David W. Bradley is a

video game designer Video game design is the process of designing the rules and content of video games in the Video game development#Pre-production, pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the Video game development ...

and

programmer A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles Software development, ''software developer'' and Software engineering, ''software engineer' ...

, most notable for the

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

s ''

Wizardry V ''Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom'' is the fifth scenario in the ''Wizardry (video game series), Wizardry'' series of role-playing video games. It was published in 1988 by Sir-Tech for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PC compatibles (as a s ...

'', '' VI'', and '' VII''.

Career

Bradley was originally a music studies student when he learned about music composition software. He learned how to program to write his own software on the university mainframe and eventually began writing games. This translated into a job in the computer industry as a game designer and programmer. His early work includes ''

Parthian Kings Parthian may refer to: Historical * Parthian people * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery sk ...

'' for

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the compan ...

. After

Robert Woodhead Robert J. Woodhead (born 1958 or 1959) is an American entrepreneur, software engineer and former game programmer. He is the co-creator of the ''Wizardry'' franchise, and the co-founder of both the video game publishing company Sir-Tech and ani ...

left the ''

Wizardry Wizardry may refer to: * ''Wizardry'' (video game series), role-playing video game series, originally published by Sir-Tech ** '' Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord'', the first game of the series, released in 1981 * ''Wizardry'' (The ...

'' video game series, Bradley co-designed '' Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom'' (1988) with

Andrew C. Greenberg Andrew Clifford Greenberg (1957 – August 28, 2024) was an American video game developer and patent attorney. He co-created ''Wizardry'' with Robert Woodhead, one of the first role-playing video games for a personal computer. He was also involv ...

. The design was based on a game that Bradley had already written several years prior, but it was rebranded and rewritten as a ''Wizardry'' sequel. Though recommended by contemporary game reviewers, Matt Barton wrote in ''Dungeons and Desktops'' that the game was not a significant departure from the previous titles, which were still using game design based on the 1981 original title. This was followed by '' Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge'' (1990) and '' Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant'' (1992), which formed the beginning of a new trilogy and were solely designed by Bradley. Both games were well received by critics, and the latter was praised for its design. During the development of the seventh game, Bradley was named in a lawsuit filed by Woodhead and Greenberg against

Sir-Tech Sir-Tech Software, Inc. was a video game developer and video game publisher, publisher based in the United States and Canada. History In fall 1979, Sirotech Software was founded by Norman Sirotek, Robert Sirotek and Robert Woodhead. Sirotech Soft ...

over royalties. Bradley said that he was uninvolved in the dispute, and, following a falling-out with Sir-Tech, left the company. He subsequently designed the action game '' CyberMage'' (1995) for

Origin Systems Origin Systems, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. It was founded on March 3, 1983, by Richard Garriott and his brother Robert. Origin is best known for their groundbreaking work in multiple genres of video games ...

. After founding

Heuristic Park David W. Bradley is a video game designer and programmer, most notable for the role-playing video games ''Wizardry V'', '' VI'', and '' VII''. Career Bradley was originally a music studies student when he learned about music composition softwar ...

in 1995, he designed ''

Wizards & Warriors ''Wizards & Warriors'', titled ' in Japan, is an action platform video game developed by Rare and published by Acclaim Entertainment for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in North America in December 1987, and in Europe on Jan ...

'' (2000) and '' Dungeon Lords'' (2005).

Games

Heuristic Park

Heuristic Park, Inc. is an American

video game development Video game development (sometimes shortened to gamedev) is the process of creating a video game. It is a multidisciplinary practice, involving programming, design, art, audio, user interface, and writing. Each of those may be made up of more speci ...

company founded in 1995 by David W. Bradley. The company is based in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and was founded after Bradley left Sir-Tech. ;Games *''Wizards & Warriors'' (2000) *''Dungeon Lords'' (2005) *'' Dungeon Lords: The Orb and the Oracle'' (cancelled) *''

Dungeon Lords MMXII ''Dungeon Lords'' is an action role-playing game developed by Heuristic Park, originally published by DreamCatcher Interactive and Typhoon Games, and released in 2005. However, many features were left out from the original release in an effort ...

'' (2012)

References

External links

Official Heuristic Park website

David W. Bradley's profile
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...

Heuristic Park
at MobyGames {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, David W. Video game designers Video game programmers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Origin Systems people Missing middle or first names Video game writers