The Hawkes Adventures Podcast

A Roman legionary holding a katana. It sounds like a joke — until it shows up again and again across production work. In this opening episode, we unpack the core problem behind AI-generated historical imagery: the failures are not random. They are systematic, predictable, and rooted in the structure of training data itself. You’ll learn: * Why AI defaults to the wrong weapons, armor, and architecture * Why “looks historical” is not the same as *being* historical * Why commercial buyers care — and how accuracy directly impacts revenue * The nine recurring failure categories that appear across large-scale image generation This is the foundation for everything that follows: a shift from casual prompting to production-grade historical pipelines. Access the full prompt system and production pipeline here: https://staging.hawkesadventures.com/vault-of-ages-prompt-library/

What's the real difference between a gamebook and a video game RPG—and why does it matter for historical storytelling? We break down the distinction using Inkle's award-winning 80 Days and examine how authorial control shapes moral weight in interactive fiction. (AI-generated)

What happens when two gamebook series use the same concept but target wildly different audiences? We examine the gap between children's educational gamebooks and the emerging realm of visceral, adult historical interactive fiction—and why readers have been asking for this for years. (AI generated)

Gamebooks didn't die—they evolved. Discover why Choose Your Own Adventure disappeared, what actually killed the genre, and how a new generation of adult-focused gamebooks is rewriting the rules with tactical depth and historical grit. (AI-generated)

Find out why adult choose-your-own-adventure books are so hard to find—and how historically serious gamebooks are filling the gap with authentic settings, thorough research, and meaningful player choice that actually matters. (AI generated)