Incentive Software Ltd. was a British
video game developer
A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...
and
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
founded by Ian Andrew in 1983. Programmers included Sean Ellis, Stephen Northcott and Ian's brother Chris Andrew.
Later games were based on the company's
Freescape rendering engine. Developed in-house, Freescape is considered to be one of the first proprietary 3D engines to be used in
computer games, although the engine was not used commercially outside of Incentive's own titles. The project was originally thought to be so ambitious that according to Ian Andrew, the company struggled to recruit programmers for the project, with many believing that it could not be achieved.
Paul Gregory (graphics artist for Major Developments, Incentive's in-house design team) mentions that Freescape was developed by Chris Andrew starting in September 1986 on an
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 ...
, as it was the most suitable development system with 128K memory and had adequate power to run 3D environments. Due to the engine's success, it was later ported to all the dominant systems of the era: 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 ...
, the
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...
, the
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 ...
,
Commodore Amiga
Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...
and
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
. Freescape development ended in 1992 with the release of
3D Construction Kit II.
The company was renamed ''Dimension International'' as it moved into the VR field in 1995 with its next-generation
Superscape VRT
Superscape was a British developer and publisher of mobile games. The company has developed several mobile games, licensed from such companies as 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures and Global Wireless entertainment. Superscape ev ...
engine, then later changed name again to ''
Superscape''.
List of titles
The following games were published and/or developed by Incentive Software:
See also
*
Freescape
*
Superscape
References
External links
Incentive Softwareat
MobyGames
MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...
Adventureland - Incentive Software Ltd
Companies based in Reading, Berkshire
Video game companies established in 1983
Defunct companies of England
Video game development companies
Video game publishers
Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom
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