Rampant Coyote’s Gone Bye-Bye. What Have You Got Left, Egon?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 31, 2010

I’m dreaming about game content now. Sanity may be no more than a distant memory. I woke up from a vivid dream about 3D models of creatures for Frayed Knights. With accompanying stat blocks that would have been appropriate in a pen-and-paper RPG. And an additional chart showing completion levels. Somehow in my dream a […]

Filed Under: Geek Life, Production - Comments: 7 Comments to Read

Studio or Studios?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 30, 2010

Ever notice how many game studios – with just one “studio” – have a company name that says “Studios?” Delusions of grandeur, or planning for the future? And then you have Iron Tower Studio – singular – which now legitimately includes multiple “studios” under their brand. Just a random observation that amuses me…

Filed Under: Biz - Comments: 4 Comments to Read

The Devolution Revolution

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 28, 2010

Another week, another call for RPGs to “evolve.” So I guess it’s time for my monthly rant about the evolution of the cRPG genre. Hat tip to RPGWatch for this link. My response was snarkier over there than this one will be here. (See? I may be growing as a person. Or something…)  Maybe because, […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism, Mainstream Games - Comments: 15 Comments to Read

Spiderweb Software Announces Avadon: The Black Fortess

Posted by Rampant Coyote on

So if you were wondering what Spiderweb Software would do now that they have concluded both of their award-winning RPG series, the mystery has now been at least partly revealed in a press released yesterday: Avadon: The Black Fortress Man, and here I was thinking he was going to retire and make hidden object games… […]

Filed Under: General - Comments: 5 Comments to Read

Eschalon: Book II – Mac and Linux Versions Now Available

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 27, 2010

Sweet old-school RPG action – now available on Mac and Linux: Download  Eschalon: Book II for Windows, Mac, OR Linux. The game has been updated to version 1.03, now. As I understand, no real massive game-destroying bugs have been found, mainly small bugs, rare crashes, and typos. I’m kinda jealous. I’ve been swamped with development […]

Filed Under: Game Announcements - Comments: Read the First Comment

Caster Promotion – Pay What You Want!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 26, 2010

Mike Smith, whom I miss greatly at the Utah Indie Nights, asked me to announce a new promotion for his 3D action-fantasy game, Caster. First of all, until the end of this month, he’s inviting people to pay what they want for the game. A single penny if you are a goober. A few cents […]

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

Frayed Knights: Faking It

Posted by Rampant Coyote on

Time for another update on Frayed Knights, the upcoming indie computer RPG series from Rampant Games that attempts to feel old-school hardcore, play modern, and keep its tongue firmly in its cheek… Yes, it does feel a little weird to call it a series. Even though we’ve been considering breaking it up for three months. […]

Filed Under: Frayed Knights - Comments: 5 Comments to Read

Free Vs. Purchased Demos

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 25, 2010

Steven Peeler of Soldak Entertainment on Free vs. Purchased Demos: “… Charging for the demo just seems very wrong. First of all, it means you are now demanding payment for your marketing. What’s next, making the customer pay for your ads? Also what happens when they don’t like your demo (which is going to happen […]

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

Digging For Gold

Posted by Rampant Coyote on

Many years ago, I bought the entire SSI Dungeons & Dragons “Gold Box” series from WizardWork as a discounted bundle. I even sprang for the hint books. It was plenty “old school” even when I grabbed them (mid-to-late 90s). I wanted to revisit them recently, as I’ve been dissecting these old first-person dungeon crawlers. Apparently, […]

Filed Under: Retro - Comments: 5 Comments to Read

It’s the Voice Acting’s Fault

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 24, 2010

I’ve complained about it before. Shamus Young complains about it better. Y’know, for a brief, glowing moment in the history of our hobby – pretty much the late 90’s – it seemed like we almost had it right. The text was supplemented by voice, but it was limited –  enough to help visualize characters.  But […]

Filed Under: Biz, Design - Comments: 11 Comments to Read

How to Sell Your Indie Game

Posted by Rampant Coyote on

I had to hunt down this resource on the old blog to find it again, and thought I’d repost it here for aspiring indie developers: Amanda Fitch of Amaranth Games (Aveyond, Aveyond 2, Aveyond: Lord of Twilight, etc.) has put together a quick-and-dirty guide for newbie game developers on how to sell their indie games. […]

Filed Under: Production - Comments: Read the First Comment

Played Eschalon: Book II or Din’s Curse Yet?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 22, 2010

Have you downloaded and played the free demos of Din’s Curse or Eschalon: Book II yet? If not, why not this weekend? Unless you are on dial-up. Or really hate RPGs. In which case, you have a good excuse (and if you hate RPGs, you probably hate that half my posts are about ’em, huh?) […]

Filed Under: Indie Evangelism - Comments: 4 Comments to Read

Making Epic 3D Dungeons, Part 2 – Applying the Lessons

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 21, 2010

A couple of weeks ago, in Making Epic 3D Dungeons, I talked about the evolution of the classic “dungeon” paradigm from dice-and-paper gaming through the development of computer RPGs, and how its fared through the pseudo-3D and finally fully 3D presentation. There are a couple of additional resources I want to recommend: Brenda Brathwaite article […]

Filed Under: Art, Design, Frayed Knights - Comments: 6 Comments to Read

Are Used Games the Publisher’s Enemy… Or Secret Ally?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 20, 2010

So now downloadable content (DLC) and online multiplayer are weapons used in the war against used game sales. Now, I’m a proponent of used games. About half the console games I get nowadays… well, okay, half are downloaded, but half of the BOXED games I get are used.  And the other half – well, if […]

Filed Under: Mainstream Games - Comments: 9 Comments to Read

Indie RPG Updates and Events

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 19, 2010

Patches and a tournament! Avernum 6 Spiderweb Software has updated Avernum 6 for Windows to v1.0.1. This free update fixes a handful of bugs and balance issues, and, as Spiderweb reports, “is the next stage in our tireless assault against typos. Installing this update is a good idea.” Screenshots, more information, and the update are […]

Filed Under: News - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

What Are The Most Significant Indie Computer RPGs?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 18, 2010

It’s  list-time again! What some dude (me) thinks are the most significant indie computer RPGs. [UPDATE: Be sure and check the comments for this post. As predicted, folks have submitted a lot of their own personal candidates, including a couple that I want to kick myself for overlooking, and a few that I’d not yet […]

Filed Under: Indie Evangelism - Comments: 22 Comments to Read



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