Old-School CRPGs: Smells Like Victory

Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 26, 2015

Part of the surprise here is that it’s not such a surprise. Obsidian Games just announced that Pillars of Eternity surpassed a half-million units sold worldwide. This is a game that was originally a nostalgia project… a game like Baldur’s Gate. They created it on a fairly low budget (by their usual, more AAA-focused measurements – it […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism - Comments: Comments are off for this article

The Importance of Not Being Average

Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 16, 2015

I was led to this incredibly awesome 40-minute long talk by Vlambeer’s Rami Ismael – one of the relatively big indie success stories of recent years – by Josh’s post at Kickbomb.  I’ve got it embedded at the end of the post. It’s geared more for newbie entering the indie field, but it’s a great […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

How Much Does It Cost To Make a Video Game?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 7, 2015

I want to make a video game. How much will it cost? How much time will it take? How many people do I need on my team? How much can I expect to sell? These are all what we often call “How long is a piece of string?” questions. There are so many variables involved […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism, Production - Comments: 7 Comments to Read

“Done Played That Game Enough”

Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 6, 2015

I don’t know how long “categories” have been around in Steam, but I only discovered them a few months ago. It’s been both a curse and a blessing, although when used liberally with the search function to find a game in my HOLYCOWHOWMANYGAMESDOESONEMANNEEDTOOWN-sized library, it’s more of the latter. It’s really hard to categorize some […]

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Funding: Legacy of the Elder Star

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 21, 2015

Since I was a child of the arcade era, shoot-em-ups (or “shmups”) hold a special place in my heart. Galaga remains high on my list of favorite games of all time, and a shining example of excellence in game design. I’m not as devoted to them as some other genres, however, so to this day […]

Filed Under: Game Announcements, Indie Evangelism - Comments: Read the First Comment

Utah Indie Scene Gets Some Press

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 7, 2015

The Utah Indie Scene has received some extra attention lately, due in no small amount to the efforts of a few developers who have gone the extra mile. While they’ve had their own projects they’ve focused a good deal of attention on, they have also worked to put together support networks for indie game developers […]

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Game Jam Games Gone Commercial(ish)

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 2, 2015

It shouldn’t be an impediment to Game Jams, but one of my big hesitations is that it’s a distraction from my main project. I mean, if I’m gonna carve 48 hours or so of solid work on a game from my schedule, I’d be far better off focusing on the game I’m currently trying to […]

Filed Under: Indie Evangelism - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

Video: Indie Game Devs at Salt Lake Gaming Con 2015

Posted by Rampant Coyote on August 24, 2015

Salt Lake Gaming Con may be a couple of weeks in the rear-view mirror now, but some interviews and reports are still coming out. Here is a set of interviews conducted by From Beggar’s Canyon with the Utah Game Guild folks. If you want to skip to the part with Yours Truly, you don’t have […]

Filed Under: Events, Frayed Knights, Indie Evangelism - Comments: Read the First Comment

Steam Refunds: Bad for (Some) Indies?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on June 8, 2015

It seems the one-size-fits-all approach to refunds (which in principle I’m totally on board with) is being used against indies. Indie Developers Report Steam Refund Abuse From PC Gamers, Show Graphs To Back Their Claims This goes hand in hand with this article from Polygon noting that the system has been optimized to minimize the […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 8 Comments to Read

Visibility: Screaming at the Top of Your Lungs

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 20, 2015

I don’t like to rant. I don’t like to scream. I don’t like to shock. I like to stay positive. Maybe that’s why I have no future in this business, I don’t know. It seems that as anything moves out of a niche to the point where the market gets saturated, anything that isn’t effectively […]

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“More Is Better” Game Jam – and More (is better?) at Itch.io

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 4, 2015

Okay – first things first, there’s a game jam this week hosted by Sophie Houlden, the “More is Better” jam. It’s basically about cranking out as many games as possible, quality be damned. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that, but if the goal is to work on your rapid prototyping skills, maybe […]

Filed Under: Game Development, Indie Evangelism - Comments: Read the First Comment

OUYA Is For Sale

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 29, 2015

This does not bode well for the first “microconsole” : Gaming startup OUYA needs to find a buyer quickly This will come as a surprise to almost nobody. The crowdfunding campaign was stellar, the concept sounded awesome, the excitement was trend-setting, the actual hardware was… well, problematic and less than amazing, but still cool. I […]

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1.21 GIGAWATTS!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 14, 2015

A friend ordered me a book for my birthday. Unfortunately, it hadn’t arrived on time, but they’d given her a PDF of the book in the meantime. So to tide me over until the hard-copy’s arrival, she gave me a thumb drive with the PDF on it. “Do you want the thumb drive back?” “No, it’s […]

Filed Under: Geek Life, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 6 Comments to Read

Indie Games: do we need to go big or go home?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 18, 2015

A friend pointed me to this post by Joost van Dongen called “What Many Indies are Doing Wrong.” I liked the article even though I disagree on a few points. But … Joost is a more successful indie than I am, so I’d weight our respective opinions appropriately. On many points, I completely agree. Now that […]

Filed Under: Game Development, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 4 Comments to Read

Bundles of Trouble

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 17, 2015

I’m in a bundle right now – the Indie Royale Mixer 16 Bundle. And it’s ridiculous. I mean… ten games for chump change. The kind of money you find under seat cushions. Like I said earlier, at this point it’s really just marketing for the next Frayed Knights. Get the first game practically free, so […]

Filed Under: Game Development, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 6 Comments to Read

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – Being an Indie in 2015

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 4, 2015

The whole definition of “indie” is getting pretty dang fuzzy these days. Studios that are “independent” but have still been largely publisher-driven are doing the indie thing with all kind of alternative funding methods, and then there are 12-year-olds who have managed some not-insignificant success throwing together their first iPhone game. In an interview called, […]

Filed Under: Indie Evangelism, News, Tech - Comments: Read the First Comment



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