David Whatley
Encyclopedia
David Whatley is the President and CEO of Simutronics
Corporation, a multiplayer game company in St. Charles, Missouri. He was the co-founder of the company in 1987, and has been a key developer on all of the company's products, including the GemStone
series, DragonRealms
, Modus Operandi
, Alliance of Heroes, and CyberStrike
, which won the Online Game of the Year award from Computer Gaming World
magazine in 1993.
, graduating in 1984, and was involved in the early BBS
culture, writing the FRPBBS software for his privately-owned company, Deep Pan Software. He briefly attended the University of Missouri, St. Louis in 1985, majoring in communications, but left early to found his own software company.
with Tom & Susan Zelinski, and ran the company from his bedroom in his parents' home. Whatley was President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board. The company grew rapidly to the point of grossing $5 million per year, and made the Inc. 500 list in 1999 as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country, with offices in Missouri and Maryland. Simutronics
had approximately 50 full-time employees, and 500 contractors and volunteers. Business relationships were developed with every major online service available at the time, including General Electric's GEnie
to America Online, Prodigy, and CompuServe
. Other partners have included Time Warner, Sony, and Universal Studios. Simutronics
games were the #1 third-party content on America Online, breaking industry records with 2 million user hours per month. Simutronics
' flagship product GemStone is the longest-running product line of its type in the world, with customers who have been with the company since 1988. Whatley innovated the concept of online 3D action games, developing the CyberStrike
3D multiplayer game in 1993. The first of its type, it caused Computer Gaming World
magazine to create the new category of "Online Game of the Year" so it could be awarded to CyberStrike
. In 2007, Inc. magazine again cited Simutronics, this time as one of the 5000 fastest growing companies of the year.
In 2010, Whatley announced that Simutronics would reorganize into two companies, Simutronics Games and HeroEngine, with Whatley taking over the role as President of Simutronics Games, and Neil Harris as President of HeroEngine
.
was a critical and financial success, and has continued to be a top seller on the App store. His second title, geoDefense Swarm went on to receive even more critical acclaim, and was named one of TIME magazine's "Top 10 Video Games of 2009."
Simutronics
Simutronics is an American online games company whose products include GemStone IV and DragonRealms. It was founded in 1987 by David Whatley, with husband and wife Tom & Susan Zelinski...
Corporation, a multiplayer game company in St. Charles, Missouri. He was the co-founder of the company in 1987, and has been a key developer on all of the company's products, including the GemStone
GemStone IV
GemStone IV is a multiplayer text-based online role-playing game produced by Simutronics. Players control characters in a High Fantasy game world named "Elanthia". The first playable version of the game was known as GemStone ][ and was launched in April 1988 on GEnie...
series, DragonRealms
DragonRealms
DragonRealms is a medieval fantasy game set in the world of Elanthia. One of the oldest and most popular examples of the MUD genre, it was developed from 1992-1995 and released in February 1996. It was originally intended for an online service planned by the Ziff-Davis company...
, Modus Operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
, Alliance of Heroes, and CyberStrike
CyberStrike
CyberStrike is a futuristic 3D combat online game by Simutronics Corporation, involving team combat between customizable mechs, each of which is controlled by a different player....
, which won the Online Game of the Year award from Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
magazine in 1993.
Early years
Whatley was born August 10, 1966, in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of three children to Oscie Whatley, a day lily hybridizer, and Dorothy Whatley, who ran a miniatures store. Whatley attended McCluer North High SchoolMcCluer North High School
McCluer North High School, founded in 1971, is a public school in Florissant, Missouri. The McCluer North campus is centrally located in the Ferguson-Florissant School District. Located in a residential area, the campus is bounded by Waterford Drive, St. Catherine and Parker Road. Facing the site...
, graduating in 1984, and was involved in the early BBS
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
culture, writing the FRPBBS software for his privately-owned company, Deep Pan Software. He briefly attended the University of Missouri, St. Louis in 1985, majoring in communications, but left early to found his own software company.
Simutronics
A passionate gamer, in 1987, at the age of 20, he co-founded SimutronicsSimutronics
Simutronics is an American online games company whose products include GemStone IV and DragonRealms. It was founded in 1987 by David Whatley, with husband and wife Tom & Susan Zelinski...
with Tom & Susan Zelinski, and ran the company from his bedroom in his parents' home. Whatley was President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board. The company grew rapidly to the point of grossing $5 million per year, and made the Inc. 500 list in 1999 as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country, with offices in Missouri and Maryland. Simutronics
Simutronics
Simutronics is an American online games company whose products include GemStone IV and DragonRealms. It was founded in 1987 by David Whatley, with husband and wife Tom & Susan Zelinski...
had approximately 50 full-time employees, and 500 contractors and volunteers. Business relationships were developed with every major online service available at the time, including General Electric's GEnie
GEnie
GEnie was an online service created by a General Electric business - GEIS that ran from 1985 through the end of 1999. In 1994, GEnie claimed around 350,000 users. Peak simultaneous usage was around 10,000 users...
to America Online, Prodigy, and CompuServe
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
. Other partners have included Time Warner, Sony, and Universal Studios. Simutronics
Simutronics
Simutronics is an American online games company whose products include GemStone IV and DragonRealms. It was founded in 1987 by David Whatley, with husband and wife Tom & Susan Zelinski...
games were the #1 third-party content on America Online, breaking industry records with 2 million user hours per month. Simutronics
Simutronics
Simutronics is an American online games company whose products include GemStone IV and DragonRealms. It was founded in 1987 by David Whatley, with husband and wife Tom & Susan Zelinski...
' flagship product GemStone is the longest-running product line of its type in the world, with customers who have been with the company since 1988. Whatley innovated the concept of online 3D action games, developing the CyberStrike
CyberStrike
CyberStrike is a futuristic 3D combat online game by Simutronics Corporation, involving team combat between customizable mechs, each of which is controlled by a different player....
3D multiplayer game in 1993. The first of its type, it caused Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
magazine to create the new category of "Online Game of the Year" so it could be awarded to CyberStrike
CyberStrike
CyberStrike is a futuristic 3D combat online game by Simutronics Corporation, involving team combat between customizable mechs, each of which is controlled by a different player....
. In 2007, Inc. magazine again cited Simutronics, this time as one of the 5000 fastest growing companies of the year.
In 2010, Whatley announced that Simutronics would reorganize into two companies, Simutronics Games and HeroEngine, with Whatley taking over the role as President of Simutronics Games, and Neil Harris as President of HeroEngine
HeroEngine
HeroEngine is a 3D game engine and server technology platform originally developed by Simutronics Corporation specifically for building MMO-style games...
.
Critical Thought Games
In 2009, Whatley founded Critical Thought Games to develop his own line of iPhone games. His first title, geoDefenseGeoDefense
geoDefense is a 2008 tower defense game created for iOS devices developed by Critical Thought. A sequel called geoDefense Swarm was released on September 14, 2009. An XBox Live enabled version of was released for Windows Phone on June 8, 2011.-Gameplay:...
was a critical and financial success, and has continued to be a top seller on the App store. His second title, geoDefense Swarm went on to receive even more critical acclaim, and was named one of TIME magazine's "Top 10 Video Games of 2009."
Products
- GemStone II (1988–1989)
- Orb Wars (1988–1999)
- GemStone III (1989–2003)
- CyberStrikeCyberStrikeCyberStrike is a futuristic 3D combat online game by Simutronics Corporation, involving team combat between customizable mechs, each of which is controlled by a different player....
(1993–1999) - Modus OperandiModus operandiModus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
(1995–present) - DragonRealmsDragonRealmsDragonRealms is a medieval fantasy game set in the world of Elanthia. One of the oldest and most popular examples of the MUD genre, it was developed from 1992-1995 and released in February 1996. It was originally intended for an online service planned by the Ziff-Davis company...
(1996–present) - Alliance of Heroes (2003–present)
- CyberStrike 2 (1998–present)
- GemStone IVGemStone IVGemStone IV is a multiplayer text-based online role-playing game produced by Simutronics. Players control characters in a High Fantasy game world named "Elanthia". The first playable version of the game was known as GemStone ][ and was launched in April 1988 on GEnie...
(2003–present) - HeroEngineHeroEngineHeroEngine is a 3D game engine and server technology platform originally developed by Simutronics Corporation specifically for building MMO-style games...
- geoDefenseGeoDefensegeoDefense is a 2008 tower defense game created for iOS devices developed by Critical Thought. A sequel called geoDefense Swarm was released on September 14, 2009. An XBox Live enabled version of was released for Windows Phone on June 8, 2011.-Gameplay:...
(2009) - geoDefense Swarm (2009)
- geoSpark (2010)
- Fantasy University (2010)
Public speaking
- Keynote Speaker, 360 iDev Conference, San Jose 2010
- "From Zero to TIME Magazine: App Success," Game Developers Conference, 2010
- "The Massively Collaborative Development Paradigm Shift", ION Game Conference, 2008, Seattle
- Austin Game Developers Conference, 2006, MMO Technology Platforms
- AAAS 2006, Virtual Worlds
- GDC 1994, Programming Commercial Virtual Reality
Writing
- "Towards Photorealism in Virtual Botany" in GPU Gems 2: Programming Techniques for High-Performance Graphics and General-Purpose Computation
Awards
- "Online Game of the Year" for CyberStrike, by Computer Gaming World magazine, 1993
- "Best of Show" and "Most Original" for Hero's Journey at E3 2006
- "Inc. 500", Inc. magazine, 1999
- HeroEngine, "Best Development Tool", 2006
- HeroEngine, finalist for "Best Engine" from Game Developer MagazineGame Developer MagazineGame Developer magazine is the premier publication for working video game creators, and reaches over 35,000 industry professionals monthly. Each month, industry leaders and experts share technical solutions, review new game development tools, and discuss strategies for creating innovative,...
2006.