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Quicksilva

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(Redirected from Sandy White (programmer))
Not to be confused with American developer Quicksilver Software.
Quicksilva
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded1980; 45 years ago (1980)
FounderNick Lambert
Defunct1990; 35 years ago (1990)
Headquarters
Products

Quicksilva was a British games software publisher active during the early 1980s.

They were founded by Nick Lambert in 1980[1], with the name Quicksilva inspired by a particular guitar solo in a track on the album Happy Trails by Quicksilver Messenger Service.[2] Quicksilva mainly released games for the ZX81, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, but also did conversions and some original games for the VIC-20, Dragon 32/64, Oric-1/Atmos, BBC Micro and Acorn Electron home computers.

One of their earliest titles was QS Defenda (originally QS Defender), a clone of the Defender arcade game for the ZX80 and ZX81 home computers.[2] Greater success followed with later releases, including a Star Raiders-style game entitled Time-Gate which reached the top of the ZX Spectrum charts in December 1982.[3] Amongst the company's other successes were Jeff Minter's Gridrunner (1983),[4] Bugaboo (1983, a.k.a. La Pulga) and Fred (1983, titled "Roland on the Ropes" on the Amstrad CPC), the latter two titles licensed from Indescomp S.A., a Spanish software house. They were also responsible for the hugely innovative Ant Attack (1983), written by Sandy White for the ZX Spectrum which featured revolutionary 3-D graphics (which a patent application was made for).[5]

In early 1984, they published their first licensed title, an adaptation of the 1978 book The Snowmanby Raymond Briggs,[6][7] although Software Manager Paul Cooper ruled out an adaption of Briggs' When The Wind Blows stating "nuclear war can upset a lot of people".[6]

Later years

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In May 1984, the company was bought by Argus Press Software[8][2][9] which later became Grandslam Entertainment. Paul Cooper and Managing Director Rod Cousens left to establish Electric Dreams Software in 1985, when Argus moved the company from Southampton to London.[10][11]

The company continued to publish licensed products, including the first official home computer conversion of Atari's Battlezone, Eric Bristow's Pro Darts,[12] two different games based on Strontium Dog from the 2000 AD comic[12] and Fantastic Voyage (an official licence from the 1966 film).[13]

In late 1984 they developed The Thompson Twins Adventure (an adaptation of the Thompson Twins single Doctor! Doctor!) which was published by Computer and Video Games magazine on a flexi-disc,[14] and published Sandy White's follow-up to Ant Attack, Zombie Zombie.[15]

The following years brought further tie-ins including games featuring Rupert Bear in Rupert and the Toymaker's Party,[16] The Flintstones in Yabba Dabba Doo![16] and Max Headroom.[17] It also produced popular original titles such as Glider Rider and two more arcade ports, Taito's Elevator Action in 1987[18] and the final[citation needed] Quicksilva game, Namco's Pac-Land in 1989.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "ZX Computing Summer 1982 - June 1987".
  2. ^ a b c A first-hand account of Quicksilva and its part in the birth of the UK games industry, 1981–1982
  3. ^ "Top 10". Popular Computing Weekly. Vol. 1, no. 36. Sunshine Publications. 30 December 1982. p. 31. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Code Britannia: Sandy White". Eurogamer. 8 March 2013.
  5. ^ "3D Ant Attack". CRASH (1).
  6. ^ a b "Quicksilva goes soft with the Snowman". Your Computer. No. 3. IPC. March 1984. p. 49. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Now book is a game". Home Computing Weekly. No. 49. Argus. 14 February 1984. p. 6. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Quicksilva Introduction". Computer Gamer. No. 1. April 1985. p. 85. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Your Spectrum 06 - Frontlines".
  10. ^ Goodwin, Simon (September 1985). "Planning our Future". CRASH (20). Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  11. ^ "Births, marriages and deaths". Sinclair User. No. 39. EMAP. June 1985. p. 5. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Norman's on the warpath". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 38. Sunshine Publications. 20 September 1984. p. 5. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Fantastic Voyage". Crash. No. 16. Newsfield. May 1985. p. 132. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Meet The Pop Twins!". Computer and Video Games. EMAP. October 1984. p. 11. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Deserted City". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 40. Sunshine Publications. 4 October 1984. p. 68. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Taskset".
  17. ^ "Max Headroom". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 15. Sunshine Publications. 10 April 1986. p. 24. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Elevator Action". Computer and Video Games. No. 65. EMAP. March 1987. p. 38. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  19. ^ "Ultimate Guide: Pac-Land". Retro Gamer. No. 127. Imagine. 27 March 2014. p. 72.
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