Quicksilver Software
Quicksilver Software, Inc. was founded on May 1, 1984, by three former Mattel Electronics programmers: Bill Fisher, Stephen Roney, and Mike Breen.[1] The company specializes in the creation of strategy, simulation, and educational products, and on focused high-technology R&D projects.
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| Privately owned | |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | May 1, 1984 |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people |
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| Products | Castles series Conquest of the New World Star Trek: Starfleet Command Master of Orion III |
| Website | www.quicksilver.com |
History
Early in its history, Quicksilver landed a productive deal with arcade-game manufacturer Data East USA, Inc. that ultimately resulted in the creation of 28 different titles for Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Apple Macintosh, and Atari ST home computers. These included adaptations of well-known games such as Karnov and the Ikari Warriors series.
The company's work on another Data East title, Heavy Barrel, earned it the attention of publisher Interplay Productions, which contracted Quicksilver to develop what would become one of Interplay's first titles as an independent publisher, Castles for the IBM PC, which ultimately sold more than 400,000 copies. This was followed by additional strategy titles such as Castles II, Conquest of the New World (over 500,000 copies), and Star Trek: Starfleet Command (over 300,000 copies and several sequels).
Quicksilver also established an active relationship with publisher Activision. Beginning with some research and development work on Activision's digital video display technology, ultimately used in the top-selling title Return to Zork, Quicksilver rapidly expanded into developing a long series of four titles in the Shanghai line of tile-based solitaire games. Quicksilver also ported other titles for Activision, such as the Windows 3.1 and Mac OS versions of Zork: Nemesis and the DVD-ROM versions of Spycraft: The Great Game and Muppet Treasure Island.
At the same time, Quicksilver also worked on a series of educational software titles, such as the Math At Work line of math products and the highly acclaimed title Heritage: Civilization and the Jews, a massive 8.5-gigabyte interactive DVD-ROM version of the popular WNET television series. Quicksilver developed all of the underlying technology for Heritage, while the New York-based asset development team created the content for the game.
From 2001 through 2005 Quicksilver developed a series of military training products for the U.S. Army[1] and the Singapore Armed Forces. Its products, Full Spectrum Command and Full Spectrum Leader, are designed to provide cognitive training for company commanders and platoon leaders. During this same time period, the company created the strategy game Master of Orion III, a game now known for its lack of polish and steep learning curve. The company also developed two online games for the Rich Dad line of financial education games, based on the board games CASHFLOW 101 and CASHFLOW 202.
In 2004, Quicksilver diversified into mobile and handheld games. The company developed several games for mobile phones, its best known product being AMF Xtreme Bowling, published by Vir2L Studios. In 2005, the company once again worked on a Star Trek title, Star Trek: Tactical Assault for Nintendo DS and Sony PSP, published by Bethesda Softworks.
In 2006 through 2008, Quicksilver released several additional military training titles, including a Patriot missile battery deployment trainer and an award-winning logistics trainer (DMCTI: Distribution Management Cognitive Training Initiative). As with Quicksilver's other military titles, these products were developed in conjunction with the Army-funded USC Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT).
In October, 2008, Quicksilver released Type to Learn 4 for publisher Sunburst, the latest in Sunburst's popular keyboard skill development lineup.
Also in October, 2008, Quicksilver premiered an interactive poker game show called The Real Deal at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV.
In 2010, the company began working with restaurant company STACKED, ultimately collaborating with them to create the award-winning iPad user interface used in the restaurants as well as a companion consumer app and an online ordering Web site. Since then Quicksilver has added many new features to the restaurant and online components.
Quicksilver also developed a set of games for the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. This Navy-run training academy needed classroom games that would amplify and extend their instructional materials in areas such as counter-terrorism. Working with its long-term client, the USC Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), Quicksilver worked on two different Web-based games, designing both the client and server software and deploying in the Amazon cloud.
During this same time, Quicksilver developed its own intellectual property around the delivery of digital comic books and other image-based media. The LongBox system was released, but ultimately did not attract sufficient content. However, the technology lived on, and in 2014 key components of the intellectual property were sold to a new organization that began adapting the core elements for a new, yet-to-be-announced series of products.
Product list
Quicksilver has created a large number of titles since its founding in 1984. Unless otherwise noted, the company was responsible for full design and development of each title, including artwork and audiovisual elements. More recent projects include:
| Publisher | Title and platforms | Release date(s) | Sales, if known |
|---|---|---|---|
| TimePlay | Real Deal Poker (programming) | October, 2008 | N/A |
| U.S. Army | DMCTI Logistics Trainer | October, 2008 | N/A |
| Sunburst Technologies | Type to Learn 4 | October, 2008 | N/A |
| Bethesda Softworks | Star Trek: Tactical Assault | October, 2006 | N/A |
| Encore | Hoyle Casino 3D (completion from Alpha) | March, 2005 | N/A |
| U.S. Army | Full Spectrum Leader (Windows) | March, 2005 | N/A |
| Vir2L | AMF Xtreme Bowling (Java/BREW phones) | July, 2004 | not disclosed |
| U.S. Army | Full Spectrum Command 1.5 (Windows) | May, 2004 | N/A |
| IDville | ID Maker (Windows) | 2002 | not disclosed |
| Rich Dad's Game LLC | Rich Dad's CASHFLOW 202 (Windows, Mac OS) | February, 2004 | not disclosed |
| Rich Dad's Game LLC | Rich Dad's CASHFLOW 101 (Windows, Mac OS) | March, 2003 | not disclosed |
| Atari | Master of Orion 3 (Windows, Mac OS) | February, 2003 | over 200,000 |
| Baudville | Award Maker 2003 (Windows, Mac OS) | 2003 | not disclosed |
| U.S. Army | Full Spectrum Command 1.0 (Windows) | February, 2003 | N/A |
| Intellivision Productions | Intellivision Rocks, Windows Emulator | 2002 | not disclosed |
| Thirteen•WNET NY | Heritage: Civilization and the Jews (engine only) | 2000–2005 | unknown |
| Future Pastimes | Cosmic Encounter Online (design) | 2000–2002 | unknown |
| Interplay Productions | Star Trek: Starfleet Command (Windows) | July, 1999 | over 300,000 |
| Activision, Inc. | Shanghai: Second Dynasty (Windows, Mac OS) | December, 1999 | over 100,000 |
| Activision, Inc. | Shanghai: Dynasty (Windows, Mac OS) | 1998 | unknown |
| Activision, Inc. | Shanghai: Great Moments (Windows, Mac OS) | 1997 | over 600,000 |
| Interplay Productions | Conquest of the New World (MS-DOS, Mac OS) | 1996 | over 500,000 |
| Interplay Productions | Castles II: Siege and Conquest CD (MS-DOS, Mac OS) | 1994 | over 100,000 |
| Interplay Productions | Castles (MS-DOS) | 1991 | over 400,000 |
The following is a list of earlier projects.
| Publisher | Title and Platforms |
|---|---|
| Activision | Muppet Treasure Island (Windows/Mac OS DVD-ROM port) |
| Activision | Spycraft: The Great Game (Windows/Mac OS DVD-ROM port) |
| Activision | Zork: Nemesis (Windows 3.1 and Mac OS ports) |
| Activision | HyperBlade (Windows 3.1 completion) |
| Atari | Track and Field (Apple II) |
| Atari | APB (Atari Lynx) |
| Baudville | Award Maker Plus (IBM PC, Mac OS) |
| Baudville | Laser Award Maker (IBM PC, Mac OS) |
| Data East USA, Inc. | Bad Dudes (IBM PC, Apple II) |
| Data East USA, Inc. | Batman (Apple II) |
| Data East USA, Inc. | Commando (IBM PC, Apple II) |
| Data East USA, Inc. | Guerrilla War (IBM PC, Apple II) |
| Data East USA, Inc. | Heavy Barrel (IBM PC, Apple II) |
| Data East USA, Inc. | Ikari Warriors II (IBM PC, Apple II, Commodore 64) |
| Data East USA, Inc. | Ikari Warriors (IBM PC, Apple II, Commodore 64) |
| Data East USA, Inc. | Karnov (IBM PC, Mac OS, Atari ST) |
| Data East USA, Inc. | Kid Niki, Radical Ninja (Apple II) |
| Data East USA, Inc. | Lock-On (IBM PC, Mac OS, Atari ST) |
| Data East USA, Inc. | Platoon (IBM PC, Apple II) |
| Data East USA, Inc. | Tag Team Wrestling (Commodore 64, Apple II, IBM PC) |
| Davidson/Simon & Schuster | Maurice Ashley Teaches Chess (Windows) |
| Davidson | Kid Keys (MS-DOS, Mac OS) |
| Interplay Productions | Battle Chess (CDTV) |
| Interplay Productions | Battle Chess (FM TOWNS and Mac OS, combat animations) |
| Interplay Productions | Shadow of the Comet (PC, voice-over production) |
| SNK | Prehistoric Isle (IBM PC) |
| SNK | Ikari Warriors III (IBM PC) |
References
- Keefer, John (March 31, 2006). "GameSpy Retro: Developer Origins, Page 8 of 19". GameSpy. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007.
- Source: Quicksilver Software, Inc.