Realtime Games Software
Encyclopedia
Realtime Games Software Ltd. is a defunct British
video game developer
. It was founded in 1984 by three Leeds University students, Ian Oliver, Andrew Onions and Graeme Baird.
Their first game, 3D Tank Duel, was a wireframe
graphics game in the style of the Battlezone arcade machine, written for the ZX Spectrum
. This was followed up with Starstrike 3D, a game based on the Star Wars arcade machine. Throughout its existence, the company continued to innovate in the world of 3D graphics, with their most notable release being Carrier Command
. The company was also involved in porting
Elite to the PC
and Starglider
to the ZX Spectrum.
Realtime's early output was self-published, though later they took the more traditional route to market with their games mainly being published by Rainbird
.
Graeme Baird subsequently went to work for Psygnosis, while Ian Oliver founded Cross Products to produce game development systems for consoles, in a joint venture with Andy Craven of nearby Vektor Grafix
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
. It was founded in 1984 by three Leeds University students, Ian Oliver, Andrew Onions and Graeme Baird.
Their first game, 3D Tank Duel, was a wireframe
Wireframe
Wireframe or wire frame may refer to:* Wire-frame model, visual presentation of a three dimensional or physical object used in 3D computer graphics* Website wireframe, a basic visual guide used in web design...
graphics game in the style of the Battlezone arcade machine, written for the 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...
. This was followed up with Starstrike 3D, a game based on the Star Wars arcade machine. Throughout its existence, the company continued to innovate in the world of 3D graphics, with their most notable release being Carrier Command
Carrier Command
Carrier Command is a landmark 1980s computer game available on Amiga, Atari ST, PC, ZX Spectrum, Apple Macintosh, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC computers....
. The company was also involved in porting
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
Elite to the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
and Starglider
Starglider
Starglider is a 3D video game released in 1986 by Rainbird. It was developed by Argonaut Software, led by programmer Jez San. The game was inspired by Jez San's love of the 1983 Atari coin-op Star Wars, It was a fast-moving, first-person combat flight simulator, rendered with colourful wireframe...
to the ZX Spectrum.
Realtime's early output was self-published, though later they took the more traditional route to market with their games mainly being published by Rainbird
Telecomsoft
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....
.
Graeme Baird subsequently went to work for Psygnosis, while Ian Oliver founded Cross Products to produce game development systems for consoles, in a joint venture with Andy Craven of nearby Vektor Grafix
Vektor Grafix
Vektor Grafix was a United Kingdom-based computer game development company led by Andy Craven, and taken over by MicroProse in 1992. The company was based in the city of Leeds, and after the takeover became MicroProse's Leeds development studio....
.