Softdisk was a

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

and

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

company based in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

. Founded in 1981, its original products were disk magazines (which they termed "magazettes", for "magazine on diskette"). It was affiliated and partly owned by paper magazine ''

Softalk ''Softalk'' () was an American magazine of the early 1980s that focused on the Apple II computer. Published from September 1980 through August 1984, it featured articles about hardware and software associated with the Apple II platform and the p ...

'' at founding, but survived its demise. The company has been known by a variety of names, including ''Softdisk Magazette'', ''Softdisk Publishing'', ''Softdisk, Inc.'', ''Softdisk Internet Services'', ''Softdisk, L.L.C.'', and ''Magazines On Disk''. Softdisk is the former workplace of several of the founders of

id Software id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: game programmer, programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer T ...

Publications

Publications included '' Softdisk'' for the

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

; ''Loadstar (magazine), Loadstar'' for the Commodore 64; ''Big Blue Disk'' (later ''On Disk Monthly'' and ''Softdisk PC''), ''The Gamer’s Edge'', and ''PC Business Disk'' for the

IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the List of IBM Personal Computer models, IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible ''de facto'' standard. Released on ...

; ''Diskworld'' (later ''Softdisk for Mac'') and ''DTPublisher'' (specializing in desktop publishing) for the Apple Macintosh; '' Softdisk G-S'' for the

Apple IIGS The Apple IIGS (styled as II) is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Inc., Apple Computer beginning in September 1986. It is the fifth and most powerful model of the Apple II family. The "GS" in the name stands for "Graphics and Sound" ...

; ''Softdisk for Windows'' for

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, published from 1994–1999; and ''Shareware Spotlight'', a short-lived publication featuring the best Shareware offerings for IBM PC compatibles. By the late 1990s, these publications were discontinued, although ''Loadstar'' had a continued life as an independent company catering to a cult following of Commodore buffs.

''Big Blue Disk''

''Big Blue Disk'' was a monthly disk magazine that was published by Softdisk for

and compatibles that began publication in 1986. It required 256k of memory. Softdisk was sued by IBM for trademark infringement over the use of the name "Big Blue" in 1989.

Standalone programs and Gamer's Edge

Softdisk is most famous for being the former workplace of several of the founders of

, who worked on a short-lived game subscription product, ''Gamer's Edge''. ''Gamer's Edge'' was a monthly PC game disk started in 1990 by John Romero. The disk's developers were John Carmack, John Romero, and Adrian Carmack. Tom Hall, then a programmer who worked in the Apple II department of Softdisk, would come in at night to help with the game design. Lane Roathe was the editor. These developers later left Softdisk to found id Software. To complete their contractual obligation to Softdisk, the developers built several more games for Softdisk, including '' Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion'', '' Rescue Rover'', '' Hovertank 3D'', '' Rescue Rover 2'', '' Tiles of the Dragon'', '' Catacomb 3D'' and ''Keen Dreams'' (the "lost" episode of the '' Commander Keen'' series). Softdisk later hired a new team to create new titles using the game engines of the earlier games, including the later founders of JAM Productions who created '' Blake Stone''. This connection led to Softdisk being mentioned extensively in the earlier parts of the id chronicling book '' Masters of Doom''. Also, some of the earliest employees of Origin Systems worked there before moving on: Greg Malone ('' Moebius'', '' Windwalker''), Dallas Snell (''The Quest'' and ''Ring Quest''), Joel Rea (''The Quest'' and ''Ring Quest''), and Alan Gardner (''Windwalker'', '' Ultima VI''). Malone also later worked as a producer for 3D Realms. Softdisk continued to publish video games into the mid-1990s, most notably '' In Pursuit of Greed'', based on an alpha version of the Doom engine derived from '' Shadowcaster'', and ''Alien Rampage'', based on the original ''Ravager'' side-scroller once being developed by Apogee.

Current state

Since 1995, Softdisk had been an

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...

web hosting service A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that hosts websites for clients, i.e. it offers the facilities required for them to create and maintain a site and makes it accessible on the World Wide Web. Companies providing web h ...

, and Internet developer as well, and this eventually became their primary area of business. They offered local dialup service in the Shreveport area, and Web hosting and development services. As of 2006, their website redirected to that of Bayou Internet, which had taken over their Internet operations. The downloadstore.com site formerly owned and operated by Softdisk was later run by Flat Rock Software, which also published former Softdisk product Screen Saver Studio and most of the Gamer's Edge titles (as well as on GOG.com). The source code for '' Catacomb'', '' Catacomb 3D'' and '' Hovertank 3D'' was released by Flat Rock in June 2014 under the

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...

in a manner similar to those done by id and partners.

References

External links

*
Softdisk Legacy Software information (official site archive)

Licensed collection of the Apple versions: Softdisk Magazine; Softdisk G-S and UpTime (includes Mac)

''Softdisk''
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 ...