Graftgold
Encyclopedia
Graftgold was an independent computer game developer that came to prominence in the 1980s, producing numerous computer games on a variety of 8-bit
, 16-bit
and 32-bit
platforms.
decided to quit his day job as a commercial programmer to concentrate on producing computer games. Realising that his ambitions were too much for one man to realise, he hired a close friend, Andrew Braybrook, to work for him. After a brief spell developing games for the Dragon
home computer, Graftgold soon turned their attention to the more lucrative Commodore 64
and ZX Spectrum
markets.
Much of Graftgold's early success came about through their association with Hewson Consultants. Formed by Andrew Hewson in the early 1980s, Hewson Consultants
became one of the UK's most successful computer game publishers. Whereas many publishers at the time relied on larger parent companies to handle the manufacturing of their products, Andrew Hewson owned his own cassette duplication plant, affording them much greater control over their ability to respond to market trends. Hewson were eventually bought out by 21st Century Entertainment in 1991, but left behind a legacy that includes more than a fair share of classic 8-bit and 16-bit titles. Many of Graftgold's most memorable titles were published by Hewson, including (but not limited to): Paradroid
, Uridium
, Quazatron
and Ranarama
.
, the software division of British Telecom.
Hewson weren't happy to see their most successful development partner jump ship, particularly because Graftgold were due to deliver two keenly anticipated titles -- Magnetron (by Steve Turner, for the ZX Spectrum) and Morpheus (by Andrew Braybrook, for the C64). Graftgold argued that because they weren't contracted to Hewson, they were perfectly within their rights to seek an alternate publisher. Unable to sustain a protracted legal wrangle, Hewson eventually settled with Telecomsoft out of court and parted company with Graftgold.
Graftgold's relationship with Telecomsoft was considerably short lived, producing only a small handful of titles. The most successful game to emerge from this relationship is undoubtedly Rainbow Islands
, a near perfect conversion of Taito's classic 1987 arcade machine for the C64, Spectrum and Amstrad CPC
in 1989. Due to complicated contractual obligations, the Amiga
and Atari ST
versions of Rainbow Islands were published by Ocean Software in 1990.
The success of Rainbow Islands solidified Graftgold's reputation as a dependable conversion house, which led to them producing further critically acclaimed conversions of arcade games (such as Flying Shark and Off Road Racer) in addition to their original titles. Graftgold's path through the 16-bit era, however, would remain rocky. The acquisition of Telecomsoft by Microprose
in 1989 worked in their favour, but newly-forged deals with Hewson Consultants (by then on its last legs) and Activision
proved disastrous. Hewson's liquidation forced them to sell the publishing rights for Paradroid 90 to Activision. While the game sold well on the Amiga, a PC Engine
version that had been in development was shelved. To make matters worse, Graftgold had also been developing Realms
, an expensive realtime strategy game, for Activision when it was announced that the publishing giant was in severe financial difficulty and had begun closing down many of its international operations. No longer contracted to develop any titles for Microprose, the future of Graftgold looked bleak.
. Graftgold had already formed a close working relationship with Virgin through their development of Off Road Racer a few years earlier. Having bought back the rights for Realms from Activision, Graftgold finished the game for Virgin. From 1991 to 1993, Graftgold concentrated on Sega
's primary gaming platforms — the Master System, Game Gear and Mega Drive — developing and converting numerous titles for these consoles for Virgin.
At the same time they were developing Sega games for Virgin, Graftgold also struck up a publishing deal with Renegade
, who salvaged a number of products that had initially been promised to Mirrorsoft
. Graftgold's experience had taught them that one way to ensure survival in the industry was to forge deals with multiple publishers rather than place all their eggs in one basket. Renegade published Graftgold's critically acclaimed Fire and Ice platform game on a number of formats, as well as Uridium 2 on the Amiga.
Somewhere between the early and mid-1990s, two things happened which would prove to be the beginning of the end for Graftgold. The 8-bit console formats breathed their last breath as the NES/Famicom
and Sega Master System made way for their 16-bit successors. As a consequence, Graftgold's 8-bit conversion work quickly dried up. The Amiga and Atari ST were also becoming obsolete as gaming platforms around this time. By the time Graftgold had completed all their contractual obligations for the 8-bit consoles and 16-bit computers, it was already too late to establish a significant foothold within the 16-bit console market. Graftgold would only develop one title apiece for the Sega Mega Drive and SNES/Super Famicom
(Ottifants and Empire Soccer 94 respectively, although the latter would remain unpublished).
The fledgling PlayStation
market remained a difficult nut to crack. Just as the transition from 8-bit to 16-bit had escalated development costs and required a significant expansion of resources, so too did the transition from 16-bit to 32-bit
platforms. PlayStation development kits were notoriously expensive. Graftgold were able to afford enough to allow them to begin development on International MotoX and a PS1 conversion of Rainbow Islands, but they couldn't afford to develop any other titles. Their financial security now depended on these two titles alone.
) failed to ignite the interest of modern PS1 gamers too.
With very little income coming their way from their two PS1 titles, Graftgold found it difficult to sustain development of Hardcorps, the one title they were contracted to produce for a little known publisher by the name of Coconuts. With an advance far below what was required to finance the game's production, Graftgold were forced to begin laying off staff. An eleventh hour rescue bid from another developer, Perfect 10 Productions (responsible for the highly successful Discworld
adventure games), helped finance Graftgold long enough to seek out an alternative publishing deal for Hardcorps with Psygnosis, but this fell through after numerous delays.
Graftgold finally folded in early 1998.
Turner's solo projects for Graftgold included 3D Space Wars, Astroclone, Quazatron, Ranarama and Magnetron for the ZX Spectrum. He later contributed towards most of Graftgold's later projects on the 16-bit and 32-bit platforms.
Since the demise of Graftgold, Turner has continued to work in the IT industry.
home computer, Braybrook made his mark with the publication of Gribbly's Day Out by Hewson in 1985. Combining elements of platform games and shoot-em ups with colourful, cartoon-like graphics, the game instantly made him a name to watch.
Towards the end of 1985 came Braybrook's classic Paradroid
. Regarded by many C64 gamers as one of the greatest games ever made, Paradroid was a shoot-em up that featured exceptionally intelligent enemies, unique gameplay and fast-scrolling bas relief graphics that were quickly emulated by many other developers.
Two more Braybrook games arrived in 1986. Uridium
proved to be an even more impressive programming feat than Paradroid. It was a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em up that required the player to navigate the hazardous surface of a number of colossal dreadnaughts, strafing targets whilst simultaneously avoiding waves of fighters that screamed past at blistering speeds. The smooth, metallic graphics became the standard by which all future games of the genre would be judged. Alleykat arrived later in the year. Balanced somewhere between a vertically-scrolling racer and a shoot-em up, the game (while technically impressive) proved to be exceptionally difficult and disappointed a significant percentage of Braybrook's fan base.
Braybrook's next title, Morpheus, was published by Rainbird (Telecomsoft) in 1987. Combining elements of resource development games and the time-honoured shoot-em up, Morpheus was Braybrook's most adventurous game to date. Despite intriguing gameplay and impressive graphics, the high learning curve and somewhat experimental gameplay translated into poor sales. The last of Braybrook's classic C64 titles, Intensity, arrived in 1988. A slightly more strategic shoot-em up, the game enjoyed modest success but failed to recapture the magic of Braybrook's earlier titles.
Braybrook went on to develop a number of titles for the Amiga
, including the conversion of Rainbow Islands
and sequels to Paradroid
and Uridium
before joining the rest of the Graftgold team developing their 16-bit and 32-bit titles. Braybrook remained with Graftgold until the company's demise in 1998, at which time he was working on PC and PS1
versions of Hardcorps. He now works for a UK-based insurance company.
, and a puzzle/shooter, Anarchy, both of which were released in 1987. After leaving Hewson, he joined Graftgold to work on the Spectrum conversion of Flying Shark
, as well as the Amiga and Atari ST versions of Simulcra and Rainbow Islands
.
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
, 16-bit
16-bit
-16-bit architecture:The HP BPC, introduced in 1975, was the world's first 16-bit microprocessor. Prominent 16-bit processors include the PDP-11, Intel 8086, Intel 80286 and the WDC 65C816. The Intel 8088 was program-compatible with the Intel 8086, and was 16-bit in that its registers were 16...
and 32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
platforms.
The Hewson era
Graftgold was formed in 1983 when Steve TurnerSteve Turner (game programmer)
Steve Turner was a computer game musician and designer. His development team, Graftgold, mostly wrote for games published by Hewson Consultants during the 1980s....
decided to quit his day job as a commercial programmer to concentrate on producing computer games. Realising that his ambitions were too much for one man to realise, he hired a close friend, Andrew Braybrook, to work for him. After a brief spell developing games for the Dragon
Dragon 32/64
The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer , and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., in Port Talbot, Wales, and for the US market by Tano of New Orleans, Louisiana...
home computer, Graftgold soon turned their attention to the more lucrative Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
and ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
markets.
Much of Graftgold's early success came about through their association with Hewson Consultants. Formed by Andrew Hewson in the early 1980s, Hewson Consultants
Hewson Consultants
Hewson Consultants were one of the smaller software companies which produced games for home computers in the mid 1980s. They had a reputation for high quality games which continually pushed the boundaries of what the computers were capable of and can be compared favourably with other...
became one of the UK's most successful computer game publishers. Whereas many publishers at the time relied on larger parent companies to handle the manufacturing of their products, Andrew Hewson owned his own cassette duplication plant, affording them much greater control over their ability to respond to market trends. Hewson were eventually bought out by 21st Century Entertainment in 1991, but left behind a legacy that includes more than a fair share of classic 8-bit and 16-bit titles. Many of Graftgold's most memorable titles were published by Hewson, including (but not limited to): Paradroid
Paradroid
Paradroid is a Commodore 64 computer game written by Andrew Braybrook and published by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It was also remade as Paradroid 90 for the Amiga and Atari ST home computers and as Paradroid 2000 for the Acorn Archimedes. There exist several fan-made remakes for modern PCs...
, Uridium
Uridium
Uridium is a science fiction side-scrolling shoot 'em up for the Commodore 64 . It consists of fifteen levels, each named after a metal element, with the last level being called Uridium...
, Quazatron
Quazatron
Quazatron is an action video game genre released in 1986 by Graftgold Ltd. It was designed by Steve Turner for the ZX Spectrum.-History:Quazatron was a Spectrum version of Paradroid, which was written by Graftgold partner Andrew Braybrook in 1985...
and Ranarama
Ranarama
Ranarama is a top-down Gauntlet like action game developed by Graftgold in 1987 and published by Hewson Consultants. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum home computers. In 2004 it was featured as one of the games on the C64 Direct-to-TV...
.
The Telecomsoft era
Towards the end of the 1980s, it became apparent that Hewson Consultants were suffering financial difficulties. Two of its in-house programmers, Dominic Robinson and John Cumming, responded to this development by leaving the company to join Graftgold. Steve Turner decided it would be in Graftgold's best interest to seek another publisher, so they parted ways with Hewson and signed a publishing deal with TelecomsoftTelecomsoft
Telecomsoft was the computer software division of British telecommunications company British Telecom . It was the owner of the well-known Firebird and Rainbird labels, under which it sold video games at a variety of price-points....
, the software division of British Telecom.
Hewson weren't happy to see their most successful development partner jump ship, particularly because Graftgold were due to deliver two keenly anticipated titles -- Magnetron (by Steve Turner, for the ZX Spectrum) and Morpheus (by Andrew Braybrook, for the C64). Graftgold argued that because they weren't contracted to Hewson, they were perfectly within their rights to seek an alternate publisher. Unable to sustain a protracted legal wrangle, Hewson eventually settled with Telecomsoft out of court and parted company with Graftgold.
Graftgold's relationship with Telecomsoft was considerably short lived, producing only a small handful of titles. The most successful game to emerge from this relationship is undoubtedly Rainbow Islands
Rainbow Islands
is a 1987 arcade game developed and published by Taito. The game is subtitled "The Story of Bubble Bobble 2" and is the sequel to Taito's hit game Bubble Bobble from the previous year...
, a near perfect conversion of Taito's classic 1987 arcade machine for the C64, Spectrum and Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC 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 Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
in 1989. Due to complicated contractual obligations, the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
and Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
versions of Rainbow Islands were published by Ocean Software in 1990.
The Microprose/Activision era
The dawn of the 1990s saw a fundamental shift in the way computer games were developed. Whereas the games of the 8-bit era were typically developed by a single individual within a matter of months (sometimes even a few weeks), the more demanding 16-bit titles required larger teams, longer development times and considerably larger budgets. Royalties from their impressive back catalogue of titles allowed Graftgold to make this transition with ease, hiring in excess of 30 additional people to work on a large number of products within a team environment.The success of Rainbow Islands solidified Graftgold's reputation as a dependable conversion house, which led to them producing further critically acclaimed conversions of arcade games (such as Flying Shark and Off Road Racer) in addition to their original titles. Graftgold's path through the 16-bit era, however, would remain rocky. The acquisition of Telecomsoft by Microprose
MicroProse
MicroProse was a video game publisher and developer, founded by Wild Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982 as Microprose Software. In 1993, the company became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte and has remained a subsidiary or brand name under several other corporations since...
in 1989 worked in their favour, but newly-forged deals with Hewson Consultants (by then on its last legs) and Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
proved disastrous. Hewson's liquidation forced them to sell the publishing rights for Paradroid 90 to Activision. While the game sold well on the Amiga, a PC Engine
TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16, fully titled as TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem and known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
version that had been in development was shelved. To make matters worse, Graftgold had also been developing Realms
Realms (video game)
Realms is a 1991 video game produced by Graftgold Ltd. for DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST. It is considered a real-time strategy game. It was published by Virgin Games....
, an expensive realtime strategy game, for Activision when it was announced that the publishing giant was in severe financial difficulty and had begun closing down many of its international operations. No longer contracted to develop any titles for Microprose, the future of Graftgold looked bleak.
The Virgin/Renegade era
Graftgold's salvation arrived in the form of Virgin InteractiveVirgin Interactive
Virgin Interactive was a British video game publisher. It was formed as Virgin Games Ltd. in 1981. The company became much larger after purchasing the budget label, Mastertronic in 1987. It was part of the Virgin Group...
. Graftgold had already formed a close working relationship with Virgin through their development of Off Road Racer a few years earlier. Having bought back the rights for Realms from Activision, Graftgold finished the game for Virgin. From 1991 to 1993, Graftgold concentrated on Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's primary gaming platforms — the Master System, Game Gear and Mega Drive — developing and converting numerous titles for these consoles for Virgin.
At the same time they were developing Sega games for Virgin, Graftgold also struck up a publishing deal with Renegade
Renegade Software
Renegade Software was a UK based games publisher, founded in 1991 by the Bitmap Brothers.Initially the Bitmap Brothers used the new label to publish their own games, after they had become dissatisfied with the practices of publishing companies . Their stated goal was to give game developers more...
, who salvaged a number of products that had initially been promised to Mirrorsoft
Mirrorsoft
Mirrorsoft was a computer game software publisher in the United Kingdom, owned by Mirror Group Newspapers. It was founded as a publisher of educational software before moving into games. One offshoot of its printing roots was Fleet Street Publisher on several platforms...
. Graftgold's experience had taught them that one way to ensure survival in the industry was to forge deals with multiple publishers rather than place all their eggs in one basket. Renegade published Graftgold's critically acclaimed Fire and Ice platform game on a number of formats, as well as Uridium 2 on the Amiga.
Somewhere between the early and mid-1990s, two things happened which would prove to be the beginning of the end for Graftgold. The 8-bit console formats breathed their last breath as the NES/Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
and Sega Master System made way for their 16-bit successors. As a consequence, Graftgold's 8-bit conversion work quickly dried up. The Amiga and Atari ST were also becoming obsolete as gaming platforms around this time. By the time Graftgold had completed all their contractual obligations for the 8-bit consoles and 16-bit computers, it was already too late to establish a significant foothold within the 16-bit console market. Graftgold would only develop one title apiece for the Sega Mega Drive and SNES/Super Famicom
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
(Ottifants and Empire Soccer 94 respectively, although the latter would remain unpublished).
The fledgling PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
market remained a difficult nut to crack. Just as the transition from 8-bit to 16-bit had escalated development costs and required a significant expansion of resources, so too did the transition from 16-bit to 32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
platforms. PlayStation development kits were notoriously expensive. Graftgold were able to afford enough to allow them to begin development on International MotoX and a PS1 conversion of Rainbow Islands, but they couldn't afford to develop any other titles. Their financial security now depended on these two titles alone.
The Warner/Perfect era
Renegade, who owned the publishing rights for International MotoX, were eventually acquired by Time Warner Interactive, but the Warner company soon began to reconsider their software publishing strategy. Graftgold's game was finished but remained unpublished for six months. By the time it was finally released, it made enough profit to cover the large advances afforded to Graftgold, but very little extra income beyond that. Rainbow Islands (packaged with a conversion of Bubble BobbleBubble Bobble
is an arcade game by Taito, first released in 1986 and later ported to numerous home computers and game consoles. The game, starring the twin Bubble Dragons and , is an action-platform game in which players travel through one hundred different stages, blowing and bursting bubbles, avoiding...
) failed to ignite the interest of modern PS1 gamers too.
With very little income coming their way from their two PS1 titles, Graftgold found it difficult to sustain development of Hardcorps, the one title they were contracted to produce for a little known publisher by the name of Coconuts. With an advance far below what was required to finance the game's production, Graftgold were forced to begin laying off staff. An eleventh hour rescue bid from another developer, Perfect 10 Productions (responsible for the highly successful Discworld
Discworld
Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....
adventure games), helped finance Graftgold long enough to seek out an alternative publishing deal for Hardcorps with Psygnosis, but this fell through after numerous delays.
Graftgold finally folded in early 1998.
Steve Turner
After leaving a job in commercial programming in 1982, Steve Turner decided to concentrate on freelance computer game development. Initially forming a company called ST Software, Turner rechristened the company Graftgold after employing his friend, Andrew Braybrook, to assist him with programming duties.Turner's solo projects for Graftgold included 3D Space Wars, Astroclone, Quazatron, Ranarama and Magnetron for the ZX Spectrum. He later contributed towards most of Graftgold's later projects on the 16-bit and 32-bit platforms.
Since the demise of Graftgold, Turner has continued to work in the IT industry.
Andrew Braybrook
Andrew Braybrook is perhaps the best-known name within the Graftgold stable. After a brief stint programming games for the DragonDragon 32/64
The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer , and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., in Port Talbot, Wales, and for the US market by Tano of New Orleans, Louisiana...
home computer, Braybrook made his mark with the publication of Gribbly's Day Out by Hewson in 1985. Combining elements of platform games and shoot-em ups with colourful, cartoon-like graphics, the game instantly made him a name to watch.
Towards the end of 1985 came Braybrook's classic Paradroid
Paradroid
Paradroid is a Commodore 64 computer game written by Andrew Braybrook and published by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It was also remade as Paradroid 90 for the Amiga and Atari ST home computers and as Paradroid 2000 for the Acorn Archimedes. There exist several fan-made remakes for modern PCs...
. Regarded by many C64 gamers as one of the greatest games ever made, Paradroid was a shoot-em up that featured exceptionally intelligent enemies, unique gameplay and fast-scrolling bas relief graphics that were quickly emulated by many other developers.
Two more Braybrook games arrived in 1986. Uridium
Uridium
Uridium is a science fiction side-scrolling shoot 'em up for the Commodore 64 . It consists of fifteen levels, each named after a metal element, with the last level being called Uridium...
proved to be an even more impressive programming feat than Paradroid. It was a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em up that required the player to navigate the hazardous surface of a number of colossal dreadnaughts, strafing targets whilst simultaneously avoiding waves of fighters that screamed past at blistering speeds. The smooth, metallic graphics became the standard by which all future games of the genre would be judged. Alleykat arrived later in the year. Balanced somewhere between a vertically-scrolling racer and a shoot-em up, the game (while technically impressive) proved to be exceptionally difficult and disappointed a significant percentage of Braybrook's fan base.
Braybrook's next title, Morpheus, was published by Rainbird (Telecomsoft) in 1987. Combining elements of resource development games and the time-honoured shoot-em up, Morpheus was Braybrook's most adventurous game to date. Despite intriguing gameplay and impressive graphics, the high learning curve and somewhat experimental gameplay translated into poor sales. The last of Braybrook's classic C64 titles, Intensity, arrived in 1988. A slightly more strategic shoot-em up, the game enjoyed modest success but failed to recapture the magic of Braybrook's earlier titles.
Braybrook went on to develop a number of titles for the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, including the conversion of Rainbow Islands
Rainbow Islands
is a 1987 arcade game developed and published by Taito. The game is subtitled "The Story of Bubble Bobble 2" and is the sequel to Taito's hit game Bubble Bobble from the previous year...
and sequels to Paradroid
Paradroid
Paradroid is a Commodore 64 computer game written by Andrew Braybrook and published by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It was also remade as Paradroid 90 for the Amiga and Atari ST home computers and as Paradroid 2000 for the Acorn Archimedes. There exist several fan-made remakes for modern PCs...
and Uridium
Uridium
Uridium is a science fiction side-scrolling shoot 'em up for the Commodore 64 . It consists of fifteen levels, each named after a metal element, with the last level being called Uridium...
before joining the rest of the Graftgold team developing their 16-bit and 32-bit titles. Braybrook remained with Graftgold until the company's demise in 1998, at which time he was working on PC and PS1
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
versions of Hardcorps. He now works for a UK-based insurance company.
Dominic Robinson
Dominic Robinson came to prominence as an in-house programmer for Hewson when he converted Uridium to the Spectrum (a feat previously considered impossible) in 1986. This was followed by another classic Spectrum shoot-em up, ZynapsZynaps
Zynaps is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up computer game published by Hewson Consultants for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 in 1987 and for the Atari ST in 1988 and the Amiga....
, and a puzzle/shooter, Anarchy, both of which were released in 1987. After leaving Hewson, he joined Graftgold to work on the Spectrum conversion of Flying Shark
Flying Shark
Sky Shark, known in Japan as and known in Europe as Flying Shark, is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game developed by Toaplan and published by Taito...
, as well as the Amiga and Atari ST versions of Simulcra and Rainbow Islands
Rainbow Islands
is a 1987 arcade game developed and published by Taito. The game is subtitled "The Story of Bubble Bobble 2" and is the sequel to Taito's hit game Bubble Bobble from the previous year...
.
External links
- Graftgold's historical website
- List of Graftgold games
- History of Graftgold (archive of former Graftgold web site)
- Jester Interactive Publishing Limited (Current owners of Graftgold and all its I.P.)