Vortex Software was a
video game developer 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 Greeks, Greek Cypriot descent, and studied engi ...
and Paul Canter in the early 1980s to sell the game ''Cosmos'' which Panayi had developed for the
Sinclair ZX81
The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-co ...
. They converted the game 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 ...
, 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
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
.
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
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 Si ...
in addition to writing ''
Alien Highway
''Alien Highway: Encounter 2'' is an Isometric projection, isometric action game released by Vortex Software, Vortex in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. It was programmed by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson and is the sequel to ''Highway Encounter ...
'' 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 home computers of the period. ''
Deflektor'' was also ported to the
Amiga and
Atari ST.
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 ...
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
''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993.
History
T ...
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), 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 TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
), Vortex Software
*''
Android Two
''Android Two'' is a shoot 'em up List of maze video games, maze video game written by Costa Panayi and published by Vortex Software in 1983 in video gaming, 1983 for the ZX Spectrum and in 1985 in video gaming, 1985 for the Amstrad CPC. It is t ...
'' (
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 TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
), 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 Southeas ...
), Vortex Software
*''
Cyclone'' (
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
''Alien Highway: Encounter 2'' is an Isometric projection, isometric action game released by Vortex Software, Vortex in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. It was programmed by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson and is the sequel to ''Highway Encounter ...
'' (
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 enter ...
), Vortex Software
*''
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
'' (
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 enter ...
),
U.S. Gold
U.S. Gold Limited was a British video game publisher based in Witton, Birmingham, England. The company was founded in 1984 by Anne and Geoff Brown in parallel to their distributor firm, CentreSoft, both of which became part of Woodward Brown Ho ...
*''
Deflektor'' (
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, ...
),
Gremlin Graphics
Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in ...
*''
Hostile All Terrain Encounter (H.A.T.E.)'' (
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 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 Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...
),
Gremlin Graphics
Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in ...
Amstrad CPC
*''
Android One: The Reactor Run'' (1985)
*''
Android Two
''Android Two'' is a shoot 'em up List of maze video games, maze video game written by Costa Panayi and published by Vortex Software in 1983 in video gaming, 1983 for the ZX Spectrum and in 1985 in video gaming, 1985 for the Amstrad CPC. It is t ...
'' (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
''Alien Highway: Encounter 2'' is an Isometric projection, isometric action game released by Vortex Software, Vortex in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. It was programmed by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson and is the sequel to ''Highway Encounter ...
'' (1986)
*''
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
'' (1986, published by U.S. Gold)
*''
Deflektor'' (1987, published by
Gremlin Graphics
Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in ...
)
*''
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'' (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
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 Colo ...
Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom
Software companies of the United Kingdom