My Worst Bug Ever

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 7, 2012

Since I’m in crunch mode in le day job, I’m going for “easy” here with postings on the blog (mostly). So here’s a slightly modified reprint of a story from almost six years ago on the old blog. And yes, I have a tough time believing I’ve been doing this for that long. But since […]

Filed Under: Game Development, Retro - Comments: 12 Comments to Read

The Year I Discovered PC Games

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 6, 2012

I didn’t really have a DOS-based PC until 1991. By this point, the era of my beloved Commodore 64 was pretty much over, and while I really wanted an Amiga, its time was also rapidly coming to a close. This weekend, I stumbled across some music from Falcon 3.0 – the Spectrum Holobyte game from […]

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What Would You Update?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 25, 2012

In the spirit of the the TWO X-Com “re-envisionings” and the hope and horror that the reports on these games have inspired, I thought I’d push a little experiment today and see what the expert gamers of this site would do in a similar situation. Let’s say you had the option to pick a classic […]

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Matt Chat: Stonekeep Retrospective

Posted by Rampant Coyote on December 19, 2011

This is not one I have ever really played. I was tempted in 1995, and had a friend who played Stonekeep and recommend it, but I never “got around to it.” I picked up a copy via GOG.COM a couple of years ago, but still haven’t played more than the first half-hour or so. Alas, […]

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Creativity and Game Design: A Lesson from 1988

Posted by Rampant Coyote on December 2, 2011

I don’t usually have time to listen to podcasts or watch long videos. But sometimes they are very worth it. This is one of those times. I went to the Game Developer’s Conference for about five years. It changed its name from the Computer Game Developer’s Conference during one of those years – about ten […]

Filed Under: Design, Retro - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

Ultima VII – Now Available at GOG.COM

Posted by Rampant Coyote on November 29, 2011

It doesn’t matter that I already own these games. I’m buying them again. I think this is the third time for Ultima VII part 1. This is perhaps the fastest purchase I have ever made from GOG.COM. Or rather, it would be, if the website wasn’t acting kinda slow. I doubt it’s because of this […]

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PC World Interview – More on Warhawk and Twisted Metal

Posted by Rampant Coyote on November 21, 2011

Wow, you get a double-dose of ancient history from me this week! More Warhawk and Twisted Metal goodness! PC World has published an interview with me about the early days of Playstation game development. This interview has a few discussions in common with part 1 of my Matt Chat interview. Kinda funny how they coincided […]

Filed Under: Biz, Interviews, Retro - Comments: 6 Comments to Read

Might & Magic VI Retrospective at Matt Chat

Posted by Rampant Coyote on November 14, 2011

I was a latecomer to Might & Magic VI. Yes, sad to say, but it’s true.  Although it’s not that sad. Discovering these older gems years later is like finding an antique that was gathering dust in your attic that you later discover is worth tens of thousands of dollars to collectors.  The only big […]

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If Quake Was Made Today…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on November 2, 2011

As a bunch of “old-school” RPG fans hang out here, we’re accustomed to griping about how “dumbed down” RPGs have become over the years. But it’s not just our favorite genre. As much as we complain about RPGs becoming first-person shooters, first-person shooters aren’t what they used to be, either. To illustrate this point, this […]

Filed Under: Biz, Design, Retro - Comments: 11 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. […]

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Matt Chat Visits Daggerfall

Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 5, 2011

Man, this thing brought on the nostalgia. I tried re-playing Daggerfall a couple of years ago.  I didn’t get very far. But when it was new,  I bought it on release day, put up with its buggy madness, and enjoyed the ever-living crap out of the game. I don’t know if it was as ambitious […]

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The Rampant Coyote Wizardry 8 Commentary Archive

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 15, 2011

A reader – let’s call him “Jeff” (since that’s his name), emailed me asking my opinion on Wizardry 8. He was curious about my thoughts since I called it an “Awesome but flawed game” in my interview at IndieRPGs.com. Poor guy. Little did he know I had a boatload of commentary. It was how I […]

Filed Under: Retro - Comments: 9 Comments to Read

In the Future, All Games Will Be First-Person Shooters

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 13, 2011

Matt Barton joins the dogpile onto beloved franchises that are being remade as plain ol’ shooters: Matt Barton Podcast #2 – Absolutely Reticulous! With word that Syndicate is joining X-Com in reincarnation as an FPS, old-school fans are left wondering what’s worse: that classic games that they loved aren’t being made anymore, or that they […]

Filed Under: Biz, Retro - Comments: 17 Comments to Read

Thoughts on Ultima: The Second Trilogy

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 9, 2011

GOG.COM now has Ultima IV-VI. That’s pretty much motherload-quality as far as I am concerned. Well, okay, they need both Ultima 7 games and expansions  (via Exult or whatever)  on modern systems, I guess. But this is epic. I’ve already mentioned Ultima IV – it was IMO that finally transcended the artificial barriers of the […]

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Mugging Guards Makes It Easy…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 5, 2011

So really, it just takes making regular trips to the dungeon north of Lord British’s castle to the two treasure chambers and healing fountain on level 3… easily reached by having the cleric and the wizard cast spells to automatically go down a level — and back up again, when you are done. You get […]

Filed Under: Retro - Comments: 4 Comments to Read

Ancient Ultima Games Now at GOG.COM

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 1, 2011

I think these have now become the absolute oldest games in GOG.COM’s repository… the first Ultima Trilogy, and Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar are now available from Good Old Games. And as a side note, am I the only one who calls them “Gog-dot-com?” I notice they call themselves “Gee-Oh-Gee-dot-com.” Maybe it’s because they […]

Filed Under: Retro - Comments: 12 Comments to Read



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