Vortex Software was a
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 ...
founded by
Costa Panayi
Costa Panayi is a former computer game programmer active during the 1980s. He founded Vortex Software with Paul Canter, publishing games for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC.
He is of Greek Cypriot descent, and studied engineering ...
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 sales of the ZX81 version they licensed the game to Abbex.
Luke Andrews, Costa's brother-in-law, and Crete Panayi, Costa's brother, became involved to handle the business affairs and advertising respectively. The company was based in
Manchester.
In the summer of 1984,
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 ...
was offered a position and ported several of the games to the
Amstrad CPC in addition to writing ''
Alien Highway'' for the ZX Spectrum.
Chris Wood and David Aubrey-Jones were also associated with Vortex as outside contractors.
The company produced several notable games for the
8-bit
In computer architecture, 8-bit Integer (computer science), integers or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet (computing), octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) arc ...
home computers of the period. ''
Deflektor
Deflektor is a puzzle game developed by Vortex Software and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1987. In this game, the player has to rotate mirrors to deflect a beam in order to destroy all the cells of each level. There are also other devices the ...
'' was also ported to the
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 ...
.
After the production of ''
Hostile All Terrain Encounter'' in 1988, Costa spent the next two years deciding where he wanted to go. In 1990 Vortex was reborn with Costa, Mark and Luke and the intention to develop a game for the Amiga and Atari ST. They developed a much enhanced version of ''Highway Encounter'' in just three months, but failed to find a
software publisher
A software publisher is a publishing company in the software industry between the developer and the distributor. In some companies, two or all three of these roles may be combined (and indeed, may reside in a single person, especially in the case o ...
for the game, so it remained unpublished.
Several games achieved critical success; ''
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 ...
'' 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'', ...
'' appearing in the "
Your Sinclair official top 100",
for example.
List of games
ZX81
*''ZX81 Othello'' (
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
)
*''Word Mastermind'' (
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
)
*''Pontoon'' (
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
)
*''Crash'' (
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
)
*''Astral Convoy'' (1983)
*''Serpent's Tomb'' (1983)
ZX Spectrum
*''Cosmos'' (
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
), Abbex Electronics
*''Gun Law'' (1983)
*''
Android One: The Reactor Run'' (
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
), Vortex Software
*''
Android Two
''Android Two'' is a shoot 'em up maze video game written by Costa Panayi and published by Vortex Software in 1983 for the ZX Spectrum and in 1985 for the Amstrad CPC. It is the sequel to '' Android One: The Reactor Run'', released earlier in ...
'' (
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
), Vortex Software
*''
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 ...
'' (
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
), Vortex Software
*''
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
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
), Vortex Software
*''
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'', ...
'' (
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
), Vortex Software
*''
Alien Highway'' (
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
), Vortex Software
*''
Revolution'' (
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
),
U.S. Gold
*''
Deflektor
Deflektor is a puzzle game developed by Vortex Software and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1987. In this game, the player has to rotate mirrors to deflect a beam in order to destroy all the cells of each level. There are also other devices the ...
'' (
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
),
Gremlin Graphics
*''
Hostile All Terrain Encounter (H.A.T.E.)'' (
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
),
Gremlin Graphics
Amstrad CPC
*''
Android One: The Reactor Run'' (1985)
*''
Android Two
''Android Two'' is a shoot 'em up maze video game written by Costa Panayi and published by Vortex Software in 1983 for the ZX Spectrum and in 1985 for the Amstrad CPC. It is the sequel to '' Android One: The Reactor Run'', released earlier in ...
'' (1985)
*''
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'', ...
'' (1985)
*''
Tornado Low Level (T.L.L.)'' (1986)
*''
Alien Highway'' (1986)
*''
Revolution'' (1986, published by U.S. Gold)
*''
Deflektor
Deflektor is a puzzle game developed by Vortex Software and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1987. In this game, the player has to rotate mirrors to deflect a beam in order to destroy all the cells of each level. There are also other devices the ...
'' (1987, published by
Gremlin Graphics)
*''
Hostile All Terrain Encounter (H.A.T.E.)'' (1988, published by Gremlin 1990, unfinished)
MSX
*''
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'', ...
'' (1986)
Commodore C64
*''
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'', ...
'' (Pedigree Software, 1986, published by Gremlin Graphics)
*''
Deflektor
Deflektor is a puzzle game developed by Vortex Software and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1987. In this game, the player has to rotate mirrors to deflect a beam in order to destroy all the cells of each level. There are also other devices the ...
'' (Gremlin Graphics, 1987, published by Gremlin Graphics)
*''
Hostile All Terrain Encounter (H.A.T.E.)'' (Gremlin Graphics, 1987, published by Gremlin Graphics)
References
{{reflist
External links
History of Vortex Softwareby Mark Haigh-Hutchinson
Costa Panayiat
World of Spectrum
Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom
Software companies of the United Kingdom