Matt Chat – Interview with Brian Fargo, Part 3

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 31, 2011

Here is the exciting conclusion of the interview with the man who created the company whose motto was, “By Gamers, For Gamers.” And, alas, the story of the fall of said company, which brought us The Bard’s Tale, Wasteland, Fallout 1 & 2, the Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale series, Planescape: Torment, Battle Chess, Star […]

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Miscellanious Indie Stories…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 30, 2011

Here are some links I found interesting this week and thought I’d share: Gamesauce interview with Erin Robinson on Free Games and Indie Life – going from a nobody to a respected veteran by the magic of actually releasing games. Psychochild’s Blog: Mastery of Might & Magic – Twenty-Five years old, and still going strong […]

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RPG Watch Names 2010 RPG of the Year Winners

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 29, 2011

RPG Watch did a poll of viewers (and their editors) for the favorite PC RPG of 2010, which I noted here: RPG Watch’s 2010 Game of the Year Awards – Best RPGs The winner of the reader’s choice and the editor’s choice is going to shock and surprise everybody! Actually, no, it probably won’t. Alpha […]

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Utah Indie Night – January 2011

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 28, 2011

The new year has officially been rung in with a Utah Indie Night.  The attendance was good, though not up to the record levels we’ve had in the past. Maybe due to lack of pizza. This time it was hosted by ITT Tech, and while the student common area isn’t optimal, it sure was a […]

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Finish the Game!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on

Jeff Vogel talks about the final stages of making and releasing a new RPG. Avadon Developer Diary #5: Getting It Done Boy do I ever feel his pain. But I think he’s much better at it by now than I am.

Filed Under: Production - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Why Am I Still Working at 3 AM on a Game?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 27, 2011

I used to stay up all hours of the night playing games. Now I stay up all hours of the night making them. Okay, I guess that’s not entirely true. I’ve been making games for almost as long as I’ve been playing them.  Even back to the point where I was trying to squeak something […]

Filed Under: Geek Life, Indie Evangelism, Production - Comments: Read the First Comment

What Minecraft Did Wrong But Didn’t Matter. And What It Did Right That Did Matter

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 26, 2011

So at this point, Minecraft is a phenomenon that is like Doom or Bejeweled for the new decade.  It’s captured the mainstream game industry’s attention, and of course every indie in the world is thinking, “Wow, could I be the next Minecraft?”  At least for those who aren’t wondering if they could be the next […]

Filed Under: Biz, Design - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

Indie Games: Be More Indie Please

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 25, 2011

I like to praise the really good subset of indie gaming that is of quality, beautiful, creative, genre-defying, innovative, and / or just extremely well executed. Naturally, I focus on the tip of the iceberg that stands out above the rest. But unfortunately, the indie world is full of crap. And clones. And even clones […]

Filed Under: Game Development, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 13 Comments to Read

Matt Chat Interview with Brian Fargo, Part 2

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 24, 2011

A continuation of last week’s interview, Matt Barton grills Brian Fargo about Wasteland, Stonekeep, Fallout, and modern RPGs vs classic 80’s RPG design: To support Matt’s desire to keep his drinking horn full, please consider a donation if you enjoy these.

Filed Under: Interviews, Mainstream Games, Retro - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Defending the Lack of Class…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 21, 2011

Brian “Psychochild” Green has a post today defending skill-based RPG systems versus class-based ones. Stay Classy at Psychochild’s Blog He’s responding to a post at Elder Game: Classes vs. Open Skill Systems This is an old argument that has been going around since at least the early 1980s.  And both authors here outline issues with […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 10 Comments to Read

My First Dungeon That I Wroted All By Myself

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 20, 2011

Dunno why my brain was going there, but for some reason I was thinking of the first(ish) RPG I ever wrote. No, it wasn’t Hackenslash. I don’t remember if it even had a name. It was a game for the Commodore 64 that I wrote (in BASIC!) when I was a kid. For sure, it […]

Filed Under: Programming, Retro - Comments: 10 Comments to Read

Welcome Back, GarageGames

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I really didn’t like the name “TorquePowered” anyway. Looks like they’re back, they’ve got funding, and they have returned to the original core values from a few years ago. And for a little while, they are offering all their engines for the sub-$100 price point. Good news across the board, I think: Welcome Back, GarageGames […]

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Attack of the Clones

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 19, 2011

I don’t have issues with certain things that are called “cloning” games. Everybody copies / borrows game mechanics, UI layouts, control schemes, and whatnot from successful games. If we had to reinvent the wheel every time we made a game,  we’d lose the advantage of standing on the shoulders of giants. Great ideas are meant […]

Filed Under: Biz, Casual Games - Comments: 8 Comments to Read

Indie RPG News Round-Up – January 2011

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 18, 2011

Here are some exciting developments in indie-RPGdom that have been taking place over the last month or so. Since I asked, people have provided me with some links to some great roguelikes this month, many of which were not even on my radar. And maybe not on yours, either. I want to thank the community […]

Filed Under: Indie Evangelism, News - Comments: 11 Comments to Read

Matt Chat Interview with Brian Fargo, Part 1

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 17, 2011

Brian Fargo, founder of Interplay, gets interviewed by Matt Barton (author of “Dungeons and Desktops”) this week. Discussion primarily revolves around the early history of his involvement in the games biz, including discussions about who was the best Dungeon Master at Interplay, the development of Bard’s Tale, what made Wizardry such a strong title back […]

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Arx Fatalis – Source Code Now Freely Available

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 14, 2011

If you wanted to take apart a reasonably major RPG and dissect it, seeing how it works, now’s your chance. Arx Fatalis Source Code Now Available There’s also the latest patch for the game (still patching it after all these years! Awesome!) at the same location. The source code uses the GPL 3 license, which […]

Filed Under: Programming - Comments: 8 Comments to Read



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