Durell Software is a software developer based in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, Somerset in the United Kingdom. The company is a provider of back office administration and accounting software to

independent financial adviser Independent financial advisers (IFAs) are professionals who offer independent advice on financial matters to their clients and recommend suitable financial products from the ''whole of the market''. The term was developed to reflect a United Kingd ...

s, mortgage brokers, and general insurance brokers. Durell was formerly a successful video games developer.

History

Pre-1987

Durell was founded in 1983 by Robert White. Up to 1987, Durell developed 19 games for various 8-bit computers such as

Oric-1 Oric was the name used by UK-based Tangerine Computer Systems for a series of 6502-based home computers sold in the 1980s, primarily in Europe. With the success of the ZX Spectrum from Sinclair Research, Tangerine's backers suggested a hom ...

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 ...

, C64,

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/ home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers Ltd, to provide many of the features of that more expensive machine at a ...

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 ...

. Their biggest hit was ''

Harrier Attack ''Harrier Attack'' (stylized as ''Harrier Attack!'') is a horizontally scrolling shooter released for the Oric 1 and ZX Spectrum in 1983 by Durell Software. Ports for the Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 were published in 1984. Gameplay The player co ...

'' that sold over 250,000 copies.

Post-1987

Toward the end of 1987 Durell Software sold the rights to publish most of their existing games to

Elite Systems Elite Systems is a British video game developer and publisher established in 1984 as Richard Wilcox Software. It is known for producing home computer conversions of popular arcade games. Elite also published compilations of games on the Hit-Pak ...

and changed focus to developing financial services software for the IFA, insurance and mortgage broking industries. Currently over 1,000 advisers and brokers use Durell's software. In 2005 Mike Richardson, author of Durell's best selling titles for the ZX Spectrum, founded Durell Games Ltd. The first game to be developed by the company was Harrier Attack II, a sequel to their best-selling 8-bit game, which did not repeat its predecessors' success. After it, the company focused on insurance software.

Retro gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...

, issue 73. Pages 42-47 "From the archives: Durell software"

Products

Trading under the name ''Durell Solutions'' their main products are now: * Client Facing Services * Financial Adviser * General Broker * Complete Administrator

Pre-1987 games

The following is a list of games developed by Durell before it concentrated on financial services technology in the 90s. * Galaxy 5 (1983) * Lunar Lander / Asteroids (1983) * Starfighter (1983) * Scuba Dive (1983) *

(1983) * Jungle Trouble (1983) * Lunar Landing (1984) * Combat Lynx (1984) * Mineshaft (1984) * Death Pit (1985)Death Pit was extensively advertised in 1985 by Durell, but was ultimately not considered good enough for release. An article in issue 25 of Crash remarked: "(A)although halfway through the project there was a moment when it looked like the game might make a commercial release, it didn't come up to scratch." Clive Townsend, who developed the Spectrum version later used some of the routines from this game in the programming of Saboteur. The available development version was recovered in 2007. *

Critical Mass In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fissi ...

(1985) *

Saboteur Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identiti ...

(1985) * Deep Strike (1986) *

Fat Worm Blows a Sparky ''Fat Worm Blows a Sparky'' is action game written by Julian Todd for the ZX Spectrum and published by Durell Software in 1986. Todd wrote the game in the five months before going to university. It was not ported to other systems, and it is the on ...

(1986) *

Thanatos In Greek mythology, Thanatos (; grc, Θάνατος, pronounced in "Death", from θνῄσκω ''thnēskō'' "(I) die, am dying") was the personification of death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appe ...

(1986) *

Turbo Esprit ''Turbo Esprit'' is a video game published by Durell Software in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC. The game was very detailed and advanced for its time, featuring car indicator lights, pedestrians, traffic lights, and a vi ...

(1986) * Chain Reaction (1987) *

Saboteur 2 - Avenging Angel ''Saboteur II: Avenging Angel'', also known as ''Saboteur 2'', is an action-adventure game created by Clive Townsend and released by Durell Software in 1987 for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS compatible operating systems. ...

(1987) * Sigma 7 (1987) * Spitfire (1989)

Notes

References

{{reflist

External links

Durell
Video game companies of the United Kingdom Video game development companies Software companies of the United Kingdom Software companies established in 1983 Video game companies established in 1983 Companies based in Taunton 1983 establishments in the United Kingdom Companies established in 1983