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Line 1: {{Infobox Company '''Crystal Computing''' were one of the smaller software companies which produced games for home computers in the early 1980s. It was formed by Chris Clark and Graham Stafford who were both students in Manchester. \|name = Crystal Computing / Design Design \|logo = \|foundation = 1982 \|___location = [[Manchester]], [[England]] \|industry = [[Computer and video game industry\|Computer and video games]] \|products = ''[[Halls of the Things]]'' ~~- 1983. Awarded game~~<br>''[[Invasion of the ~~year~~Body ~~by Sinclair User.~~Snatchas!]]''▼ }} '''Crystal Computing''' was a British video game developer founded in 1982 by Chris Clarke and Graham Stafford while students at the [[University of Manchester]]. Neil Mottershead, Simon Brattel and Martin Horsley, joined the company as it expanded.<ref name="pcw">''[[Popular Computing Weekly]]'', 26 January-1 February 1984 (p.26), Sunshine Publications Ltd.</ref><ref name="crash">Rebirth of the Things: Design Design, ''[[CRASH (magazine)\|CRASH]]'', issue 8, p.88, [[Newsfield Publications]], 1984</ref> The company's first software release was a compilation of games for the Sinclair [[ZX81]], though it was with the [[ZX Spectrum]] that Crystal found its greatest success. A deal with the machine's manufacturer [[Sinclair]] to distribute Crystal's ''Zeus Assembler'' gave the company sufficient funds for a major marketing campaign for their next product, ''[[Halls of the Things]]'', an arcade adventure game that became their most successful title. In 1984 Clarke left to join [[Artic Software]] and the company was reorganised as '''Design Design''',<ref name="crash"/> a trading name used by Simon Brattel since 1976 for his electronic audio designs.<ref>[http://www.desdes.com/ Design Design official site]</ref> Design Design's core consisted of Stafford working mainly on titles for the [[Commodore 64]], Brattel and Mottershead working on the [[ZX Spectrum]] and [[Amstrad CPC]], and David Lewellyn, the company's administrator.<ref name="crash"/> Crystal split after an evening of argument known later as 'the night of the long knives' with the key programmers leaving Crystal to set up another company (Chandrex Ltd) which traded under the name Design Design Software. ==Softography== ~~==Notable releases==~~ '''Crystal Computing''' ''Merchant of Venus'' - 1982. (A trading game for the ZX81)▼ ''ZX81 Games Pack'', ZX81, 1982 ''Zeus Assembler'' - 1983. The fastest Z80 assembler, over 60 times faster than the nearest competitor. Later distributed by Sinclair. ▲* ''Merchant of Venus'', -ZX81, 1982~~. (A trading game for the ZX81)~~ ▲* ''[[Halls of the Things]]'' - 1983. Awarded game of the year by Sinclair User. ''Monitor and Disassembler'', ZX81, ZX Spectrum, 1982 ''[[Rommel's Revenge]]'' - 1983.▼ ''Cosmic Guerilla'', ZX Spectrum, 1983 ''[[The Dungeon Master (~~computer~~video game)\|The Dungeon Master]]'', ZX -Spectrum, 1983. * ''It's the Wooluf!'' - 1984. (Not written in-house)▼ ''[[Halls of the Things]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1983 ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchas!]]'' - 1984. Reviewed in Crash issue 1 - 69.5%. Version of the arcade game [[Defender (game)\|Defender]]. ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchas!]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1983 ''Bug Blaster'' - 1984. (Not written in-house) Reviewed in Crash issue 3 - 68% ''Zeus Assembler'', ZX Spectrum, 1983 ''Cyber Zone'' - 1984. (Not written in-house) Reviewed in Crash issue 3 - 85% ▲* ''[[Rommel's Revenge]]'', ZX -Spectrum, ~~1983.~~1984 ''Bug Blaster'', ZX Spectrum, 1984 ''Cyber Zone'', ZX Spectrum, 1984 ''[[The Island (video game)\|The Island]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1984 ''[[The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (video game)\|The Warlock of Firetop Mountain]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1984 ▲* ''It's the Wooluf!'', -ZX Spectrum, 1984~~. (Not written in-house)~~ '''Design Design''' ''Dark Star'', ZX Spectrum, 1984 ''Return of the Things'', ZX Spectrum, 1984 ''Spectacle'', ZX Spectrum, 1984 ''2112 AD'', ZX Spectrum, 1985 ''On The Run'', ZX Spectrum, 1985 ''Forbidden Planet'', ZX Spectrum, 1986 ''Halls of the Things Remix'', ZX Spectrum, 1986 ''Invaders'', ZX Spectrum, 1986 ''N.E.X.O.R.'', ZX Spectrum, 1986 ''Nosferatu the Vampyre'', ZX Spectrum, 1986 ''Rogue Trooper'', ZX Spectrum, 1986 ''Spectacle 2'', ZX Spectrum, 1986 ''Time and Motion'', ZX Spectrum, 1986 ''Kat Trap'', ZX Spectrum, 1987 ==References== {{reflist}} {{Crystal Computing series}}

Crystal Computing: Difference between revisions