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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] |
Chimera (video Game)
''Chimera'' is an action-adventure video game written by Shahid Ahmad and published by Firebird in 1985. Plot A huge spaceship threatens to destroy Earth. One person must board the vessel and activate its self-destruct mechanism to make it explode, saving Earth. Development In 1984, Shahid Ahmad was feeling disillusioned and was close to giving up video games after converting ''Jet Set Willy'' for the Commodore 64 in just three weeks. It was rushed, resulting in bugs, with Ahmad also claiming to not be paid what his work was worth. However, in December of that year, he was inspired after seeing ''Knight Lore'', wanting to make a clone of the game. He began learning to code in Z80, writing his own sprite editor and constructing the spaceship setting. The first version of the game was initially rejected by Firebird. Ahmad asked for two more weeks to improve the game, where the need to collect food and water was added, as well as the objects and items, radiators that drained water ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Booty (video Game)
''Booty'' is a platform game published in 1984 for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Commodore Plus/4, and ZX Spectrum. The game was one of Firebird's initial releases. Gameplay The player takes on the role of a cabin boy who attempts to steal a hoard of treasure from his pirate masters. A variety of hazards must be avoided including pirates, parrots and booby-trapped treasure. Should the player manage to collect all the treasure, he is given 45 seconds to find a final key, which will restart the game. There are a total of 20 screens in the game which contain a mixture of collectable treasure, doors to other screens, and doors which act as obstacles and can only be unlocked by collecting the appropriate numbered key. Some rooms contain non-player character pirates, contact with which will cause the loss of one of the player's three lives. Reception The game was positively reviewed by ''Crash'', which awarded it a "smash" rating of 93%. The main features the magazine cite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
MicroProse
MicroProse is an American video game publisher and video game developer, developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the ''Civilization (series), Civilization'' and ''X-COM'' series. Most of their internally developed titles were vehicle simulation game, vehicle simulation and strategy video game, strategy games. In 1993, the company lost most of its UK-based personnel and became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte. Subsequent cuts and corporate policies led to Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds (game designer), Brian Reynolds leaving and forming Firaxis Games in 1996, as MicroProse closed its ex-Simtex development studio in Austin, Texas. In 1998, following an unsuccessful buyout attempt by GT Interactive, the struggling MicroProse (Spectrum HoloByte) became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hasbro Interactive and its development studios in Alameda, California and Chapel Hill, North Carolina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnetic Scrolls
Magnetic Scrolls was a British video game developer active between 1984 and 1990. A pioneer of audiovisually elaborate text adventure games, it was one of the two largest and most acclaimed interactive fiction developers of the 1980s. ''Magnetic Scrolls'' was one of the first game developers to use graphics and animation in its text adventure games, which set it apart from other companies in the genre. The company's games were known for their complex puzzles, intricate storylines, and immersive gameplay. Some of the most popular games developed by Magnetic Scrolls include The Pawn, The Guild of Thieves, and Jinxter. History Formation Formed by Anita Sinclair, Ken Gordon and Hugh Steers in 1984, London-based Magnetic Scrolls initially dabbled with development on the Sinclair QL home computer before deciding to take advantage of the emerging Atari ST and Amiga gaming platforms. Having secured a publication deal with Rainbird, a British software label owned by Telecomsoft, they b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elite (video Game)
''Elite'' is a space trading and combat simulator, space trading video game. It was written and developed by David Braben and Ian Bell (programmer), Ian Bell and originally published by Acornsoft for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in September 1984. ''Elite''s Open-ended (gameplay), open-ended game model, and revolutionary 3D graphics led to it being ported to virtually every contemporary home computer system and earned it a place as a classic and a genre maker in gaming history. The game's title derives from one of the player's goals of raising their combat rating to the exalted heights of "Elite". ''Elite'' was one of the first home computer games to use Wire-frame model, wire-frame 3D graphics with hidden-line removal. It added graphics and twitch gameplay aspects to the genre established by the 1974 game ''Star Trader''. Another novelty was the inclusion of ''The Dark Wheel'', a novella by Robert Holdstock which gave players insight into the moral and legal codes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
