Looking Glass Studios: The Book?

[Digital Nightfall]

I have a message to relay to you all:

To all Looking Glass fans everywhere:

Hi folks. I'm a gaming journalist who's written several articles
about Looking Glass Studios, Thief, and related subjects in
recent years, for both gamer and mainstream publications. I'm
now working on an opportunity that should be of great interest
to a lot of you, and my friends at TTLG have generously agreed
to help out with that:

I am talking with a major tech publisher about writing a book
on the history of Looking Glass Studios: its rise, its fall, and
the developers who now carry on in the Looking Glass spirit.
It'll be in-depth and personality-intensive, but also include a lot
of technical and creative nitty gritty for industry members and
gamers, especially regarding LGS's major games like Thief,
System Shock, and Ultima Underworld. Because Looking
Glass' fans are such an integral part of their success-- and because
the Fan Mission developers are doing such amazing things-- I also
plan to devote a chapter to TTLG, its spinoffs, and the FM
community.

The trouble is, while the publisher really likes the book proposal,
they're not sure there's a large enough audience to justify an entire
book devoted to Looking Glass Studios. (The book would be for
an imprint primarily catering to the game industry, which somewhat
narrows its potential audience.)

That's where you come in: I'm convinced that there must be
thousands of hardcore LGS fans who aren't necessarily in the
game industry, but would love to buy and read such a book. And
I would love your help, to prove that to the publisher. If we can,
it'll boost our chances of committing the Looking Glass story to
posterity-- a rare thing, in the notoriously short-attention span
of the gaming medium. But if computer games ever stand a
chance of truly becoming the new medium of the 21st century,
the story of Looking Glass is something that needs to be told.

So check out the poll to the right, register your vote, and make
yourself heard! (And send your fellow gamer friends this
way, too.)

Many thanks,

Anonymous Journalist and Dedicated Thief Lover

There you have it. We need over a thousand votes. If you are not registered in the forum, and want to vote, please do so at TTLG Main and use the website poll.

Please do not vote more than once, either by using multiple forum identities, voting on the site and the forum, voting on multiple sites (i.e. TTLG & The Circle) or other various and easy-to-do ways of voting more than once. We need a thousand real votes... not a bunch of fake votes.

Please do tell all your friends, and as many other gaming sites as you can. Spread the word out. Let people know we need votes.

Thank you.

[Dmage]

Interesting. Any idea of the cost?

[Qooper]

You need votes? Ok, I'll just call the vote-company

BTW, who dared to vote no? I, of course, voted yes!

[Preacher747]

That sounds like a great idea. I'd buy that.

What I'd really like to see is a nice big coffee table book about the art of Looking Glass Studios, with nice big prints of the artwork used in their games. I guess the book could discuss some of the techniques used in making the art and cutscenes. I'd put that book right in my front room so everyone could see. I'd easily pay 50+ bucks for something like that.

[Dietger]

Well, LGS is, sorry, was one off the better game develloper; perhaps the best.
Since ULTIMA UNDERWORLD2 I love most of their games.
Great to see the gameing industry is becoming something more mature.
This little book will be important IMO.
Regards Dietger
Germany

[Oli G]

Maybe...it depends on the content, or more specifically the amount of tedious technical jargon I'd have no hope of understanding.

[* Überdonkey *]

I'd definitely be drawn towards an art-heavy perspective, but at any rate yes I would buy the book.

[Sharga]

I would deffinitely buy the book!
I sure hope we get enough votes!

I'm really looking foward to the fan section and I hope that I may see some pictures/words from fm authors I know or possibly even from (God be willing) myself!

[Der Dok]

Quooper said;

BTW, who dared to vote no? I, of course, voted yes!

Digital wants an honest market assessment, not lip service. If you said yes but meant no you aren't helping.

Perhaps if the book had a more general issue base and appeal, where the LGS situation was the cause celebre but not the only story. I think the FM community is an aspect worthy of considerable examination. I am unaware of any other game that has FM's of the quality, complexity, sophistication and in the numbers the Thief has.

Doc

[Darkwarrior_II]

I personally don't think that the section on TTLG would appeal to most gamers.

Still, a book about LGS would be pretty cool.

[CyberFish]

If I promise to buy two copies, can I vote twice?

Yeah, I'd buy it. They have an interesting history, as far as I know, and it would be nice to hear more about the development cycles os the games. Also, it would be cool if it had a lot of concept artwork. (I want a really large poster of SHODAN)

[D'Arcy]

I'd definitely buy it.

[twisty]

I'd love to read a book about LGS. The only thing is, why on earth does the proposed author choose to remain anonymous?

[glslvrfan]

its a conspiracy damnit....someone finally came up with a legitimate poll just to get all the people who vowed to never vote, to actually vote...

i would deffinitely buy it.....

[Taxi18]

YOU NEED TO MAKE THIS BOOK!!!!
As a FMer and Thief enthusiast ( the best game ever type), now that you have brought on the idea, I think it sounds really great. I was saddened to hear of the downfall of LGS a couple years ago, and I never understood why, and what went on there. I would also like to know the history of LGS, like you said. Please, I'm sure thousands of people would buy it, seeing how large a fan base there is for Thief!!


TaXi

[Azal]

I always enjoy behind-the-scenes books and it would be nice to flesh-out the personalities who made LGS tick.

I'm amazed that noone has ever (to my knowledge) done an entire book on a gaming company.

After all, gaming is apparantly as big as Hollywood now and there're endless books on the big studios.

[Risquit]

I'm not sure that there are enough LGS fans out there to convince a publisher to pony up the cash to do this book. However, Azal brings up a good point about there being no books (that we know of) that chronicle the backstage side of game development. And it is true that PC and console games produce more revenue than Hollywood movies. Clearly, its a big business story.

So, if the main focus of the book is to peer inside the game development process, given all of its technological, political, creative, and financial aspects, using LGS as one of the primary examples, then there might be a market.

I recommend widening the scope a bit.

[mokkis]

Voted already. Because being interested of in getting in game industry and fan of Looking Glass there is no doubt that I wouldn't buy the book.

Also, chapter about TTLG and Thief FMs sounds something awesome. It'd be a must to have book for everyone here.

[David]

I would purchase if it was a quality book.

[Der Dok]

It would have to be an artifact, not just a text book. Like P747 and others said, artwork and impecable printing.

Perhaps a companion interactive CD or DVD; music, animations, interviews, demonstrations of design and production, FM tutorials, the Complete FM Collection....

Doc.

[bobz]

LG's games are some of the best games I've ever played, so the prospect of a book about them sounds interesting. I'd certainly /consider/ buying such a book, but I'd want to learn more about what's inside before handing over a fistful of my hard-earned cash.

To that end, why does this "gaming journalist who's written several articles about Looking Glass Studios, Thief, and related subjects in recent years, for both gamer and mainstream publications" feel the need to be anonymous here? It seems to me that a better strategy would be to use the aforementioned several articles as references to help establish his/her credibility.

[MANY KILLER]

Ill get it. ( Now i just have to think a way to get it here in FINLAND)

well there is alweys some e-stores SO GO VOTE FOR IT!!

[Omega]

I will buy it.

Me thinks its Digi, but then again he has little time to write a book. But he sure has the knowledge. Now, lets don't go on a witchhunt to find out who it is guys....

[ThAn]

Sure, I'll buy it!

[SQaRz]

thats just plain sex!