Favourite developers/programming teams??

7-Zark-7 · 09 October 2001, 16:53

I hope noone has asked this thread in the near past, but my apologies if there is. I'd been curious recently about the fate of several developers that used to be commonplace years ago on both Commodore 64 & Amiga & whom would regulary be interviewed, previewed or mentioned in Zzap features, or in The One magazine.

Although there's the odd developer/programmer who still exists today, many famous past names have seemingly vanished. So in dedication to them I thought to name a few I enjoyed on the Commodore scene,(C64 & Amiga).

I was inspired for this posting after reading about the fate of Graftgold software as detailed by Steve Turner himself. See for yourself at http://www.graftgold.com

Although I'll admit to not having played too many of his games with such a superb effort with Rainbow Islands, Andrew BrayBrook & Graftgold are one team that deserve mentioning...

Others I remember/enjoyed were...
Sensible Software
Archer Maclean
Manfred Trenz/Factor 5
Al Lowe
Vivid Image
Chris Butler (C64)
I'm sure there's some more I'll have forgotten for now, but I'll undoubtedly think of some more. Sometime's they may not have used the machine to create new,great techincal standards, the games could generally be regarded as innovative, original, & playable.

LaundroMat · 09 October 2001, 18:16

The question "What ever happened to Sensi Software?" always lingered in the back of my mind, but I never really looked something up. Here's something big (for me, anyway) : Sensi was bought by Codemasters. This link will give you a good idea of what they're at now.

Update: well, it won't give you a good idea, as - as the site admits - it's all rumormill stuff

Amiga1992 · 09 October 2001, 19:27

Andrew Braybrook was surely one of the GODS of Amiga games programming. I love ALL of his games, specially Uridium 2

Team 17, Bitmap Brothers, Sensible Software, Factor 5 and DMA Design are the other ones I find great. Oh, and John Twiddy!

Talking about Twiddy! Does anyone know how to contact him? He programmed Putty Suqad and *might* have an original copy...

Shatterhand · 10 October 2001, 05:49

Great site Laundromat!!!!

I do miss Sensible Software a lot, I love their games.... it's really weird to see some companies disapearing or getting small.

Team 17 was the MAIN euro-publisher between 1993-1995. Nowadays they don't even publish their own games...

Core Design went Eidos. Ocean went Infogrames.
Where's Thalion? Where's Gremlin Graphics?

Bitmap Brothers is nearly unknown these days (They were legends back in their times).

Factor 5 is making console games, being published under the Lucas Arts label. I HEARD (and I repeat, HEARD) they were doing a new sequel for Turrican.

And of course, Graftgold too.... hope this rumour about they getting back for GBA is true...

10 October 2001, 06:23

The sequel to Turrican (Turrican 3D) was scrapped. I also only HEARD this. I repeat. HEARD!

Amiga1992 · 10 October 2001, 19:54

Factor 5 were doing a pseudo-sequel to Turrican called Thornado (or something like that). They cant call it Turrican because Rainbow Arts hold the rights to the name. Rainbow Arts, I HEARD

were planning doing a prper 2D sequel of Turrican.

As for Gremlin, I think back then it got bought by Ocean, who got bought by Infogrames, or some such nonsense.. it's been swallowed by at least two companies for sure.

Shatterhand · 12 October 2001, 06:13

Yeah, Thornado, exact... and I saw this in the oficial Factor 5 site, ages ago, so it indeed was official. Dunno if it's ever going to make it anyway.

I know probably no one can answer this question, but why Factor 5 and Rainbow Arts doesn't team up one more time for a new Turrican game ?

Puzzle · 12 October 2001, 08:29

Thalion got closed down some time after programming Lionheart, I think. Can't be sure, though.

Check out http://thalion.amiga.org or http://thalion.atari.org for loads of info about Thalion, their employees, their games (downloadable, even), and game-music.

RetroMan · 12 October 2001, 09:54

My fav will allways be Al Lowe for his great Larry series

even it is only some kind of adventure, it features great ideas (some are of a sick mind I guess :laugh ) and a smooth story line .....

7-Zark-7 · 12 October 2001, 13:22

Yes Retroman, that's the sort of thing I agree with-
Taking Al Lowe as an example, he may not have seen an Amiga in his life much less program one, his idea's & general off-beat humour is the sort point I'm trying to make.

I'm not saying all modern games are bad-indeed-the Resident Evil series for example is a great example of modern game design to my mind,(or Final Fantasy too). But these rare sort of "stand out" games seem all the rarer today-when I think of some of the teams on the Commodore machines, it just seems so amazing how such talent wasn't supported by the publishers-such a waste.

LaundroMat · 12 October 2001, 14:13

Quote:

Originally posted by Shatterhand

Bitmap Brothers is nearly unknown these days (They were legends back in their times).

There was a newspost at Voodoo Extreme a while ago, about Speedball Arena, an online Speedball event. Maybe the Bitmap Brothers' site will help.

(In short: they're still alive and kicking. And also porting to the GBA. A machine, which I think, could become the 'scene-machine' of choice sometime in the future (similar to the Amiga in its haydays. Open architecture, easy to develop for, fixed hardware, i.e. great to show off what you can do with it, etc. My guess is that it's Nintendo's strategy to enable people with limited means (ie no megacorporations) to develop games and other stuff, and through that inject some new blood in the games industry)

Shatterhand · 12 October 2001, 17:33

I know Bitmap Brothers is still around, but they went from "legend" to become "some guys who made a weird futuristic sports game"

I agree 100% with what you say about the GBA. I always hated most politics of Nintendo, but they made a big hit this time around.

I always thought that one day we all would go back to oldschool somehow and leave behind all this 3D shit... and the GBA is the machine for it right now.

Amiga1992 · 12 October 2001, 18:12

Quote:

Originally posted by LaundroMat
My guess is that it's Nintendo's strategy to enable people with limited means (ie no megacorporations) to develop games and other stuff, and through that inject some new blood in the games industry

hey did the same with the GBC. Why do you think old demogroups like Abyss coded for it?

13 October 2001, 20:39

Digital Concept (Jim Power!

) , Psygnosis, Team 17, LucasFilm , Sensible Software, Delphine Software , Thalion....

15 October 2001, 07:42

Hey I dont know why these guys haven't been mentioned yet, but in my mind they are classic game developers

Cinemaware, they made awesome games like Wings, It Came From the Desert and Defender of the Crown. They were gone for awhile but now they are back remaking their classics at www.cinemaware.com

They went down in the early 1990's because they ignored the mega drive and went for NEC's machine. There is an interesting interview at

http://www.justadventure.com/Intervi...Interview.shtm

15 October 2001, 07:48

The new Cinemaware have nothing to do with the old Cinemaware. They're capitalising on a name

The old Cinemaware rule. The new are good, but I can't consider them as favourites

Bitmap Brother · 26 September 2005, 23:07

I didn't mean to re-open this thread, but I thought i'd have to as I really wanted to share who my favourites were.

For me, the best would have to be:

The Bitmap Brothers & Bullfrog

They both came out with some of my favourite games of all time. Which are:

From The Bitmap Brothers:
(In no special order)

Speedball 2
Xenon 2
Magic Pockets

From Bullfrog:
(In no special order)

Populous 1 & 2
Flood

gimbal · 27 September 2005, 20:01

Bitmap Brothers are great indeed, but I would favour Gods & the Chaos Engine. Bullfrog were responsible for Syndicate, Theme Park and Magic Carpet (okay not an Amiga game), three games I played to death.

So yes, I would agree with you that those were my favourite game development companies that were actively developing for Commodore hardware

(my alltime favourite development company would have to be Looking Glass Studios, of Ultima Underworld, System Shock and Thief fame which are among the best games ever made (IMO of course)).

ChrisBrownUK · 28 September 2005, 02:45

My vote definitely goes to Cinemaware - not just for the usual games that people remember (Wings/Defender/Desert) but also for their TV Sports games. IMHO, EA's Madden series owes a lot to TV Sports Football, shame the sequel was canned.

SWOS · 04 December 2005, 17:44

Sensible Software then Team 17..

09 October 2001, 16:53	#1
7-Zark-7 Zone Friend Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Brisbane/Australia Posts: 1,270	Favourite developers/programming teams?? I hope noone has asked this thread in the near past, but my apologies if there is. I'd been curious recently about the fate of several developers that used to be commonplace years ago on both Commodore 64 & Amiga & whom would regulary be interviewed, previewed or mentioned in Zzap features, or in The One magazine. Although there's the odd developer/programmer who still exists today, many famous past names have seemingly vanished. So in dedication to them I thought to name a few I enjoyed on the Commodore scene,(C64 & Amiga). I was inspired for this posting after reading about the fate of Graftgold software as detailed by Steve Turner himself. See for yourself at http://www.graftgold.com Although I'll admit to not having played too many of his games with such a superb effort with Rainbow Islands, Andrew BrayBrook & Graftgold are one team that deserve mentioning... Others I remember/enjoyed were... Sensible Software Archer Maclean Manfred Trenz/Factor 5 Al Lowe Vivid Image Chris Butler (C64) I'm sure there's some more I'll have forgotten for now, but I'll undoubtedly think of some more. Sometime's they may not have used the machine to create new,great techincal standards, the games could generally be regarded as innovative, original, & playable.

09 October 2001, 18:16	#2
LaundroMat Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: In the cellar. With your mum. Age: 49 Posts: 404	Glad you asked The question "What ever happened to Sensi Software?" always lingered in the back of my mind, but I never really looked something up. Here's something big (for me, anyway) : Sensi was bought by Codemasters. This link will give you a good idea of what they're at now. Update: well, it won't give you a good idea, as - as the site admits - it's all rumormill stuff

12 October 2001, 08:29	#8
Puzzle Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: Somewhere Posts: 99	Thalion Thalion got closed down some time after programming Lionheart, I think. Can't be sure, though. Check out http://thalion.amiga.org or http://thalion.atari.org for loads of info about Thalion, their employees, their games (downloadable, even), and game-music.

13 October 2001, 20:39	#14
gusddm Posts: n/a	My favourites... Digital Concept (Jim Power! ) , Psygnosis, Team 17, LucasFilm , Sensible Software, Delphine Software , Thalion....

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09 October 2001, 19:27	#3
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Andrew Braybrook was surely one of the GODS of Amiga games programming. I love ALL of his games, specially Uridium 2 Team 17, Bitmap Brothers, Sensible Software, Factor 5 and DMA Design are the other ones I find great. Oh, and John Twiddy! Talking about Twiddy! Does anyone know how to contact him? He programmed Putty Suqad and might have an original copy...

10 October 2001, 05:49	#4
Shatterhand Warhasneverbeensomuchfun Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Rio de Janeiro / Brazil Age: 41 Posts: 3,450	Great site Laundromat!!!! I do miss Sensible Software a lot, I love their games.... it's really weird to see some companies disapearing or getting small. Team 17 was the MAIN euro-publisher between 1993-1995. Nowadays they don't even publish their own games... Core Design went Eidos. Ocean went Infogrames. Where's Thalion? Where's Gremlin Graphics? Bitmap Brothers is nearly unknown these days (They were legends back in their times). Factor 5 is making console games, being published under the Lucas Arts label. I HEARD (and I repeat, HEARD) they were doing a new sequel for Turrican. And of course, Graftgold too.... hope this rumour about they getting back for GBA is true...

10 October 2001, 06:23	#5
Amigaboy Posts: n/a	The sequel to Turrican (Turrican 3D) was scrapped. I also only HEARD this. I repeat. HEARD!

10 October 2001, 19:54	#6
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Factor 5 were doing a pseudo-sequel to Turrican called Thornado (or something like that). They cant call it Turrican because Rainbow Arts hold the rights to the name. Rainbow Arts, I HEARD were planning doing a prper 2D sequel of Turrican. As for Gremlin, I think back then it got bought by Ocean, who got bought by Infogrames, or some such nonsense.. it's been swallowed by at least two companies for sure.

12 October 2001, 06:13	#7
Shatterhand Warhasneverbeensomuchfun Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Rio de Janeiro / Brazil Age: 41 Posts: 3,450	Yeah, Thornado, exact... and I saw this in the oficial Factor 5 site, ages ago, so it indeed was official. Dunno if it's ever going to make it anyway. I know probably no one can answer this question, but why Factor 5 and Rainbow Arts doesn't team up one more time for a new Turrican game ?

12 October 2001, 09:54	#9
RetroMan Registered User Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Germany Age: 51 Posts: 3,704	My fav will allways be Al Lowe for his great Larry series even it is only some kind of adventure, it features great ideas (some are of a sick mind I guess :laugh ) and a smooth story line .....

12 October 2001, 13:22	#10
7-Zark-7 Zone Friend Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Brisbane/Australia Posts: 1,270	Yes Retroman, that's the sort of thing I agree with- Taking Al Lowe as an example, he may not have seen an Amiga in his life much less program one, his idea's & general off-beat humour is the sort point I'm trying to make. I'm not saying all modern games are bad-indeed-the Resident Evil series for example is a great example of modern game design to my mind,(or Final Fantasy too). But these rare sort of "stand out" games seem all the rarer today-when I think of some of the teams on the Commodore machines, it just seems so amazing how such talent wasn't supported by the publishers-such a waste.

12 October 2001, 17:33	#12
Shatterhand Warhasneverbeensomuchfun Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Rio de Janeiro / Brazil Age: 41 Posts: 3,450	I know Bitmap Brothers is still around, but they went from "legend" to become "some guys who made a weird futuristic sports game" I agree 100% with what you say about the GBA. I always hated most politics of Nintendo, but they made a big hit this time around. I always thought that one day we all would go back to oldschool somehow and leave behind all this 3D shit... and the GBA is the machine for it right now.

15 October 2001, 07:42	#15
Vicked Posts: n/a	Hey I dont know why these guys haven't been mentioned yet, but in my mind they are classic game developers Cinemaware, they made awesome games like Wings, It Came From the Desert and Defender of the Crown. They were gone for awhile but now they are back remaking their classics at www.cinemaware.com They went down in the early 1990's because they ignored the mega drive and went for NEC's machine. There is an interesting interview at http://www.justadventure.com/Intervi...Interview.shtm

15 October 2001, 07:48	#16
Amigaboy Posts: n/a	The new Cinemaware have nothing to do with the old Cinemaware. They're capitalising on a name The old Cinemaware rule. The new are good, but I can't consider them as favourites

26 September 2005, 23:07	#17
Bitmap Brother Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: UK Posts: 23	I didn't mean to re-open this thread, but I thought i'd have to as I really wanted to share who my favourites were. For me, the best would have to be: The Bitmap Brothers & Bullfrog They both came out with some of my favourite games of all time. Which are: From The Bitmap Brothers: (In no special order) Speedball 2 Xenon 2 Magic Pockets From Bullfrog: (In no special order) Populous 1 & 2 Flood

27 September 2005, 20:01	#18
gimbal cheeky scoundrel Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Spijkenisse/Netherlands Age: 42 Posts: 6,917	Bitmap Brothers are great indeed, but I would favour Gods & the Chaos Engine. Bullfrog were responsible for Syndicate, Theme Park and Magic Carpet (okay not an Amiga game), three games I played to death. So yes, I would agree with you that those were my favourite game development companies that were actively developing for Commodore hardware (my alltime favourite development company would have to be Looking Glass Studios, of Ultima Underworld, System Shock and Thief fame which are among the best games ever made (IMO of course)).

28 September 2005, 02:45	#19
ChrisBrownUK Ex-A500, A1200 & CD32 Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Aylesbury, UK Age: 47 Posts: 24	My vote definitely goes to Cinemaware - not just for the usual games that people remember (Wings/Defender/Desert) but also for their TV Sports games. IMHO, EA's Madden series owes a lot to TV Sports Football, shame the sequel was canned.

04 December 2005, 17:44	#20
SWOS Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Q8 Age: 39 Posts: 160	Sensible Software then Team 17..

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