Adventure Soft is a UK-based video game developer which was established in the 1980s by Mike Woodroffe, then owner of Callisto Computers, one of the very early computer shops. Callisto Computers was, amongst other things, an importer and reseller of Adventure International games. It operates out of Sutton Coldfield[1]. It is best known for the successful Simon the Sorcerer series of games. A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates computer or video games. ... Adventure International was a video game publishing company started in 1978 by Scott Adams and his wife Alexis. ... Map sources for Sutton Coldfield at grid reference SP1395 Sutton Coldfield constituency shown within Birmingham Sutton Coldfield is an area of north-eastern Birmingham, England and features two of the foremost Residential Estates in the Midlands, Little Aston Park and the Four Oaks Estate, both home to the areas... Simon the Sorcerer 2 screenshot Simon the Sorcerer is a series of point-and-click adventure games created by AdventureSoft. ...

Adventure Soft's beginnings

In the beginning Adventure Soft operated out of Birmingham converting the Adventure International games by Scott Adams to run on microcomputers found in the United Kingdom market which were not currently supported. Adventure Soft employed Brian Howarth whose Mysterious Adventure series was the British answer to Scott Adams games, and who used the same game system as Scott to perform the ports. The city from above Centenary Square. ... Adventure International was a video game publishing company started in 1978 by Scott Adams and his wife Alexis. ... Scott Adams (born June 8, 1957) is the creator of the Dilbert comic strip and the author of several business commentaries, social satires, and experimental philosophy books. ... The Commodore 64 was one of the most popular microcomputers of its era. ...

After a time the rate of release of games by Adventure International slowed and the company began to write other games using the same system. The first and perhaps most successful of these was a 1984 game based on Gremlins written by Brian Howarth and with artwork from Teoman Irmak, whose artwork was to become legendary amongst early microcomputer enthusiasts for its quality. Adventure International was a video game publishing company started in 1978 by Scott Adams and his wife Alexis. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gremlins is a 1984 movie directed by Joe Dante. ...

1985 saw the release of a game based on the television series "Robin of Sherwood", based on the Robin Hood legend. This game was the first containing game design by Mike Woodroffe, and also compression and a graphics system capable of very limited animation. This article is about the year. ... Robin of Sherwood, retitled Robin Hood in the US, was an acclaimed 1980s British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. ... Robin Hood is the archetypal English folk hero; a courteous, pious and swashbuckling outlaw of the medieval era who, in modern versions of the legend, battles overbearing authority in various forms and most commonly steals from the rich and gives to the poor (usually to reverse the effects of harsh...

By 1986 Adventure International in the USA was bankrupt. Adventure Soft signed deals that gave it access to the Fighting Fantasy Game Books by Steve Jackson(UK) and Ian Livingstone, as well as a new more sophisticated game system. 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, administration - see text) in the UK. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ... Temple of Terror, a typical Fighting Fantasy gamebook Fighting Fantasy is a series of single-player role-playing gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, originally published by Puffin and now by Wizard Books. ... Ian Livingstone (born December 1949 in Prestbury, England) is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. ...

The first fruits of this deal were "Seas Of Blood" by Michael Woodroffe and Alan Cox, followed by Stefan Ufnowski's Rebel Planet. "Temple Of Terror" by Mike and Simon Woodroffe followed shortly afterwards. Alan Cox (born 1968) is a programmer heavily involved in the development of the Linux kernel since its early days (1991). ... Simon Woodroffe is a Dragon, popular motivational speaker, entrepreneur and Edinburgh Fringe show performer . ...

"Blizzard Pass" (a single player game closely related to AberMUD) by Alan Cox and "Kayleth" (by Stefan Ufnowski and Ann Ufnowski) followed as the company diversified the game range. Adventure Soft also began producing games for Tynesoft including the game of Supergran and "Terraquake" (featuring He-Man). AberMUD was the first popular internet-based MUD. The first version was written in B by Alan Cox for an old Honeywell mainframe and opened in 1987. ... Alan Cox (born 1968) is a programmer heavily involved in the development of the Linux kernel since its early days (1991). ... Tynesoft Computer Software was a software developer of educational software founded in 1983. ... Supergran was a childrens television programme about a grandmother with super powers. ... He-Man as seen in a DC comic from December, 1982, one of his earliest appearances and preceding the debut of his animated series. ...

With the rise of powerful systems like the Commodore Amiga and a growing disinterest in text focussed games Adventure Soft began to actively exploit the graphical and multimedia angle of the games. The first 32bit game "Personal Nightmare" based on a design by Keith Wadhams featured music, animation and some mouse control coupled with a traditional text based game system. It was followed by two games based around Elvira Mistress of the Dark which moved away from keyboard command input to mouse driven gaming with animation and music from Jezz Woodroffe (a session musician with Robert Plant, Black Sabbath and other bands). The Elvira games used a modified AberMUD 5 game engine. Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore International, a West Chester, Pennsylvania based electronics company who was a vital player in the home/personal computer field in the 1980s. ... The original Amiga (1985) The Amiga is a family of home/personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation as an advanced game console. ... Robert Plant performing live on stage at the University of East Anglia in November 2002. ... This article is about the British heavy metal band. ... AberMUD was the first popular internet-based MUD. The first version was written in B by Alan Cox for an old Honeywell mainframe and opened in 1987. ...

Later years

A remodelled Adventure Soft Publishing was born in 1992 and began to release the very successful Simon the Sorcerer series games, continuing the trend towards more graphical gaming. 1992 (MCMXCII in Roman) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Simon the Sorcerer 2 screenshot Simon the Sorcerer is a series of point-and-click adventure games created by AdventureSoft. ...

Adventure Soft also crated the less well know game The Feeble Files in 1997, with the lead character being voice by Robert Llewellyn who played Kryten in popular BBC situation comedy Red Dwarf. Robert Llewellyn Robert Llewellyn (born 10 March 1956 in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England) is a British actor, presenter, and writer. ... This article describes the British science fiction comedy television series. ...

In 1998 Mike and Simon Woodroffe set up Headfirst Productions to allow them to develop non adventure style games.

External links

• Official Website

• Headfirst Productions