Manual Labor
Posted in CRPG on April 5th, 2009 by adamantyr – 7 Comments
No new progress to report at the moment… work got tense and stressful, and I’ve finally realized now that I’m over 30 that I can’t push myself like I used to. I ended up getting some kind of flu bug on Thursday and spent most of the weekend recovering.
One aspect of the classic CRPG that is woefully absent these days is the superb manuals of old. You can see in the photo above that I have a pretty good collection of the original Ultima manuals and even the cooresponding hint books. (Ultima 8 and 9 are not pictured, but I got those as well.)
The detail and writing of these manuals is rich and textured, much like the thick embossed covers and warm linen papers they’re printed on. They really feel like something antique and special. Just looking at them invokes curiosity and interest.
Since the printing of the manuals was expensive, they would include a card printout for each separate platform detailing the particular keys and installation notes, so that they didn’t have to print different versions of each book. By pulling out all the dry and dull technical details out this way, the manuals don’t break the 4th wall, reminding you that you are, in fact, playing a game.
I definitely plan on making up some manuals for my CRPG when it’s completed. Finding the paper and cover stock of this type shouldn’t prove too difficult, although embossed cover like this is usually used for reports. The manuals pictured here are also 6×9 in size, which means they were cut down from larger stock… and technically I may have to get them printed on an offset printer, which could run up costs a bit. I figure I’d only get 100 or so printed and have them available as “limited edition”.
