RPGs: Is Old-School the New School?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 18, 2013

As I’ve said before, the term “old-school RPG” is becoming decreasingly useful. Not that I dislike it – it still brings a smile when I see it in the descriptor of an RPG. The assumption is that people are being inspired by the right games – whatever games those are. But it meant they are […]

Filed Under: Design, Indie Evangelism, Retro - Comments: 6 Comments to Read

How Do I Know When My Game Is Finished?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 13, 2013

I saw this question on a forum recently: “As a ‘lone wolf’ developer, how do I know when my game is finished and ready for release?” Snarky answer: It’ll be ready approximately three to six months after you are completely sick of it. Real Answer: This question probably reveals more about you and your process […]

Filed Under: Game Development, Production - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

Sneak Peek Into Rampant Games’ Super-Secret Development Methodology

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 8, 2013

Without a producer or manager, here at Rampant Games, we (and by ‘we’ I generally mean ‘me’, unless I manage to wrangle some time out of contractors for far less than they are worth) have to work extra hard to stay on-task, on-schedule (HAH!), and productive on projects that are really just too frickin’ huge […]

Filed Under: Production - Comments: 7 Comments to Read

Game Development: Playing to Strength

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 7, 2013

When I first started programming the Commodore 64, I was coming to grasp with a more complete version of the BASIC language. And, slowly, coming to grips with the limitations of the C-64. While in comparison to my previous computer (a Sinclair ZX80) it was overwhelmingly powerful, writing action games in BASIC would bring you […]

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

Indie 101

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 1, 2013

Derek Yu has written a fantastic article entitled, “Making it as an Indie: A Starter Guide.” Any aspiring indie ought to read this article. Twice. In fact, it doesn’t hurt for a veteran indie to read it a couple of times, either. One thing that really stood out to me was his definition of indie. […]

Filed Under: Game Development - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

This is how the world ends: A bunch of post-apocalyptic game setting variants

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 22, 2013

I’m a fan of “post-apocalyptic” settings in fiction and computer games, though I realize it’s as hard a term to define as “role-playing games” (or “indie games”, for that matter). Over the years, we’ve had tons of video games taking place in a post-apocalyptic setting. And, happy me, we’ve got several new games coming soon […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 8 Comments to Read

Guest Post: Random Gamer on Choosing Your Game Engine, pt 2

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 19, 2013

(This is a continuation of yesterday’s post from Random Gamer, a long-time community member, and frequent contributor both on the blog and in the Forums. He’s earned war stories the hard way on indie game development. You can read Part 1 here. Enjoy!) The last time, I talked about some of the lessons I’ve learned […]

Filed Under: Game Development, Guest Posts - Comments: 9 Comments to Read

Guest Post: Random Gamer on Choosing Your Game Engine, Pt 1

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 18, 2013

Today’s (and tomorrow’s) post comes from Chris “Random Gamer” Rovers, a long-time regular here in the Rampant Games community. An experienced developer in the “real world,” he’s got some lessons to share about picking the right tool to fit your game project (or vice versa). You can read part 2 here. I’m one of those […]

Filed Under: Game Development, Guest Posts - Comments: 6 Comments to Read

An Inconvenient Combat

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 14, 2013

The game was “Western Hero,” many years ago. It was a dice-and-paper RPG based on the Hero game system, the same one that fueled the Champions superhero RPG. The designers had taken pains to make Western Hero not very superheroic – following the style of movies and books about the American “Wild West” of the […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 4 Comments to Read

The High-Level Game: More Than Just Bigger and Badder

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 11, 2013

Many years ago, when the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons was still current and even kinda new, Necromancer Games created a revision of a Gary Gygax module called “Necropolis” (or, officially, “Gary Gygax’s Necropolis”). This was a massive revision and expansion to an original module created for his “Dangerous Journeys” game system, following his […]

Filed Under: Design, Dice & Paper - Comments: 6 Comments to Read

Four Steps to Making a Video Game In Just a Few Minutes a Day

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 6, 2013

Last week, I had people ask me how to get indie game development done when you only have about an hour or something to get the job done in an evening. I’m not going to pretend I’m some machine-like super-programmer here. When the Day Job has me working 12+ hours a day (sadly, a description […]

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

Everything I Needed to Know I Learned From Game Jamming…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 5, 2013

While I agree with Chris Hecker that indies need to set their sites beyond game jams once in a while, it’s still a very useful exercise IMO and can teach you a lot about game development. Sam Coster counts the ways Game Jamming teaches you to be a better game developer. As I’ve said before, […]

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

Brewster’s Millions (of Gold Pieces)

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 25, 2013

When I was a teenager, I read a book called “Brewster’s Millions” (which was, around the same time, made into a movie featuring Richard Pryor, which I’ve never seen).  The book was written just over a hundred years ago, when a million U.S. dollars was worth a heck of a lot more than they are […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 23 Comments to Read

A Dungeon Crawler Recipe?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 23, 2013

It’s a start: The Dungeon Crawler Recipe I think you need more to it than this. And “theme” – I dunno. Some of my favorite games of previous eras played fast and loose with this, and that was part of the fun. It seems modern players get much more hung up and demand a purity […]

Filed Under: Design, Retro - Comments: 4 Comments to Read

RPG Design: Four Guidelines for Making An (RPG) Introduction

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 22, 2013

Maybe I should blame Star Wars. I mean, perhaps the biggest hit movie of its time, and it opens with… text. A big wall of text. Literally, a crawl text. I mean, what is this, a silent film?  Well, not exactly… but George Lucas borrowed it directly from the old film serials of his youth, […]

Filed Under: Game Development - Comments: 7 Comments to Read

If It Weren’t For Bad Luck, I’d Have No Luck At All…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 17, 2013

A few weeks ago, I joined my family for the board game Talisman. It’s the new version, released a couple of years ago, based on the classic 80’s board game that just so happens to be one of my wife’s favorites. My memories of the game were a bit less favorable. I remembered it being […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 6 Comments to Read



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