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Simutronics
Simutronics is an American online games company whose products include ''GemStone IV'' and ''DragonRealms''. It was founded in 1987 by David Whatley, with husband and wife Tom & Susan Zelinski. The company is located in St. Louis, Missouri. It became part of the Stillfront Group in 2016. The company's flagship product is the text based game, ''GemStone IV'', which went live in November 2003, with predecessor games running back to 1988. ''GemStone'' was originally accessed through General Electric's internet service provider GEnie, later becoming accessible through AOL, Prodigy, and CompuServe before Simutronics finally moved all their games to their own domain in 1997. Simutronics products Multiplayer online games * ''GemStone IV'', Simutronics' flagship product, a text-based multiplayer fantasy game, which has seen over one million users over the years. It is the longest-lived commercial MUD game, followed by Avalon: The Legend Lives. * ''DragonRealms'', a 1996 MUD set in ''G ...
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David Whatley
David Whatley (born 1966) is the president and CEO of Simutronics Corporation, a multiplayer game company in St. Charles, Missouri. He was the co-founder of the company in 1987, and has been a key developer on all of the company's products, including the ''GemStone IV, GemStone'' series, ''DragonRealms'', ''Modus Operandi'', ''Alliance of Heroes'', and ''CyberStrike'', which won the Online Game of the Year award from ''Computer Gaming World'' magazine in 1993. Early years Whatley was born August 10, 1966, in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of three children to Oscie Whatley, a day lily hybridizer, and Dorothy Whatley, who ran a miniatures store. Whatley attended McCluer North High School, graduating in 1984, and was involved in the early Bulletin board system, BBS culture, writing the FRPBBS software for his privately owned company, Deep Pan Software. He briefly attended the University of Missouri, St. Louis, in 1985, majoring in communications, but left early to found his own s ...
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GemStone IV
''GemStone IV'' is a multiplayer text-based online role-playing video game (often known as a MUD) produced by Simutronics. Players control characters in a High Fantasy game world named "Elanthia". The first playable version of the game was known as ''GemStone ] GEnie.html"_;"title="'_and_was_launched_in_April_1988_on_GEnie">'_and_was_launched_in_April_1988_on_GEnie.__It_was_one_of_the_first_MMORPGs_and_is_one_of_the_longest_running_Internet.html" "title="MMORPG.html" ;"title="GEnie.html" ;"title="' and was launched in April 1988 on GEnie">' and was launched in April 1988 on GEnie. It was one of the first MMORPG">GEnie.html" ;"title="' and was launched in April 1988 on GEnie">' and was launched in April 1988 on GEnie. It was one of the first MMORPGs and is one of the longest running Internet">online games still active. Access to the game is subscription-based (monthly fee) through its website, with three additional subscriptions levels available, "Premium", "Platinum" and "Sha ...
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MUD Organizations
A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-based or storyboard, storyboarded. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat. Players can read or view descriptions of rooms, objects, other players, non-player characters, and actions performed in the virtual world. Players typically interact with each other and the world by typing commands that resemble a natural language. Traditional MUDs implement a role-playing video game set in a fantasy world populated by List of species in fantasy fiction, fictional races and monsters, with players choosing character class, classes in order to gain specific skills or powers. The objective of this sort of game is to slay monsters, explore a fantasy world, complete quests, g ...
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CyberStrike
''CyberStrike'' is a futuristic 3D combat online game by Simutronics, involving team combat between customizable mechs, each of which is controlled by a different player. Initially exclusive to the GEnie online service, it opened in February 1993, and later that year it caused ''Computer Gaming World'' to create the new category of "Online Game of the Year" so it could be awarded to CyberStrike. In 1994, it was offered in stores by MicroProse. In 1997, a sequel, '' Cyberstrike 2'', was announced as a joint project between Simutronics and Sony's 989 Studios. A single-player mission-based version was released in stores, and a multiplayer version opened on GEnie in December 1998. It was also released on America Online, and then via the Simutronics website. After ''Cyberstrike 2'' opened, the original version of the game was renamed as ''CyberStrike Classic''. Reception ''Computer Gaming World'' in 1993 praised the simple user interface and "amazing" graphics, including the w ...
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Stillfront Group
Stillfront Group is a Sweden-based company specialized in the acquisition and management of mobile and browser game studios. History Stillfront was founded in 2010 by Jörgen Larsson, a Swedish entrepreneur, although it didn't start operating until 2012. The plan was to build a diversified portfolio of long life-cycle games by acquiring independent gaming studios and letting these operate independently within the same group. Stillfronts main markets are the US, Germany, France and the Middle East. The company is mainly focused on free-2-play mobile games. In November 2012, Stillfront acquired Power Challenge, a mobile and browser-based social sports management game developer and publisher. In November 2013 Stillfront announced it had acquired 51% of Bytro Labs and entered into an agreement to acquire the remaining 49% by 2016. The addition of Bytro further expanded Stillfront’s games portfolio with titles such as Supremacy 1914, PanzerWars and Industry Tycoon and strengthen ...
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Tiny Heroes (video Game)
''Tiny Heroes'' is an iOS tower defense game developed by Simutronics Corp and released on September 8, 2011. Critical reception The game has a Metacritic score of 85/100 based on 13 critic reviews. ''AppSafari'' said it was "A fun iPhone app to play and one I will definitely keep." '' TouchArcade'' said "I can't say enough about Tiny Heroes. It's a fantastic game, with few flaws to speak of. Challenging, but rarely frustrating, it had me returning to levels again and again to improve my score. By turning genre conventions on their heads, Tiny Heroes succeeds brilliantly." ''Slide To Play'' wrote "Though it has a few quirks, Tiny Heroes provides one of the best experiences in dungeon crawling this side of a Game Master's screen." ''AppGamer'' wrote "I cannot recommend Tiny Heroes enough, its brilliant art work and gameplay is supreme in the tower defence genre. The only thing missing is a sound track, but it's odd that while playing this superb game won't miss a sound track a ...
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IPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating system, and release of the original iPad began in 2002 prior to its introduction on January 20, 2010. The iPad range consists of the original iPad lineup and the flagship products iPad Mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro. The iPhone's iOS operating system (OS) was initially used for the iPad but in September 2019, its OS was switched to a fork of iOS called iPadOS that has better support for the device's hardware and its user interface is customized for the tablets' larger screens. The iPad's App Store is subject to application and content approval. Many older devices are susceptible to jailbreaking, which circumvents these restrictions. The original iPad was well-received for its software and was recognized as one of the most-influential inven ...
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Companies Established In 1987
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, 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 * List of legal entity types by country, business entities, whose aim is generating profit * financial entities and banks * programs or Educational institution, 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 (business), incorporation, or published policy. When a company closes, it may need to be Liquidation, liquidated to avoid further legal obligations. Companies may associate and collectively register themselves ...
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Companies Based In St
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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Giant Bomb
''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news, and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by ''Time'' magazine as one of the Top 50 websites of 2011. Originally part of Whiskey Media, the website was acquired by CBS Interactive in March 2012 before being sold to Red Ventures in 2020, then to Fandom in 2022. After being terminated from his position as editorial director of ''GameSpot'', Gerstmann began working with a team of web engineers to create a new video game website. His intent was to create "a fun video game website" that would not heavily cover the business side of the game industry. The site's core editorial staff consisted primarily of former ''GameSpot'' editors. ''Giant Bomb'' was unveiled on March 6, 2008, as a blog; the full site launched on July 21, 2008. The ''Giant Bomb'' offices were originally in Sausalito, California befor ...
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MobyGames
MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small number of people paying to become patrons. Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It is currently owned by Atari SA. Content Prior to being merged into the database, changes go through a leisurely verification process by volunteer "approvers". There is a published standard for game information and copyediting. The most commonly used sources are video game packaging and title and credit screens. Registered users can rate and review any game. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists which can generate a list of games available for trade with other users. The site has an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own subforum. History MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999 by Jim Le ...
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Designing Virtual Worlds
''Designing Virtual Worlds'' is a book about the practice of virtual world development by Richard Bartle. It has been noted as an authoritative source regarding the history of world-based online games. College courses have been taught using it. In 2021, the author made the book freely available under a Creative Commons license A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyric ... on his website. Contents ''Designing Virtual Worlds'' argues that the fundamentals of player relationships to the virtual world and each other are independent of technical issues and are characterized by a blending of online and offline identity. According to the book, it is the designer's role to know what will provide players with a positive game experience, the purpose of virtual worlds is the player's ex ...
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