Video game developer and publisher
Level 9 Computing
Founded
| 1981
|
---|
Founder
| Mike Austin
Pete Austin
Nick Austin
|
---|
Defunct
| 1991
|
---|
Headquarters
| United Kingdom
|
---|
Products
| Video games
|
---|
Level 9
was a British developer of computer software, active between 1981 and 1991. Founded by Mike, Nicholas and Pete Austin, the company produced software for the
BBC Micro
,
Nascom
,
ZX Spectrum
,
Commodore 64
,
Oric
,
Atari 8-bit computers
,
Lynx 48k
,
RML 380Z
,
Amstrad CPC
,
MSX
,
Amiga
,
Apple II
,
Memotech MTX
, and
Enterprise
platforms
[1]
and is best known for its successful
text adventure games
until a general decline in the text adventure market forced their closure in June 1991.
Level 9's first release was an extension to Nascom
BASIC
called
Extension Basic
.
[2]
The first game, also for the Nascom, was called
Fantasy
and was similar to
Valhalla
, but with no graphics.
[3]
Other products from that era were
Missile Defence
,
Bomber
and
Space Invasion
? all for the Nascom.
[4]
The tapes were duplicated and sent out by mail order by the brothers based on orders generated by the
classified advertisements
they ran in the
Computing Today
magazine. They were originally based in
High Wycombe
,
Bucks
[5]
before moving to the
West Country
.
[6]
A-code
[
edit
]
Level 9 devised their own
interpretation language
, A-code, around 1979. It was very memory efficient, mainly due to the advanced text
compression
routines which could compress texts to about 50%.
[7]
The game data, which was identical for all platforms, was incorporated into the executable file for specific machines, together with the interpreter part. A-code underwent a few revisions: there are three distinct versions in all, plus several extensions which form new A-code versions of their own.
(Level 9 A-code should not be confused with the A-code language developed by Dave Platt in 1979 for the purpose of writing the highly popular
550 points extension
of the original Adventure game.)
In some ways A-code and the A-machine
virtual machine
were even more impressive than rival
Infocom
's ZIL and
Z-machine
; both companies initially designed games for computers with 32K RAM and ZIL was in many ways more sophisticated. But Infocom products of the era required a disk drive, alleviating the memory restrictions of the platforms of the time. Level 9 due to different dynamics in the British market had to deliver their text adventures on
cassette tapes
, which generally meant that programs had to be loaded in one go and that they had to completely fit into memory.
[8]
Andrew Deeley, who worked for Level 9 on Software Development, recalls how the use of the A-Code interpreter enabled L9 to produce hundreds of cross platform versions of their entire catalogue in the space of 18 months, "with so many 8 bit computers on the markets and the introduction of Macs, Amigas and Atari STs, developing for cross platform versions of a game was becoming prohibitive in cost back in the late 1980s / early 1990s. Level 9 were able to hold their own as a small developer because they were able to optimise cross platform production of their games".
[7]
The first game to use this system was
Colossal Adventure
in early 1982, a faithful conversion of
Adventure
by
Will Crowther
and
Don Woods
,
[9]
but with 70 extra locations
[10]
to the end game to fulfill Level 9's preexisting claim in advertisements of "over 200" locations; a remarkable achievement given that
Gordon Letwin
's port of
Adventure
to the
TRS-80
required a disk drive. That year the company produced two sequels,
Adventure Quest
and
Dungeon Adventure
,
[8]
both of which featured the Demon Lord
Agaliarept
. The three titles became known as the
Middle-earth
trilogy,
[5]
with a reference in the instructions to
Dungeon Adventure
to the city of
Minas Tirith
, which features in
J. R. R. Tolkien
's
The Lord of the Rings
.
[3]
When enhanced versions of the three games were published by
Rainbird Software
, the reference to
Middle-earth
was quietly deleted; the series became known as
Jewels of Darkness
; and Minas Tirith became Valaii. In 1985 Level 9 started to develop their games for disk based systems also.
[6]
Snowball
was the first adventure in the
Silicon Dreams
trilogy, followed by
Return to Eden
and
The Worm in Paradise
.
[10]
Red Moon
and its sequel
The Price of Magik
were bundled together with
Lords of Time
by
Mandarin Software
to create yet another trilogy:
Time and Magik
.
"Lancelot" was published by
Mandarin Software
, a division of
Europress Software
in 1988. The first person to solve the puzzle in the game won a replica of the Holy Grail, made of solid silver, encrusted with semi-precious stones (amethysts, garnets and opals), with the inside plated in 22-carat gold.
List of software
[
edit
]
- Extension BASIC for the Nascom
(198x)
- rqFORTH for the BBC Micro
(198x)
- rqFORTH toolkit for the BBC Micro
(198x)
- Compass for the Lynx
(198x)
List of arcade games
[
edit
]
- Fantasy
(198x)
- Space Invasion
(198x)
- Bomber
(198x)
- Missile Defence
(198x)
List of text adventure games
[
edit
]
- Colossal Adventure
(1982)
- Adventure Quest
(1982)
- Dungeon Adventure
(1982)
- Snowball
(1983)
- Lords of Time
(1983)
- Return to Eden
(1984)
- Emerald Isle
(1985)
- Red Moon
(1985)
- The Worm in Paradise
(1985)
- The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾
(for Mosaic Publishing, 1985)
- The Archers
(for Mosaic, 1985)
- The Saga of Erik the Viking
(for Mosaic, 1985)
[10]
- The Price of Magik
(1986)
- Jewels of Darkness
trilogy (for
Rainbird Software
, 1986) (also known as the
Middle-Earth Trilogy
)
- Colossal Adventure
- Adventure Quest
- Dungeon Adventure
- Silicon Dreams
trilogy (for Rainbird, 1986)
- Snowball
- Return to Eden
- The Worm in Paradise
- Knight Orc
(for Rainbird Software, 1987)
- The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole
(for
Virgin Games
, 1987)
- Gnome Ranger
(1987)
- Time and Magik
trilogy (for
Mandarin Software
, 1988)
- Lords of Time
- Red Moon
- The Price of Magik
- Lancelot
(for Mandarin, 1988)
- Ingrid's Back: Gnome Ranger 2
(for Mandarin, 1988)
- Scapeghost
(1989)
- The Legend of Billy the Kid
(for
Ocean Software
, 1990; never released)
- Champion of the Raj
(1991)
- It Came from the Desert
(
PC
port for
Cinemaware
, 1991)
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
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Trilogies
| |
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Gnome Ranger
series
| |
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Other games
| |
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Related articles
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