THE COLOUR OF MAGIC & OTHER STUFF

Terry Pratchett's words and worlds have inspired generations of film-makers, game designers and more. There is not enough time to delve into all that I want to talk about in depth in my week-long tribute to the great man, so here is a little primer into other things Discworld from the ZX Spectrum to our tabletops...

GOING POSTAL

In 2010, Sky1 broadcast their third and last Terry Pratchett adaptation; Going Postal. It may not have starred the familiar faces casual fans have grown to love from the series such as Rincewind or Death, but it is perhaps the most entertaining of the three.

DISCWORLD NOIR

INTO THE MEAN STREETS OF ANKH-MORPORK ONE MAN MUST GO …

The name’s Lewton. I’m a private investigator. I don’t know where the idea came from, I was just thinking one night that it would be really cool to have an office with my name on the door and a sturdy desk for sexy broads to lean across. Trouble is, wherever there are sexy broads there’s trouble, and the dame I’m working for wrote the book on trouble, and the sequel too. Her name’s Carlotta, and between her, the psychotic dwarf who’s following me and this walking mountain with the brain of a pomegranate who calls himself Malachite, I’m beginning to wonder if the Discworld’s first private investigator might be about to become the Discworld’s last private investigator too.

• Walk the mean streets of Ankh-Morpork in this latest addition to the hugely successful Discworld saga.
• You are in control the action in this new and original story, created under the guidance of Terry Pratchett.
• Talk to almost seventy different characters – including old favorites like Corporal Nobbs, Death and the Grim Squeaker – using a new and innovative conversation system that puts you in charge of the investigations.
• Visit over seventy different locations, all rendered in stunning 3D, as you attempt to solve murders, reveal conspiracies and attempt to uncover the truth – before it’s too late!

WHERE DEATH STANDS ON EVERY CORNER, ASKING FOR DIRECTIONS

~ from the back of the box

While the first two Discworld games had a colourful cartoony approach, the third game in the series went in a completely different direction. With it's dark, rain-drenched aesthetic, Discworld Noir would spell the death knell for Perfect 10 Entertainment, but they were adamant that they would go out with a bang...

THE COLOUR OF MAGIC

After the great success that was The Hogfather, Sky1 commissioned another Pratchett adaptation. Broadcast during the 2008 Easter holidays, it would this time be based on the very first novel (and its sequel) in the Discworld the universe; The Colour of Magic...

DISCWORLD 2: MISSING, PRESUMED...?

This is the second Discworld game.

What do you mean, 'I haven't finished the first one yet?'

Good grief, some people... look, give the prunes to the fishmonger, get the dragon to breathe on the mirror, throw the Blank Monk to the crocodiles and shoot the dragon with the other dragon.

Done that? Good. Now, if everyone's caught up...

Ahem.

This is the second Discworld* game. Death has gone missing. A hero is needed to bring him back. But there's only Rincewind, incompetent wizard and highly-trained coward. You won't catch Rincewind running away. He's too fast.

Unfortunately, he's all there is that stands between people and the horrible prospect of immortality. No one wants that, do they?

We've made DWII a little easier (snigger), with lots of new locations and even prettier graphics and sounds.

As Death himself says; HAVE FUN"

            - Terry Prachett

 * A magical world which goes through space on the back of a turtle, as everyone should know by now!

~ from the back of the box

If you've managed to figure out your fireworks and your custard pies, you may have successfully reached the end of the first Discworld game. Well, Rincewind's troubles are not over yet for there was a sequel; Discworld 2: Missing, Presumed...? (or Mortality Bytes to some of you)...

THE HOGFATHER

In the second of our week-long tribute to Terry Pratchett, we take a look at the first live-action adaptation of Pratchett's work. The Hogfather...

DISCWORLD

You'll find here wizards, dragons, heroes and household hygiene specialists. There is danger here, but there is also custard around the place. Because Discworld is a fantasy world with a low reality threshold. The real world keeps on breaking through - but Discworld changes it.

So you'll find here things that you sort of recognise.

Discworld has got photography (tiny imps paint the pictures) and movies (tiny imps paint really fast) and it is even getting its second generation of computers now that the old stone circles don't work fast enough.

However, because it is a fantasy world there are some things that it has to have, and one of them is a certain tendency to experience some trouble with dragons.

Unfortunately, a dragon is now ravaging Ankh-Morpork, the world's leading city. Many people would consider this falls under the heading of civic improvement, but what Ankh-Morpork needs now is a hero. All it's got, however, is Rincewind the wizard, whose only talent is that he is not in fact dead yet. He also has the Luggage, the nastiest piece of travelware in the Universe. With that at his side, there is probably no limit to the things he can fail to do...

Oh, did I say he? I meant... you.

Beware of anyone who TALKS LIKE THIS and carries a scythe, and remember that a loaded pun sometimes goes off...

 ... and have fun..

        - Terry Prachett

~ from the back of the box

Thursday saw the sad passing of one our greatest authors, Terry Pratchett. He is perhaps one of the most beloved and influential authors of his generation. To celebrate his life and work, I will dedicate a whole week to all things Pratchett, reviewing his adaptations in digital and celluloid. We begin a classic; the 1995 adventure game Discworld...