Delta 4
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Delta 4 was a British software developer founded by
Fergus McNeill Fergus McNeill (born in 1969) is a Scottish author and interactive entertainment developer. He has designed and created games since the early 1980s, working with companies such as CRL Group, CRL, Silversoft, Macmillan Group, Activision, SCi Gam ...
, writing and publishing
interactive fiction Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text Command (computing), commands to control Player character, characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narrati ...
. Delta 4 designed games between 1984 and
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
. Some were self-published, others were released by
CRL Group CRL Group plc was a Great Britain, British video game development and publishing company. Originally CRL stood for "Computer Rentals Limited". It was based in King's Yard, London and run by Clem Chambers. at World of Spectrum They released a numb ...
, Piranha Software, Silversoft, or On-Line Entertainment. Delta 4 were also credited with providing the code for Jonathan Nash's tape magazine '' YS2'' which was given away free with '' Your Sinclair'' magazine and published by
Future Publishing Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was founded by Chris Anderson a ...
.


History

Delta 4 was formed by McNeill with a few friends whilst still at school. Their debut text adventure games were the ''Dragonstar'' trilogy ("...like '' Classic Adventure'' but without the interesting bits") and two ''Holy Joystick'' comedy adventures, self-published in 1984. Gilsoft's '' The Quill'' was the design software. Their first critical success was '' Bored of the Rings'', inspired by the ''Harvard Lampoon'' novel of the same name. Published in 1985, it received a '' Sinclair User'' Classic award. They also published '' Robin of Sherlock''. In the early 1990s, Delta 4 developed several CD-based games. '' The Town with No Name'', ''Psycho Killer'' and ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' were all developed using D.U.N.E. (Developers Universal Non-programming Environment), and all games were panned by both critics and players.


Games developed

*''Sherwood Forest'' (Delta 4, 1984) *''The Dragonstar Trilogy'' (Delta 4, 1984) *''Quest for the Holy Joystick'' (Delta 4, 1984) *''Return of the Holy Joystick'' (Delta 4, 1984) *'' Bored of the Rings'' (Delta 4/
CRL Group CRL Group plc was a Great Britain, British video game development and publishing company. Originally CRL stood for "Computer Rentals Limited". It was based in King's Yard, London and run by Clem Chambers. at World of Spectrum They released a numb ...
, 1985) *'' Robin of Sherlock'' (Silversoft, 1985) *''Galaxias'' (Delta 4, 1986) *'' The Colour of Magic'' ( Piranha Software, 1986) *'' The Boggit'' (CRL Group, 1986) *''The Big Sleaze'' (Piranha Software, 1987) *'' Murder Off Miami'' (CRL Group, 1987) *'' The Town with No Name'' (Delta 4/On-Line, 1992) *''Psycho Killer'' (Delta 4/On-Line, 1992)


''Psycho Killer''

''Psycho Killer'' is a
graphic Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...
action-adventure game An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action ...
released by On-Line Entertainment in 1992 for the Commodore CDTV. A version for
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...
was released in 1993. The game involves the protagonist (unnamed in game but listed in credits as "John Schulz") going on a quest in order to save a woman (listed as "Sarah Collins") from a murderer ("Morgan James"), and to save himself. The graphics for the game were created using digitised still photographs that were taken in the suburbs of
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Gameplay of ''Psycho Killer'' is restricted to a point-and-click interface, such as clicking certain arrows to go their respective direction. There are multiple times in the game where the player must respond promptly to a quick time event in order to proceed to the next scene. Failure to do so can result in the game ending with the protagonist's death. In issue 32 of '' Amiga Format'', the reviewer gave the game 13% and complained of "poor gameplay", comparing it to an "interactive home movie" and asked who would want to play a game featuring a "spotty herbert who drives a Vauxhall Chevette". The game was reviewed again in issue 39 of the same magazine; the review gave it the same score,Alt URL
/ref> and complained again about the poor gameplay. ''Amiga Joker'' reviewed the game more positively. The magazine gave the game a 3/5, stating, "with a little bit of goodwill, the game could be described as a interactive movie". The magazine ended the review calling the game "the best pure CD game ever." ''Amiga Magazine'' also reviewed the game positively, but did not give a score. The magazine spoke about the "forgiving reaction time". The magazine also said that the game is well-tuned to the CDTV. The magazine complained that the mouse pointer was black which made it "impossible to see" during some scenes.


References

{{reflist


External links


Official Delta 4 website
Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom Video game companies established in 1984 1984 establishments in England