How to Not Screw Up a Superhero Movie

Posted by Rampant Coyote on June 19, 2013

I saw Man of Steel the other night. I was really looking forward to it, but the final product was… well, it wasn’t bad. We’ve all seen plenty of bad. This was good, but could have been great. I wouldn’t call myself a huge comic-book fan when I was growing up. For a while I […]

Filed Under: Design, Movies - Comments: 11 Comments to Read

Frayed Knights Update: How’s Unity 3D Working Out?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on June 13, 2013

I got a great suggestion a few weeks ago for a Frayed Knights Dev Diary thingy about my experiences working with Unity 3D. Brilliant idea! The only trick is, I’m not really sure how to answer it. My first reaction is, “Huh? I’m using Unity? Oh, yeah, I guess I am.” It doesn’t sound like […]

Filed Under: Frayed Knights, Game Development - Comments: 6 Comments to Read

Dungeons & Logistics

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 28, 2013

The first adventure game I ever completed writing was called “Dungeons of Doom.” It was pretty terrible, I’ll admit, but I was only thirteen or fourteen, and I was really proud of it (until my next completed adventure game).  Really, in retrospect, it was all kinds of horrible for all kinds of reasons. Among its […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 19 Comments to Read

A matter of scale

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 21, 2013

I’m in France this week. Actually, I’m in France as I type this, dog-tired. While the trip was long and arduous, it is kind of amazing how small the world has become.  In one ten-hour flight, I’m a third of the world away. It’s a butt-busting trip (particularly when flying coach), but relative to the […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 9 Comments to Read

Why Are Most Indie Games 2D Instead of 3D?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 16, 2013

This question was posed in the “Ask Me Anything” Reddit yesterday, and I thought I’d cross-post and elaborate on my answer here: Why are most indie games done made with 2D graphics instead of 3D? Obviously, I’m something of an exception to the general rule, as I do 3D games (at least, the ones I’ve […]

Filed Under: Game Development, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 22 Comments to Read

The Once and Future First-Person Shooters

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 15, 2013

A week ago, veteran game producer Warren Spector (Epic Mickey, Deus Ex, Thief: The Dark Project, System Shock, Ultima Underworld, Wing Commander, Ultima 6, Ultima 7, and others…) ruffled a few feathers when he publicly griped about the first-person (FPS) shooter “genre” – citing Bethesda’s Wolfenstein: New World Order announcement video: He later issued an […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 8 Comments to Read

Lone-Wolf Game Developer, or Just a Straggler? Ten Tips for Solo Indie Game Devs

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 10, 2013

One peril of being a lone-wolf developer (and a part-time one at that) at that is that it can be really tough getting motivated to keep plowing through stuff – particularly the un-sexy parts – on your own, particularly when working on a (relatively) really big game. That’s probably why most successful small indies focus […]

Filed Under: Game Development - Comments: 10 Comments to Read

Microsoft Backs Off?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 8, 2013

This article is mostly speculation, and so there’s a good deal of likelihood that there’ll be minimal changes to Windows 8 (or the roadmap for Windows 9) in the future, but it’s interesting nonetheless… Microsoft Prepares Rethink on Windows 8 Flagship Software What it all boils down to: Microsoft is starting to acknowledge that trying […]

Filed Under: Game Development - Comments: 11 Comments to Read

A Knock At The Door

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 6, 2013

“The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door…” This is the shortest complete story I know, written by Fredrick Brown, although he later elaborated upon it in his short story, “Knock,” but his point was that those two sentences formed a complete story. And he was […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 14 Comments to Read

A Terrible Time to Be a Game-Maker?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 3, 2013

Jeff Tunnell, who has been making games since I was a wee lad,  and has been indie for more than a decade, weighs in on the complications of being a game developer in the current marketplace: “We Can’t Make It Here Anymore” The guy has forgotten more about making games than I’ve ever known, so […]

Filed Under: Game Development - Comments: 13 Comments to Read

The Era of Flash Comes to an End?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 25, 2013

When things end with a whimper, they aren’t exactly newsworthy.  I mean, when there’s an official sunset – some kind of milestone / gravestone where people can officially recognize its passing – by that point it has been practically dead and forgotten and only barely considered news. And bold proclamations of its upcoming demise when […]

Filed Under: Biz, Programming - Comments: 8 Comments to Read

Being Pathetic and Loving It

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 24, 2013

I recently re-played Baldur’s Gate via Overhaul Games’ updated “Enhanced Edition,” which I personally felt did a pretty decent job of enhancing the game (and fixing some of its flaws, especially on modern machines). After so many years living in more modern systems, it was kinda fun taking the wayback machine to the 2nd edition […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 14 Comments to Read

Building On Your Own Rhythm

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 19, 2013

People function differently. People have different optimum rhythms and patterns. I guess this is something good managers know, but too many managers – and people trying to manage themselves – don’t get. Or forget. One of the tricks I have to keep re-discovering is to find ways of getting stuff done that work for me.  […]

Filed Under: Game Development - Comments: 4 Comments to Read

From Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Demanded

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 11, 2013

The ideas people have come up with for completely useless psychic powers yesterday was a source of amusement all day long. Thank you! Three winners have been emailed with instructions for claiming their prizes. Thank you to everybody who has participated so far.  And a big thank-you to the game developers who have contributed copies […]

Filed Under: Art, Deals, Rampant Games - Comments: 13 Comments to Read

Deep Exploration: 32 Ideas for making exploration more interesting in CRPGs

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 27, 2013

In computer RPGs, there are a number of gameplay “loops” or cycles that all interact with each other. A nice blend of cycles keeps the game varied and interesting. You’ve got the combat cycles – nice, repeating elements that (hopefully!) stay varied enough between different enemies and growing player character power and varying resources that […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 8 Comments to Read

Concerning Garriott, Game Designers, and Corporate Overlords

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 21, 2013

Richard Garriott de Cayeaux offered a couple of controversial “zingers” (as he himself described them) in a recent interview with PC Gamer. The quote that caused the fuss was, “But other than a few exceptions, like Chris Roberts, I’ve met virtually no one in our industry who I think is close to as good a […]

Filed Under: Biz, Design, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 22 Comments to Read



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