Nick Pelling is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

-born

computer programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

and investigative writer best known as the creator of the 1984 game ''

Frak! ''Frak!'' is a scrolling platform video game programmed by Nick Pelling for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron and published by his own Aardvark Software in 1984. It was ported to the Commodore 64 the following year by "The B Team" (Jason Perkin ...

''."Desert Island Disks: Nick Pelling". ''

Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...

'' 26, pp. 82-85.

Games

Developed

As Aardvark Software

* ''Arcadians'' (1982) * ''Zalaga'' (1983) (port of

Galaga is a 1981 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. In North America, it was released by Midway Manufacturing. It is the sequel to ''Galaxian'' (1979), Namco's first major video game hit in arcades. Controlling a starshi ...

) * ''

'' (1984) * ''

Firetrack ''Firetrack'' is a vertically-scrolling shooter programmed by Nick Pelling and released for the BBC Micro and Commodore 64 platforms in 1987 by Electric Dreams Software. It was also ported to the Acorn Electron by Superior Software in 1989 a ...

'' (1987) * '' Sharkey's 3D Pool'' (1989) * ''

3D Pocket Pool 3-D, 3D, or 3d may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * Three-dimensional space ** 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data ** 3D film, a ...

'' (2001)

Independently

* ''

Bangkok Knights Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populatio ...

'' (1987) * ''

Shinobi A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 2 ...

'' (1989) * ''

Loopz ''Loopz'' is a puzzle video game designed and programmed by Ian Upton for the Atari ST in 1989. He previously worked as head game designer for Audiogenic, who acquired exclusive rights to the game, then in 1990 arranged for Mindscape to publish ...

'' (1990) * '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' (1993) * '' The Simpsons: Bartman Meets Radioactive Man'' (1993) * ''

The Pagemaster ''The Pagemaster'' is a 1994 American live-action/animated fantasy adventure film starring Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy, Frank Welker, Ed Begley Jr., and Mel Harris. The film was produce ...

'' (1994) * ''

Mortal Kombat II ''Mortal Kombat II'' is a 1993 arcade game, arcade fighting game originally produced by Midway Games, Midway for the arcade game, arcades in 1993. It was later ported to multiple home systems, including MS-DOS, Amiga, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega ...

'' (1994) * '' Wolverine: Adamantium Rage'' (1994) * ''

Primal Rage ''Primal Rage'' is a fighting game developed and released by Atari Games to arcades in August 1994. The game takes place on a post-apocalyptic version of Earth called "Urth". Players control one of seven large beasts that battle each other to det ...

'' (1995) * ''

Batman Forever ''Batman Forever'' (on-screen title is simply ''Forever'') is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton, based on the DC Comics character Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The third installment ...

'' (1995) * ''

The X-Files Game ''The X-Files Game'' is an interactive movie point-and-click adventure video game developed by HyperBole Studios and published by Fox Interactive. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and PlayStation in 1998, and is based on the t ...

'' (1999) * ''

In Cold Blood ''In Cold Blood'' is a non-fiction novel by American author Truman Capote, first published in 1966. It details the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter family in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote learned of the ...

'' (2000) * ''

Street Fighter Alpha 3 ''Street Fighter Alpha 3'', released as in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 2D fighting game originally released by Capcom for the arcade in 1998 in video gaming, 1998. It is the third and final installment in the ''Street Fighter# ...

'' (2002) * ''

Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer ''Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer'' is an extreme sports video game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision under the Activision O2 label. The game was endorsed by veteran surfer Kelly Slater and released for Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Pl ...

'' (2002) * ''

Championship Manager 5 ''Championship Manager 5'' is the fifth installment of the popular Championship Manager series of football management computer games. It is the first game in the series to be developed by Eidos, after the much publicised split between Eidos and ...

'' (2005) * '' Buzz!: The Music Quiz'' (2005) * '' Buzz!: The BIG Quiz'' (2006) * '' Buzz!: The Mega Quiz'' (2007) * '' Buzz!: The Hollywood Quiz'' (2007) * '' Soldiers of Fortune'' (2013)

Ported

As Aardvark Software

* ''

Duke Nukem 3D ''Duke Nukem 3D'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by 3D Realms. It is a sequel to the platform games ''Duke Nukem'' and '' Duke Nukem II'', published by 3D Realms. ''Duke Nukem 3D'' features the adventures of the titular Duke N ...

'' (1997,

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

)

Independently

* ''

Dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle des ...

'' (1986, Commodore 64) in the capacity of '11th hour Software Salvage' * ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...

'' (1990, Commodore 64) * ''

Battle Master ''Battle Master'' is a 1990 fantasy action adventure game designed by Mike Simpson and Simon Jones for PSS and distributed by Mirrorsoft. The game is a fantasy adventure in which the player controls a champion who must battle evil forces to conqu ...

'' (1991,

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

) * ''

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historic ...

'' (1992,

AmigaOS AmigaOS is a family of proprietary native operating systems of the Amiga and AmigaOne personal computers. It was developed first by Commodore International and introduced with the launch of the first Amiga, the Amiga 1000, in 1985. Early versions ...

) * ''

Dangerous Streets ''Dangerous Streets'' is a fighting game developed by Micromania and released by Flair Software for the Amiga, Amiga CD32, and MS-DOS in 1993. It was poorly received by critics. ''Dangerous Streets'' was bundled with the CD32 in ''The Dangerous St ...

'' (1994,

Amiga CD32 The Amiga CD32 (stylized as Amiga CD32, code-named "Spellbound") is a 32-bit home video game console developed by Commodore and released in Europe, Australia, Canada, and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London on Ju ...

)

Interests in history

Pelling published an article in the British magazine ''

History Today ''History Today'' is an illustrated history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it presents serious and authoritative history to as wide a public as possible. The magazine covers all periods and geographical regions and pub ...

'', supporting a previous attribution of the invention of the telescope to a Gerundian named

Joan Roget Juan Roget or Joan Roget ( Angoulême, France c.1550 - Aveyron, France? c.1617-1624) was a spectacle maker in Girona, Catalonia, Spain who has been cited as a possible inventor of the telescope. Biography Juan Roget was born in Angoulême, Franc ...

in 1590Who Invented the Telescope?
/ref>Controversy over telescope origin, news.bbc.co.uk, Tuesday, 16 September 2008
/ref> and published a 2006 book on the

Voynich manuscript The Voynich manuscript is an illustrated codex hand-written in an otherwise unknown writing system, referred to as 'Voynichese'. The vellum on which it is written has been carbon-dated to the early 15th century (1404–1438), and stylistic a ...

, claiming it was written by 15th century North Italian architect

Antonio Averlino Antonio di Pietro Aver(u)lino (; – ), known as Filarete (; from grc, φιλάρετος, meaning "lover of excellence"), was a Florentine Renaissance architect, sculptor, medallist, and architectural theorist. He is perhaps best remembered for ...

(also known as "Filarete").

Books

References

External links

Pelling's websitePelling's Cipher Mysteries website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelling, Nick 1964 births Alumni of Kingston University Alumni of the University of Manchester British computer programmers Living people