Tim Skelly (February 10, 1951 – death reported March 2, 2020) was a

video game designer Video game design is the process of designing the rules and content of video games in the Video game development#Pre-production, pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the Video game development ...

and game programmer who developed arcade games for

Cinematronics Cinematronics Incorporated was an arcade game video game developer, developer that primarily released vector graphics games in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While other companies released games based on raster graphics, raster displays, early ...

from 1978 until 1981. He designed a series of pure

action games An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, rhythm games and ...

using black and white

vector graphics Vector graphics are a form of computer graphics in which visual images are created directly from geometric shapes defined on a Cartesian plane, such as points, lines, curves and polygons. The associated mechanisms may include vector displ ...

. One of his early games, '' Rip Off'', was the first arcade game with two-player cooperative play. '' Star Hawk'', '' Rip Off'', '' Armor Attack'', and ''

Star Castle ''Star Castle'' is a vector graphics multidirectional shooter released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1980. The game involves obliterating a series of defenses orbiting a stationary turret in the center of the screen. The display is black and wh ...

'' were all later ported to the

Vectrex The Vectrex is a vector display-based home video game console, the only one ever designed and released for the home market, that was developed by Smith Engineering and manufactured and sold by General Consumer Electronics. It was first released ...

home system. After leaving Cinematronics, he worked briefly for

Gremlin A gremlin is a mischievous fictional creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century to originally explain malfunctions in aircraft, and later in other machinery, processes, and their operators. Depictions of these creatures vary widely. ...

before becoming an independent contractor with

Gottlieb Gottlieb (formerly D. Gottlieb & Co.) was an American arcade game corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is best known for creating a vast line of pinball machines and arcade games (including ''Q*bert'') throughout much of the 20th century. ...

. His first game for Gottlieb was the esoteric '' Reactor'', and he had it written into his contract that he would get a credit on the title screen for designing the game. Previously, programmers had occasionally sneaked their names into their games as

easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are Egg decorating, decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter ...

, and '' Berzerk'' designer Alan McNeil's signature was on every cabinet, but ''Reactor'' was the first coin-op to have the designer's name appear in-game with the manufacturer's blessing. Skelly also designed two other games for Gottlieb, ''Insector'' and ''Screw Loose'', which were never released. Later he worked for Incredible Technologies, then

Microsoft Research Microsoft Research (MSR) is the research subsidiary of Microsoft. It was created in 1991 by Richard Rashid, Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold with the intent to advance state-of-the-art computing and solve difficult world problems through technologi ...

. In 1983, a book of video game cartoons by Tim Skelly was published as ''Shoot the Robot, then Shoot Mom''. When

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

moved most of the development of '' Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' to North America, Skelly joined the team and assisted with art and design of the game. Later in his career, he worked on the popular '' Golden Tee'' arcade games. Skelly died on March 2, 2020.

Games

Design and/or programming

*'' Star Hawk'' *'' Sundance'' *''

Warrior A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste. History ...

'' *'' Rip Off'' *'' Armor Attack'' *''

'', design *'' Reactor'' *''Trivia Master'', programming, graphic design *''

BattleTech ''BattleTech'' is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The trademark ...

'', software and hardware design for original game center in Chicago

Other roles

*''

Tail Gunner A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun or au ...

'', producer, cabinet art *'' Sonic the Hedgehog 2''. design advisor, art director *'' Slick Shot'', graphic design *'' Golden Tee Golf II'', artwork *'' Golden Par Golf'', artwork

Unreleased games

*'' War of the Worlds'' *''Insector'' *''Screw Loose''

References

Video game programmers 1951 births 2020 deaths {{videogame-bio-stub