John Calhoun (software developer)
Encyclopedia
John Calhoun is an Apple Macintosh software developer
. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he developed a series of shareware games (Glider, Glypha, etc.) for the Macintosh and Windows, under the name Soft Dorothy Software. He initially published his own games, but later published through Casady & Greene
.
His most famous creations are the Glider series: Glider, Glider 2.0, Glider 3.1.2, Glider 4.0, and Glider PRO
. In addition, he created the shareware games Glypha III
, Stella Obscura, MacTuberling, and commercial games Pararena
and Spaceway 2000 (co-written with Jeff Robbin
), and an Apple Newton game, Silicon Casino
.
After the bankruptcy of Casady & Greene in 2003, Calhoun released Glider PRO as freeware on his personal website.
Calhoun has since joined Apple Macintosh's programming team. Calhoun cited poor financial returns on games outside the Glider series as his primary reason for leaving the game development field.
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he developed a series of shareware games (Glider, Glypha, etc.) for the Macintosh and Windows, under the name Soft Dorothy Software. He initially published his own games, but later published through Casady & Greene
Casady & Greene
Casady & Greene, founded in 1984 by Robin Casady, was a software publisher of shareware products, primarily for the Macintosh. C&G published fonts in the earlier days of desktop publishing; founder Casady partnered with Michael Greene, founder of Greene Inc who developed QuickDex. An expansion into...
.
His most famous creations are the Glider series: Glider, Glider 2.0, Glider 3.1.2, Glider 4.0, and Glider PRO
Glider PRO
Glider PRO is an Apple Macintosh game first published by Casady & Greene in 1991. It is the final installment of the Glider series to date.When Casady & Greene went bankrupt, the rights to the series reverted to the author, John Calhoun, who opted to give a few versions of the game away for free...
. In addition, he created the shareware games Glypha III
Glypha III
Glypha III is a Joust clone for the Macintosh written in C by John Calhoun. It was developed and distributed by Soft Dorothy Software in 1995 as freeware and open-source. Since then, it has been ported to Mac OS X by Mark Pazolli, and to the iPhone by Kent Sutherland. In the game, the player plays...
, Stella Obscura, MacTuberling, and commercial games Pararena
Pararena
Pararena is an action computer game for the Apple Macintosh computer originally written in 1990 by John Calhoun and released as shareware. It is a mouse-controlled ball game where two players compete on hoverboards in a parabolic arena with two "goals" on the sides...
and Spaceway 2000 (co-written with Jeff Robbin
Jeff Robbin
Jeffrey L. "Jeff" Robbin is the vice president of consumer applications at Apple, Inc. He is an American computer engineer and entrepreneur notable for creating the MP3 player SoundJam MP with Bill Kincaid that was eventually bought by Apple and renamed iTunes...
), and an Apple Newton game, Silicon Casino
Silicon Casino
Silicon Casino was a Newton MessagePad game, created by John Calhoun and published by Casady & Greene in 1994, which let players win or lose virtual money through a series of casino-style games. Silicon Casino included blackjack, baccarat, craps, poker, and slot machines in a virtual gaming room....
.
After the bankruptcy of Casady & Greene in 2003, Calhoun released Glider PRO as freeware on his personal website.
Calhoun has since joined Apple Macintosh's programming team. Calhoun cited poor financial returns on games outside the Glider series as his primary reason for leaving the game development field.