''The Graphics Magician'', subtitled ''Picture Painter'', is a utility for drawing bitmapped images and playing them back from user-developed programs. It was written 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 ...

by Penguin Software founder Mark Pelczarski and Jon Niedfeldt, and published by Penguin Software in 1982. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and IBM PC. The routines for playing back graphics and animation were written by

David Lubar David Lubar (born March 16, 1954) is an author of numerous books for teens. He is also a video game programmer, who programmed ''Super Breakout'' for the Game Boy and ''Frogger'' for both the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy. He ...

and Chris Jochumson. ''Graphics Magician'' doesn't store images in their final form, but records the commands used to create them using a "tiny vector graphics-like language." The software plays them back to re-create the image. Images can be layered based on when each shape is drawn. ''The Graphics Magician'' was used to generate images for some commercial

graphic adventure An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an Interactive storytelling, interactive story, driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus ...

s of the 8-bit computer era, including ''Dragon's Keep'' from

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, ''

Crypt of Medea Crypt of Medea is an adventure game written by Arthur Britto and Allan Lamb for the Apple II. It was published by Sir-Tech in 1984. ''Crypt of Medea'' makes use of graphics, but is controlled via text commands. The game begins with the player t ...

'' from

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 ...

, and Penguin's own '' The Quest''. The playback routines were free to use in commercial products, but required a license from Penguin Software. The ''Dragon's Keep'' manual specifically gives credit to ''Graphics Magician'' and the authors of the graphics functions.

History

Pelczarski worked as a high school and college professor in computer science. When he got the

, he decided to see what could be done with the new color display. At first, his small skills were swapped for computer supplies at various shops. In 1979 he started selling a precursor to ''The Graphics Magician'' called ''Magic Paintbrush''. This was followed by ''The Complete Graphics System'', ''The Complete Graphics System II'', and finally ''The Graphics Magician''.

Reception

''BYTE'' in 1982 said that Graphics Magician would appeal to both new and experienced Apple users, and favorably noted the lack of copy protection.

References

{{Penguin Software 1982 software Graphics software Apple II software Atari 8-bit computer software Commodore 64 software