''Software Star'' is a 1985 game released by

Kevin Toms Kevin Toms (born 22, April 1957 in Paignton is a British video game designer who founded Addictive Games and created the original ''Football Manager'', a simulation game released in the early 1980s. It included a portrait of his bearded face on ...

for the

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

and

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

Gameplay

This is essentially a text-based management game. The player's task is to manage a software house, create new games, manage publicity and make a profit of £10000. Meanwhile, the player must achieve the status of "Software Star" for ten successive months. Having a large portfolio of games has its advantages by increasing the player's monthly sales. However, money must be spent on promoting aging titles. Each game has its own quality rating, where the quality increases with the amount of time spent on development. Managing the productivity of the player's staff is also key to the game. The player can view a snapshot of productivity over the last six months and decide to discipline, offer incentives, or take no action. There are four sales regions where the player's products are sold. These regions are ordered from one to four, depending on how much importance they are given based on consulting the sales from the previous month. Public relations is adjusted by choosing Honesty or

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. Each decision has an effect on the company's image. Finally, the player will have to evaluate the potential market depending on the time of year and decide how many advertising pages to buy. Markets are larger around

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

and New Year. It is then time to look at the sales figures as the player's game enters the Top 20. The player is then given a sales break-even figure and each game climbs the chart if it sells well to the Number One spot. At the end of the month, the player views a monthly statement showing progress and Stardom rating ranging from Nobody to Software Star. At the end of the year, the directors will check the player's progress. They will fire the player, raise the bar, or give the player another chance.

Reception

''Zzap!64'' thought the game was a disappointing follow-up to ''Football Manager'', with too little to do for the player and less feeling of control. It received a rating of 43%.

References

External links

*{{WoS game, id=0004621
''Software Star''
at

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1985 video games Addictive Games games Amstrad CPC games Business simulation games Commodore 64 games Europe-exclusive video games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games

Gameplay

See also

Reception

References

External links