Ambrosia Software was a predominantly

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consist ...

company founded in 1993 and located in

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

U.S The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Ambrosia Software was best known for its Macintosh remakes of older arcade games, which began with a 1992 version of Atari, Inc.'s ''

Asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

'' from 1979. The company also published utility software. Its products were distributed 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 ...

; demo versions could be downloaded and used for up to 30 days. Later the company released some products for iOS. Ambrosia's best-selling program was the utility Snapz Pro X, according to a 2002 interview with company president Andrew Welch. In 2017, customers reported on Ambrosia's Facebook page that attempts to contact the company were unsuccessful and they were unable to make new purchases. As of July 2019, the website is offline. As of May 2021, the website resolves but leads to a domain parking page with ads unconnected to the company.

History

The first game distributed under the Ambrosia Software name was ''

Maelstrom Maelstrom may refer to: * Maelstrom (whirlpool), a powerful whirlpool ** originally the Moskstraumen in English Amusement rides * Maelstrom (ride), a former log flume dark ride attraction in the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World Resort i ...

'', a 1992

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...

of the 1979 ''

'' arcade video game. It uses raster graphics similar in style to Atari's later ''

Blasteroids ''Blasteroids'' is the third official sequel to the 1979 multidirectional shooter video game, ''Asteroids''. It was developed by Atari Games and released in arcades in 1987. Unlike the previous games, ''Blasteroids'' uses raster graphics instead ...

'' (1987) and the Atari ST game ''Megaroids'' (1988). Despite the concept being 13 years old at the time of release, ''Maelstrom'' was popular at a time when Macintosh action games were in short supply, and it won a some software awards. ''Ambrosia Software'' was incorporated August 18, 1993, by Andrew Welch after he graduated from the

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private research university in the town of Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional ...

in 1992."Home-grown Ambrosia feeds software niche", Michael Saffran. In ''RIT: The University Magazine'', Vol. 10, #1 ''Maelstrom'' was followed by more action games, including ''Apeiron'' (a remake of ''Centipede''), ''Swoop'' (a clone of ''

Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, wh ...

''), and ''Barrack'' (a clone of '' JezzBall''). In 1999, Cameron Crotty of ''

Macworld ''Macworld'' is a website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc. It started life as a print magazine in 1984 and had the largest audited circulation (both total and newsstand) of Macin ...

'' wrote that "No other company has gotten so much mileage out of renovating mid-1980s arcade hits." Nearly all of the company's ten employees were laid off in 2013, but Welch denied rumors of the company closing. In late 2018, the company's last remaining employee announced that Ambrosia was officially shutting down operations.

Products

Games

Ambrosia Software's games, in order of release: * ''Maelstrom'' ''Asteroids'' remake * ''Chiral'' * ''Apeiron'' ''Centipede'' remake * ''Swoop'' ''Galaxian'' clone * ''Barrack'' ''JezzBall'' clone * ''

Escape Velocity In celestial mechanics, escape velocity or escape speed is the minimum speed needed for a free, non- propelled object to escape from the gravitational influence of a primary body, thus reaching an infinite distance from it. It is typically ...

'' * ''

Avara ''Avara'' is a 1996 first-person shooter written by Juri Munkki for Macintosh and published by Ambrosia Software. A fast 3D engine, integrated Internet play, and easy level editing were notable features at the time of its release. While not commer ...

'' * '' Bubble Trouble'' '' Pengo'' remake * ''Harry the Handsome Executive'' * ''

Mars Rising ''Mars Rising'' is a vertically scrolling shooter written by David Wareing and released as shareware by Ambrosia Software for Macintosh computers in 1998. Reviewers called out similarities to ''Xevious'' and '' Raiden''. It was followed by ''Deim ...

'' * '' EV Override'' * ''Slithereens'' * ''Cythera'' * ''

Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war ...

'' * '' Ferazel's Wand'' * ''

Pillars of Garendall ''Pillars of Garendall'' is a role-playing video game that was built by Beenox Studios and Ambrosia Software. It was built using the Coldstone game engine, which was also a joint Beenox/Ambrosia project. The game was released in 2001 for Mac OS ...

'' * ''Deimos Rising'' * ''Coldstone game engine'' * ''

Escape Velocity Nova ''Escape Velocity Nova'' (a.k.a. ''EV Nova'' or ''EVN'') is a video game developed by Ambrosia Software in collaboration with ATMOS. It is the third game in the ''Escape Velocity'' series of space trading and combat games. It was released on Ma ...

'' * '' Bubble Trouble X''

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lap ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

of original, with minor gameplay changes * ''pop-pop'' * ''

Uplink In a telecommunications network, a link is a communication channel that connects two or more devices for the purpose of data transmission. The link may be a dedicated physical link or a virtual circuit that uses one or more physical links or sha ...

'' Mac OS X port * ''Aki'' * '' Apeiron X'' Mac OS X port of the original, with enhanced graphics * ''

GooBall ''GooBall'' is a 2005 an arcade-style puzzle video game developed by Over The Edge Entertainment (now Unity Technologies) for Mac OS X and published by Ambrosia Software. It is Over The Edge's first game, and runs on an early beta version of the ...

'' * '' Darwinia'' Mac OS X port * '' El Ballo'' * ''

Redline Redline refers to the maximum engine speed at which an internal combustion engine or traction motor and its components are designed to operate without causing damage to the components themselves or other parts of the engine. The redline of an en ...

'' * '' SketchFighter 4000 Alpha'' * ''

DEFCON The defense readiness condition (DEFCON) is an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces. (DEFCON is not mentioned in the 2010 and newer document) The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and unified and spec ...

'' Mac OS X port * ''pop-pop'' Universal Binary release * ''

'' Universal Binary release * ''Aki'' Universal Binary release * ''Mondo Solitaire'' * ''Aki'' iPhone/iPod Touch release * '' Aquaria'' Mac OS X port * ''

'' Universal Binary release * '' Multiwinia'' Mac OS X port * ''Hypnoblocks'' Ambrosia, in conjunction with DG Associates, has also released the ''Escape Velocity Nova Card Game''.

Productivity software

Ambrosia Software's utilities, in order of release: * Eclipse — Screen saver CDEV * Big Cheese Key — FKey to mask screen image from boss. * FlashWrite — Text editor

Desk Accessory A desk accessory (DA) in computing is a small transient or auxiliary application that can be run concurrently in a desktop environment with any other application on the system. Early examples, such as Sidekick and Macintosh desk accessories, used ...

* FlashWrite ] *_ColorSwitch_—_Menu_bar_item_to_change_monitor_color_depth *_EasyEnvelopes_—_Envelope_printing_Desk_accessory._Later_a_Mac_OS_X_v10.4.html" ;"title="Menu_bar.html" ;"title="* ColorSwitch — Menu bar">* ColorSwitch — Menu bar item to change monitor color depth * EasyEnvelopes — Envelope printing Desk accessory. Later a Mac OS X v10.4">Menu_bar.html" ;"title="* ColorSwitch — Menu bar">* ColorSwitch — Menu bar item to change monitor color depth * EasyEnvelopes — Envelope printing Desk accessory. Later a Mac OS X v10.4 and Mac OS X v10.5 Dashboard (Mac OS), Dashboard widget. * Snapz * To Do! * Oracle * ColorSwitch Pro * Snapz Pro — Screen capture application * iSeek — Desktop search application * Snapz Pro X — Mac OS X-compatible version of original * WireTap Pro — Audio recording utility * Screen Cleaner Pro — April Fool's joke * Dragster —

File transfer File transfer is the transmission of a computer file through a communication channel from one computer system to another. Typically, file transfer is mediated by a communications protocol. In the history of computing, numerous file transfer protoco ...

application * iToner — iPhone custom ringtone transfer utility * WireTap Studio — Audio recording, editing and master storage; won a 2007 "Eddy Award" from ''Macworld'' * WireTap Anywhere — professional virtual audio patchbay utility, enabling the recording of any Mac OS X application's audio output from within any Mac OS X audio application. * Soundboard — Mac OS X Audio playback ("computerized cart machine") * Big Cheese Key X — Mac OS X-compatible version of original

Shareware policies

One of Ambrosia's founding

mantras A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

was that shareware software should not be distributed as

crippleware Crippleware has been defined in realms of both computer software and hardware. In software, crippleware means that "vital features of the program such as printing or the ability to save files are disabled until the user purchases a registration ke ...

. The company's software was released on the

honor system An honor system or honesty system is a philosophical way of running a variety of endeavors based on trust, honor, and honesty. Something that operates under the rule of the "honor system" is usually something that does not have strictly enf ...

with only a short reminder that you had used the unregistered software for "x" amount of time, creating what is commonly called

nagware 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 develope ...

. This policy was later changed and the company employed typical shareware

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

prevention measures, as well as more innovative ones such as used in the Escape Velocity line of games where the team's mascot, Hector the Parrot (known in-game as Cap'n Hector), would use her heavily armed ship to ceaselessly attack players of unregistered copies after the trial period had expired. Their software products therefore began to fall under the category of crippleware. Now that the company no longer provides new expiring license codes, customers who had purchased Ambrosia software are now treated as though they have expired trial versions, meaning, for instance, that Cap'n Hector's attacks in Escape Velocity games cannot be stopped. Matt Slot has written about the factors that played into the policy change.

References

External links

*
The Ambrosia Archive
(a fan-run archive of Ambrosia Software installers) {{Ambrosia Software American companies established in 1993 American companies disestablished in 2019 Companies based in Rochester, New York Macintosh software companies Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Video game companies established in 1993 Video game companies disestablished in 2019 Privately held companies based in New York (state) Defunct companies based in New York (state) 1993 establishments in New York (state) 2019 disestablishments in New York (state) Defunct software companies of the United States