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Quality Software
Quality Software is a defunct American software developer and publisher which created games, business software, and development tools for the Exidy Sorcerer, Apple II, and Atari 8-bit family in the late 1970s and early 1980s. ''Asteroids in Space'', written by programmer Bruce Wallace, was voted one of the most popular games of 1978-80 by '' Softalk'' magazine. Games ;1979 * ''Starbase Hyperion'' by Don Ursem ;1980 * ''Asteroids in Space'' by Bruce Wallace, later renamed ''Meteoroids in Space'' * ''Battleship Commander'' by Matthew Jew and Erik Kilk * ''Fastgammon'' by Bob Christiansen * ''Fracas'' by Stuart Smith * ''Head-On Collision'' by Lee Anders * ''Tank Trap'' by Don Ursem * ''Tari Trek'' by Fabio Ehrengruber ;1981 * ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' by Stuart Smith * ''Block Buster'' * ''Martian Invaders'' by James Albanese * ''QS Reversi'' by Lee Merrill ;1982 * ''Beneath Apple Manor'' Special Edition by Don Worth * ''Jeepers Creepers'' by James Albanese * ''Name That S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chatsworth, California
Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish beginning in the 18th century. The land was part of a Spanish land grant, Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando, in the 19th century, and after the United States took over the land following the Mexican–American War, it was the largest such grant in California. Settlement and development followed. Chatsworth has seven public and eight private schools. There are large open-space and smaller recreational parks as well as a public library and a transportation center. Distinctive features are the former Chatsworth Reservoir and the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. The neighborhood has one of the lowest population densities in Los Angeles and a relatively high income level. Chatsworth is the home of the Iverson Movie Ranch, a 500-acre area whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reseda, California
Reseda is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1912, and its central business district started developing in 1915. The neighborhood was devoted to agriculture for many years. Earthquakes struck the area in 1971 San Fernando earthquake and 1994 Northridge earthquake. The neighborhood has 15 public and five private schools. The community includes public parks, a senior center and a regional branch library. History Founding and growth The area now known as Reseda was inhabited by Native Americans of the Tongva tribe who lived close to the Los Angeles River. In 1909 the Suburban Homes Company, a syndicate led by H.J. Whitley, general manager of the Board of Control, Harry Chandler, H.G. Otis, M.H. Sherman and O.F. Brandt purchased 48,000 acres of the Farming and Milling Company for $2,500,000. Henry E. Huntington extended his Pacific Electric Railway (Red Cars) through the Valley to Owensmouth (now Canoga Park). The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Video Game Industry
The video game industry encompasses the Video game development, development, marketing, and Video game monetization, monetization of video games. The industry (economics), industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide. The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstream. , video games generated annually in global sales. In the US, it earned about in 2007, in 2008, and 2010, according to the Entertainment Software Association, ESA annual report. Research from Ampere Analysis indicated three points: the sector has consistently grown since at least 2015 and expanded 26% COVID-19 pandemic, from 2019 to 2021, to a record ; the global games and services market is forecast to shrink 1.2% annually to in 2022; the industry is not recession-proof. The industry has influenced the advance of personal computers with sound cards, graphics cards and 3D graphic accelerators, CPUs, and co-processors like PhysX. Sound cards, for example, were origi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the low level language, lowest programming level, executable code consists of Machine code, machine language instructions supported by an individual Microprocessor, processor—typically a central processing unit (CPU) or a graphics processing unit (GPU). Machine language consists of groups of Binary number, binary values signifying Instruction set architecture, processor instructions that change the state of the computer from its preceding state. For example, an instruction may change the value stored in a particular storage location in the computer—an effect that is not directly observable to the user. An instruction System call, may also invoke one of many Input/output, input or output operations, for example displaying some text on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exidy Sorcerer
The Sorcerer is a home computer system released in 1978 by the video game company Exidy. Based on the Zilog Z80 and the general layout of the emerging S-100 standard, the Sorcerer was comparatively advanced when released, especially when compared to the contemporary more commercially successful Commodore PET and TRS-80. The basic design was proposed by Paul Terrell, formerly of the Byte Shop, a pioneering computer store. Lacking strong support from its parent company, who were focused on the successful arcade game market, the Sorcerer was sold primarily through international distributors and technology licensing agreements. Distribution agreements with Dick Smith Electronics in Australia and Liveport in the UK as well as Compudata which included a manufacturing license to build, market and distribute the Tulip line of computers in Europe. The system remains relatively unknown outside these markets. The Exidy Data Systems division was sold to a Wall Street firm, Biotech, in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-molded plastic case, Rod Holt developed the switching power supply, while Steve Jobs's role in the design of the computer was limited to overseeing Jerry Manock's work on the plastic case. It was introduced by Jobs and Wozniak at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, and marks Apple's first launch of a personal computer aimed at a consumer market—branded toward American households rather than businessmen or computer hobbyists. ''Byte'' magazine referred to the Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and TRS-80 as the "1977 Trinity". As the Apple II had the defining feature of being able to display color graphics, the Apple logo was redesigned to have a spectrum of colors. The Apple II is the first model in the Apple II series, followed by App ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari 8-bit Family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, and Atari XEGS, the last discontinued in 1992. They differ primarily in packaging, each based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ... at and the same custom coprocessor chips. As the first home computer architecture with coprocessors, it has graphics and sound more advanced than most contemporary machines. Video games were a major draw, and first-person space combat simulator ''Star Raiders'' is considered the platform's killer app. The plug-and-play peripherals use the Atari SIO serial bus, wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Starbase Hyperion
''Starbase Hyperion'' is a 1980 video game written by Don Ursem for the Exidy Sorcerer and published by Quality Software in 1980. An Atari 8-bit family port followed in 1981. Contents ''Starbase Hyperion'' is a strategic space game which the player is a starbase commander whose base comes under attack by the forces of an invading alien empire. Reception Tom M. Buchanan reviewed ''Starbase Hyperion'' in ''The Space Gamer'' No. 34. Buchanan commented that "This is an excellent computer simulation game. The full graphics and real-time combat displays make the game visually challenging. If you're looking for a game with challenging play instead of complex rules and you own a Sorcerer computer, this game is a must." Reviews *''ANALOG Computing'' References External linksReviewin Creative Computing ''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves (video Game)
''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' is dungeon crawl role-playing video game written by Stuart Smith for the Atari 8-bit family and published by Quality Software 1981. An Apple II version was released in 1982, followed by ports for the FM-7 and the NEC PC-8801 computers in 1985. It is the second of four role playing games written by Smith, following ''Fracas'', and preceding ''The Return of Heracles'' and ''Adventure Construction Set''. Gameplay The player plays as Ali Baba, and travels through a maze-like map of the city and surrounding wilderness in order to rescue a princess. The game involves interaction with shopkeepers and enemies throughout the game's extensive map. ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' incorporates some ''Dungeons & Dragons'' conventions as well as various mythological and superstitious elements into the storyline and environment. These include the Western zodiac and ancient Arabic fairytales. The game is also notable for several features rarely seen in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beneath Apple Manor
''Beneath Apple Manor'' is a roguelike game written by Don Worth for the Apple II and published by The Software Factory in 1978. Higher resolution "Special Editions" were released in 1982 and 1983, through Quality Software, for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit family. It was one of the first video games to use procedural generation. Gameplay The goal is to obtain a Golden Apple on the bottom floor of the dungeon. There are 10 rooms per level in the low-res version, and 5 in the high-res version. The high-res versions may be played in low-res/text mode, thereby gaining this increase in level size. It is notable for being the first commercial role playing game developed and released for a home computer as opposed to a mainframe computer. Despite being included in the "roguelike" genre, ''Beneath Apple Manor'' actually predates ''Rogue'' (created in 1980) by two years. The creator claims that neither he nor the implementors of ''Rogue'' knew about the other game.Blog comment tPsittac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Return Of Heracles
''The Return of Heracles'' is a role-playing video game for the Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64 and Apple II computers. It was written by Stuart Smith and published by Quality Software in 1983. Following Smith's adventure role playing games ''Fracas'' and '' Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'', and built on an engine that was a precursor to ''Adventure Construction Set'', ''The Return of Heracles'' is set in the age of Greek myth and allows the player to assume the role of one or more heroes and attempt various quests. It was later bundled with ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' in a compilation called ''Age of Adventure'', published by Electronic Arts. Gameplay ''The Return of Heracles'' is an RPG adventure. Each character is defined by three basic characteristics: strength, dexterity, and speed. Strength and dexterity determine how effective a character is in combat, while speed determines how many squares can be moved in one turn. Characters may also have special training i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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