Malcolm Evans (computer programmer): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:39, 10 September 2011

Revision as of 01:52, 27 September 2011

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He and his twin brother, Rod, were born in [[Romford]], but his family soon moved to [[Portsmouth]]. He has a [[Bachelor of Science|B.Sc.]] in [[electronics]] from [[University of Portsmouth|Portsmouth Polytechnic]] and joined [[Marconi Electronic Systems|Marconi]], where he worked on high-powered projects, such as satellite technology. Then in the mid-70s he moved to work for [[Smiths Aviation]], where he designed hardware to implement computer control systems for [[jet engine]]s.

In 1979 he moved again, to [[Sperry Corporation|Sperry Gyroscope]] in [[Bristol]], where he joined its micro-processor applications group. There he found himself using [[Zilog Z80]] and [[Intel 8088]] [[machine code]] language for small applications of a classified nature for the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]. The Bristol factory was closed in 1981 but by then Malcolm had received a ZX81 from his wife, Linda, for his thirty-seventh birthday in April 1981. Malcolm developed ''3D Monster Maze'' to test what the computer was capable of, and completed it by November.<ref>{{cite journal| url=http://www.crashonline.org.uk/05/newgen.htm| author=''CRASH'' staff| title=''New Generation'' Ingredients of a winning team| journal=[[CRASH (magazine)|CRASH]] | issue=[http://www.crashonline.org.uk/05/index.htm 5]| year=1984-061984–06}} An article about ''New Generation Software'', the firm that was started with the ''3D Monster Maze'' development.</ref>

At a Bath Classical Guitar & Lute Society meeting in 1981 Evans met [[John K. Greye]] who had set up [[J. K. Greye Software]] a year previously, and who now asked Evans to join the company. They produced several computer games for the Sinclair ZX81 [[home computer]]. In the spring of 1982, Evans split up the company and founded his own company, [[New Generation Software]] (based on an Ad Slogan by [[J.K.Greye]]), which continued to produce games for the ZX Spectrum and pioneer the 3D gaming industry.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Hit Squad &mdash; Not just a load of old rubbish| journal=Sinclair User| year=1984-091984–09| author=Chris Bourne| issue=[http://www.sincuser. f9.co.uk/030/index.htm 30]| url=http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/030/htsquad.htm}} Featuring Malcolm Evans following the ''Trashman'' hit game.</ref>

== References ==