Costa Panayi is a former

computer game programmer A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebases for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines, all of which fall ...

active during the 1980s. He founded

Vortex Software Vortex Software was a video game developer founded by Costa Panayi and Paul Canter in the early 1980s to sell the game ''Cosmos'' which Panayi had developed for the Sinclair ZX81. They converted the game to the ZX Spectrum, but due to the low sa ...

with Paul Canter, publishing games for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

and

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sin ...

. He is of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Cypriot descent, and studied

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

at the

University of Salford , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

. After graduation, he started to work as a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

for

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

, when he got into programming games business from his hobby interests. In 1982, he studied

Sinclair BASIC Sinclair BASIC is a dialect of the programming language BASIC used in the 8-bit home computers from Sinclair Research and Timex Sinclair. The Sinclair BASIC interpreter was made by Nine Tiles Networks Ltd. History Sinclair BASIC was orig ...

and subsequently formed his company

along with Luke Andrews and

Mark Haigh-Hutchinson Mark Haigh-Hutchinson (20 August 1964 – 15 January 2008) was an English video game developer. He is most notable for working on ''Zombies Ate My Neighbors'', mid to late 1990s '' Star Wars'' titles, and the ''Metroid Prime'' games. Biograph ...

. They wrote a variety of games, including '' Gunlaw'', the ''

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

'' series, and ''

Tornado Low Level ''Tornado Low Level'' (also known as ''T.L.L.'') is a multidirectional flight game developed by Costa Panayi and published in 1984 by the company he co-founded, Vortex Software. The game was released for the ZX Spectrum in 1984, with ports for ...

'' for the

. His games achieved critical success; ''

'' and ''

Highway Encounter ''Highway Encounter'' is a video game published for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Commodore 64, Sharp MZ, and Tatung Einstein by Vortex Software in 1985. It was written by Costa Panayi who also coded '' Android'', '' Android Two'', '' TLL' ...

'' appeared in the "Your Sinclair official top 100", for example, and in them he developed original 3D interfaces. In 1995, he was working as a design consultant for

Fisher Price Fisher-Price is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York. The company was founded in 1930 during the Great Depression by Herman Fisher, Irving Price, Helen S ...

.The History of VORTEX Software by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson
/ref>

List of games

*'' ZX81 Othello'' (1981) *'' Word Mastermind'' (1981) *'' Pontoon'' (1981) *''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'' (1981) *''

Cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

'' (1982), Abbex Electronics *'' Astral Convoy'' (1982),

*'' Gunlaw'' (1983),

*'' Android One: The Reactor Run'' (1983),

*''

Android Two ''Android Two'' is a shoot 'em up List of maze video games, maze video game written by Costa Panayi and published by Vortex Software in 1983 in video gaming, 1983 for the ZX Spectrum and in 1985 in video gaming, 1985 for the Amstrad CPC. It is t ...

'' (1983),

*''

'' (1984),

*''

Cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

'' (1985),

*''

'' (1985),

*''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

'' (1986),

U.S. Gold U.S. Gold Limited was a British video game publisher based in Witton, Birmingham, England. The company was founded in 1984 by Anne and Geoff Brown in parallel to their distributor firm, CentreSoft, both of which became part of Woodward Brown Ho ...

*'' Deflektor'' (1987),

Gremlin Graphics Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in ...

*'' Hostile All Terrain Encounter'' (1989),

References

World of Spectrum
entry.

from

Sinclair User ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was publi ...

issue 32.

External links

History of Vortex Software
by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson 1957 births Living people People from Stretford Video game programmers British people of Greek Cypriot descent Alumni of the University of Salford British mechanical engineers {{videogame-bio-stub