Mike Singleton
This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (September 2021) |
Mike Singleton | |
---|---|
Microprose | |
Known for | The Lords of Midnight Doomdark's Revenge Midwinter |
Mike Singleton (21 February 1951 – 10 October 2012) was a British
Early work
Singleton was originally a teacher[2] and started programming in the late 1970s, and writing Computer Race, a horse racing game he designed for a betting shop on the Commodore PET.[3] Moving on from this, he began working on arcade games for the Pet, working with PetSoft, where he wrote Space Ace entirely in 6502 machine code. The game broke sales records of the day by selling three hundred copies.[4]
Singleton's association with PetSoft turned out to be short-lived, as PetSoft, who had been due to enter into a contract with
Singleton used this as the platform for his GamesPack1 project. GamesPack1 was a series of games, each fitting into just 1 kilobyte of memory. It was one of the first commercial software programs written for the ZX81, and something of a runaway success, selling a massive 90,000 copies, earning Singleton £6,000 for his efforts,[4] having taken him just two weeks over the Christmas holidays to complete.[3]
Golden age of the home microcomputer
Whilst the arcade game writing business was making him a living, Singleton, who retired from teaching completely in 1982 to become a full-time freelance
In March 1984, Singleton's spy-themed board game, Treachery, which had its complicated game logic controlled by a computer program, was featured in C&VG, with a type-in listing for the Spectrum, together with a keyboard overlay (a common feature of his games), centre-spread board and a set of counters. The game was so popular among the readers that the editor asked for conversions for the Commodore 64 and BBC Micro to be produced, and each of them featured in C&VG's 1985 yearbook.
Having progressed to the ZX Spectrum, he wrote what are widely regarded as some of the best strategy adventure games ever to be seen on those early home microcomputers,
Moving on from the Midnight series, Singleton worked on several games of a more arcade-like nature, the first of which, Throne of Fire,[6] a side viewed live action game, featured a multiplayer option where each player used the same computer to explore simultaneously, each trying to complete a set of objectives which lead to the overall completion of the game. Dark Sceptre,[6] released later the same year, was also in essence a sideways viewed live action game, but returned to a more adventure-like feel, with a long, drawn out challenge awaiting the player who would need to build up their forces to consolidate their position before seizing on the opportunity to actually complete the game.
Two years later,
Later work
In the late 1980s, Singleton moved onto the
In the 21st century, Singleton continued working in games design, making him one of a few developers to have made the transition to more modern consoles from the early days of home computing. Singleton worked for
Games
8-bit home computers
Title | Distributor | Year | Platform |
---|---|---|---|
Space Ace | PetSoft | 1981 | PET |
GamesPack1 | Sinclair Research Ltd | 1981 | ZX81
|
Shadowfax | Postern | 1982 | BBC, C64/VIC-20, Spectrum |
Siege | Postern | 1983 | PET/C64/VIC-20, Spectrum |
Snake Pit | Postern | 1983 | C64/PET/VIC-20, Spectrum |
3-Deep Space | Postern | 1983 | C64/VIC-20, Spectrum |
The Lords of Midnight | Beyond Software | 1984 | Amstrad CPC, C64, Spectrum |
Doomdark's Revenge | Beyond | 1985 | Amstrad CPC, C64, Spectrum |
Quake Minus One | Beyond Software | 1985 | C64 |
Dark Sceptre | Beyond Software | 1986 | Spectrum |
Throne of Fire | Melbourne House
|
1987 | Amstrad CPC, C64, Spectrum |
War in Middle Earth
|
Melbourne House | 1988 | Spectrum |
Star Trek: The Rebel Universe | Firebird Software
|
1988 | C64 |
Later computers
Title | Distributor | Year | Platform |
---|---|---|---|
Star Trek: The Rebel Universe | Simon & Schuster Interactive | 1987 | Atari ST, PC |
Space Cutter | Melbourne House | 1987 | Amiga |
War in Middle Earth | Melbourne House | 1988 | Atari ST, Amiga, PC |
Whirligig | Firebird Software | 1988 | Atari ST, Amiga |
Midwinter | Rainbird Software | 1989 | Atari ST, Amiga, PC |
Flames of Freedom | MicroProse | 1990 | Atari ST, Amiga, PC |
Grimblood | Virgin Interactive | 1990 | Atari ST, Amiga |
Ashes of Empire/Fallen Empire | Mirage | 1991 | Amiga, PC |
Starlord | MicroProse | 1993 | Amiga, PC |
Lords of Midnight: The Citadel | Domark
|
1995 | PC |
The Ring Cycle | Psygnosis | 1995 | PC |
Consoles
Title | Distributor | Year | Platform |
---|---|---|---|
HSX: HyperSonic Xtreme | Midas Interactive Entertainment | 2002 | PlayStation |
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb | LucasArts
|
2003 | |
Wrath Unleashed | LucasArts | 2004 | PS2, Xbox |
Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows | Midway Home Entertainment
|
2005 | PS2, Xbox |
Race Driver: Grid | Codemasters | 2008 | PC, PS3, Xbox 360 |
References
- Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
- ^ Stuart, Keith (16 October 2012). "RIP Mike Singleton, the RPG visionary who revolutionised the genre". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c d "I BET TOLKIEN DID THE SAME". Crash. No. 14. March 1985.
- ^ a b c d e f "MAELSTROM IN A TEACUP". Crash. No. 41. June 1987.
- ^ a b "Chapter 4: Hit Squad". The 1985 Sinclair User Annual. Sinclair User. 1985. pp. 39–42.
- ^ a b c d "Planet Sinclair: The Sinclair Industry: Programmers: Mike Singleton". Nvg.ntnu.no. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
- ^ Singleton's profile at MobyGames
- ^ Stuart, Keith (16 October 2012), RIP Mike Singleton, the RPG visionary who revolutionised the genre, theguardian.com, retrieved 30 November 2019
- ^ Wild, Jon (16 October 2012). "Night has fallen..." Icemark.com.