Administered by:
Available today in the US and Canada in paperback and Kindle format — my latest book, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, delves into the 90s indie games scene and the rise of the shareware business model that presaged free-to-play.
I managed to pack in lots of dev stories, biz insights, and meta-narrative into this one. It covers the origins and early work of id Software, Epic (Mega)Games, Apogee/3D Realms, Ambrosia Software, Jeff Minter, and more, along with surprise hits such as Elasto Mania, Snood, Scorched Earth, etc, market failures like Star Quest 1, and quirky games like Grandad and the Quest for the Holey Vest, plus shareware distributors like TUCOWS and Public Brand Software, the UK licenceware and PD scene, the market shifts that happened as the big indie publishers emerged and then left the shareware scene, and more.
If you're wondering if it's worth buying, there's a thoughtful and fun article/review-ish thing over on Eurogamer: https://www.eurogamer.net/the-legacy-of-shareware-is-everywhere
And you can learn more and buy via sharewareheroes.com
I managed to pack in lots of dev stories, biz insights, and meta-narrative into this one. It covers the origins and early work of id Software, Epic (Mega)Games, Apogee/3D Realms, Ambrosia Software, Jeff Minter, and more, along with surprise hits such as Elasto Mania, Snood, Scorched Earth, etc, market failures like Star Quest 1, and quirky games like Grandad and the Quest for the Holey Vest, plus shareware distributors like TUCOWS and Public Brand Software, the UK licenceware and PD scene, the market shifts that happened as the big indie publishers emerged and then left the shareware scene, and more.
If you're wondering if it's worth buying, there's a thoughtful and fun article/review-ish thing over on Eurogamer: https://www.eurogamer.net/the-legacy-of-shareware-is-everywhere
And you can learn more and buy via sharewareheroes.com
@MossRC I've just finished reading this boom today and really enjoyed it! It took me down memory lane, running shareware on our home Amstrad PC with the CGA graphics and 5.25" floppies in the late 80s/early 90s, and being too young and broke to register anything! In my older age and gainfully employed, I like to send an author some money for a job well done 
Excellent job on the book, thoroughly researched and a fascinating read for those who remember the eras described 
@airadam Wonderful! I'm delighted you enjoyed it. What were your favourite shareware games back in the day?
@MossRC I certainly enjoyed Wolfenstein and Doom, but Duke Nukem 3D was an absolute game-changer with the interactivity of environments and ability to cleverly use weapons!
@airadam Duke3D was so cool. I remember my friend was really excited about being able to tip the strippers, but I was more impressed by the light switches and pool table and destructible walls.
Are you following the FPSDOC project I'm part of? We're including a big segment on Duke3D in there with some great material from Jon St John about voicing Duke, as well as a bunch of devs who both did and didn't work on it discussing how amazing the design and presentation was.
Are you following the FPSDOC project I'm part of? We're including a big segment on Duke3D in there with some great material from Jon St John about voicing Duke, as well as a bunch of devs who both did and didn't work on it discussing how amazing the design and presentation was.