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Starglider
''Starglider'' is a 3D video game published in 1986 by Rainbird. It was developed by Jez San under his company name Argonaut Software. The game is a fast-moving, first-person combat flight simulator, rendered with colourful wireframe vector graphics inspired by San's love of the 1983 Atari coin-op ''Star Wars''. ''Starglider'' was originally developed for the 16-bit Amiga and Atari ST. Rainbird commissioned Realtime Games to produce 8-bit versions for the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, and ZX Spectrum (128K, with a cut-down 48K version without sampled speech or special missions), and for the IBM PC compatible with CGA. Solid Images were commissioned to produce versions for the Commodore 64 and Apple IIGS. It was followed in 1988 by a sequel, '' Starglider 2'', which uses filled-polygon graphics. The series inspired Argonaut to partner with Nintendo in creating the Super FX chip for Super NES in order to power the ''Star Fox'' series of hit games. Story The game takes over the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Starglider Start Screen
''Starglider'' is a 3D video game published in 1986 by Rainbird. It was developed by Jez San under his company name Argonaut Software. The game is a fast-moving, first-person combat flight simulator, rendered with colourful wireframe vector graphics inspired by San's love of the 1983 Atari coin-op ''Star Wars''. ''Starglider'' was originally developed for the 16-bit Amiga and Atari ST. Rainbird commissioned Realtime Games to produce 8-bit versions for the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, and ZX Spectrum (128K, with a cut-down 48K version without sampled speech or special missions), and for the IBM PC compatible with CGA. Solid Images were commissioned to produce versions for the Commodore 64 and Apple IIGS. It was followed in 1988 by a sequel, '' Starglider 2'', which uses filled-polygon graphics. The series inspired Argonaut to partner with Nintendo in creating the Super FX chip for Super NES in order to power the ''Star Fox'' series of hit games. Story The game takes over the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Starglider 2
''Starglider 2'' is a 3D space combat simulator published in 1988 by Rainbird as the sequel to 1986's ''Starglider''. It was released for the Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Macintosh, and ZX Spectrum. Instead of the wireframe graphics of the original, ''Starglider 2'' uses flat shaded polygons. Plot and gameplay The game features open, continuous gameplay without levels or loading screens after the game had started, despite taking place across an entire planetary system. The player can fly through space, enter a planet's atmosphere, explore the surface, and penetrate tunnels in one seamless movement. The goal of ''Starglider 2'' is to destroy an enemy space station with a neutron bomb, and the majority of the gameplay consists of collecting parts for the bomb, or fulfilling other prerequisites (e.g. finding the nuclear professor capable of constructing the bomb, or trade goods for the bombs necessary to destroy the shield generators protecting the space station), while fighting off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argonaut Games
Argonaut Games PLC was a British video game developer founded in 1982, most notable for the development of the Super NES video game ''Star Fox'' and its supporting Super FX hardware, as well as for developing '' Croc: Legend of the Gobbos'' and the ''Starglider'' series. The company was liquidated in late 2004, and ceased to exist in early 2007. History Founded as Argonaut Software by teenager Jez San in 1982, the company name is a play on his name (J. San) and the mythological story of '' Jason and the Argonauts''. Its head offices were in Colindale, London,Company Summary . Argonaut Gam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jez San
Jeremy Elliott "Jez" San OBE (born 29 March 1966) is an English game programmer and entrepreneur who founded Argonaut Software as a teenager in the 1980s. He is best known for the 1986 Atari ST game ''Starglider'' and helping to design the Super FX chip used in ''Star Fox'' for the Super NES. Early career San received his first computer, a TRS-80, at the age of twelve in 1978 from his father, who had a career in exporting the belongings of immigrants at the time. San first became interested in video game development at a young age after playing a Multi-user dungeon (MUD) in the 1970s. Within a year he taught himself assembly language for several microprocessors. San founded Argonaut Software as a teenager in high school at JFS as a way to get software consulting jobs with large companies. He worked on security systems with British Telecom and Acorn. In 1984, he started developing his first game, '' Skyline Attack'' for the Commodore 64, and also co-wrote a book, ''Quantum The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Lowe (video Game Composer)
David Lowe also known as "Uncle Art" is a British composer known for his work on computer games from 1985 to 1998. Lowe got attention by making music with professional synthesizers ( CX5, DX7, RX11 drum machine) for an additional cassette tape distributed with the games Starglider 2 and Carrier Command. His Starglider soundtrack for 16-bit computers (ST & Amiga) was also notable of having 15-second long song (a single sound file) with vocals and synthesizers on both versions. Amiga version's title music used high quality instrument sounds (for then prevailing standards - before tracker music). Lowe composed and recorded the music for '' Frontier: Elite II''. Lowe was also co author and assembler programmer for 'Buggy Blast' and also programmer for the Spectrum Z80 version of 'Thrust': both published by Rainbird 1985 & 1986 respectively. In 2017, Lowe and his daughter finished their latest album; A Temporal Shift. It features remastered versions of some of Lowe's best-known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Follett
James Follett (27 July 1939 – 10 January 2021) was an English author and screenwriter. Follett became a full-time fiction writer in 1976, after resigning from contract work as a technical writer for the Ministry of Defence. He wrote over 20 novels, several television plays and many radio dramas. He died in January 2021 at the age of 81. Works Novels * ''The Doomsday Ultimatum'' (1976) * ''Crown Court'' (1977) * ''Ice'' (1978) * ''U-700'' (1979), based on his radio play ''The U-boat that lost its Nerve'', in turn based on a true story during World War II. * ''Churchill's Gold'' (1980) * ''The Tiptoe Boys'' (1981) (filmed as ''Who Dares Wins'') * ''Earthsearch'' (1981, a novelization of Follett's radio drama ''Earthsearch'') * ''Deathship'' (1982, a novelization of Follett's radio drama ''Earthsearch II'') * ''Dominator'' (1984) * ''Swift'' (1985). Set in 1996, it foresaw the proliferation of Mobile phones * '' A Cage of Eagles'' (1989) * ''Mirage'' (1988). A fictionalise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Super FX
The Super FX is a coprocessor on the Graphics Support Unit (GSU) added to select Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) video game cartridges, primarily to facilitate advanced 2D and 3D graphics. The Super FX chip was designed by Argonaut Games, who also co-developed the 3D space rail shooter video game ''Star Fox'' with Nintendo to demonstrate the additional polygon rendering capabilities that the chip had introduced to the SNES. History The Super FX chip design team included engineers Ben Cheese, Rob Macaulay, and James Hakewill. While in development, the Super FX chip was codenamed "Super Mario FX" and "MARIO". "MARIO", a backronym for "Mathematical, Argonaut, Rotation, & Input/Output", is printed on the face of the final production chip. Because of high manufacturing costs and increased development time, few Super FX based games were made compared to the rest of the SNES library. Due to these increased costs, Super FX games often retailed at a higher MSRP compared to o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telecomsoft
Telecomsoft was a British video game publisher and a Division (business), division of British Telecom. The company was founded by Ederyn Williams, Dr. Ederyn Williams in 1984 and operated three separate labels: Firebird, Rainbird, and Silverbird. The first employee was James Leavey, seconded from elsewhere in BT, who, along with Tony Rainbird, became the driving force behind the company in the early days. History Telecomsoft was founded in 1984 when computer games were the fastest growing sector within the computer software market at the time. Despite a turnover of over £6 million in 1987/88, British Telecom sold the three labels to MicroProse in 1989 in a deal reported to be worth around £2,000,000 after a failed management buyout. MicroProse sold the Silverbird label soon after acquisition, but continued to use the Rainbird and Firebird labels for a short period. Labels Firebird British Telecom brought in Tony Rainbird, owner of budget software publisher Micro-Gold, to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Realtime Games Software
Realtime Games Software Ltd. was a British computer game developer, founded in 1984 by three Leeds University students Ian Oliver, Andrew Onions, and Graeme Baird. Their first game, ''3D Tank Duel'', was a wireframe graphics game, in the style of Atari, Inc.'s '' Battlezone'' arcade game, for the ZX Spectrum. This was followed up with ''Starstrike 3D'', a game based on Atari's ''Star Wars'' arcade game. Starfox was published in 1987, and ''Carrier Command'' was published in 1988. The company was also involved in porting ''Elite'' to IBM PC compatibles and ''Starglider'' to the ZX Spectrum. Realtime's early titles were self-published. Later games were published by Rainbird. Graeme Baird subsequently went to work for Psygnosis, while Ian Oliver founded ''Cross Products'' to produce game development systems for consoles, in a joint venture with Andy Craven of nearby Vektor Grafix Vektor Grafix was a British computer game development company led by John Lewis and Andy Craven. V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainbird (software Company)
Telecomsoft was a British video game publisher and a division of British Telecom. The company was founded by Dr. Ederyn Williams in 1984 and operated three separate labels: Firebird, Rainbird, and Silverbird. The first employee was James Leavey, seconded from elsewhere in BT, who, along with Tony Rainbird, became the driving force behind the company in the early days. History Telecomsoft was founded in 1984 when computer games were the fastest growing sector within the computer software market at the time. Despite a turnover of over £6 million in 1987/88, British Telecom sold the three labels to MicroProse in 1989 in a deal reported to be worth around £2,000,000 after a failed management buyout. MicroProse sold the Silverbird label soon after acquisition, but continued to use the Rainbird and Firebird labels for a short period. Labels Firebird British Telecom brought in Tony Rainbird, owner of budget software publisher Micro-Gold, to help set up the first Telecomsoft l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Fox
is an arcade style rail shooter and third person action-adventure video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto, produced and published by Nintendo. The games follow the Star Fox combat team of anthropomorphic animals, led by chief protagonist Fox McCloud. Gameplay involves many adventures around the Lylat planetary system in the futuristic Arwing fighter aircraft, in other vehicles, and on foot. The original ''Star Fox'' (1993) is a forward-scrolling 3D rail shooter, but later games add more directional freedom. The first game in the series, developed by Nintendo EAD and programmed by Argonaut Software, uses the Super FX Chip to create the first hardware-accelerated 3D gaming experience on a home console. The Super FX Chip is a math co-processor built into the cartridge to help the Super NES render graphics. Super FX has been used in other Super NES games, some with increased processing speed. Its reboot, ''Star Fox 64'', is the first Nintendo 64 game with Rumble Pak su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Wars (1983 Video Game)
''Star Wars'' is a first-person rail shooter video game designed by Mike Hally and released in Arcade game, arcades in 1983 by Atari, Inc. It uses 3D color vector graphics to simulate the assault on the Death Star from the 1977 film ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars''. Developed during the Golden Age of Arcade Games, ''Star Wars'' has been included on lists of the List of video games considered the best, greatest video games of all time. The game features Speech synthesis, synthesized voices to emulate the actors from the film. Gameplay Assuming the role of Luke Skywalker ("Red Five"), the player pilots an X-wing fighter from a first-person perspective. The controls consist of a Yoke (aeronautics), yoke control with four buttons — two trigger style and two in position to be pressed by the thumbs — each of which fired a laser positioned on the four leading edges of the X-Wings. The player does not have to destroy every TIE Fighter and gun turret in order to advance throu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
