Making Bigger, Badder Dungeons

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 30, 2015

Maybe it’s because of stories of Castle Greyhawk, or that my first forays into CRPGs was through the mega-dungeon of Telengard. I’ve got this irrational fondness of really big, sprawling underground complexes. Maybe I’m enamored with the idea of huge, hidden worlds hidden below our real one. I don’t know. Even though the maps were […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: 7 Comments to Read

How to Suck at Indie Game Development

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 29, 2015

Cliff Harris reiterates some basic principles for what doesn’t work in indie game development. IMO, this list should be committed to memory by any aspiring game developer: How to be Really Bad at Game Development Now, everyone can probably name a game that seemingly violated at least one of these principles and went on to […]

Filed Under: Game Development - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Report from the Three-Day Geek Party

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 28, 2015

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends… Well, okay, it does come to an end, or at least a hiatus. Although between FanX, Comic Con, the new Salt lake Gaming Con, Steamfest, Winter Faire, Anime Banzai and the like, geek partying in Utah is a pretty regular event. Meanwhile, I try to […]

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

The Four-Step Universal Indie Survival Guide

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 25, 2015

The first day of Salt Lake Comic Con 2015 is done. Thursdays are typically sparse, so if the wall-to-wall people and standing-room-only crowds for some of the panels this afternoon are any indication, Saturday is going to be absolutely crazy. The panels I attended (all three of them) were writing-specific. Naturally, the rooms were packed […]

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

TheMeatly Kickstarter

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 24, 2015

Crowdfunding is pretty much a constant thing these days. My hope with all things saturated is that the cream will rise to the top. But sometimes the cream needs some help. For friends and really cool-sounding projects, I’ll make note of the projects and suggest them here, but even if the projects sound interesting to […]

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

Heading Off to Comic Con!!!!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 23, 2015

I’m going to be at Salt Lake Comic Con this weekend – from tomorrow (the 24th) through Saturday the 26th. It’ll be a good time. I will be found (much of the time) at the Xchyler Publishing author’s table at BK17. We’ll be next to Curiosity Quills and Space Balrogs. Which means fun. If you are […]

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

Game Dev Tools Bundles!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 22, 2015

So Humble Bundle got together with GameMaker to create a bundle that includes some games that were popular / successful make with GameMaker, including *source code*, and the Pro version of GameMaker Studio, and the exporter for Android. By the sounds of how YoYo Games’ website is now getting HAMMERED with new registrations, I’d guess […]

Filed Under: Game Development - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Funding: Legacy of the Elder Star

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 21, 2015

Since I was a child of the arcade era, shoot-em-ups (or “shmups”) hold a special place in my heart. Galaga remains high on my list of favorite games of all time, and a shining example of excellence in game design. I’m not as devoted to them as some other genres, however, so to this day […]

Filed Under: Game Announcements, Indie Evangelism - Comments: Read the First Comment

Utah Game Wars 2015

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 18, 2015

The awards for Utah Game Wars 2015 was Wednesday night. This is an annual event that I haven’t attended or participated in before now. Half of the event was private for the judges and the finalists, and then they let the rest of us in for food, games, and the award ceremony. The game devs […]

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

On Ego Trips and Publishing Pace

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 17, 2015

Since I’m now doing double-duty as both a writer and a game developer (gee, anything else I should acquire as a major hobby / side occupation? Maybe get a law degree?), it’s been interesting having a foot in both camps and watching the parallels. Both have enjoyed an indie revolution, which has caused a good […]

Filed Under: Books, Production - Comments: 7 Comments to Read

Happy Birthday Ultima IV

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 16, 2015

Ultima IV was released 30 years ago today. How can it be that old? How can *I* be this old? I didn’t finish it the first time I played it (on my Commodore 64). I had, you know, stuff. Eight years later, I was in college and injured. I spent the next day (Friday) laid […]

Filed Under: Retro - Comments: 4 Comments to Read

Summoning the Imagination in Games

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 15, 2015

A friend of mine in Junior High School showed me an ad in his computer magazine for Akalabeth: World of Doom. It pictured some kind of wizard near a glowing pentagram with a demon or lava-creature rising out of the earth at the center. By the standards of the time, it was a pretty cool image. […]

Filed Under: Design - Comments: Read the First Comment

How much for that Palace of the Vampire Queen?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 14, 2015

Until this weekend, I’d never heard of the Palace of the Vampire Queen. It was arguably the first official Dungeons & Dragons module ever published… if you consider the Temple of the Frog (from the Blackmoor supplement) to be more of a scenario than a full-fledged adventure module. Here I was thinking Judge’s Guild had […]

Filed Under: Dice & Paper - Comments: Comments are off for this article

[Archive] Life Lessons Learned Playing Computer RPGs

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 11, 2015

Note: This article originally appeared in 2006. I was playing a lot of Oblivion at the time, but it included many other RPG life lessons. It’s amazing how much you can learn about Real Life from these games… #1 – People will use really elaborate locks to protect their pickaxes and yarn #2 – Strangers […]

Filed Under: Geek Life - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

Kickstarter – Mythica 3: The Necromancer

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 10, 2015

Mythica 3: The Necromancer is crowdfunding on Kickstarter. I understand they’ve already begun building sets for filming the 4th and 5th Mythica movies. I think it’s safe to assume the first two were successful. I liked the first one the best, I think, although I have to admit the effects on the second seemed better. […]

Filed Under: Movies - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

The Indie Apocalypse is nigh!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 9, 2015

A few years ago, it looked like selling online was excellent. People were getting rich. Companies swelled from just a couple of guys in their basement to dozens or even hundreds of people. But now everything’s falling apart. Clearly, the whole thing isn’t working out. There isn’t enough room, the market got saturated, and if […]

Filed Under: Biz - Comments: 4 Comments to Read



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