RPG Codex recently got a chance to sit down with shareware developer and legend, Jeff Vogel. For those unfamiliar with Vogel, he is the founder of shareware publisher/developer Spiderweb Software, who brought us such recent hits as Avernum 3 and Genoforge. The interview covers many topics with Vogel, including the inspiration for his games and his future plans.

Here's a snippet:

Can you tell us a little history about yourself? Why you decided to found Spiderweb Software? What your goals are with Spiderweb?

I wrote my first game, Exile, on the Macintosh in 1994. I was desperately sick of grad school, so I wrote the game to stay sane. I released it as shareware, and was surprised and gratified to find that it sold quite well. Not long after that, I quit grad school and began writing games full time.

My primary purpose for founding Spiderweb and my motive for continuing it is to make as much money as possible before everything falls apart. I would like to say I do it because of "love of writing games", but, sadly, I have found that I can't buy groceries with "love of writing games" checks.

Spider Web Interview

Spiderweb Software

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