STORYHACK 0! Extra pulpy!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 27, 2017

My story, “Dead Last,” will be appearing in the inaugural issue of StoryHack magazine… issue zero! Hopefully the first of many, many, many issues, StoryHack is a magazine of action & adventure stories across multiple genres. In fact, in the tradition of the early pulps that predate genre definitions, it sounds like it’s deliberately turning a […]

Filed Under: Books, Short Fiction - Comments: Comments are off for this article

A Bundle of Books on Writing

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 26, 2017

Storybundle.com has a bunch o’ books about the craft and profession of writing. The only ones I’m familiar with are Dean Wesley Smith’s book and his video lecture series on the Lester Dent Master Plot Formula. I paid full price for the latter (about $50, IIRC), and thought it was very worth the money. So […]

Filed Under: Books, Deals, Writing - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Sun Powered!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 25, 2017

For years, the power company has hounded us about our power usage. We use more than the neighborhood average, they said. They charged us a premium for our “above average” usage. You know, because we actually run gaming computers and stuff, and didn’t switch to those horrible CFL bulbs when they became available. They kept […]

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

Scott Cole Interviews Me

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 24, 2017

Over at the Castalia House Blog, Scott Cole interviews me about … oh, just about everything. We start talking about my story in the latest issue of Cirsova Magazine, but we quickly go off the rails and talk about game development, problems in the games industry, my getting stuck in lockdown during Bangladesh protests, and […]

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StarCraft and Brood War – Now Free

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 19, 2017

One of the best PC real-time strategy games… well, okay, one of the best PC games, period… has just been patched up and released for free. It is also perhaps one of the biggest and most popular games in history, spawning an entire e-Sport and a culture around it for many years in Korea. There […]

Filed Under: Deals, Strategy Games - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Simpler Dungeon Design: Consider the Antagonists

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 17, 2017

Jeffro (of Appendix N fame) has a suggestion for easier dungeon design for old-school style dungeon delving. DUNGEON DESIGN: Start with the Wandering Monsters In some ways, what he’s really working through is encounter design. This was a bit of an emphasis in the late 3rd edition and 4th edition D&D dungeon design style of […]

Filed Under: Design, Dice & Paper - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

Closest I’ll Get to Being Nominated for a Hugo…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 14, 2017

Well, this has been a really weird turn. The Hugo Awards aren’t quite as meaningful to me as they once were, but I enjoyed participating in the voting and nomination process in the past. I tried to be a good voter and really put effort into reading everything in my Hugo packet… which was pretty […]

Filed Under: Books, Events, Short Fiction - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Virtual Reality + IL-2 = Bliss. May be nausea-inducing.

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 13, 2017

Two days ago, the newest games in the IL-2 Sturmovik series received a major update to include Virtual Reality support.  On top of that, they went on sale. I’ll just post a link now and get that out of the way. Because the sale is almost over: IL-2 Sturmovik Series (New) Adding VR to an […]

Filed Under: Flight Sims, Virtual Reality - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

Classic D&D CRPGs On Sale…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 12, 2017

And the updated “enhanced” editions, as well… over at GOG.COM Special Sale – Dungeons & Dragons You’ve got until the end of the week, but in case your collection is not quite complete… here you go. It includes the original “Infinity Engine” games (Baldur’s Gate series, Icewind Dale series, and  Planescape Torment), the Beamdog “enhanced […]

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The CRPG Book Project – 5th Edition (And Still Not Final…)

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 11, 2017

Felipe Pepe has been a man with a mission for several years. He’s been gathering together reviews from a modern-day perspective of Computer Role-Playing Games covering 40 years of history. It ain’t done yet, but the current edition clocks in at a needle-burying 450 pages, covering over 250 games across 4 decades.  Naturally, that’s not […]

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

Thor: Ragnarok Trailer – Now This Looks Like Pulp!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 10, 2017

I have no idea if Thor: Ragnarok will be any good. Using the actual Led Zeppelin original Immigrant Song (which I thought was pretty much impossible to license) definitely amps the trailer up a couple of notches in my estimation. The joke at the end is awesome. When I think of early pulp science fiction, back […]

Filed Under: General - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

Use the Pulp, Luke!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 7, 2017

During the early-to-mid 20th century, successful pulp writers made their careers understanding how to write a good story that would sell. While a lot of things have changed today, many of the most successful modern writers apply very similar techniques. In some ways, the modern digital / indie world has it better than the pulp writers ever […]

Filed Under: Events, Writing - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Cirsova #5 – Now Available Digitally and in Paperback

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 6, 2017

Okay, ladies and gentlemen… the moment you’ve been waiting for has arrived. Maybe you didn’t know you were waiting for it. Vaguely aware counts, I’m pretty sure. Cirsova #5 is now fully released, in both digital and paper formats, now available on Smashwords, Amazon, and other fine sites. Featuring my story, “The Queen of Shadows.” […]

Filed Under: Short Fiction - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Soldak on Lessons Learned in 13 years of making RPGs

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 4, 2017

Wow… has it been 13 years already? Steven Peeler of Soldak Entertainment talks about making indie action-RPGs for the last thirteen… what he’s learned, what’s changed in that time, etc. Gamasutra Q&A:  Soldak’s Lessons Learned in 13 Years of Making RPGs. Long-time readers will know I’m a big fan of Soldak’s games, my favorite still […]

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Unity 5.6 is released

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 3, 2017

Unity 5.6 Released This release is supposed to finish the “Unity 5 Cycle” – which is really only interesting to the people who bought Unity 5 under the older licensing scheme. The biggest changes (in my mind) are improved lighting (desperately needed) and other graphical improvements. Vulkan support is pretty exciting too, as is the 2D […]

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



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