Mythica 2 – Kickstarter Kicking Off

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 31, 2015

You know how they are trying to make a big deal about how crowdfunding like Kickstarter shouldn’t be treated as a pre-order? While that’s always good advice, here’s one that’s pretty much the closest thing you are gonna get. I wrote a few weeks ago about Mythica: A Quest for Heroes. The bottom line is […]

Filed Under: Movies - Comments: Read the First Comment

Age of Fear 2: The Chaos Lord Now Available on Steam

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 30, 2015

My friend Leszek Sliwko emailed me to let me know that his turn-based fantasy strategy game, Age of Fear 2: The Chaos Lord, is now available on Steam. I’m just gonna cut to the chase and link to it here before commenting further: Age of Fear 2: The Chaos Lord on Steam Okay. So Age of Fear […]

Filed Under: Game Announcements - Comments: 7 Comments to Read

Pillars of Eternity – Released, and a Quick-Take

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 27, 2015

Okay. So…. there’s this game. It was crowdfunded. Some seasoned vets of making PC RPGs from Obsidian were working on it. It was code-named “Project Eternity,” vaguely reminiscent of the “Infinity Engine” by Bioware that was used for the classic Dungeons & Dragons based RPGs, Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, Icewind Dale 1 and 2, […]

Filed Under: Impressions - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

Got paranormal? “Losers weepers” calls for your stories…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 26, 2015

Okay, calling all authors… or aspiring authors… Xchyler Publishing’s fall paranormal anthology has a call for submissions that begins next week and runs through the month of April. The theme is “Losers weepers.” What that means is subject to your own imagination. For the definition of “Paranormal,” I think you’ll have to look that one […]

Filed Under: Writing - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

Utah Indie Night – March 2015

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 25, 2015

The latest indie night was held on Tuesday, March 24, at Neumont University in downtown Salt Lake City. I hadn’t been to the new Neumont building before (I’ve missed the last couple of times it was held there), and while I am sad that they’ve moved from basically down the street from where I work, […]

Filed Under: Utah Indie Game Night - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

Making Games – Towards More Productive Iteration

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 24, 2015

I’m a firm believer in iterative design. I don’t practice it as well as I should, but I strongly believe in it. In games, it’s the ‘right thing.’ In my world, I usually start with a “paper prototype” – forcing myself to think about a concept methodically enough to describe it in a paragraph or […]

Filed Under: Game Development, Production - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Sometimes I like it a little rough…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 23, 2015

… I’m talking about game polish, of course. What did you think I was talking about? By way of explanation – polish is important. Polish is something that removes the barriers to a player’s enjoyment of the game.  It’s a good thing. But there’s also something to be said for a little bit of rawness, a […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 4 Comments to Read

Funding: A Successor to the Gold Box D&D Games?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 20, 2015

My usual disclaimer about Kickstarter applies here – I’m only drawing attention to it, so don’t consider this a recommendation. There are never any guarantees on these. BUT… some of the old developers from SSI – makers of the “Gold Box” Advanced Dungeons & Dragons games back in the day… have put together a new […]

Filed Under: Game Announcements - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

What does a Castlevania game have to do with RPGs?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 19, 2015

I can’t say I’m a giant fan of “Metroidvania” games, personally, although I’ve played a decent amount of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (never got *that* good at it, but it was enjoyable). I think my younger self would have enjoyed them a lot more – to the point of near-obsession. As it is… I […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 2 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

Buncha Interesting Stuff Going On…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 16, 2015

I’m back home in Salt Lake City after a mercifully uneventful business trip for The Day Job. And there’s stuff happening! First of all, RPGWatch has published an interview with my friend and fellow indie RPG developer, Charles Clerc of Olderbytes.com: Olderbytes Interview at RPGWatch I’m really looking forward to the new version of S&S:Underworld. […]

Filed Under: General - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

How the first console adventure game came to be

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 13, 2015

Warren Robinett was the guy who brought forth the first (?) console-based adventure game… still something of a rarity… as well as the first known “Easter Egg” in a video game. I wish I could have attended this long-overdue post-mortem on Atari’s “Adventure,” but this article’s highlights of the session fill me with warm fuzzies: […]

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

How Do You Make Video Games?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 12, 2015

The first video games I played did not “hook” me. I mean, I liked ’em, sure. But they didn’t create the passion in me about the medium. That came later. A year or so later. There are a lot of circumstances that could be blamed, but somehow I caught the vision: Imaginary worlds in a […]

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

Just Playin’ a Game

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 11, 2015

Being a game developer – or, I’m sure, a game journalist – can spoil you. Bad. I remember noticing this waaaay back when, after I’d been a professional game programmer for a year or so, how hard it was for me to just sit back and enjoy a game for pleasure like I used to. […]

Filed Under: General - Comments: Read the First Comment

The “Totally True” Story of Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 10, 2015

Mega64 did their traditional roast of this year’s winner of the lifetime achievement award at GDC. This time, it was Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series. He gamely played along. I guess if you are totally unfamiliar with the Final Fantasy games (and their big-screen movie… um, attempt), then this […]

Filed Under: Geek Life, Retro - Comments: 2 Comments to Read



« previous top