All I Need to Know I Learned From Roleplaying Games

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 13, 2016

Roleplaying games can be a metaphor for life: We all start as zero-level nobodies who can’t take care of ourselves. That 20th level wizard who seems so awesome today started out pooping in his diapers, the same as you. Fortune favors the prepared… and the ones loaded for bear with healing potions and protection spells. […]

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To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 8, 2016

Happy 50th anniversary, Star Trek. I’ve always lived in a world where Star Trek was a thing. So at least that doesn’t make me feel quite so old. 🙂  I grew up on reruns, dreaming of the Final Frontier. Sometimes it was dumb and hokey. Sometimes it was thought-provoking. But it always fueled the imagination of […]

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Being a Part-Time Indie: Finding the Rhythm

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 7, 2016

One of the reasons I really enjoy the Day Job is that … for the most part… it doesn’t depend much on employee heroics or people working 50-60 hour workweeks to survive. Given my senior status here, I work hard to make sure that’s NOT the case. Usually. However, sometimes the craziness happens. That’s pretty […]

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The Conclusion of our 22-Year Plan

Posted by Rampant Coyote on August 22, 2016

We moved my youngest (of 2) off to college this weekend. She’s not far… her university is across the street from where Wahoo / NinjaBee offices used to be, back when I was working for them (for looooong-time followers of this blog). So definitely within come-home-for-Sunday-Dinner distance. But… she’s moved out. Well, partly. My married […]

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Salt City Steamfest 2016 – After-Action Report

Posted by Rampant Coyote on August 15, 2016

We came, we saw, we partied. And sold books. Steamfest 2016 has come and gone. It seemed like a little bit of a smaller venue this time around (but with MUCH more vendor space…) , but everyone seemed to be having a good time. As usual, the Xchyler authors came together for our booth. Kelly […]

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Steamfest Time!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on August 12, 2016

Today the last Salt City Steamfest begins… theoretically. The lady who runs it says it is the last year. Maybe she’ll sell it. Hopefully someone else will step in and create a new steampunk festival to take its place. Whatever happens, this weekend, it’s on and it’s an excuse for my family to dress up […]

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A Milestone: The Next Generation of Game Geeks Gets Going

Posted by Rampant Coyote on July 28, 2016

My wife and I were just kids when we got married. At least, that’d be the assumption today. We were both still in school, and didn’t have much money saved up. We made do, and made it work. Splurging on a video game was  a big deal. I was a PC gamer somewhat out of […]

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That Music Sounds Familiar…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on July 15, 2016

So in addition to having amassed a pretty gigantic library of video games that I haven’t actually had time to play, I have amassed a pretty substantial library of video game music. One of the advantages of going through GOG.COM was that you used to get the soundtracks as free bonus files. That was before […]

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Video Card Upgrade

Posted by Rampant Coyote on July 8, 2016

It is weird to wax nostalgic over the video cards of the early days of PC hardware accelerated graphics… cards like the Voodoo and Voodoo 2, and the Nvidia Riva 128 and TNT.  Really, compared to now, those cards were beyond pathetic. I think the nostalgia factor for me comes more from the era… the […]

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The Art of the Juggle

Posted by Rampant Coyote on July 7, 2016

  I work 11.25 hours, writing code. I come home (late), have dinner (saved in the fridge), spend time with the family, and watch a show with the wife. And then I spend another 4 hours… working, writing code. I like my day job. It’s not usually this bad, and I’m doing some exciting and fun […]

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Feelin’ Old Yet?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on June 2, 2016

My youngest (of two) daughters graduated from High School today. Her older sister gets married next month (now that it’s June). Both of my daughters were born in the time that I was making games for SingleTrac. I guess I should now feel old or something. I dunno. Maybe tomorrow it’ll hit me. Right now, […]

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The Dark Side of Fandom

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 30, 2016

We geeks are passionate about things. That defines us, really. Games. Fictional characters. Star Trek. Star Wars. You name it. That’s why these conventions are attended in overwhelming numbers. For all our reputation for being introverts, we really do love to get together and find other people who share our same love of geeky things. […]

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All These Smart Devices Sure Can Act Stupid!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 20, 2016

Chapter 1: I have a great new gaming laptop. With Windows 10, and a solid state boot drive. With an HDMI cable, it connects to my “Smart” TV if I want to play some games on the big screen (rare, but it happens) or play a video off the computer. It also serves the usual […]

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Crunch mode and Doom!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 16, 2016

The last two weeks have been mostly crunch-mode crunchiness at the day job.  I was able to take some excursions on the side to see a movie and to participate in family activities. But it’s been late nights and weekends. Fortunately, unlike the games biz, this tends to be for short stretches, and not horrendous […]

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John Romero Returning to FPS… Just Not As Soon As Thought

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 29, 2016

So… in case you missed it, there was a Kickstarter campaign to help fund a new venture by id Software alumni John Romero and Adrian Carmack. Their new company (brand) is Night Work Games, and their project is kind of a catch-all genre (!!!???) First-Person Shooter called Blackroom. They launched with a really cool parody […]

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Games as Art: Communication Required?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 22, 2016

I recently read an old essay (we’re talking pre-WWW!) discussing what makes art, and the author suggested that for a work to be art it has to engage the audience in a conversation… inviting them to mentally and / or emotionally contribute, interpret, and invest something of themselves into the work to derive meaning from it. […]

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