Pie in the Sky is a
2.5D
2.5D (two-and-a-half dimensional) perspective refers to gameplay or movement in a video game or virtual reality environment that is restricted to a two-dimensional (2D) plane with little to no access to a third dimension in a space that otherwis ...
and
3D first-person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...
most popular in the mid-to-late 1990s by Pie in the Sky Software, also known as Power 3D and the 3D Game Creation or 3D
Game Creation System
AHjbhb job u tv in ubjb, A game creation system (GCS) is a consumer-targeted game engine and a set of specialized design tools (and sometimes a light scripting language), engineered for the rapid iteration of user-derived video games. Examples incl ...
engine. The engine was used in two games by the company as well as many other independent games and amateur projects after it was turned into a commercial game creator, largely because it minimized the amount of
computer programming
Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as ana ...
knowledge needed to make 3D games in its editing tools, making it suitable even for beginners with no game-design experience.
History
The company, formed principally by programmer Kevin Stokes, first dabbled in
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for th ...
by creating a modestly popular
TSR 3D
screen saver
Screen Savers or screensaver or ''variation'', may refer to:
* Screensaver, computer programs intended to preserve CRT monitors from "burn-in"
** GNOME ''Screensaver'', GNOME Project's screen blanking tool
** Google Pack ''Screensaver'', a termi ...
called InnerMission in 1987. When the market for 3D applications started to grow more popular, they developed a 3D
flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...
called ''
Corncob 3D'' in
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
. The game was inspired by a similar flight simulator for the
Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...
, but implemented a more advanced physics model and the possibility to jump off the plane and explore the environment on foot. ''Corncob 3D'' was first released as
shareware
Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer ...
and then later commercially as ''Corncob Deluxe'' by
MVP Software. In late 1992, after seeing ''
Wolfenstein 3D
''Wolfenstein 3D'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software and FormGen. Originally released on May 5, 1992, for DOS, it was inspired by the 1981 Muse Software video game ''Castle Wolfenstei ...
'' and having gained experience with ''Corncob 3D'', Stokes decided to write a brand new 3D engine in
C and then used it for the first-person shooter ''
Lethal Tender'' in
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
. Based on that, they were hired by a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
group to create a German-language first-person shooter.
Pie in the Sky released ''
Terminal Terror
''Terminal Terror'' is the fifth full-length album release by the German thrash metal band Holy Moses
Holy Moses is a German thrash metal band active from 1980 to 1994 and again since 2000. They are well noted for being fronted by Sabina Cl ...
'', the sequel to ''Lethal Tender'', in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
. The development of this game, to be published by
Expert Software
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
, had taken precedence over the German development and thus strained the relationship. The game was relatively successful, but the company sensed they were unable to keep up and stay ahead of other first-person shooter developers. In the summer of 1994 during the Shareware Industry Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, Kevin Stokes met a young indie developer named John Nagle, and they discussed the possibility of using Kevin's engine to create a game development system for non-programmers. Shortly thereafter, work began on the project, with John working on the game editor remotely from his home in West Virginia, and dropping builds via dial-up BBS to Kevin's home in New York. The partnership was equal between Stokes and Nagle, with a small percentage to David Johndrow, who licensed use of his MVP Paint product to be included in the package. They launched the ''3D Game Creation System'' during Christmas of 1994, marketing themselves to non-technical consumers who wanted to make their own 3D games. It is first used by games such as ''
Red Babe'' by The DaRK CaVErN Productions and ''
La Cosa Nostra
The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its membe ...
'' by Slade 3D Software.
In
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
it was used in the
''Despair'' series, ''
Terror in Christmas Town'', ''
Deer Napped
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindee ...
'', and ''
Castaway: The Ordeal Begins'' as well as the official example games ''
Meltdown
Meltdown may refer to:
Science and technology
* Nuclear meltdown, a severe nuclear reactor accident
* Meltdown (security vulnerability), affecting computer processors
* Mutational meltdown, in population genetics
Arts and entertainment Music
* Me ...
'' and ''
Industrial Killers
Industrial may refer to:
Industry
* Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry
* Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems
* Industrial city, a city dominate ...
''. Meanwhile, the various bugs in the program were worked out and upgrades and patches were released, partly because of the rushed development of the system in the first place. The contract with the German group changed, and instead the new game creation system was re-released in German as well as
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
The engine was ported to
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
and
Direct X in
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
, as well as updating it beyond ''Wolfenstein 3D''-like standards. The company had first detected the decline of
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicatio ...
in 1994, and had decided to port to Windows and adopt 3D API technology using the
Renderware
RenderWare is a video game engine developed by British game developer Criterion Software.
Overview
Released in 1993, RenderWare is a 3D API and graphics rendering engine used in video games, Active Worlds, and some VRML browsers. RenderWare was ...
library. This was first attempted in a
racing game
Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...
called ''Baja Bash'', but emphasis was switched to converting the old game creation engine because of market demands, time constraints, and some criticism of the later game - despite its attempted physics advances. Because of licensing restrictions however, they eventually opted to use
Direct3D
Direct3D is a graphics application programming interface (API) for Microsoft Windows. Part of DirectX, Direct3D is used to render three-dimensional graphics in applications where performance is important, such as games. Direct3D uses hardware a ...
.
In this updated form that it was used in the game ''
Pencil Whipped
Pie in the Sky is a 2.5D and 3D first-person shooter engine most popular in the mid-to-late 1990s by Pie in the Sky Software, also known as Power 3D and the 3D Game Creation or 3D Game Creation System engine. The engine was used in two games b ...
'', designed for the
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...
. ''
Chub Gam 3D'', an earlier
freeware
Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the f ...
game, was reissued in
director's cut
A director's cut is an edited version of a film (or video game, television episode, music video, or commercial) that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the ...
form in 1998. In
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
the third version of the engine was released, featuring true-3D polygonal enemies and weapons, 3D terrain, super lighting effects, and other improvements.
The engine ceased being sold in
May 2003 and soon after the Pie in the Sky company website came down. The book ''3D Game Creation'' by Luke Ahearn for Cyberrookies has a section which examines making games using the ''Pie in the Sky'' development tools, and the system, alongside ''
GameMaker: Studio'', ''
Construct
Construct, Constructs or constructs may refer to:
* Construct (information technology), a collection of logic components forming an interactive agent or environment
** Language construct
* ''Construct'' (album), a 2013 album by Dark Tranquillity ...
'', ''
The Games Factory
Clickteam is a French software development company based in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine. Founded by Francis Poulain, François Lionet and Yves Lamoureux, Clickteam is best known for the creation of Clickteam Fusion, a script-free progra ...
'' and ''
FPS Creator'', was used in the "Problem Solving through Game Creation" course put out by the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
In
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
the company was restarted, and has created a
physics engine
A physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain physical systems, such as rigid body dynamics (including collision detection), soft body dynamics, and fluid dynamics, of use in the domains of computer gr ...
demo and a
dice
Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing g ...
simulation for 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 ...
operating system, tested on the
Motorola Droid
The Motorola Droid (GSM/UMTS version: Motorola Milestone) is an Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphone designed by Motorola, which runs Google's Android operating system. The Droid had been publicized under the codenames ''Sholes'' and ''Tao' ...
. The choice of a physics engine is likely inspired by the popularity of the ''Corncob 3D'' physics. The company's new website notes "the focus will be more about making fun stuff that being a money-producing business." The rebirth of the company came from a feeling that small companies can make a better headway in the
mobile market than on the
PC market, based on their struggling experience trying to keep the ''Pie in the Sky'' tools current to big-name standards in the 1990s.
Games
Internal Usage
Pie in the Sky Software made several games on the engine and its predecessors, first its own
shareware
Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer ...
products and later examples for the ''Game Creation System'',
Corncob 3D
The ''Pie in the Sky'' engine's popular predecessor game. Instead of being a
first-person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
like the later games based on ''Pie in the Sky'', it is a
flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...
game. The game takes place in a world where
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
died in childhood and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
never happened. In its stead,
aliens
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
have invaded the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
. The player must take control of a
F4U Corsair
The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contract ...
, the only World War II plane that made it into this
alternate history
Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
, and defeat the alien invaders. The game takes place in a variety of different locations and was noted for its original gameplay and presentation. It is also known for being one of the few
shareware
Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer ...
flight simulators. The game was later released as freeware along with the source code.
''
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
''s reviewer, a
United States Army Aviation Branch
The United States Army Aviation Branch is the administrative organization within the United States Army responsible for doctrine, manning and configuration for all army aviation units.
After the United States Army Air Corps grew into the Unite ...
pilot, stated that "''Corncob 3D'' delivers one of the best attempts at a VR-like 'living environment' in a flight sim so far". He praised the "total, ''virtual'', freedom" in the game world, the smooth animation, compatibility with lower-end computers, and "believable" flight models, while criticizing the lack of terrain features, air-to-air combat, and limited control options. The reviewer concluded that ''Corncob 3D'' "offers some new ideas that will certainly be seen in future games", with a high "price/challenge/fun" ratio.
Lethal Tender
The first game to use the actual ''Pie In The Sky'' 3D engine, released in 1993.
Secret agent
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
Nick Hunter must thwart the evil Thorne Devereaux, who is planting bombs in
U.S. currency
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
. The game sported various singular features such as the possibility to take the uniforms of dead enemies for protection. It was more advanced than most of its peers, allowing for non-perpendicular walls (like in ''Doom''), jumping, and a rudimental simulation of different types of injuries based on the part of the body being hit. The game is described by
Home of the Underdogs
Home of the Underdogs (often called HotU) is an abandonware archive founded by Sarinee Achavanuntakul, in October 1998.
Before shutting down the original version in 2009, the site provided reviews for over 5,300 games and offered downloads of so ...
as "a fun, albeit amateurish, first-person shooter."
[Lethal Tender](_blank)
- Home of the Underdogs
Home of the Underdogs (often called HotU) is an abandonware archive founded by Sarinee Achavanuntakul, in October 1998.
Before shutting down the original version in 2009, the site provided reviews for over 5,300 games and offered downloads of so ...
The game set out the style followed closely by most other ''Pie in the Sky'' engine games, particularly noting its inventory system,
though even its graphics were mostly reused by later games as well. The game, also known as ''Legal Tender'', was published by
Expert Software
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
and later re-released by
Froggman.
Terminal Terror
Pie in the Sky Software's sequel to ''Lethal Tender'', released in 1994. The game featured an expanded array of features including early examples of the
stealth game
A stealth game is a type of video game in which the player primarily uses ''stealth'' to avoid or overcome opponents. Games in the genre typically allow the player to remain undetected by hiding, sneaking, or using disguises. Some games allow th ...
play of later games like ''
Thief: The Dark Project'', objective-based missions, and improved texture mapping. The player is again Nick Hunter, with a mission to take back into custody the international
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
Bruno Riggs, who has fortified himself and his men in a captured
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
terminal, together with several hostages, including Hunter's
fiance
An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
.
Abandonia
Abandonia is an abandonware website, focused on showcasing video games and - where legally permissible – known best for its distributing and discussion of games made for the MS-DOS and earlier Windows operating systems. Abandonia also features ...
compared it to
System Shock
''System Shock'' is a 1994 first-person action-adventure video game developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. It was directed by Doug Church with Warren Spector serving as producer. The game is set aboard a space s ...
in that it was way ahead of its time, referencing its new features such as friendly
non-playable characters
A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...
and damage varying based on where hit. The game was published by
Expert Software
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
.
Industrial Killers
An example game made in 1995 to demonstrate the original DOS version. It takes the form of a short game featuring giant killer bugs. In particular it shows off the engine's outdoors capability within its large first level. Included were various notes and promotionals for the ''Game Creation System''.
Meltdown
Another short demonstration for the engine made in March 1995 by Terry F. Hamel, an additional level designer for ''
Blood
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...
'' by
Monolith Productions
Monolith Productions, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Kirkland, Washington. The company has been a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment since August 2004.
History
Monolith Productions was founded on October ...
and a ''
Doom
Doom is another name for damnation.
Doom may also refer to:
People
* Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed
* Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist
* Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher
* L ...
'' custom mapper. The player had to escape from a military compound by bypassing an energy barrier to pick up an elevator key. A separate game by this title was also created by Robert Cureton using the GCS.
Santa's Rescue 3D
A Christmas-themed example featuring an alternative sprite set to match the theme, as well as non-violent play. This formed the basis of both ''
Deer Napped
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindee ...
'' and ''
Terror in Christmas Town''.
Max Resistance
''Max Resistance'' was an example game from the company website that was released in 2001 to promote the final version of the ''Game Creation System'', to showcase both its gameplay and graphical abilities - particularly 3D terrain and models. It was also made quickly and cheaply, to show the relative quality that could be easily attained with the tool. The story involves a man named Max taking up arms against an alien invasion.
Cyberpuck
Although not created by Pie in the Sky Software, the early release date of this title and its extensive modification from the base engine indicate that this game was produced through license from Pie and not through the ''GCS''. This is most shown by its genre: rather than being a first-person shooter, it is a first-person racing sports game - a remake of the older ''
BallBlaster'' game for the
Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...
. It was developed by Dungeon Entertainment/Webfoot Technologie and published by Homebrew Software/Ticsoft and released in 1992. It is also known as ''3D Cyber Puck'', ''3D Cyber Blaster'' and ''3D Ball Blaster''. It is described as a mixture between
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
and
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
, with a wide variety of objects and power-ups available for use, played between two hovercraft in a time when such sports have replaced violence.
DOS Developers
The majority of games were made in the first version of the ''Game Creation System'', which was released for
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicatio ...
.
Red Babe
''Red Babe'' was one of the first games to use the ''Pie in the Sky'' engine that was not made by the engine creators themselves, being made by The DaRK CaVErN Productions. The game features the player's quest to save the beautiful Sharla, the titular "Red Babe" Because of her penchant for a red
dress
A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice (or a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment). It consists of a top piece that covers ...
. Future versions were to become a "30+ level intricate 3D game, and an
Adult
An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...
fantasy type with
nudity
Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing.
The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to ...
".
La Cosa Nostra
A
mobster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
themed first-person shooter game using the ''Pie in the Sky'' engine. The player takes the role of
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
investigator Slade A. Ryker, who must stop the crime boss Girabaldi and his gang after they murdered his partner/brother-in-law and now hold his wife hostage. It was included on at least one
shareware
Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer ...
compilation containing the first episode of the game. The second level of the first episode's level track is the theme from the film ''
The Terminator
''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whos ...
'', hinting the soundtrack comprises various
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
files found on the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
, though the game's variety in terms of textures, graphics and sounds is more than most ''Pie in the Sky'' engine games. The game was developed by Tony L. Ford under the group title of Slade 3D Software.
Despair series
The entire ''Despair'' trilogy use the ''Pie in the Sky'' engine. All games feature a battle with aliens, with the third game featuring a wind machine threatening Earth. The games were developed by U-Neek Software.
Terror in Christmas Town
A
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
-themed first-person shooter, featuring the player having to rescue
Santa Claus
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...
from a
polar bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
. The game was created by Michael Zerbo and released in 1995. The demo version of the game is still available for free as shareware, though the full version had to be purchased by sending ten dollars directly to Michael Zerbo.
Deer Napped
Like ''Terror in Christmas Town'', this game features a Christmas theme. The player is a
ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...
working for Santa and must rescue his
reindeer
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
from the
Abominable Snowpeople. The game was created by Nic-Ty Entertainmentick, which consisted of Nick Fletcher and Tyler Smith of
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Smiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada, southwest of Ottawa. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census it has a population of 9,254. It is in the Census division for Lanark County, but is separated from the county. The Rideau Canal ...
who were both only age 14 at the time of the game's release. The game was made while participating in a program called "I want to be a Millionaire". The aim of the program was to encourage young
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
s to learn about business through hands on experience. The game is notably non-violent as enemies are turned into harmless
snowmen
A snowman is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture of a man often built in regions with sufficient snowfall and is a common winter tradition. In many places, typical snowmen consist of three large snowballs of different sizes with some additional ...
rather than dying.
Castaway: The Ordeal Begins
A game by John T. Gallon that features the player landing on a foreign planet, and must proceed to shoot his way through the game. The back story describes the results of the Slrrian War, and how the Terran Stellar Union had failed to defend its lush
terraformed
Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make ...
planets, and the practice of cloning human prisoners to conquer more Terran worlds unbreathable to them and make up for their low birthrate (probably to accommodate the default human sprites).
Space Station Escape
A release by RBSoft (Roy L. Person Sr.) in 1995, ''Space Station Escape'' is a
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
game wherein the player has face an
alien
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
attack of a
space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station i ...
, one of the last bastions of
human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
ity following
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
's recent destruction. The majority of the enemies in the game are either reprogrammed defence systems or cloned humans made by the aliens to compensate for their low birthrate (probably a concession to the human-like guard sprites that came with the editor). The game centres around releasing the ship's imprisoned crew and either disarm the self-destruct sequence or escape in time. The shareware level contains five levels.
Continuum
''Continuum'' is a plot-focused title with more of an emphasis on free exploration than shooting, released in 1996 through 1997 by Wales & Welch Productions (Jordan Wales and K Conor Welch). The game was created as
High School
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
Senior Thesis, in order to develop a "
3D adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
" from a tool designed to create an "
action killfest" (though it takes advantage of many of the innovative scripting and interactivity features premièred in ''Terminal Terror''), as well as an accompanying
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...
titled ''Continuum: An Odyssey of Creation''. The game received numerous positive comments, including from Kevin Stokes, and comparisons were drawn to early plot-oriented first-person games such as ''
Strife'', as well as numerous statements raising it above the average ''GCS'' produced game. The game's heavy plot focus on a secret
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
project at
Area 51
Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range. A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Base, the facility is officially called Homey Airport ...
into the
space-time continuum
In physics, spacetime is a mathematical model that combines the three dimensions of space and one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional manifold. Spacetime diagrams can be used to visualize relativistic effects, such as why differ ...
headed by "Section 7", using recovered
alien technology
Alien Technology is a manufacturer of RFID technology. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California, having the Alien RFID Solutions Center, in the Dayton, Ohio area, and sales offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. As of Augus ...
, that now threatens the fabric of the
universe
The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...
itself. Desperate, a prominent and now disillusioned project member, Dr. Richard Golchan, recruits the son of his old friend and collaborator to infiltrate the project in the hopes of exposing and ending it.
Colosso Adventure Series
The ''Colosso Adventure Series'' is a trilogy of games by Campana Productions (Thom Campana) made with the engine, with the first part released in April 1996. Based on a childhood dream of creating computer games, the author based his design on his likes and dislikes from mainstream games of the time. The first episode, ''Escape from Dr. Colosso'', was released in December and follows the efforts of man to rescue the kidnapped Red Princess from the vile Dr. Colosso and his legion of henchmen and monsters. Episode two, ''Colosso Revenge'', takes place after the events of the first game and features the quest to deactivate Colosso's create creating machine. Finally, episode three, ''Colosso Secret'', involves the attempt to rid the world of Colosso's mutants back through their time gates. All three episodes were packaged together as the ''Colosso Value Pack'' as well, and the series marks an early incarnation of the
episodic game
An episodic video game is a video game of a shorter length that is commercially released as an installment to a continuous and larger series. Episodic games differ from conventional video games in that they often contain less content but are develo ...
model. A successor series was worked on, utilizing a later version of ''Pie 3D'', but only tests and betas were ever released.
PhreAk Software
In 1996, PhreAk Software (comprising Garrie Wilson and Michael Wilford) released two titles using the engine. The Maze! does not have a stated plot; the shareware level featured four levels, and the registered version twenty. ''Secret Agent : The Escape'' features the titular agent's attempt to escape a prison complex. ''The Maze!'' was included in the
compilation
Compilation may refer to:
*In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler
**Compilation error
**Compilation unit
*Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products
*Compilation thesis
M ...
''10 Tons of Games: Mega Collection 1''.
Chub Gam 3D
''Chub Gam 3D'' is claimed to be one of the earliest
freeware
Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the f ...
first-person shooter games
First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eye ...
. The game features the adventures of a
Harrier jet
The Harrier, informally referred to as the Harrier jump jet, is a family of jet-powered attack aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations (V/STOL). Named after a bird of prey, it was originally developed by British ma ...
pilot after his plane crashes and is invited in by the eccentric creatures Chub and Rex. However, rather than settling down for the night as asked, the pilot discovers Rex's shocking secret project. The game is claimed to have won a number of awards, the only traceable one being its inclusion as one of MPI World's "Top 52 Free Games of '98". A
director's cut
A director's cut is an edited version of a film (or video game, television episode, music video, or commercial) that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the ...
was later released by ChubGamSoft with several improvements, including cutscenes. and it was supposedly sold in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
Windows Developers
Versions 2.0, released in 1998, and 3.0, released in 2001, were made for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
and featured much more advanced options. John Nagle had moved to Texas to work at Iguana Entertainment as a junior developer and was no longer involved in the project.
Pencil Whipped
''Pencil Whipped'', released in 2001, might be the most well known of the ''Pie in the Sky'' games and one of the only ones to utilize a later version of the engine. The game won developer Lonnie Flickinger (aka Chiselbrain Software) a chance at the
$15,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize and
awards for technical excellence, game design,
visual art
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts ...
, and
audio
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
*Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
*Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
*Digital audio, representation of sound ...
. Based on a strange dream Flickinger had, the game became known for its unique
black and white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
pencil drawn world and for its wider novelty value, being described by
Wired.com
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...
as "like being trapped inside a very disturbed child's drawing." In 2006 work was done towards a sequel on using The Game Creators tools, and more recently work has been done on an
iPhone remake called "Escape From Big Ass Castle," which was originally released in 2012 for ios6 on the iPhone, but has been taken off of the market to be redone for the io7.
= The Tickle People
=
A previous game by Chiselbrain Software that served as Lonnie Flickinger's educational project. Released in 2000, the plot involved an accident with a super-computer that led to all the nearby workers being absorbed inside its strange artificial environments. A demo version was released, but the final game was never completed. As with ''Pencil Whipped'', a more modern remake was attempted.
XYLOT's Revenge
''XYLOT's Revenge'' was developed by Somewhere in the Dark USA (sitdusa) featuring an eclectic mixing of modern, fantasy and science fiction themes. The premise is that twenty years after defeating the half-machine Xylot and recovering the medallion of creation, the people of Zyles learn that the villain has returned and recaptured the medallion within his tomb. Kudar, head of the Elders, sends Ephradius, the original challenger of Xylot, to face him once again.
Prezzie Hunt
Prezzie Hunt made by Skyline Software is a FREE multi award-winning Christmas game that is still supported and has a new level added each holiday season, the game is easy to play and unlike most FPS games it doesn't involve weapons or fighting, the player has to explore a winter world made up of large levels inhabited by dancing snowmen, penguins and helpful fairies collecting presents and solving puzzles.
Infiltration
Also made by Skyline Software Infiltration is a classic FPS where the player has to infiltrate the Umbra Corporation to find and steal a mainframe disk and also try to find out what happened to another agent who was sent in before, the game is set over 29 levels but there is only a two level demo available for download, the pages relating to the game have not been updated recently but the author doesn't confirm the game has been shelved, there are plenty of screenshots to suggest there is a lot more of this game than the 2 demo levels.
Infiltration - Skyline Software
/ref>
References
External links
Pie in the Sky Software website (2010)
Pie in the Sky Wiki
GCS Max
YouTube playlist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pie In The Sky (Game Engine)
1993 software
1995 software
1998 software
2001 software
DOS games
First-person shooters
Flight simulation video games
Video game development software
Video game engines
Video games with 2.5D graphics
Windows games
Sprite-based first-person shooters