Strategic Simulations
Role-playing games |
Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit from its founding in 1979 to its dissolution in 1994 (though the brand was in use until around 2002).[1] The company was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General series.
History
The company was founded by
Although Billings expected that he and Lyon would write the first version of Computer Bismarck on a
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Computer_Gaming_World_issue_2.3_%28page_22_Strategic_Simulations%29.jpg/220px-Computer_Gaming_World_issue_2.3_%28page_22_Strategic_Simulations%29.jpg)
By late 1980, SSI advertised that its games could "take you from
By 1985, Antic wrote "serious computer wargamers consider [SSI] a company in a class by itself". It had 60 employees and had published 12 games in the previous year, most written in compiled BASIC. Developers such as Gary Grigsby received royalties of up to $20,000 per game.[6] By fiscal 1987 the company had $5 million in sales, and had released 89 games in its first eight years.[2]
SSI had expanded into
By 1992, Computer Gaming World stated that SSI "is no longer known as, primarily, a wargame company [but] continues to publish its share of wargames".[7] In 1994, the company released Panzer General. Panzer General was a very approachable and easy-to-play game that nevertheless had some gameplay depth and the sense of continuity and goals. It was followed by three other games based on slightly modified versions of the basic engine, including Allied General and Pacific General, the latter arguably being the most balanced. Non-historical games based on the same system were also released, Star General and Fantasy General. These were later referred to collectively as the 5-Star General Series.
As the newer versions were released over a three-year period they increasingly became outdated in terms of improving computer hardware. In 1997 they released a new version, Panzer General II, with hand-painted maps and icons. It was very popular, selling well over 100,000 copies in its first release, and is still modded and played today.[citation needed] People's General was based on the same engine. In 1999 Panzer General 3D Assault introduced a true 3D engine, but gameplay was not particularly notable.[citation needed] A final attempt in 2000 was Panzer General III: Scorched Earth.
SSI was acquired by
In December 2013, Joel Billings donated several SSI video games, such as Computer Bismarck, including the source code for preservation to the ICHEG.[8][9]
List of games
References
- ^ a b "Strategic Simulations, Inc.'s MobyGames bio". MobyGames. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Titans of the Computer Gaming World", Computer Gaming World, March 1988, p.36.
- ^ a b Wilson, Johnny L. (November 1991). "A History of Computer Games". Computer Gaming World. p. 10. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ Advertisement (November 1980). "We can take you from Waterloo to the Super Bowl. (By way of the North Atlantic.)". BYTE. p. 375. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
- ^ a b Smith, Chris (January 1983). "SSI's RapidFire Line: Featured Review". The Space Gamer (59). Steve Jackson Games: 14–15.
- ^ Powell, Jack (July 1985). "War Games: The story of S.S.I." Antic. Vol. 4, no. 3. p. 28.
- ^ "The Consumer Electronics Show: No Longer Behind Closed Doors". Computer Gaming World. August 1992. pp. 23–28. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
- Gamasutra. Retrieved 2013-12-22.
- ^ Dyson, Jon-Paul C. (2013-12-16). "The Strategic Simulations, Inc. Collection". ICHEG. Archived from the original on March 23, 2017. Retrieved 2013-12-22.