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MTropolis
mTropolis (pronounced "metropolis") was an open-architecture multimedia programming application aimed at enabling rapid development of multimedia titles. It was developed by mFactory (pronounced "em-factory") and introduced in 1995. It introduced object-oriented concepts such as reusable objects, modifiers and behaviors into the multimedia authoring space dominated by Macromedia's Director software. mTropolis was bought in 1997 by Quark, which moved development from Burlingame, California to Denver and then cancelled the product one year later. Despite efforts by its fervent users to attempt to save their investment and beloved tool, negotiations and even a possible purchase offer never came to fruition. History mTropolis competed in the interactive multimedia product space dominated in the 1990s by Macromedia Director. The software's maker, mFactory, founded in 1992, variously positioned mTropolis as an alternative and as an adjunct to Director. mTropolis was bought by Quark in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open-architecture
Open architecture is a type of computer architecture or software architecture intended to make adding, upgrading, and swapping components with other computers easy. For example, the IBM PC, Amiga 500 and Apple IIe have an open architecture supporting plug-in cards, whereas the Apple IIc computer has a closed architecture. Open architecture systems may use a standardized system bus such as S-100, PCI or ISA or they may incorporate a proprietary bus standard such as that used on the Apple II, with up to a dozen slots that allow multiple hardware manufacturers to produce add-ons, and for the user to freely install them. By contrast, closed architectures, if they are expandable at all, have one or two "expansion ports" using a proprietary connector design that may require a license fee from the manufacturer, or enhancements may only be installable by technicians with specialized tools or training. Computer platforms may include systems with both open and closed architectures. The Mac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Control Flow
In computer science, control flow (or flow of control) is the order in which individual statements, instructions or function calls of an imperative program are executed or evaluated. The emphasis on explicit control flow distinguishes an ''imperative programming'' language from a '' declarative programming'' language. Within an imperative programming language, a ''control flow statement'' is a statement that results in a choice being made as to which of two or more paths to follow. For non-strict functional languages, functions and language constructs exist to achieve the same result, but they are usually not termed control flow statements. A set of statements is in turn generally structured as a block, which in addition to grouping, also defines a lexical scope. Interrupts and signals are low-level mechanisms that can alter the flow of control in a way similar to a subroutine, but usually occur as a response to some external stimulus or event (that can occur asynchronously), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Empire's Darkest Hour
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was her first published work in 1902. Her books, including 23 Tales, have sold more than 250 million copies. Potter was also a pioneer of merchandising—in 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy, making him the oldest licensed character. Born into an upper-middle-class household, Potter was educated by governesses and grew up isolated from other children. She had numerous pets and spent holidays in Scotland and the Lake District, developing a love of landscape, flora and fauna, all of which she closely observed and painted. Potter's study and watercolours of fungi led to her being widely respected in the field of mycology. In her thirties, Potter self-published the highly successful childre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muppet Treasure Island (video Game)
''Muppet Treasure Island'' is a CD-ROM game for Windows, produced in 1996 by Activision in association with Jim Henson Interactive to tie in with the release of ''Muppet Treasure Island''. Gameplay The player controls Hawkins, who leaves the Admiral Benbow Inn to sail to Treasure Island. Gonzo and Rizzo accompany the player, as well as Stevenson the Parrot, a new Muppet character who provides hints throughout the game. The Muppet characters are video clips overlaid on an animated background. Development The game's voice cast includes: Frank Oz, Steve Whitmire, Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, Kevin Clash, Bill Barretta, Bruce Lanoil, John Kennedy, Louise Gold, and Mark Mansfield. Tim Curry and Billy Connolly are Long John Silver and Billy Bones respectively. The game was developed on a budget in excess of $3 million. A DVD-ROM version was announced at COMDEX 1996, and would be eventually bundled with some OEM DVD-ROM kits. Reception The game received positive reviews from cri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Of Dragon Pass
''King of Dragon Pass'' is a 1999 strategy simulation fantasy video game published by A Sharp. Set in the fictional world of Glorantha, the player controls the fate of a barbarian clan settling in the dangerous frontier region of Dragon Pass. Originally released for PC, the game was a commercial failure but became a cult classic. It was ported for iOS in 2011, and was later released for Android and re-released for PCs. The iOS versions were much more commercially successful than the original PC release, leading to a spiritual successor, ''Six Ages: Ride Like The Wind'', being released in 2018. Plot The player controls a clan of Orlanthi (worshipers of the Storm God Orlanth) across several generations. Orlanthi clans bear some similarities to the Iron Age Nordic peoples, such as lawspeakers, fyrds, the worship of a thunder god and a reliance on raiding, as well as Bronze Age Celtic and Italic peoples aesthetically, with the appearance of many of the tribesmen reflecting thes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obsidian (1997 Video Game)
''Obsidian'' is a 1997 graphic adventure game developed by Rocket Science Games and published by SegaSoft. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. Based on a game design outline by VP of Development/Creative Director, Bill Davis, and written by Howard Cushnir and Adam Wolff, ''Obsidian'' is a first-person 3-D graphical adventure game, with a large puzzle element. The puzzles were designed by Scott Kim, Howard Cushnir and Adam Wolff. The soundtrack was composed by Thomas Dolby along with other composers at his company Beatnik, at the time known as Headspace. The game spanned five CDs, and features pre-rendered environments, audio, and full-motion video (both live action and CGI). The strategy guide includes numerous small essays, providing background on such subjects as nanotechnology, Jungian psychology, and the nature of artificial intelligence. Included is a minigame which uses a "twenty questions" algorithm (similar to what would eventually be used in 20Q). The gam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scott Kim
Scott Kim is an American puzzle and video game designer, artist, and author of Korean descent. He started writing an occasional "Boggler" column for ''Discover'' magazine in 1990, and became an exclusive columnist in 1999, and created hundreds of other puzzles for magazines such as ''Scientific American'' and ''Games'', as well as thousands of puzzles for computer games. He was the holder of the Harold Keables chair at Iolani School in 2008. Kim was born in 1955 in Washington D.C. and grew up in Rolling Hills Estates, California. He had an early interest in mathematics, education, and art, and attended Stanford University, receiving a BA in music, and a PhD in Computers and Graphic Design under Donald Knuth. In 1981, he created a book called ''Inversions'', words that can be read in more than one way. His first puzzles appeared in ''Scientific American'' in Martin Gardner's "Mathematical Games" column and he said that the column inspired his own career as a puzzle designer. Ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MindGym
MindGym is a surreal game about creative thinking. It was produced as a CD-ROM in 1996 by London-based Melrose Film Productions and NoHo Digital and published by Macmillan (UK), Simon & Schuster (US) and Ravensburger (Germany). Development A client-driven project, Mindgym was conceived and produced by Adam Gee, while working at video training company Melrose to create an "interactive training product that would teach corporate middle-management about the value of ‘creative thinking’". He approached NoHo with the idea as the company had the capacity to make games Tim Wright of NoHo designed the project with a specific vision to utilise the talents of Rob Bevan as art director, Adam Gee as producer and script editor, Jason Loader as 3d animator and comedian, and Nigel Harris as sound designer. After a script and demo were created, NoHo teamed up with Macmillan, having proven that the concept could be funnier, bigger, and have a broader appeal. Reception Critical receptio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both computer data and audio with the latter capable of being played on a CD player, while data (such as software or digital video) is only usable on a computer (such as ISO 9660 format PC CD-ROMs). During the 1990s and early 2000s, CD-ROMs were popularly used to distribute software and data for computers and fifth generation video game consoles. DVD started to replace it in these roles starting in the early 2000s. History The earliest theoretical work on optical disc storage was done by independent researchers in the United States including David Paul Gregg (1958) and James Russel (1965–1975). In particular, Gregg's patents were used as the basis of the LaserDisc specification that was co-developed between MCA and Philips after MCA purchased ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
QuickTime VR
QuickTime VR (also known as QTVR) is an image file format developed by Apple Inc. for QuickTime, and discontinued along with QuickTime 7. It allows the creation and viewing of VR photography, photographically captured panoramas, and the viewing of objects photographed from multiple angles. It functions as plugins for the QuickTime Player and for the QuickTime Web browser plugin. History QuickTime VR was conceived in 1991 by programmers Eric Chen and Ian Small of the Human Interface Group in the Advanced Technology Group at Apple, utilizing a Cray supercomputer to process images into panoramas. It was soon made prominent within the company by Apple's board member and former astronaut Sally Ride, who was fascinated by the demonstrated possibilities of 3D computer imagery. It was publicly launched in 1995 as part of QuickTime 2, by a dedicated group including Chen, Small, senior content engineer Ted Casey, and program manager Eric Zarakov. Apple sold the content authoring tools ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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