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 magazine A disk magazine, colloquially known as a diskmag or diskzine, is a magazine that is distributed in electronic form to be read using computers. These had some popularity in the 1980s and 1990s as periodicals distributed on floppy disk, hence t ...

s (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 Softdisk was a computer program, software and Internet company based in Shreveport, Louisiana. Founded in 1981, its original products were disk magazines (which they termed "magazettes", for "magazine on diskette"). It was affiliated and partly ...

'' 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 Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

; ''

Softdisk G-S ''Softdisk'' (), originally ''Softdisk Magazette'', was a disk magazine for the Apple II computer line, published from 1981 through 1995. It was the first publication of the company that was also known as Softdisk, which would go on to publis ...

'' 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

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, 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 A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

of Commodore buffs.

''Big Blue Disk''

''Big Blue Disk'' was a monthly

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 Alfonso John Romero (born October 28, 1967) is an American video game developer. He co-founded id Software and designed their early games, including ''Wolfenstein 3D'' (1992), ''Doom (1993 video game), Doom'' (1993), ''Doom II'' (1994), ''Hexen ...

. The disk's developers were

John Carmack John D. Carmack II (born August 21, 1970) is an American computer programmer and video game developer. He co-founded the video game company id Software and was the lead programmer of its 1990s games ''Commander Keen'', ''Wolfenstein 3D'', ''Do ...

, and Adrian Carmack.

Tom Hall Tom Hall (born September 2, 1964) is an American video game designer best known for his work with id Software on titles such as '' Doom'', '' Wolfenstein 3D'' and ''Commander Keen''. He has also been the co-founder of Ion Storm, together wit ...

, 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 ''Catacomb 3-D'' (also known as ''Catacomb 3-D: A New Dimension'', ''Catacomb 3-D: The Descent'', and ''Catacombs 3'') is a first-person shooter video game, the third in the '' Catacomb'' series, the first of which to feature 3D computer graphic ...

'' and ''Keen Dreams'' (the "lost" episode of the ''

Commander Keen ''Commander Keen'' is a series of side-scrolling platform video games developed primarily by id Software. The series consists of six main episodes, a "lost" episode, and a final game; all but the final game were released for MS-DOS in 1990 and ...

'' series). Softdisk later hired a new team to create new titles using the

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games which generally includes relevant libraries and support programs such as a level editor. The "engine" terminology is akin to the term " software engine" u ...

s 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 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 ...

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'', ''

'' 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 ...