Data Design Interactive

Data Design Interactive Limited

Formerly	Data Design Systems
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Founded	1983 (1983)
Defunct	2012
Key people	Stewart Green (founder)
Parent	Green Solutions Ltd.

Data Design Interactive was a British video game company. Founded by Stewart Green in 1983 as Data Design Systems, the company started off creating budget software for the ZX Spectrum.

History

Formation and budget titles (1983–1986)

I decided I wanted to break into the budget software market — I think the software industry could be killing itself with the £10 game. Budget software like Cascade's 50 Games compilation, has got to be value for money — if you only play each game on a 50 game compilation for ten minutes, then you’ve had over a day’s solid entertainment.

Stewart Green, CRASH

Data Design Systems was founded in 1983 by Stewart Green. The previous year had seen the release of the ZX Spectrum, a British 8-bit home computer that would go on to sell over five million units. While the Spectrum had inferior hardware compared to its competitors like the Commodore 64 and the BBC Micro, the low cost of both the computer and its cassette-based games led to it becoming a successful gaming platform in the United Kingdom. Green had purchased a Spectrum soon after its release, and had spent his free time learning how to program on it before leaving his engineering apprenticeship to pursue a career in software development. He attempted to sell two of his earliest games, Alien and Bomber, for £2 each at computer shows. After selling only a small number of copies, he decided that a compilation of multiple games on one cassette tape would sell better than individual games, as well as allow him to charge a higher price for the tape and let shops take in a larger profit margin.

Luna-Rover, one of Data Design's earliest games

Green applied for the UK government’s Enterprise Allowance Scheme, an initiative which gave an income of £40 per week for one year to anyone unemployed who wanted to set up their own business and had £1000 of their own funds to invest in the project. Deciding to develop for the budget software market, he began work on Astrocade, a collection of six games on one tape. While programming it, he learned how to run a business from three free interviews with the Business Advice Centre that the Enterprise Allowance Scheme gave him. Green wanted the compilation to be sold in a large package; he initially planned to use the same cardboard boxes that Beyond Software games used, until he found out that the cardboard dies for that would cost at least £800 and decided to use video boxes instead. Not wanting to pay "hundreds of pounds for a simple piece of artwork," Green got an art student from a local school to create box art for free as portfolio work. Getting game screenshots took two weeks due to the photographer hired not knowing how to take photographs of a television screen. The games were compiled with ZIP, a Sinclair BASIC compiler developed by Simon N. Goodwin.

Stewart Green advertising The Astrocade Collection

Development of The Astrocade Collection concluded in late 1985. It contained three previously-developed games: Alien, a fixed shooter game, Bomber, a City Bomber-like game, and Luna-Rover, a Moon Patrol clone; as well as three original games: Caverns d'Or, an adventure game, Simeon, a Simon clone, and Zombies, an action game. The collection's development ended up costing £3000. Green priced Astrocade at £4.50, but had difficulty distributing it; most distributors did not respond to him, and Smith's wanted the the product to have a barcode, which would cost him another £100. He initially sold copies of Astrocade by offering them on sale at local computer shops. Lacking a budget for advertising, he sent copies of the collection packaged with a Mars bar to computer magazines to encourage reviews. An earlier version of Alien was also published as type-in machine code in the February 1986 issue of Your Sinclair. Graeme Kidd from the ZX Spectrum magazine CRASH interviewed Stewart Green at Data Design, which at the time was operated out of the front room of his house in Halesowen. The interview was published in the May 1986 issue of CRASH; by that point, Green had sold only around one hundred copies of Astrocade. Following this, Green advertised the collection through various computer magazines, giving an address for viewers to mail order the game from. Green later stated that the interview was a "great help" to him.

The Astrocade Collection received mixed reviews from contemporary magazines. Graeme Kidd found the games to be very simple individually but called the collection "greater than the sum of its parts." Graham Taylor of Popular Computing Weekly criticised its games for being low-quality and unoriginal. Tony Hetherington of Computer Gamer particularly enjoyed Caverns d'Or, and called the collection "a good debut from a new software house" but low-quality overall. Max Phillips of Your Sinclair found the collection to be unoriginal but above-average in quality for a budget title. Stewart Green responded with appreciation for the reviews, though he disagreed with the originality of the games being an issue (saying "How many Exploding Fists are there now?" in response) and criticised Taylor's claim that Luna-Rover had graphics resembling those of a ZX81 game. From July 1986 onward, Data Design lowered the cost of Astrocade to £1.99 (plus 40p for postage and packaging).

1987 Data Design logo

Green intended for Astrocade to supply him with funds while he developed a larger project. He announced the development of a play-by-mail game in his interview with CRASH; Green believed that the previous summer had been the last chance for self-employed developers to start in the software market, and claimed that small software developers offered the best service for play-by-mail games. Other Spectrum games Green developed and released during 1985–1986 included Death Duel, a Tron-inspired Snake game, Invadas, a Galaxian clone, and Space Fright, a remake of his earlier game Alien. In 1986 Data Design Systems published BASIC +, a collection of programs for writing ZX Spectrum software in Sinclair BASIC. The collection featured over 40 new BASIC commands in its Basic Toolkit, as well as a demo and four other programs for developing games: 64 Column Display, a tool allowing for 64 characters per row rathern than the default 32, Sprite Designer, a tool for creating and editing sprites, Screen Compressor, a tool for saving and loading compressed graphics and screenshots, and Printer Dump, a tool for sending screenshots to a printer with different colour settings. BASIC + was originally released for £5.99, later increased to £12. In 1987 Sprite Designer, Printer, and 64 Column Display were published as separate programs for £6 each while BASIC + was rereleased with only the Basic Toolkit included for £10, or all four could be purchased together for £14. Green also developed Elite Editor, an editor for the ZX Spectrum version of David Braben and Ian Bell's Elite. The program was one of Green's earliest, dating back to 1984, and it continued to be updated through 1988. Elite Editor was advertised in magazines alongside The Astrocade Collection in 1986, and included a free game. Some advertisements for Elite Editor and Astrocade also included a request for viewers to send their games to Data Design Systems for cash in order to "expand [Data Design's] popular range of budget software."

• 

  Alien

• 

  Bomber

• 

  Caverns d'Or

• 

  Simeon

• 

  Zombies

• 

  Death Duel

• 

  Invadas

• 

  Space Fright

• 

  Elite Editor title screen

• 

  BASIC + sprite editor

Freelance programming (1986–1991)

In his interview with CRASH, Stewart Green expressed concern that he may have to take up freelance work to survive as a small software house. Following the interview, Green moved on to developing software for other companies. Many of his first freelance jobs were strategy games, which he enjoyed playing and programming, for Personal Software Services (PSS). Founded in 1981 by Gary Mays and Richard Cockayne, the company was known for its Wargamers series, a string of loosely-connected turn-based strategy wargames started by senior programmer Alan Steel's 1984 game Battle for Midway. Green developed conversions of three Wargamers games, including two World War II-themed ones. PSS was purchased by Mirrorsoft in February 1987.

Losing a battle in Annals of Rome

One of Green's first freelance jobs was programming the ZX Spectrum version of Annals of Rome, a turn-based strategy game that puts the player in control of the Roman army's military conquests over the course of centuries. The game was designed by Dr. George Jaroszkiewicz, who wanted to create a historical simulation as an "exercise in socio-economic modelling." Jaroszkiewicz originally programmed the game for Amstrad CPC 464, and Personal Software Services hired other programmers to convert it to other home computer platforms. Believing that video games were seen as "not something for grown men to dabble in," Jaroszkiewicz left his name out of the game, using the alias "Rome Software" instead; Green's Spectrum port, however, credits Jaroszkiewicz (as E.M. Jaroszkiewicz) as its designer in-game. The Spectrum version of the game released in November 1986. CRASH's Philippa Irving rated it positively, praising its attention to detail, but criticised its presentation and long periods of waiting during combat, as well as its "entertaining" bugs. Tommy Nash of Your Sinclair likewise criticised its speed, which he blamed on it being programmed in BASIC, and called its interface "incomprehensible." Steve Badsey of Computer + Video Games preferred the Spectrum version's graphics over those of the later Commodore 64 release, but reported that it had numerous bugs and frequently generated "impossibly large armies", which PSS allegedly blamed on the Spectrum's random number generator.

An action sequence in Tobruk

Green worked on the ZX Spectrum version of Alan Steel's Tobruk. Originally released for Amstrad CPC in September 1986, the game is a simulation of the 1942 Battle of Gazala and subsequent Axis capture of Tobruk. The player controls the Axis forces of German field marshal Erwin Rommel; a second player can play as the British forces. During combat, the player can enter an arcade sequence and control a tank in first-person view. Stewart Green designed and programmed the action sequence in the game's Spectrum version, Tobruk released for Spectrum in March 1987. Computer Gamer called Tobruk "one of the most enjoyable wargames." Philippa Irving found the game uninteresting, and was particularly negative towards its arcade mode, which she called "stunningly badly designed and unplayable." Green later commented that she must have appreciated his work due to her previously accidentally labelling screenshots of Tobruk as Vulcan. Gary Rook of Sinclair User found the game disappointing and its arcade mode "clumsily executed." ZX Computing Monthly stated the arcade sequence worked well and praised the game overall.

Pegasus Bridge on Spectrum (top) and CPC (bottom)

Green also redesigned and programmed Pegasus Bridge for both ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC from the original Commodore 64 version. Originally designed by John Bethell, who had previously created Falklands '82, Pegasus Bridge is based on the titular bridge's capture by the British 6th Airbone Division early on 6 June 1944, preceding the Normandy landings. The player can control either the British troops, landing and capturing bridges and the Merville Battery, or the German army, defending as many positions as possible from capture for the game's 36 turns. Pegasus Bridge released in October 1987. CRASH's Philippa Irving praised the Spectrum version's design and gameplay, but found it "annoyingly difficult" to control with a keyboard, and later admitted to encountering a bug that crashed the game and prevented her from completing it. Sinclair User gave the game a positive review, criticising only the small size of the map window. Owen and Audrey Bishop of Your Sinclair called the game well-researched, but complained about a bug in the Spectrum version that switched which side the player was controlling, as well as the fast speed of in-game messages. Amstrad Action called the Amstrad CPC version boring, and criticised the lack of sound and sensitive controls.

Invasion Force gameplay

Following Pegasus Bridge, Data Design ceased developing conversions for PSS and began working on games with other companies. In 1987 Green began developing Invasion Force, an original strategy game set during World War II. The game does not simulate any specific battle, and each side is labelled only as blue or red. The game is divided into fifteen missions; for each one players select which units they will use, choose where to deploy them, and command them around the map to complete their given objective. Player one controls the invading blue army, and player two or the computer tries to stop them as the red army. The game is heavily depended on its instruction manual, as each mission objective must be decoded using the code sheet found in it. Invasion Force was published by Cases Computer Simulations for ZX Spectrum in February 1990. An Amstrad CPC version was planned, but was never released. The game received positive reviews. Mark Caswell of CRASH asserted that players new to strategy would find it easy to pick up. Inversely, Jonathan Davies of Your Sinclair recommended it for experienced strategy game players looking for a new experience.

Green's planned play-by-mail game came to fruition in 1988 with the released of Dark Blades Play By Mail. The game was a play-by-mail adaptation of Dark Blades, a fantasy board wargame by Standard Games and Publications. The game's scenario involved a war between humans and half-ogres; players could choose to play as either species, and as either a trader or a warrior. Up to one hundred players could participate on a large hex map with over 25,000 locations. Players were given ten tasks to complete, as well as a final quest. The first player to complete the quest would win the game and be awarded a gold-plated dragon statue worth £1000 and free participation in another game. An early version of Dark Blades PBM was displayed at the Third British Play by Mail Convention on 20 February 1988. The game was priced at £5 for a boxed set starter and two free turns, with additional turns costing £1.25 each. The game used software, programmed by Stewart Green, that ran on Atari 1040ST computers with hard drives. The game was the first play-by-mail game published by Standard Games. Tony Ross of ACE reviewed Dark Blades positively, only criticising its slow start. While asking CRASH's Philippa Irving about joining her own play-by-mail game, Green stated that he wanted to develop a ZX Spectrum version of Dark Blades, if he was able to "cram all the megabytes of data from hard disk down to a Spectrum".

Around the same time Dark Blades was released, the play-by-mail title Skullball was launched. Designed by On The Brink, the game put players in charge of a "skullball" team in a football management-like game and cost £8.50 for ten turns. By 1989 the game had a waiting list of around three hundred interested players. On The Brink, unable to keep up with the amount of players, contracted Stewart Green to develop a computer-moderated version of the game that would be easy and fast to play while allowing the game master to customise gameplay. The new version of Skullball was released in May 1989, featuring a new rule book printed in colour and Green's software for Atari ST and IBM PC compatibles. Active Games, a then-new play-by-mail company based in Halesowen, ran the computer-moderated version of the game, and had plans to produce new games and market games by other companies. Data Design also developed PC compatible software for a play-by-mail game titled Europa for Active Games the following year.

Loopz game type A on Spectrum (top) and CPC (bottom)

In 1990 Stewart Green programmed and created graphics for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Amstrad PWC versions of Loopz, a puzzle game designed by Ian Upton and originally developed for Atari ST. The player creates loops (or "loopz") by linking together the pipe pieces given to them, similar to Pipe Mania. Placing each pipe piece must be done within a time limit, and running out of time causes the player to lose a life. The game has three game types: the default endless mode (A), reaching a target score (B), and recreating specific loop shapes (C). Originally planned for release in October 1990, the Spectrum and Amstrad CPC versions of Loopz were released by Audiogenic Software in February 1991. Nick Roberts of CRASH praised the Spectrum version's graphics and "simple but highly addictive" gampeplay, though he found the default game options to be more frustrating than its alternate game types. Phillip Fisch of Sinclair User reviewed the game positively, finding game type C to be the most interesting. Jonathan Davies of Your Sinclair found its enjoyable but uninteresting, and criticised its graphics and lack of "surprises". Frank O'Connor of Amstrad Action praised the Amstrad CPC version's gameplay and graphics, though found the simultaneous two-player mode to be confusing.

A boss fight in Xenon 2

In 1991 Data Design worked on the company's first console game project, the SEGA Master System version of Xenon 2: Megablast for Mirrorsoft. Designed by the Bitmap Brothers, the game is a vertically-scrolling shoot 'em up set in space that has the player fighting aliens called Xenites. The game has three levels, down from the original version's five; each one ends with a boss fight against a large alien creature, after which the player can buy and sell weapons. Stewart Green programmed the Master System version with Sean Cross. It released by Virgin Games in October 1991, two years after the original Atari ST version of Xenon 2. Julian Rignall and Richard Leadbetter of Mean Machines reviewed the Master System version positively, particularly praising its graphics and gameplay as being comparable to those of a 16-bit game, though they criticised its slower speed and limited sound effects.

Stewart Green programmed the ZX Spectrum version of Pogotron, a 1989 game by Artronic where the player controls an astronaut who must rebuild their ship and avoid obstacles while constantly bouncing.

Growth as Data Design Interactive (1991–1997)

Robocod, Pinkie, Rise of the Robots, Conquest Earth

Games

As Data Design Systems

The following games were partially or fully developed by Data Design Systems. For most of these Data Design consisted only of Stewart Green, and some were credited under Green's name rather than DDS.

Year	Title	Publisher	Platform(s)			Notes
			Computer	Console	Handheld
1985	Alien	self-published	ZX Spectrum	—	—	Also published as type-in program
	Bomber		ZX Spectrum	—	—
	Luna-Rover		ZX Spectrum	—	—
	Mega-Mazing		ZX Spectrum	—	—	Compilation
	The Astrocade Collection		ZX Spectrum	—	—	Compilation
1986	Death Duel		ZX Spectrum	—	—	Type-in program
	Invadas		ZX Spectrum	—	—	Also published as type-in program
	Space Fright		ZX Spectrum	—	—
	Annals of Rome	Personal Software Services	ZX Spectrum	—	—	Port
1987	Tobruk		ZX Spectrum	—	—	Port; action sequences only
	Pegasus Bridge		Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum	—	—	Port
1988	Dark Blades Play By Mail	Standard Games PBM	Atari ST	—	—	Play-by-mail software
1989	Pogotron	Gamebusters	ZX Spectrum	—	—	Port
	Skullball	Active Games PBM	Atari ST, MS-DOS	—	—	Play-by-mail software
1990	Europa		MS-DOS	—	—	Play-by-mail software
	Invasion Force	Cases Computer Simulations	ZX Spectrum	—	—
1991	Loopz	Audiogenic Software	Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, ZX Spectrum	—	—	Port
	Charge of the Light Brigade	Impressions Games	MS-DOS	—	—	Port
1992	Xenon 2: Megablast	Virgin Games	—	Master System	—	Port
	James Pond 2: Codename RoboCod	Millennium Interactive	Commodore 64	—	—	Port; credited as DDS Programming Team

As Data Design Interactive

Year	Title	Publisher	Platform(s)			Notes
			Computer	Console	Handheld
1997	Conquest Earth	Eidos Interactive	Microsoft Windows, MS-DOS	—	—
1999	LEGO Rock Raiders	LEGO Media International	Microsoft Windows	PlayStation	—	North American PlayStation version co-developed with Gameworld 7

Cancelled

Year	Title	Platform(s)
		Computer	Console	Handheld
1990	Invasion Force	Amstrad CPC	—	—
1991	Hand of St. James	Atari ST, MS-DOS	—	—