Simutronics
Encyclopedia
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. The company is located in Saint Louis, Missouri, with additional offices in Maryland
.
The company's flagship product is the text based game, GemStone IV, which has been running for around 15 years. GemStone was originally accessed through General Electric
's internet service provider
GEnie
, later becoming accessible through AOL
, Prodigy, and CompuServe
before Simutronics finally moved all their games to their own domain in 1997.
. The IFE is responsible for managing the server's memory, interacting with the game's database, and communicating with the clients. It also includes an interpreter for the proprietary GemStone Scripting Language (GSL), a relatively simple language which abstracts away most of the complex details that the IFE handles. Originally, many core game command
s (such as those relating to movement and inventory management) were implemented directly by the IFE. Over time, most of those have been migrated to GSL to allow for easier modification.
and server technology platform developed specifically for building MMO
-style games, based around a system similar to the IFE using the Hero Script Language (HSL). Originally developed for the company's own game Hero's Journey, the engine has since been licensed by other companies.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
online games company
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...
whose products include GemStone IV
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...
and 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...
. It was founded in 1987 by David Whatley, with husband and wife Tom & Susan Zelinski. The company is located in Saint Louis, Missouri, with additional offices in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
.
The company's flagship product is the text based game, GemStone IV, which has been running for around 15 years. GemStone was originally accessed through General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
's internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
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...
, later becoming accessible through AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
, 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...
before Simutronics finally moved all their games to their own domain in 1997.
Simutronics Products
All of the following titles are multiplayer online games:- 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...
, Simutronics' flagship product, a text-based multiplayer fantasy game, which has seen over one million users over the years, and is the longest-running commercial MUDMUDA MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
in the world. - 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...
, set in the same fantasy world as GemStone, only at a later place in time. Additional versions include DragonRealms Platinum, and DragonRealms: Fallen. - Modus Operandi, a MUD set on a fictional Caribbean island, originally designed to encourage mystery-based roleplay.
- Alliance of Heroes, formerly Hercules & Xena: Alliance of Heroes, this adventure-based MUDMUDA MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
was set in the universe of the TV shows Hercules: The Legendary JourneysHercules: The Legendary JourneysHercules: The Legendary Journeys is a television series, filmed in New Zealand and the United States. It was produced from 1995, and was very loosely based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles...
& Xena: Warrior PrincessXena: Warrior PrincessXena: Warrior Princess is an American–New Zealand supernatural fantasy adventure series that aired in syndication from September 4, 1995 until June 18, 2001....
. In later years the game changed its license, and removed specific Hercules & Xena trademarks, but is still running as a retooled "tongue in cheek" mythologyMythologyThe term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
MUD. - 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....
, also known as CyberStrike Classic, a graphical futuristic ship combat game. It won the first ever "Online Game of the Year" award from Computer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming WorldComputer 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. - Orb Wars, (no longer available) an early graphical game involving team combat between wizards
- GemStone ][ (no longer available), an early commercial text-based multiplayer fantasy game
- GemStone III (morphed into GemStone IV), a text-based multiplayer game which was originally based on the RolemasterRolemasterRolemaster is a role-playing game published by Iron Crown Enterprises. Rolemaster has come in four separate editions. The 3rd edition, first published in 1995, is also known as the "Rolemaster Standard System" . There are two editions currently in production...
rules from Iron Crown EnterprisesIron Crown EnterprisesIron Crown Enterprises was a publisher of role playing, board, miniature battle, and collectible card games.ICE was incorporated in 1980 shortly after the principal founders graduated from the University of Virginia... - CyberStrike 2, a sequel to CyberStrike, released in 1998
- Hero's Journey, an unreleased graphical MMORPGMMORPGMassively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
utilizing the "HeroEngineHeroEngineHeroEngine is a 3D game engine and server technology platform originally developed by Simutronics Corporation specifically for building MMO-style games...
", an MMO engine developed by Simutronics for the game. The game had been in development since the late 1990s, but its release date was pushed back several times and in March 2009, all remaining developers and game masters assigned to Hero's Journey were laid off or reassigned, though no official announcement of the game's cancellation was made. During pre-release demonstrations, the game won a number of awards:- 2005 E-3, "Best of Show" - mmorpg.com http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm?loadFeature=108&bhcp=1
- 2006 E-3
- "Most Original" - gameamp.com http://herosjourney.gameamp.com/news/viewNews/2441.php
- "Biggest Surprise" - StraticsStraticsStratics is an Internet network of web sites and message boards focusing on massively multiplayer games. It is the oldest continuously running MMORPG news site on the internet....
"Golden Cogs" awards http://www.stratics.com/node/20066 - "Best MMORPG" - Honorable Mention - just-rpg.com http://www.just-rpg.com/default.asp?pid=1952
- "Best of Show" - Honorable Mention - mmorpg.com http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm?loadFeature=660&page=8/&bhcp=1
Interactive Fiction Engine
Simutronics' products GemStone IV, DragonRealms, Modus Operandi, and Alliance of Heroes are text-based multiplayer games built on a proprietary Interactive Fiction Engine (IFE) written in the C programming languageC (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
. The IFE is responsible for managing the server's memory, interacting with the game's database, and communicating with the clients. It also includes an interpreter for the proprietary GemStone Scripting Language (GSL), a relatively simple language which abstracts away most of the complex details that the IFE handles. Originally, many core game command
Command (computing)
In computing, a command is a directive to a computer program acting as an interpreter of some kind, in order to perform a specific task. Most commonly a command is a directive to some kind of command line interface, such as a shell....
s (such as those relating to movement and inventory management) were implemented directly by the IFE. Over time, most of those have been migrated to GSL to allow for easier modification.
HeroEngine
HeroEngine is a 3D game engineGame engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
and server technology platform developed specifically for building MMO
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
-style games, based around a system similar to the IFE using the Hero Script Language (HSL). Originally developed for the company's own game Hero's Journey, the engine has since been licensed by other companies.
External links
- Play.net, Simutronics company website
- Simutronics profile from MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...