Fred Ford (programmer)

Robert Frederick Ford is a video game programmer and son of mathematician L. R. Ford Jr..

Ford is the co-creator, with Paul Reiche III, of the Star Control universe. Ford did the programming, while Reiche was responsible for the game design and fiction.[1] Ford was also the lead programmer on The Horde and Pandemonium.[2]

Ford began his career in the industry while in college, creating games exclusively for the Japanese market.[3] He would transition to working for graphics companies in Silicon Valley, but after a few years, realized he would be happier making games.[3] Reiche and Ford's first collaboration was Star Control, released for MS-DOS in 1990.[4][5] Decades later, it is remembered as one of the greatest games of all time. "[A]s a melee or strategic game, it helped define the idea that games can be malleable and dynamic and players can make an experience wholly their own."[6]

On February 12, 2011, it was revealed that Toys for Bob has been working on Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, with Ford acting as CTO and Lead Programmer.

In October 2017 Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III announced they would be working on a direct sequel to Star Control II called Ghosts of the Precursors.[7]

References
  1. Star Control 2 Manual
  2. Fred Ford's profile at MobyGames
  3. Sean Dacanay, Marcus Niehaus (July 7, 2020). "Star Control Creators Paul Reiche & Fred Ford: Extended Interview". Ars Technica.
  4. Rusel DeMaria (December 7, 2018). High Score! Expanded: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games 3rd Edition. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-429-77139-2.
  5. "Celebrating 25 years of 'Toys for Bob'". abc10.com. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  6. Polygon Staff (November 29, 2017). "500 Best Games of All Time". Polygon.
  7. dogarandkazon.squarespace.com Ghosts of the Precursors announcement


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