Post by Black Cat on Sept 21, 2009 19:25:50 GMT -5
Joe dever made a public appearance in Paris last weekend at the Monde du jeu trade fair. A French member of Project Aon posted what he learned from Dever himself. I added my own comments:
Republication
-The first UK publication of LW 29 will be in March 2010. The target thereafter is to release a book every three months until the New Order series finishes with book 32. (BC’s comment: this confirms the date the Italians at Librogameland got a few weeks ago)
-LW 29 takes place 18 years after LW 28. Its introduction includes a long 'the story so far' section to explain the events of that intervening time. (BC’s comment: this would put the story in MS 5102, like it was already announced in an interview)
-LW 32 will definitely include Grey Star – it will, in fact, include every major character from the LW series. Joe says that book 32 'ties up a lot of loose ends'. (BC’s comment: this is the first time we get the confirmation that GS will appear in the LW series)
-LW 31 and 32 will be about 500 sections long each. The events in these books will have long-term consequences for the whole of Magnamund. 'There are some twists coming'. (BC’s comment: we already knew about book 32 being longer than the other books, but it’s the first time we hear that book 31 will also be longer)
LW movie and video game
-Joe is co-scripting the Lone Wolf film (it is currently about 80% finished). It will cover the events of the first half of the expanded version of Flight from the Dark – from the attack on the Kai Monastery to the Battle of Alema Bridge. A stronger female presence being somewhat necessary in the film, Princess Madelon will play a greater part in the film than she does in the books. (BC’s comment: this means one thing: a second movie might see the light of the day if the first one do well. It would probably be about book 2. I would had prefer to see Viveka as the main female character since it would had made much more sense to see a mercenary with LW than a princess!)
- The film currently has no director attached. Nor have any actors yet been cast – though it is likely to feature young, little-known actors. (BC’s comment: PICK ME! PICK ME!)
- The projected release date of the Lone Wolf film and computer game is around Christmas 2010. (BC’s comment: it confirms that someone somewhere is still working on the video game! Maybe we’ll get more details about who is actually making it in next few days)
-Though it's not yet definite, the movie may be filmed in Norway.
About the Lone Wolf universe
-Joe is working on a comprehensive map of Magnamund with an Italian artist (Francesco Mattioli).
-Joe originally envisaged Sommerlund as a cross between England and Norway. He originally envisaged Durenor as a cross between France and Germany. Only as the gamebook series evolved did he feel that they took on distinct identities of their own.
- The great chasms on Magnamund – Maakengorge, Kraknalorg, Gorgoroth – are very literal manifestations of Naar's attacks against the planet. They are, if you like, the 'wounds' Naar inflicted on the world. Maakengorge and Kraknalorg remain invested with the after-effects of Naar's evil power. The Elder Magi have managed to 'heal' the chasm of Gorgoroth, negating all such evil energies; the chasm of Gorgoroth is, now, just a big hole in the ground.
-Joe created the basic phonemes of the Giak language by trying to speak with toothpicks in his mouth, and experimenting with what sounds he could still make.
-In the first chamber of the Graveyard of the Ancients Lone Wolf senses a 'powerful and timeless entity'. This is, in fact, the tomb of a corrupted Shianti wizard. The dark energies in his body have transformed his remains into a sort of Shadow Gate.
Miscellaneous
-The Helghasts of the computer game Killzone are the same as those found on Magnamund – though projected about 200,000 years along their timeline. (BC’s comment: WTF? Killzone is set in Aon or what?!?)
-Once the Killzone game was well into the development stage, Joe received a letter from Sony demanding why, even though he'd assured them that the game's content was all his own original creation, he'd copied the Helghasts from a fantasy gamebook series that some guy had written in the 1980s... (BC’s comment: quite frankly, that’s hilarious)
-Joe has, for three years, been working on a completely new gamebook series. It will be a fantasy (not science-fiction) series, but will not take place on Magnamund, or even in the universe of Aon. He does have a title for the series, but so far he isn't telling. My impression is that the level of detail going into the series is on a par with the level of information he created to develop the world of Magnamund.
-Joe was playing a selfish, mercenary-thief character when he won the final round of the world Advanced Dungeons and Dragons championship in 1982. He finished the adventure by locking the other players in the dungeon and escaping with all the treasure. To paraphrase Joe: 'I've never seen so much hate as there was in the eyes of the players around that table at the end of that game'.
Republication
-The first UK publication of LW 29 will be in March 2010. The target thereafter is to release a book every three months until the New Order series finishes with book 32. (BC’s comment: this confirms the date the Italians at Librogameland got a few weeks ago)
-LW 29 takes place 18 years after LW 28. Its introduction includes a long 'the story so far' section to explain the events of that intervening time. (BC’s comment: this would put the story in MS 5102, like it was already announced in an interview)
-LW 32 will definitely include Grey Star – it will, in fact, include every major character from the LW series. Joe says that book 32 'ties up a lot of loose ends'. (BC’s comment: this is the first time we get the confirmation that GS will appear in the LW series)
-LW 31 and 32 will be about 500 sections long each. The events in these books will have long-term consequences for the whole of Magnamund. 'There are some twists coming'. (BC’s comment: we already knew about book 32 being longer than the other books, but it’s the first time we hear that book 31 will also be longer)
LW movie and video game
-Joe is co-scripting the Lone Wolf film (it is currently about 80% finished). It will cover the events of the first half of the expanded version of Flight from the Dark – from the attack on the Kai Monastery to the Battle of Alema Bridge. A stronger female presence being somewhat necessary in the film, Princess Madelon will play a greater part in the film than she does in the books. (BC’s comment: this means one thing: a second movie might see the light of the day if the first one do well. It would probably be about book 2. I would had prefer to see Viveka as the main female character since it would had made much more sense to see a mercenary with LW than a princess!)
- The film currently has no director attached. Nor have any actors yet been cast – though it is likely to feature young, little-known actors. (BC’s comment: PICK ME! PICK ME!)
- The projected release date of the Lone Wolf film and computer game is around Christmas 2010. (BC’s comment: it confirms that someone somewhere is still working on the video game! Maybe we’ll get more details about who is actually making it in next few days)
-Though it's not yet definite, the movie may be filmed in Norway.
About the Lone Wolf universe
-Joe is working on a comprehensive map of Magnamund with an Italian artist (Francesco Mattioli).
-Joe originally envisaged Sommerlund as a cross between England and Norway. He originally envisaged Durenor as a cross between France and Germany. Only as the gamebook series evolved did he feel that they took on distinct identities of their own.
- The great chasms on Magnamund – Maakengorge, Kraknalorg, Gorgoroth – are very literal manifestations of Naar's attacks against the planet. They are, if you like, the 'wounds' Naar inflicted on the world. Maakengorge and Kraknalorg remain invested with the after-effects of Naar's evil power. The Elder Magi have managed to 'heal' the chasm of Gorgoroth, negating all such evil energies; the chasm of Gorgoroth is, now, just a big hole in the ground.
-Joe created the basic phonemes of the Giak language by trying to speak with toothpicks in his mouth, and experimenting with what sounds he could still make.
-In the first chamber of the Graveyard of the Ancients Lone Wolf senses a 'powerful and timeless entity'. This is, in fact, the tomb of a corrupted Shianti wizard. The dark energies in his body have transformed his remains into a sort of Shadow Gate.
Miscellaneous
-The Helghasts of the computer game Killzone are the same as those found on Magnamund – though projected about 200,000 years along their timeline. (BC’s comment: WTF? Killzone is set in Aon or what?!?)
-Once the Killzone game was well into the development stage, Joe received a letter from Sony demanding why, even though he'd assured them that the game's content was all his own original creation, he'd copied the Helghasts from a fantasy gamebook series that some guy had written in the 1980s... (BC’s comment: quite frankly, that’s hilarious)
-Joe has, for three years, been working on a completely new gamebook series. It will be a fantasy (not science-fiction) series, but will not take place on Magnamund, or even in the universe of Aon. He does have a title for the series, but so far he isn't telling. My impression is that the level of detail going into the series is on a par with the level of information he created to develop the world of Magnamund.
-Joe was playing a selfish, mercenary-thief character when he won the final round of the world Advanced Dungeons and Dragons championship in 1982. He finished the adventure by locking the other players in the dungeon and escaping with all the treasure. To paraphrase Joe: 'I've never seen so much hate as there was in the eyes of the players around that table at the end of that game'.
. I'm going to gloat now.
