Life in the old dog yet
Been a while since I’ve done a news update, but with lots happening on the DestinyQuest scene I thought it was high time I provided you with some tasty morsels and a little bit of a tease. Oo err missus!
First off, I spent this morning play-testing the latest build of The Legion of Shadow app (DestinyQuest Infinite) by the folks at QuestForge. Yes, for some of you who have been eagerly awaiting this version since its announcement back in the Dark Ages, there is some good news at last. That release date is getting pretty close now. The build I played was certainly a lot more polished. I only meant to have a quick ten minute play around this morning, but when I checked the clock again over an hour had passed; I’d been so engrossed in the combat and getting my rogue hero through Act 2 I was oblivious to anything else. That is a real tribute to the team who have been working diligently on the combat mechanics and all those pesky abilities (no easy task when there are well over a hundred!) – and while there are still some minor bugs to be squashed, the team are now focusing on sprucing up the game engine and the visuals. It is a very faithful reproduction of the book, so if you were a fan of the print version then I think you will enjoy the app. I’ll keep you posted on any further developments.
Some of you may be asking what the future has in store for Books Two and Three, and the DestinyQuest franchise. Well, at this point in time I can only tease and say there are some potentially exciting developments but it is still very early days. I can reveal that the app versions of Heart of Fire and Eye of Winter’s Fury are looking more like a reality, and possibly more DQ adventures too – who knows!
While DestinyQuest is sort of in limbo at the moment (wandering the Norr like a lost spirit!), it hasn’t stopped new fans discovering the books and joining the fold. I still get lots of lovely emails from readers who have enjoyed their DQ experience and want more. I’ve also been very honoured to discover a few online celebrity fans too.
Rodney Smith is the presenter of the ‘Watch it Played’ YouTube channel. I’ve been a fan for a quite a while now; his show having introduced me to numerous board games and card games at the expense of my poor wallet. I think what makes his videos and playthroughs so enjoyable is that he involves his children – his daughter Andrea and his son Luke, both of whom have no qualms about thrashing their dad at pretty much most of the games they play! Anyway, I finally caught up with Rodney via Twitter a few weeks back and to my complete and utter surprise he and his son were huge DQ fans! They are currently playing The Legion of Shadow together, with Luke energetically acting out the combats while Rodney reads the story. (DestinyQuest Live Roleplaying right there. I think they should make a video!) As a fan, it was a real honour for me to send Rodney copies of the rest of the series – and when he said he wanted to feature the books on his channel I was even more thrilled.
You can check out the video here: the DestinyQuest section is around the 6 minute mark.
And if you're a fan of board games, then I really recommend subscribing to the 'Watch it Played' channel and catching up with the huge back catalogue of videos. Grab some popcorn and a beer, sorted!
More importantly, exposure like this is great for the series – especially overseas in America and Canada, where the book is still largely unknown. I’m very excited to have a new wave of fans discover DestinyQuest (although nervous – as I really hope they like it!). And with the imminent app release of Legion of Shadow, the future is suddenly looking quite rosy. Let’s hope this is just the beginning of the ‘second wave’ of DestinyQuest.
As I said in my last news post, I will live to fight another day – and right now, those dice are starting to rediscover their old ‘crit’ glory!
Game on folks!
EDIT: As viewers of Watch it Played will have seen, there are still some DQ promotional items available to support the books. I have put these up on ebay if anyone is interested. (And sorry, no dice!)
MJW