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Durell Software
Durell Software is a software developer based in Taunton, Somerset in the United Kingdom. The company is a provider of back office administration and accounting software to independent financial advisers, mortgage brokers, and general insurance brokers. Durell was formerly a successful video games developer. History Pre-1987 Durell was founded in 1983 by Robert White. Up to 1987, Durell developed 19 games for various 8-bit computers such as Oric-1, ZX Spectrum, C64, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron and Amstrad CPC. Their biggest hit was ''Harrier Attack'' that sold over 250,000 copies. Post-1987 Toward the end of 1987 Durell Software sold the rights to publish most of their existing games to Elite Systems and changed focus to developing financial services software for the IFA, insurance and mortgage broking industries. Currently over 1,000 advisers and brokers use Durell's software. In 2005 Mike Richardson, author of Durell's best selling titles for the ZX Spectrum, founded Durell Gam ...
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Privately Held Company
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is offered, owned, traded, exchanged privately, or over-the-counter. In the case of a closed corporation, there are a relatively small number of shareholders or company members. Related terms are closely-held corporation, unquoted company, and unlisted company. Though less visible than their publicly traded counterparts, private companies have major importance in the world's economy. In 2008, the 441 largest private companies in the United States accounted for ($1.8 trillion) in revenues and employed 6.2 million people, according to ''Forbes''. In 2005, using a substantially smaller pool size (22.7%) for comparison, the 339 companies on ''Forbes'' survey of closely held U.S. businesses sold a trillion dollars' worth of goods and service ...
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Power!
''Critical Mass'' (known as ''Power!'' in North America) is a video game developed by Simon Francis and published in 1985 by Durell Software for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. Plot An anti-matter power station on an orbiting asteroid is used by the local star system for energy. The station has been taken over by hostile aliens who are threatening to overload the power system which will turn the reactor into a massive black hole and destroy not only the planetary system, but several nearby stars as well. The object of the game is to make it to the heavily defended power station and disable it before the reactor reaches critical mass and implodes.
''Critical Mass'' cassette inlay instructions


Gameplay

The player may control the hovercraft in either a normal joystick operational mode or with vec ...
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Companies Based In Taunton
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared goals. Companies take various forms, such as: * voluntary associations, which may include nonprofit organizations * business entities, whose aim is generating profit * financial entities and banks * programs or educational institutions A company can be created as a legal person so that the company itself has limited liability as members perform or fail to discharge their duty according to the publicly declared incorporation, or published policy. When a company closes, it may need to be liquidated to avoid further legal obligations. Companies may associate and collectively register themselves as new companies; the resulting entities are often known as corporate groups. Meanings and definitions A company can be defined as an "artificial per ...
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Video Game Companies Established In 1983
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems which, in turn, were replaced by flat panel displays of several types. Video systems vary in display resolution, aspect ratio, refresh rate, color capabilities and other qualities. Analog and digital variants exist and can be carried on a variety of media, including radio broadcast, magnetic tape, optical discs, computer files, and network streaming. History Analog video Video technology was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) television systems, but several new technologies for video display devices have since been invented. Video was originally exclusively a live technology. Charles Ginsburg led an Ampex research team developing one of the first practical vid ...
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Software Companies Established In 1983
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists of machine language instructions supported by an individual processor—typically a central processing unit (CPU) or a graphics processing unit (GPU). Machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor instructions that change the state of the computer from its preceding state. For example, an instruction may change the value stored in a particular storage location in the computer—an effect that is not directly observable to the user. An instruction may also invoke one of many input or output operations, for example displaying some text on a computer screen; causing state changes which should be visible to the user. The processor executes the instructions in the order they are provided, unless it is instructe ...
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Software Companies Of The United Kingdom
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists of machine language instructions supported by an individual processor—typically a central processing unit (CPU) or a graphics processing unit (GPU). Machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor instructions that change the state of the computer from its preceding state. For example, an instruction may change the value stored in a particular storage location in the computer—an effect that is not directly observable to the user. An instruction may also invoke one of many input or output operations, for example displaying some text on a computer screen; causing state changes which should be visible to the user. The processor executes the instructions in the order they are provided, unless it is instructe ...
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Video Game Development Companies
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems which, in turn, were replaced by flat panel displays of several types. Video systems vary in display resolution, aspect ratio, refresh rate, color capabilities and other qualities. Analog and digital variants exist and can be carried on a variety of media, including radio broadcast, magnetic tape, optical discs, computer files, and network streaming. History Analog video Video technology was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) television systems, but several new technologies for video display devices have since been invented. Video was originally exclusively a live technology. Charles Ginsburg led an Ampex research team developing one of the first practica ...
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Video Game Companies Of The United Kingdom
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems which, in turn, were replaced by flat panel displays of several types. Video systems vary in display resolution, aspect ratio, refresh rate, color capabilities and other qualities. Analog and digital variants exist and can be carried on a variety of media, including radio broadcast, magnetic tape, optical discs, computer files, and network streaming. History Analog video Video technology was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) television systems, but several new technologies for video display devices have since been invented. Video was originally exclusively a live technology. Charles Ginsburg led an Ampex research team developing one of the first practical vi ...
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Saboteur 2 - Avenging Angel
''Saboteur II: Avenging Angel'', also known as ''Saboteur 2'', is an action-adventure game created by Clive Townsend and released by Durell Software in 1987 for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS compatible operating systems. A sequel to 1985's ''Saboteur (1985 video game), Saboteur'', the player controls a sister of Ninja from the first game on a mission to avenge his death. ''Saboteur II'' was one of the first action-adventure games with a female protagonist and was well received by critics. Gameplay The game starts with a drop into the building from a Hang gliding, hang glider. Then, while watching out for Cougar, pumas and robotic guards, the player has to search through the command center for boxes of supplies. Some of the boxes contain one of 14 pieces of punched tape, which on all but the first level must be collected and taken to the computer terminal. Once this has been achieved, the player must make their way to the bottom centre of the caves, and ...
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Turbo Esprit
''Turbo Esprit'' is a video game published by Durell Software in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC. The game was very detailed and advanced for its time, featuring car indicator lights, pedestrians, traffic lights, and a view of the car's interior controls. ''Turbo Esprit'' was the first free-roaming driving game, and has been cited as a major influence on the later ''Grand Theft Auto'' series.Retrorevival: Turbo Esprit, ''Retro Gamer'' issue 20, page 48. Imagine Publishing, 2006.''Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe'', BBC Television, 2009. "''Grand Theft Auto'' ... directly inspried by the pioneering Spectrum game ''Turbo Esprit''"The making of... Turbo Esprit, ''Retro Gamer'' issue 36, page 84-87. Imagine Publishing, 2007. Gameplay The object of the game is to prevent a gang of drug smugglers completing a delivery of heroin, by tracking down their cars and destroying them, or ramming them into submission. The player takes the role of a special agent driving the t ...
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Thanatos (video Game)
''Thanatos'' is an action game developed and published by Durell Software in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC. Plot The player adopts the role of a dragon, Thanatos the Destroyer, who must rescue a sorceress, Eros, from imprisonment by an evil Lord of the underworld. After she is recovered from the first castle, Thanatos must take her across the sea to find her spellbook, then carry her to a cauldron so she can complete a spell which will bring enlightenment to the land. Gameplay The player character Thanatos has two resources: Flame and Heart. Flame is expended by breathing fire. This attack is required to burn down the gate of the castle and may be used to burn foreground objects such as rocks, knights, horses, soldiers and different dangerous creatures (such as other dragons, huge spiders, and giant sea snakes). Flame may be recovered by eating witches, who may be found tied between stakes, though a knight could still ambush nearby. Heart is depleted a ...
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Fat Worm Blows A Sparky
''Fat Worm Blows a Sparky'' is action game written by Julian Todd for the ZX Spectrum and published by Durell Software in 1986. Todd wrote the game in the five months before going to university. It was not ported to other systems, and it is the only published game he developed. The player controls a microscopic worm being chased across the circuit board of a Sinclair Spectrum. The game world is rendered with solid vector graphics. Gameplay Reception ''CRASH'' awarded ''Fat Worm'' 95%. The reviewers were impressed with the solid 3D graphics and the quirky nature of controlling the protagonist, concluding "extremely silly, and wonderful fun". ''Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993. History Th ...'', similarly impressed, awarded 9 out of 10. Julian later became critica ...
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