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Richard Moss

@MossRC@social.mossrc.me
  • Open on social.mossrc.me
Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress.

Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves.

Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts.

He/him.

rich@mossrc.me
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky.

Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.
450 Followers
101 Following
29 Posts
Joined November 09, 2022
Book (NEW!):
https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/a-tale-of-two-halves
Book:
https://sharewareheroes.com
Book:
https://secrethistoryofmacgaming.com
Personal site (will be prettified eventually):
https://mossrc.me
Podcast:
https://lifeandtimes.games
Podcast:
https://ludiphilia.net

Posts

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MossRC
Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · May 19, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Replying to @praetor@mstdn.social
@praetor@mstdn.social Yep, makes sense. I've not coded professionally, despite my CS degree, but I know enough to know that I don't want an LLM coding for me -- especially as I have barely any experience in real-world software architecture, which means the unknown unknowns for me are vast, and you can't maintain or fix code you don't understand.
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · May 19, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Replying to @praetor@mstdn.social
@praetor@mstdn.social Likewise with some game dev stuff I'm doing in my (very limited) spare time. I also want to actually learn and improve my skills, and to think carefully about the design and architecture -- because I know it'll be better (and feel more rewarding) that way.
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · May 19, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Replying to @thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io Agreed. I'm deeply concerned at the coming loss of knowledge and insurmountable tech debt that lies ahead if more people in software engineering (and especially the managers) don't get their heads around this soon. It's a tool; its power lies in the augmentation, not replacement, of skilled human talent.
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · May 18, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
This is an interesting essay on the dangers of knowledge loss and de-skilling in the era of AI coding, using the impact of the Ukraine crisis on missile manufacturing as an example of what lies ahead.

The West Forgot How to Build. Now It's Forgetting Code https://techtrenches.dev/p/the-west-forgot-how-to-make-things
The West Forgot How to Build. Now It's Forgetting Code
techtrenches.dev

The West Forgot How to Build. Now It's Forgetting Code

The defense industry lost the ability to make weapons when crisis hit. The same pattern is eroding software engineering skills. The timelines are identical.

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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · May 17, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Got an obviously AI-authored email about Shareware Heroes being an "overlooked classic" that this person promises to fix through revealing the "visibility patterns" in online systems. I laughed when it praised me on how my approach to history "feels deeply human" (which it is, but what a great irony to read it in an automated email).
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · May 11, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Replying to @vga256@mastodon.tomodori.net
@vga256@mastodon.tomodori.net I loved doing that interview. It felt like the perfect format for exploring the creative spark after the fact, to play Cyan's early works with their main creative force and to direct and steer (and help contextualise) his commentary. I've long wanted to do the same with other games and their creators, but have never found the time.
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · May 09, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Replying to @matt_diamond@mastodon.gamedev.place
@matt_diamond@mastodon.gamedev.place It wasn't going to be covered (except a passing mention) in the doc, but I expect there could be a small chapter or chapter section on Lucas Learning in the book — especially since it involved a few of the same people.
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · May 08, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Replying to @ratsprite@cathode.church
@ratsprite@cathode.church Diagrams seem pretty likely. At the very least, there are some fascinating diagrams and charts that the programmers and designers made while working on the games that I'd be wanting to include. But there could be the odd bespoke "here's how this worked"-type diagram to help with explanations, too.
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · May 07, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
If I were to write a book about the history, art, and design of the LucasArts and Humongous adventure games, and their underlying SCUMM engine, based on dozens of interviews (and my usual level of in-depth research), would you buy it?

My SCUMM documentary is going on hiatus and I need to decide whether to do it as a book instead.
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · May 06, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Just learned of this classic Australian poem *Faces in the Street* that captures much of the mood of the moment across multiple countries (and especially in Australia, where interest rates just got arbitrarily raised again), despite the poem being over 100 years old. https://www.australianculture.org/faces-in-the-street-henry-lawson/
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Apr 30, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Superb essay on the violence and fascism embedded within generative AI systems, and how technology is inherently political. https://tante.cc/2026/04/21/ai-as-a-fascist-artifact/
AI as a Fascist Artifact
Smashing Frames

AI as a Fascist Artifact

(Christian Tieber hat eine deutsche Übersetzung des Textes angefertigt: “KI” als faschistisches Artefakt. Vielen Dank Christian!) (This is a bit of a merger of two talks I recently gave about fascism

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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Apr 30, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Introduced the four year old to JezzBall by way of Richard Bannister's mobile clone Green Balls. She picked it up pretty quickly and *nearly* finished three levels. It was fascinating to watch her play with a heady mix of reckless abandon and extreme caution.
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Apr 28, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me

Here are four screenshots of early dev builds for Age of Empires 1. The graphics, UI, and gameplay all went through huge amounts of iteration over 2+ years of development, and my new book recounts the journey: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gabedurham/age-of-empires-how-ensemble-studios-made-history/

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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Apr 27, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
I did a Q&A interview about my Age of Empires book, the art of interviewing, and my history with real-time strategy games. https://bossfightbooks.com/blogs/news/q-a-with-richard-moss-author-of-age-of-empires
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Apr 27, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
A screenshot featured on the Age of Empires box and used in marketing for the game. The art team carefully staged the scene in the game's scenario editor then captured it in action.

My new book includes a chapter on how Microsoft and Ensemble put together the packaging (including predictable MS in-fighting over branding) and how they marketed the game. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gabedurham/age-of-empires-how-ensemble-studios-made-history/
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Apr 26, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Up close and personal with a duck.
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Apr 25, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Ensemble Studios founder Tony Goodman was so excited about the launch of Age of Empires that he put a banner up on the side of his house. (You'll learn why it was such a big deal to him in my new book: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gabedurham/age-of-empires-how-ensemble-studios-made-history/)
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Apr 24, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me

At one point the Age of Empires developers considered adding natural disasters to the game. But it wasn't consistent with their presentation of an inviting, sunshine-drenched world or their player-centric design philosophies.

(On a related note, there's an anecdote in my book from Bruce Shelley about Bill Gates trying the game and asking if it's meant to be educational -- it wasn't, and Shelley had a great explanation for why.)

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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Apr 23, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me

The Age of Empires tech tree from October 1995, two years before the game came out, was already much simpler than Rick Goodman's earliest attempts to distill ancient history into a research + upgrades progression system, but still way more complex than the final version—which was rooted in the idea of "ages" in history.

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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Apr 22, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me

A render of the chariot unit from Age of Empires that was included with the E3/June 1997 press kit for the game. (The game was in beta at the time.)

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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Apr 06, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
This essay about refusing genAI in journalism is fantastic. Great reporting — and great writing more broadly — is irreducibly human. And not just the final prose, but rather the whole process that leads there — including ideation, research, and *every* phase of editing. https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/refusing-to-accept-big-tech-s-ai-poisoned-future-of-journalism
Refusing to accept an AI-poisoned future of journalism
The Handbasket

Refusing to accept an AI-poisoned future of journalism

There is no pride in relying on a machine to do deeply human work.

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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Apr 02, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Replying to @jfaulken@mastodon.gamedev.place
@jfaulken@mastodon.gamedev.place Likewise. When Gabe was briefing for the cover design, I said something like "it'd be cool if it could involve a priest" but was eager to see whatever resonated with the artist. And right from the first draft I loved their idea and the core composition of the artwork.
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Mar 31, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
My latest book is much more than the story of how Age of Empires (1) was made; it's a story of brothers, camaraderie, innovation, and dreams — the cost of chasing them, the passion that drives them, and the joy when they come true. Now available for preorder from Boss Fight Books.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gabedurham/age-of-empires-how-ensemble-studios-made-history
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Jan 20, 2026
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Replying to @slembcke@mastodon.gamedev.place
@slembcke@mastodon.gamedev.place Wonderful! The Secret History of Mac Gaming is still the biggest highlight of my career, even after directing a commercial documentary and publishing a second dream book project. I've been working on again, off again on a second volume for several years now. Hoping to find time to move it forward properly next year (and praying that's not just wishful thinking).
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Dec 20, 2025
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Replying to @adamsdesk@fosstodon.org
@adamsdesk@fosstodon.org Fixed. My colleague forgot to update the link when remapping the domain. Here's a direct link: https://www.scummdoc.com/privacy-policy
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Dec 20, 2025
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Replying to @adamsdesk@fosstodon.org
@adamsdesk@fosstodon.org Good catch. I just let my team know. Hopefully someone will get it fixed soon.
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Dec 20, 2025
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Replying to @MossRC@social.mossrc.me
(We need to prove there's interest in the project before it goes into crowdfunding and production, so waitlist signups really will make a difference. Plus you'll get to fill out a survey at some point, which I realise may not sound all that enticing but I can promise that all the responses will be read by me.)
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Dec 20, 2025
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Boosted by Peter Cohen @flargh@mastodon.social
Introducing my next documentary project: Passport to Adventure: The SCUMM Story. There'll be more to share in the New Year, including the synopsis I put together with help from several LucasArts fans and adventure genre experts, but for now it'd be great if you could all just read the intro post in the attached images and join the waitlist at https://scummdoc.com if it sounds like something you'd enjoy.
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Richard Moss @MossRC@social.mossrc.me · Mar 06, 2025
Richard Moss
@MossRC@social.mossrc.me

Author of *The Secret History of Mac Gaming*, *Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the Internet*, *A Tale of Two Halves: The History of Football Video Games*, and a soon-to-be-published book on the creation of #AgeOfEmpires, plus various other books in progress. Writer/director on TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, a critically-acclaimed five-part docuseries about horror games. Producer/co-writer on FPSDOC, a 4.5-hour documentary film celebrating the first-person shooter genre (with an emphasis on the 90s/early-2000s golden age) that's guided by the developers themselves. Creates The Life & Times of Video Games and Ludiphilia podcasts. He/him. rich@mossrc.me @MossRC on Twitter and @mossrc.bsky.social on Bluesky. Posts mainly about #gamedev and #indiegames histories and stories, #retrogaming/#retrogames, #retrocomputing, #classicmac, #shareware, #tombraider, and #videogamehistory.

social.mossrc.me
Boosted by Peter Cohen @flargh@mastodon.social
It's apparently seven years today since I created https://secrethistoryofmacgaming.com/ the Classic MacOS-themed website for my first book. (One day I intend to do a new version of this design and the Shareware Heroes site design — with a toggle to switch between them — for my personal site.)
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