Thanks so much for the detailed review, Bill! It really means a lot to me to have my friends coming out in support of this project, not just for my sake but for future projects like it. My dream is that future authors who want to write a book about games will have something to point to and say "people ARE interested in this stuff enough to read about it in book form." Once there's a proven market for it, who knows what treasures await?

On the positive side, I am really happy with the overall publication quality. The dust jacket is stunning--much better than I thought after looking at the cover on Amazon. They have really done Clyde's painting justice here. The print quality is also very high; the font looks great and is highly readable. Of course, unless you're a total nub here at AA, you know what to expect from the writing quality--it's highly detailed.

I might point out that (with Bill) that this isn't some sort of reference book about CRPGs. I didn't see any reason to do that, since there's already great online resources like Moby Games as well as plenty of platform-specific sites (Lemon Amiga, etc.) My project is to put all of these games into their historical context, focusing on games that made influential innovations (Ultima, Gold Box, Quest for Glory)--but also covering more obscure experiments that modern developers might want to revisit (Alien Fires, Star Saga, Sword of Fargoal). My point wasn't to cover every game, but rather tell the story of how this genre evolved over time. What innovations were introduced? What worked, what didn't work, and why? Each of the ages is prefaced with an overview of the technology of the era, which becomes critical in discussions of interface (as well as porting).

I've also took pains to make it as interesting as possible to read, inserting wherever appropriate my own personal experiences with the game in question. I have some fun with the descriptions and have put many subtle puns throughout the book. Of course, most of these will likely be missed by the casual reader, but the true geek will find them. I think one of my favorite descriptions is this one:

...it stands out against the all-too-common black and white CRPGs in which the enemy is always clearly defined and unambiguously in need of a mace to the skull.

(I bet you can guess the game!)

I've talked to the publisher about the image problem. Obviously, there's nothing they can do about the books already out, but the first run was a mere 2,000 books. After that, it goes into a second printing, and there's an opportunity to fix the problems. I've already put the image problem on the table, and he assures me that is also at the top of his list. So, basically, this will only affect the first run. I should also point out that it certainly isn't a problem with ALL the images.

To further address the problem, I've been trying to plan some type of cross-promotion involving posting the original screenshots on the web. I will probably end up using flickr and cross-posting like Bill has been doing with his pieces. What I might do is take it chapter by chapter, posting the pics and then taking the opportunity to write editorials on the subject matter. I'm still trying to find the most convenient means to do this. Maybe Bill could even chip in with some supplementary pics from his collection once this gets underway (hint hint). :)

The only problem is that this the absolute peak of by workload business at school, so I haven't had time to pee, much less take this on at the moment. However, you know I will eventually get it up! :)