Happy Halloween! Here’s a TREAT: Frayed Knights Discount Code!
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 31, 2011
Trick or Treat!!! This is my favorite holiday (even beating out Christmas). So I figured I’d offer some copies of Frayed Knights: The Skull of S’makh-Daon for a steep discount. 41 copies of the game (10 + 31, get it?) are 50% off, but when they run out, they are out. The discount code can […]
Filed Under: Frayed Knights - Comments: 8 Comments to Read
48 Hour Game Jam? How About a Zero-Hour Game Jam?
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 28, 2011
This is a cool idea: Make a game in that hour between daylight savings time, between 2 AM and 2 AM. A game in zero hours! Ludum Dare – 0h Game Jam! Make a Game in Zero Hours! It’s a tough one, no doubt. And as an international competition, with different countries (notably the United […]
Filed Under: Game Development - Comments: 4 Comments to Read
Desura, Dreamscape, Thailand, Game Bundles, and Frayed Knights
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 27, 2011
Okay, time for a little status update. I’m supposed to be in Thailand right now on business for ye olde Day Job. Due to the terrible flooding in that region, that’s been delayed. So my schedule and plans have had to be a little bit on the flexible side (is that a good euphemism for […]
Filed Under: News - Comments: 7 Comments to Read
The Face of the Nameless One
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 26, 2011
Heh – file this away under trivia: The face of the Nameless One on the cover of Planescape: Torment is none other than Guido Henkel, the producer of the project for Interplay. He’s got a story to go along with it: “What’s In a Face” Maybe I’m just weird, but I love stories like this. […]
Filed Under: Retro - Comments: 4 Comments to Read
Greek Mythology? Yeah, Right.
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 25, 2011
Can someone explain what the heck this comic-book woman has to do with Greek mythology? I mean, she doesn’t really look Greek, does she? More like Emma Frost in full-on White Queen mode. Yeah. I know. It’s like all those other online games that sell a scantily clad woman on the ad who either has […]
Filed Under: Biz - Comments: 9 Comments to Read
IGF 2012: Bursting at the Seams
Posted by Rampant Coyote on
The Independent Games Festival is reporting a record number of entries into the 2012 competition – by a huge margin over last year’s record number of entrants. There are 568 entries altogether, which is just mind-boggling no matter how you slice it. And I know one of them, the IGF Pirate Kart, is a massive […]
Filed Under: Indie Evangelism, News - Comments: 4 Comments to Read
Player Skill and Character Skill
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 24, 2011
In my mind, for a game to qualify as an RPG, it has to implement at least some of the player’s commands through the filter of character skill. The canonical example is attacking an enemy. In many kinds of non-RPG games, the player hits if he (or she) has aimed correctly, and does damage based […]
Filed Under: Design - Comments: 8 Comments to Read
The Players Who Delivered the Smack-Down on the Skull of S’makh-Daon
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 21, 2011
I invited folks on the forums to post about their experience beating Frayed Knights: the Skull of S’makh-Daon. Warning to those still playing – they try their best, but it’s not easy to talk about how you built your characters and dealt with some challenges without dipping your toe a little bit into spoiler territory. […]
Filed Under: Frayed Knights - Comments: 4 Comments to Read
Guns, Phones, & Magic
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 20, 2011
No, this isn’t a post about mixing guns, phones, and magic in the same fantasy setting. Though as a fan of urban fantasy – I’m 100% for it! This post is actually about attitudes towards magic in fantasy worlds. Specifically RPGs. It’s something I’ve touched on before, and will again. It’s about the impact of […]
Filed Under: Design, Geek Life - Comments: 13 Comments to Read
Darklight Dungeon Eternity – All Maps
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 19, 2011
I got a message from Jesse Zoeller that all FIFTY (count ’em) dungeon levels for his upcoming Darklight Dungeon Eternity have now been “carved out.” The release date has been pushed back to early 2012. Considering the fact that hours into the alpha I still hadn’t gone past the fifth level or so (and that […]
Filed Under: Game Announcements - Comments: 7 Comments to Read
Star Corsairs Released!
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 18, 2011
You know how we keep talking about RPGs that don’t have a fantasy setting? Here you go! This is an indie MMORPG from Machine 22 and veteran indie MMO developer David “Golemizer” Toulouse: Star Corsairs Star Corsairs is a browser-based MMORPG in which players must repel the constant alien threat against humanity. Players can explore […]
Filed Under: Game Announcements - Comments: Read the First Comment
Frayed Knights: The Skull of S’makh-Daon Now Available on Desura
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 17, 2011
Frayed Knights: The Skull of S’makh-Daon, that quirky hardcore comedy indie RPG (how’s that for a pile of adjectives?) is now available on Desura: Frayed Knights: The Skull of S’makh-Daon at Desura I feel like I’m in good company, as Gaslamp Games’ Dungeons of Dredmor was just released there a few days ago. Let’s hear […]
Filed Under: Frayed Knights - Comments: 9 Comments to Read
Why the RPG Hate?
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 14, 2011
There’s an obviously linkbait article over at IGN (which works, I’m linking to it here) which praises the upcoming Elder Scrolls title Skyrim by talking about how it doesn’t play like an RPG. The article summary states, “Even if you think RPGs are dumb, this is a game that will command your attention.” While most […]
Filed Under: Biz, Design - Comments: 24 Comments to Read
RIP Dennis Ritchie
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 13, 2011
Dennis Ritchie, 1941 – 2011 Creator of the “C” programming language, by far the most influential programming language of all time. Also a key developer of the Unix operating system. If you have ever used Java, C#, Javascript, PHP, C++, TorqueScript, or one of a slew of other programming and “scripting” languages, Ritchie was a […]
Filed Under: Programming - Comments: Read the First Comment
Office Space
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 12, 2011
A peek into indie game developers’ offices. Which in some cases means, “bedroom.” Ars Technica: Where the World’s Best Indie Games Get Made For those who might wonder, the Rampant Coyote Fortress is a spare bedroom in my basement. The previous homeowner build a nice wooden deck which now covers over the window. In order […]
Filed Under: Geek Life, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 5 Comments to Read
Thief’s 3D Rendering
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 11, 2011
This one’s for the programmers. I got a kick out of it, I expect a few others will, but it probably won’t be too exciting for most readers. My apologies. Sean Barrett has written up a high-to-medium-level explanation of the software 3D rendering he did for Looking Glass’s Thief: The Dark Project. He mentions previous […]
Filed Under: Programming - Comments: 4 Comments to Read