OK, after alluding to it in the "From Bedrooms To Billions" thread, I thought I might as well make it official.

I had an idea for a book about ten years ago, but not being a professional writer, I just kept thinking about it but not doing anything about it. Seeing as the impending documentary "From Bedrooms To Billions" is covering my idea pretty much exactly, I figured that if I didn't do this now, then I never would.

My intention is to write a book about computer games. I know, it's already been done, many times. There are some great books about games out there. But one thing that they pretty much all have in common is that they lean heavily towards America and Japan. In fact, from reading the books that are out there, you could be forgiven for thinking that nobody in Britain or Europe ever programmed a game in the Eighties.

My aim is to put that right. We had an amazing games scene back then, with some incredible imagination and creativity at work. Many of the best games of that era were born on these shores. I don't think our programmers have had the credit they deserve. Nor do I think their stories have been told anywhere near enough. I'm planning to feature their stories, their games... and hopefully, their words.

The book will be called They Were Our Gods.

If you'd like to know more about this undertaking, I'm making regular updates on my blog, They Were Our Gods. I've also set up a Twitter account, @TheyWereOurGods (seems you can't link to a Twitter account!) and a Facebook page, Facebook - They Were Our Gods. If you're into those kind of things, please follow or like them.

I'm hoping this will turn out well, I'll be able to make the contacts I need and get some great quotes and stories from the stars of the time. All being well, this could be a great Christmas present for us all in 2013...
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Nice!

Let me know if I can be of help, plenty of Thalamus and System3 stories to be told, some of which won't end up in court!
And if you need help tracking people down...

Cheers

Dan
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That would be brilliant Dan, on both counts! Naturally, those two companies, their programmers and their games will feature quite prominently, so your help would (and will!) be greatly appreciated.

I'm mostly planning at the moment but I'm doing some writing as well... I'll get back to you soon-ish if you don't mind, and it'll be great to get some real meat to fit onto the bones of what I've got.


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I've got one interview ongoing now.

Dan, I'll PM you soon if you don't mind to sort something out.

At this point, it's all about trying to get some contacts and getting the interest snowballing, so if any of you visits anywhere that you could post this without being too spammy, I'd be very grateful if you could. I'm getting the feeling that this is something people really do want.
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This is great

Good luck with your project, Paul.
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This sounds like a great idea, good look with this. Many coders you can find lurking around on Facebook and are always open and forthcoming when you chat with them.
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Thanks for the good luck wishes, I'm sure I'll need all the luck I can get! Having said that, I have no deadline so there's no rush or pressure, but I'd certainly like to get hold of as many people as possible, sooner rather than later. Looking forward to seeing what I get back from subject number one...
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Without wanting to sound harsh or anything but I have a feeling this will be a book about programmers, designers or composers in the UK only. I do agree that the majority of our heroes were based in the UK only back in the days but don't forget about people like Manfrez Trenz just to name one.

Good luck with the project anyway! I will definately follow this up and please keep us updated from time to time!
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Ah! It does sound like that at the moment, but I have got Manfred Trenz and Jeroen Tel on my list and in my "to do" folder, among others. It probably will be mostly British programmers, but I intend to have some of the European names we know and love, and maybe Australian too. Basically, all the people that made the games we loved but aren't usually given any coverage in games books.

Thanks for your interest, if I can get all the people I want I think this could be something special.
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Awesome!
Cheers Paul!
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I'll certainly keep popping back to this thread with updates. I'll be updating the blog every day, come what may, and I'll post links to those updates on the Facebook page and Twitter account too.
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Just a note to say that I'm updating the blog every day, whether it's interesting or momentous, or not. Things are constantly happening one way or another, which you would expect at this early stage, but I want to make sure I post there as often as possible or momentum and interest could be lost.
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This is a brilliant idea, Paul! Love the blog, too.

Cheers, Ant!
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Got my first set of answers back today. Looks like this thing is really going ahead!


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I'm giving away a couple of e-books from Gordon Houghton! Enter to win at this post: Day 44 - the Gods of print
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Just had another set of great answers from a cool C64 guy...


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Hi Paul,
What a great idea, good luck!
Some Australian development studios you might like to get in touch with are -
Micro Forte, most famous on the c64 for America's Cup and Demon Stalkers
SSG - Specialise in War games, had a few c64 releases.

Both of these studios are still active today and can be found on google.

Thanks for the suggestions, always welcome.


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New post for today: Day 67 - happy birthday, dear C64... happy birthday to you!

Wrote this in one go off the top of my head, so it might go on a bit.
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You simply must get in touch with Paul Norman of Forbidden Forest/Aztec Challenge fame http://www.digittarius.com/

I'm a bit torn, there. He did some awesome stuff, but my intention was to focus primarily on the British programmers of the time. I think he's American? But, given the book's title, I'm still open to the possibility of expanding it. I just don't know how far yet.

On a different note, I had someone else agree to take part today that I'm very pleased about. Not one of the very biggest names, but I'm still very pleased indeed. So things are still moving along nicely.
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You could interview Dinamic (spain) since there had some influence and some of his games reached UK, also another spanish games were sold in UK like bogaboo the flea (Indescomp / Quicksilva), Vampire (Codemasters) was also another spanish title from Dinamic (here was called Phantomas II)

I have just read a spanish book telling some facts about this, with great interviews with the authors of all this games that were succesfully exported to UK market.

Do you plan to talk about this ones?

Your book will be a very cool addition to my library !

Greetz!

Edit: Well, Dinamic games were launched by Imagine/Ocean, Codemasters, and another ones, maybe you will talk of them when you speak of that others...
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Well, I have spoken to an Ocean programmer who worked on a Dinamic game (I think!). But it would be better to talk to someone from Dinamic themselves.
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