Growing up, I read books from the “Choose your own adventure” brand. You would read a page, and then make a choice based on the action in the narrative. The book instructed you to turn to a certain page number for one action, and to turn to a separate page for a different action. Rinse Lather Repeat. [And turn back to the decision point before that, if you died. - It’s ok, we all did it.]
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How old is this “mechanic” ? What was the first book to concoct Role Playing with page numbers of a book?**
Here is the Wikipedia article on the idea(called gamebook).
I’ll quote it:
There was an ancient Latin book for schoolkids with a similar idea. “vis arma aut virum canere?”
I dont’ read Latin. What is your citation for this info. and what does it mean?
I don’t know where it started, but at Expo 67 in Montreal Canada back in 1967 there was a film where the audience voted on which of two alternatives the people chose at several points in the film. It’s the earliest case i know of with any sort of “Choose your own path” in entertainment.
The film was a little bit of a swindle, because, although there were N points at which you got to make a choice, either path you chose took you to the same “next node”, so there were only 2N possible different movies you could experience, rather than having each mode branch into two distinct paths that, in turn, branched into two more distinctive paths, etc., for a total of 2^N possible stories.
Actually, CalMeacham, either way there are 2^N different movies. In the movie at Expo 67, even though after each of the branching points the movie went back to the same timeline, there were N times in the movie when either of 2 scenes could have been shown. That means there are 2^N different movies (that a viewer could see). Even though many more scenes would have had to be shot if the structure of the movie were a true tree structure with the branches never coming back together, the number of possible movies is the same.
You’re right – I miswrote. There are 2N different filmed sections (after the first node) rather than 2^N different filmed sections. It means that it’s highly likely you will see at least one part of the same film every time you come back, and if you come see it three times you’re guaranteed to see at least one repeat, whereas if you get two distinct and different choices you’re unlikely to see a repeat.
The thing with Choose Your Own Adventure books is they don’t need to follow a symmetric tree branching structure. One branch could take you somewhere completely different on the tree, to a point much earlier or later in the story line. Some nodes might branch three or more ways. Repetition could happen and could be incorporated in the story theme (i.e. time travelling). It can be much more flexible than the branching movie plot that is really only switching between two rails (or reels).
I remember one that was space-themed, and that mentioned the goal of ‘finding your way to Utopia’ or something like that. It was even mentioned that ‘they say no decision you make or choice you take can bring you to Utopia, but a lucky few find themselves there regardless.’
And there was a four-page section in the middle of the book, describing your arrival at Utopia and serving as a ‘story end.’ No instructions from anywhere else in the book directed you to turn to this section, however, if you read the page before or after the section, you might well notice it and start to read. 
If you understand Latin, go to post 3.
If you don’t understand Latin, go to post 4.
A Google search for this title turns up only this thread.
The first actual books like these that I’ve seen I got in December of 1982.
I know. Another brilliant contribution(with no citations, of course) by PSXer.
:dubious:
I think it was an attempt at a joke.
I think it was a badly remembered version of the famous beginning of Virgil’s Aeneid, “Arma virumque cano”.
Ah, of course. Disappointing, though. I’ve been collecting all the Latin children’s books I can find. I was excited at the prospect of one I haven’t heard of yet.