Though actually released in late 1984, I first became aware of GDW's post-apocalyptic military roleplaying game, Twilight: 2000 through a three-page advertisement that appeared in issue #93 of Dragon (January 1985). Spread over six pages, with the ad appeared on every other page and left a powerful impression on me. Looking at them again, I can easily understand why.
God, how I wished I could have played this when it came out. I think only one friend owned it (and it may have been his older brother). This ad was its own version of a thirst trap.
ReplyDeleteMeh. I was not interested back then or now. I did love Gamma World though.
ReplyDeleteThose faces in the ad! You can tell, those PCs have _seen some sh*t_, man. Or else the artist was _on some sh*t_ while drawing them, of course.
ReplyDeleteT2k fans have long pointed out that a lot of the art in the game were re-workings of wartime photographs. The two figures on the left of the cover picture were inspired by Vietnam War photos by Tim Page. So, yeah, they'd seen some stuff.
DeleteI remember people pointing out that GDW and DGP had a habit of using paintings/drawings/tracings of photographs to illustrate their publications, without crediting the originals; which was infuriating to some, sad or embarrassing to others. My own attention is drawn more to the _diffident quality_ of some of the copies ;)
DeleteI suspect those ads are how I found out about the game, too. I distinctly remember seeing the ad in the basement/game room of a friend who had a Dragon subscription. One of the wargames we dabbled with was one of potential WW3, so the hook was natural.
ReplyDeleteIt sure hooked me and my friends!
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