Twilight was a British video game developer based in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa w ...

History

Twilight was founded by Stuart Cook, Mark Mason, Jason McGann, Andy Swann, and Peter Tattersall. They worked together at Enigma Variations, a studio based in

, where they mostly created games based on licensed properties in short timespans. In 1989, Mason was fired, leading Cook, McGann, Swann, and Tattersall to leave the company in early 1990. The five founded Twilight on 1 May 1990. While trying to come up with a company name, Tattersall began humming the

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

of ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

'', leading them to settle on the name "Twilight". He also created the company's logo, taking inspiration from Roger Dean with the aim of making it easily representable on a Commodore 64. The company rented its first office in a mid-terrace house on Mayfield Grove in Harrogate. Its first game was ''Delta Charge'', a port of ''

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

'' from the Commodore 64 to the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 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 the ''ZX81 Colou ...

, released by

Thalamus Ltd The thalamus (from Greek θάλαμος, "chamber") is a large mass of gray matter located in the dorsal part of the diencephalon (a division of the forebrain). Nerve fibers project out of the thalamus to the cerebral cortex in all directions, ...

. Throughout 1990, Twilight attracted projects from multiple publishers, including several titles from licensed properties for Hi-Tec Software. Having hired Mark Barker, Wayne Billingham, Dave Box, Noel Hines, Rob Holman, Andy Severn, Martin Severn, and James Smart, the company operated with two development teams, one working for 8-bit platforms while the other began exploring games for

16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two mo ...

platforms. Twilight ultimately moved into proper offices within Harrogate. In 1994, shortly after finishing '' Alfred Chicken'' for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, McGann and Tattersall left Twilight to form Hookstone. Twilight subsequently agreed to transfer the rights to ''Alfred Chicken'', which McGann had conceived, to Hookstone. Swann also left the company around this time. In the following years, Cook and Mason continued to run the company, which saw a significant decline in development projects. Following the cancellation of ''Frog Dude'' and a game in the style of ''Fantasy Quest'' for Telstar, Twilight struggled with the transition to 3D video games. Cook and Mason paid off and fired all staff, and the company was ultimately shut down in 1997.

Games

*'' Delta Charge'' (1990, Thalamus Ltd) *'' Ruff & Reddy in the Space Adventure'' (1990, Hi-Tec Software) *''

Atom Ant Atom Ant is a cartoon ant and superhero, created by Hanna-Barbera in 1965. Atom costarred in ''The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show'' (sharing top billing with Secret Squirrel). In syndication, Atom Ant aired alongside '' Precious Pupp'' and '' The ...

'' (1990, Hi-Tec Software) *'' Plotting'' (1990, Ocean Software) *'' Yogi Bear & Friends: The Greed Monster'' (1990, Hi-Tec Software) *'' Rod Land'' (1991, Sales Curve Interactive) *''

Quick Draw McGraw Quick Draw McGraw is a fictional anthropomorphic horse and the protagonist and title character of '' The Quick Draw McGraw Show''. He is a white horse, wearing a red Stetson cowboy hat, a red holster belt, a light blue bandana, and occasion ...

'' (1991, Hi-Tec Software) *'' Darkman'' (1991, Ocean Software) *'' WWF WrestleMania'' (1991, Ocean Software) *'' Mega Twins'' (1992) *'' Bonanza Brothers'' (1992) *'' Video Kid'' (1992, Gremlin Graphics) *''

Cool World ''Cool World'' is a 1992 American live-action/animated black comedy fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi and written by Michael Grais and Mark Victor. Starring Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne and Brad Pitt, it tells the story of a cartoonist w ...

'' (1992, Ocean Software) *''

Yogi's Treasure Hunt ''Yogi's Treasure Hunt'' (originally titled ''The Funtastic Treasure Hunt'') is an American animated television series and the fifth entry in the ''Yogi Bear'' franchise produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, featuring Yogi Bear and various other ...

'' (1993) *''Frog Dude'' (cancelled) *'' Alfred Chicken'' (1993)

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite magazine , title=The Making of: Alfred Chicken , first=Stuart , last=Gipp , magazine=

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=215 , date=29 December 2020 , publisher=

Future Publishing Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that span magazines, newsletters, websites, and events in fields such as video games, technology, films, music, photogr ...

, pages=70–73 {{cite magazine , title=Studio Profile: Enigma Variations , first=Richard , last=Hewison , magazine=

, issue=243 , date=16 February 2023 , publisher=

, pages=44–49 {{cite magazine , title=Studio Profile: Twilight , first=Richard , last=Hewison , magazine=

, issue=244 , date=16 March 2023 , publisher=

, pages=46–51 1990 establishments in England 1997 disestablishments in England Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom Video game companies disestablished in 1997 Video game companies established in 1990 Video game development companies