Twisted Metal, the TV series

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 1, 2023

Back in 1994, with the ink still dry on my degree in Computer Science, I got a job in the video games industry working for a new startup called SingleTrac. I was Employee #16. Most of the people there were engineers and artists from a simulation company called Evans & Sutherland. My salary was pathetic, […]

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

New Book Release : Queen of Monsters

Posted by Rampant Coyote on July 27, 2022

My newest book released this week: Queen of Monsters, the first in a new series called The Vanished. Book 2 should be out before the end of the year. Queen of Monsters asks: What if some unexplained disappearances in our world–including some of the famous ones, like Amelia Earhart, Harold Holt, etc.–were because they were […]

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

A Week with Happy Fun Cold.

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 5, 2018

Day 0: Hmm, I’m tired. I’m sneezing a bit. I hope I don’t have a cold. Probably just allergies. Day 1: Not allergies. My nose is running. Not fun. I guess I’m contagious and I should stay home! I’m still feeling generally okay so I can get a lot of things done! Day 1, part […]

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

Recovery

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 5, 2018

My apologies for being a little more quiet than usual this week. I’m recovering from hernia surgery. Recovery seems to be going pretty well, but I’m not exactly in tip-top shape. On the plus side… I’m catching up on some Netflix watching. And sleep, kinda, sometimes, belly willing. And even some reading. 🙂

Filed Under: General - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

Rocksmith Goal – Achieved. Next Goal?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on November 3, 2017

In October, I set a goal to get good enough to play “Don’t Fear the Reaper” on guitar. I’m using Rocksmith Remastered, and it’s an old Rocksmith 1 (2012) song with a mix of parts (“Alternate Lead” in Remastered). October got a little crazy, so I didn’t put in quite as much time as I’d […]

Filed Under: General, Guitar Games - Comments: Read the First Comment

Too Many Deadlines

Posted by Rampant Coyote on July 26, 2017

Apparently EVERYTHING has a deadline of the end of the month. Just like everything had a deadline of the end of last month. If you need me, I’ll be in the TARDIS.  

Filed Under: General - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

Creativity on Demand

Posted by Rampant Coyote on July 5, 2017

In the tech industry, there was an old joke dating back at least from the 1970s or 1980s about how “if it wasn’t for trade shows, we’d never get anything done.” Of course, it was funny because it wasn’t such a joke. In many companies, there’s a tremendous surge of productivity leading up to showing […]

Filed Under: Game Development, General, Writing - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

FYRECON – Last Day for Early Bird Prices

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 10, 2017

Today is the LAST DAY to sign up for early-bird prices with Fyrecon registration. Seriously, if you are a Utah author / artist / scriptwriter / filmmaker with an interest in fantasy & science fiction, you should consider going. Actually, even if you are not local, you should consider it. It’s cheap, there will be […]

Filed Under: General - 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

Genres vs. Descriptors – A Better Way?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 27, 2017

So in games, literature, film, and TV we often talk about genre (and subgenre). It’s an overused term with lots of different meanings. In programming, we call it “overloaded.” In a broad sense, it is a category for placing a product where people who are seeking similar products can find it. This is, on its […]

Filed Under: General - Comments: Read the First Comment

LTUE 2017 or Bust

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 15, 2017

It’s time for Life, the Universe, and Everything. I’m excited. Last year was the first time I’d been in years, and it was even better than I remembered it. It’s a symposium of all things science fiction and fantasy media related… principally games, literature, art, and film… with an emphasis on those who create or […]

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

Chargen Ahead

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 3, 2017

There’s something about character generation in an unfamiliar computer RPG. Even if you technically know how the rules work and you know how the options will affect things, you have no idea how they will play out in the adventure that lies before you. A powerful situational ability may never have its situation occur, or […]

Filed Under: General - Comments: 6 Comments to Read

Call of Cthulhu – the (next) Video Game!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 20, 2017

I discovered the Call of Cthulhu game in a review in the pages of Dragon Magazine back when my only experience playing RPGs was from those published by TSR (D&D, Boot Hill, Top Secret, and Gamma World). I read the review about three times, and told my best friend about it. Later, he got the […]

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

All Hail the New Computer Go Master

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 12, 2017

Man, I remember spending weeks obsessing over how to write the ultimate Go playing program that would do this. It looks like Google’s Go-playing program, an updated version of the tournament winner from a few months ago, has used a stealth approach to become the unofficial champion… masquerading as a human player in online play. It […]

Filed Under: General - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

The Emotional Journey of Creating Something Great

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 10, 2017

This probably doesn’t need much commentary… … But I’m going to add some anyway. A depressing truth: That journey looks the same regardless of whether you’re making crap, something okay, something good, or something great. It just ends at different points along that line. But anything worth trying is going to go through that process […]

Filed Under: General - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

Elite: Dangerous adds long-awaited content in coolest way possible

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 6, 2017

There was one alien race in the Elite series waaay back when – the Thargoids. They were present in the first game as enemies. Insofar as it had a storyline, the Thargoids were involved in the story of the third Elite game, Frontier: First Encounters. As I understand, they weren’t enemies in the that one. I […]

Filed Under: General - Comments: 3 Comments to Read



« previous top