King's Bounty (original + remake). Warlords + Warlords Battlecry. Stronghold + Fantasy Empires. Master of Magic. Fantasy General. Age of Wonders. Kohan. And many others. Quest for Glory as the notable adventure/RPG hybrid. Dozens more Tolkien and Warhammer licensees. Some German favourites or big names: Thalion's games (Dragonflight, Amberstar - didn't make much of an impact outside of Germany), Attic's Realms of Arkania (which did, a bit), Gothic + Risen, Spellforce.<br /><br />Then there's Japan. Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy (and other Enix and Square games) are just the tip of the iceberg. Breath of Fire. Grandia. The Shining series. Langrisser. Fire Emblem. Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre. Strategy games and RPGs to the hundreds. Spin-offs of not only Wizardry (countless titles) but also Dungeon Master.<br /><br />I also noticed some slight mistakes, mostly release years: Ultima Underworld is 1992 (UW2 followed in 93). Dungeon Master is 1987 (the Amiga version came out in 88). Eye of the Beholder is 1991 (despite the copyright year of 1990, mid-1991 magazine reviews confirm it). Akalabeth is often placed in 1979, but there are several indications it wasn't released until 1980 - see http://www.filfre.net/2011/12/a-word-on-akalabeth-and-chronology/ Daggerfall is 1996. Blood and Gold is probably meant to be Blood & Magic. Descent to Undermountain is 1998.TerokNornoreply@blogger.com