Defunct software houses in Manchester

[sodapop]

Hi,

I'm planning a trip to Manchester soon, and I consider having a glance at what used to be the Ocean HQ, in Central Street.
I know that Tiertex was also based in Manchester for a while, but I guess at least one more was also in the area... can't remember though...

Do you know other companies from the "8/16 bits era" based in Manchester ?

Thanks !

[jotd]

Tiertex was defunct even when it was active.

[Steve]

There is Software Creations where I used to work. They were based on Cheetham Hill Road. The building is now occupied by a clothing distributor called 'Influence'. My office was on the top right corner at the front of the building. They were some happy days working with Jonathan 'Joffa' Smith of Speccy fame. I actually signed up to this board while I was working there (literally).

[BarryB]

I saw Joffa at Stoke doing an 'Ocean Reunited' event at Byte Back in March 2009, he was smacked out his head on Ketamine at the time so never got to hear him tell us about his time working at Ocean or have a chance to speak to him afterwards, and sadly, died just over a year later

[Steve]

Originally Posted by BarryB

I saw Joffa at Stoke doing an 'Ocean Reunited' event at Byte Back in March 2009, he was smacked out his head on Ketamine at the time so never got to hear him tell us about his time working at Ocean or have a chance to speak to him afterwards, and sadly, died just over a year later

That's really sad. I still have no idea what caused his death. Seems a mystery.

He was a quiet guy at work, I gave him a few surprises though. Impressed him once or twice with my coding and also infuriated him one time when I commented out a few lines of his code (and didn't tell him) because it was breaking something else. I also accidentally shut off his computer and a load of others when I flipped the wrong switch on the mains unit! Haha. He saw the funny side thankfully. It was only much later after I'd left the company that I found out that he had a debilitating shyness problem. Maybe this was why he needed the Ketamine for the Ocean reunite.

He never spoke to me very much despite him being the lead programmer for the project and I always just assumed he didn't like me much. Had I known his problem I would have definitely made more of an effort to get to know him. As it was, virtually all our communication was through e-mail despite him being in the next room.

[BarryB]

I just wonder if his shyness issue led to him taking stuff to help deal with it and was linked to his his passing? At least you got to meet him personally and actually work with him, so at least you have some happy memories of the great fella

[sodapop]

@Steve: yeah, Software Creations was the one I looked for ! Thanks !

@jotd: Tiertex sucked indeed, but it's history now ;-)

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by sodapop

@jotd: Tiertex sucked indeed, but it's history now ;-)

There is no such thing as history on EAB, Tiertex is still very much alive and still makes the blood boil

[sodapop]

Originally Posted by gimbal

There is no such thing as history on EAB, Tiertex is still very much alive and still makes the blood boil

Oh, really ?
I wonder what its last game was and where its website is, though ?

[alexh]

DID Digital Image Design was in Warrington just a small trip from Manchester

[sodapop]

Thank you for the information ! But maybe a bit too far from the city center for me

[BrooksterMax]

Originally Posted by alexh

DID Digital Image Design was in Warrington just a small trip from Manchester

That was handy given Ocean and DID a fair amount of work together - was this by design (excuse the pun) or accident? Loved Robocop 3 and laterly TFX.

I know hearing in podcasts that often there was a lot of driving between sites in those days handing over physical media rather than over the 'net so to be a short hop away would have been helpful.