Level 9 Computing
Encyclopedia
Level 9 was a British computer text adventure game
company which produced some of the most advanced games of the 1980s. Founded in 1981 by Mike Austin, Nicholas Austin and Pete Austin, the company produced about 20 games for BBC Micro
, Nascom
, ZX Spectrum
, Commodore 64
, Oric, Atari
, Lynx 48k
, RML 380Z, Amstrad CPC
, MSX
, Amiga
, Apple II
, Memotech MTX, and Enterprise
until the commercial declining market of the text adventure genre forced their closure in June 1991.
Level 9's first program was an extension to Nascom BASIC
called Extension Basic. The first game, also for the Nascom, was called Fantasy and was similar to Valhalla
, but with no graphics. Other products from that era were Missile Defence, Bomber and Space Invasion — all for the Nascom. The tapes were duplicated and sent out by mail order by the brothers based on orders generated by the classified advertisements
they ran in the Computing Today
magazine. They were based at Hughenden Road, High Wycombe, Bucks. HP13 5PG before moving to the West Country
.
, A-code, around 1979. It was very memory efficient, mainly due to the advanced text compression
routines which could compress texts to about 50%. The game data, which were identical for all platforms, were incorporated into the executable file for specific machines, together with the interpreter part. A-code underwent a couple of revisions: there are three distinct versions in all, plus a couple of extensions which form new A-code versions of their own.
(Level 9 A-code should not be confused with the A-code language developed by Dave Platt in 1979 for the purpose of writing the highly popular 550 points extension of the original Adventure game.)
Andrew Deeley, who worked for Level 9 on Software Development, recalls how the use of the A-Code interpreter enabled L9 to produce hundreds of cross platform versions of their entire catalogue in the space of 18 months, "with so many 8 bit computers on the markets and the introduction of Macs, and Atari STs, developing for cross platform versions of a game was becoming prohibitive in cost back in the late 80s / early 90s. Level 9 were able to hold their own as a small developer because they were able to optimise cross platform production of their games".
The first game to use this system was Colossal Adventure, a faithful conversion of Adventure by Will Crowther and Don Woods, yet with 70 extra locations to the end game. This game was followed up by two sequels, Adventure Quest and Dungeon Adventure, both of which featured the Demon Lord Agaliarept
. The three titles became known as the Middle-earth trilogy, with a reference in the instructions to Dungeon Adventure to the city of Minas Tirith
, which features in J. R. R. Tolkien
's The Lord of the Rings
. When enhanced versions of the three games were published by Rainbird Software
, the reference to Middle-earth
was quietly deleted; the series became known as Jewels of Darkness; and Minas Tirith
became Valaii.
Snowball was the first adventure in the Silicon Dreams
trilogy, followed by Return to Eden
and The Worm in Paradise. Red Moon and its sequel The Price of Magik were bundled together with Lords of Time
by Mandarin Software to create yet another trilogy: Time and Magik
.
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
company which produced some of the most advanced games of the 1980s. Founded in 1981 by Mike Austin, Nicholas Austin and Pete Austin, the company produced about 20 games for BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
, Nascom
Nascom
The Nascom 1 and 2 were single-board computer kits issued in 1977 and 1979, respectively, based on the Zilog Z80 and including a keyboard and video interface, a serial port that could be used to store data on a tape cassette using the Kansas City standard, and two 8-bit parallel ports...
, ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Oric, Atari
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
, Lynx 48k
Camputers Lynx
The Lynx was an 8-bit British home computer that was first released in early 1983 as a 48 kB model. The designer of the Lynx was John Shireff and several models were available with 48 kB, 96 kB or 128 kB RAM...
, RML 380Z, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
, Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
, Memotech MTX, and Enterprise
Enterprise 128
The Enterprise is a Zilog Z80 based home computer first released in 1985. There are two variants, the Enterprise 64 with 64 kB of RAM, and the Enterprise 128 with 128 kB.- Hardware :- CPU, memory and ASIC chips :...
until the commercial declining market of the text adventure genre forced their closure in June 1991.
Level 9's first program was an extension to Nascom BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
called Extension Basic. The first game, also for the Nascom, was called Fantasy and was similar to Valhalla
Valhalla (computer game)
Valhalla was a ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 adventure game published in 1983 by Legend.-History:The publishing house Legend had earlier published titles under the Microl label. Legend's chairman and founder was John Peel. The developers were Richard Edwards, Graham Asher, Charles Goodwin, James...
, but with no graphics. Other products from that era were Missile Defence, Bomber and Space Invasion — all for the Nascom. The tapes were duplicated and sent out by mail order by the brothers based on orders generated by the classified advertisements
Classified advertising
Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge...
they ran in the Computing Today
Computing Today
Computing Today was a computer magazine published by Argus Specialist Publications, it was printed in the UK from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s...
magazine. They were based at Hughenden Road, High Wycombe, Bucks. HP13 5PG before moving to the West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
.
A-code
Level 9 devised their own interpretation languageInterpreted language
Interpreted language is a programming language in which programs are 'indirectly' executed by an interpreter program. This can be contrasted with a compiled language which is converted into machine code and then 'directly' executed by the host CPU...
, A-code, around 1979. It was very memory efficient, mainly due to the advanced text compression
Lossless data compression
Lossless data compression is a class of data compression algorithms that allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data. The term lossless is in contrast to lossy data compression, which only allows an approximation of the original data to be reconstructed, in exchange...
routines which could compress texts to about 50%. The game data, which were identical for all platforms, were incorporated into the executable file for specific machines, together with the interpreter part. A-code underwent a couple of revisions: there are three distinct versions in all, plus a couple of extensions which form new A-code versions of their own.
(Level 9 A-code should not be confused with the A-code language developed by Dave Platt in 1979 for the purpose of writing the highly popular 550 points extension of the original Adventure game.)
Andrew Deeley, who worked for Level 9 on Software Development, recalls how the use of the A-Code interpreter enabled L9 to produce hundreds of cross platform versions of their entire catalogue in the space of 18 months, "with so many 8 bit computers on the markets and the introduction of Macs, and Atari STs, developing for cross platform versions of a game was becoming prohibitive in cost back in the late 80s / early 90s. Level 9 were able to hold their own as a small developer because they were able to optimise cross platform production of their games".
The first game to use this system was Colossal Adventure, a faithful conversion of Adventure by Will Crowther and Don Woods, yet with 70 extra locations to the end game. This game was followed up by two sequels, Adventure Quest and Dungeon Adventure, both of which featured the Demon Lord Agaliarept
Agaliarept
In the Grimoirium Verum, Agaliarept is purported to be one of two demons directly under Lucifer; Satanachia being the other. The Grimoirium Verum also states that Agalierept and Tarihimal are the rulers of Elelogap, who in turn governs matters connected with water...
. The three titles became known as the Middle-earth trilogy, with a reference in the instructions to Dungeon Adventure to the city of Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith , originally named Minas Anor, is a fictional city and castle in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. It became the heavily fortified capital of Gondor in the second half of the Third Age...
, which features in J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
. When enhanced versions of the three games were published by Rainbird Software
Telecomsoft
Telecomsoft was the computer software division of British telecommunications company British Telecom . It was the owner of the well-known Firebird and Rainbird labels, under which it sold video games at a variety of price-points....
, the reference to Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
was quietly deleted; the series became known as Jewels of Darkness; and Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith , originally named Minas Anor, is a fictional city and castle in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. It became the heavily fortified capital of Gondor in the second half of the Third Age...
became Valaii.
Snowball was the first adventure in the Silicon Dreams
Silicon Dreams trilogy
Silicon Dreams is a trilogy of interactive fiction games developed by Level 9 Computing during the 1980s. The first game was Snowball, released in 1983, followed a year later by Return to Eden, and then by The Worm in Paradise in 1985. The following year they appeared together in a bundle as the...
trilogy, followed by Return to Eden
Return to Eden
Return to Eden is an Australian television drama series starring Rebecca Gilling, James Reyne, Wendy Hughes and James Smillie. It began as a three-part mini-series, shown on Network Ten in 1983. Gilling and Smillie would reprise their roles for a 22-part weekly series screened in 1986.-Mini-series...
and The Worm in Paradise. Red Moon and its sequel The Price of Magik were bundled together with Lords of Time
Lords of Time
Lords of Time is an interactive fiction computer game designed by Sue Gazzard and released by Level 9 Computing in 1983. Originally purely a textual adventure for 8 bit microcomputers, the game was later released as part of the Time & Magik compilation where graphics were added for the Atari ST and...
by Mandarin Software to create yet another trilogy: Time and Magik
Time and Magik
Time and Magik is a trilogy of text adventure games by Level 9. The individual games were initially released separately in 1983-1986.In 1988 the three games were revised, expanded and rereleased together as a compilation....
.
List of games
- Colossal Adventure (1983)
- Adventure Quest (1983)
- Dungeon Adventure (1983)
- Snowball (1983)
- Lords of TimeLords of TimeLords of Time is an interactive fiction computer game designed by Sue Gazzard and released by Level 9 Computing in 1983. Originally purely a textual adventure for 8 bit microcomputers, the game was later released as part of the Time & Magik compilation where graphics were added for the Atari ST and...
(1983) - Return to Eden (1984)
- Emerald Isle (1985)
- Red Moon (1985)
- The Worm in Paradise (1985)
- The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ (for Mosaic Publishing, 1985)
- The Archers (for Mosaic, 1985)
- The Saga of Erik the VikingErik the Viking (game)The Saga of Erik the Viking is a text-based adventure game by the Austin brothers of Level 9 Computing, published by Mosaic Publishing in 1984. The game runs on Amstrad CPC, BBC model B, Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum...
(for Mosaic, 1985) - The Price of Magik (1986)
- Jewels of DarknessJewels of DarknessJewels of Darkness is a trilogy of text adventure games by Level 9. The individual games were initially released separately in 1983. They featured some themes inspired by the books of J. R. R...
trilogy (for Rainbird Software, 1986) (also known as the Middle-Earth Trilogy)- Colossal Adventure
- Adventure Quest
- Dungeon Adventure
- Silicon DreamsSilicon Dreams trilogySilicon Dreams is a trilogy of interactive fiction games developed by Level 9 Computing during the 1980s. The first game was Snowball, released in 1983, followed a year later by Return to Eden, and then by The Worm in Paradise in 1985. The following year they appeared together in a bundle as the...
trilogy (for Rainbird, 1986)- Snowball
- Return to Eden
- The Worm in Paradise
- Knight OrcKnight OrcKnight Orc is a text adventure game by Level 9 released in .- Plot :After a night of heavy drinking with friends, Grindleguts the orc awakes to find himself strapped to a horse and about to joust with a human knight...
(for Rainbird Software, 1987) - The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (for Virgin Games, 1987)
- Gnome RangerGnome RangerGnome Ranger is a text adventure game by Level 9 released in . It was followed by a sequel, Ingrid's Back.- Plot :The gnome Ingrid Bottomlow has displeased her family by her un-gnomelike behaviour, such as going off to university and getting an education...
(1987) - Time and MagikTime and MagikTime and Magik is a trilogy of text adventure games by Level 9. The individual games were initially released separately in 1983-1986.In 1988 the three games were revised, expanded and rereleased together as a compilation....
trilogy (for Mandarin Software, 1988)- Lords of Time
- Red Moon
- The Price of Magik
- Lancelot (for Mandarin, 1988)
- Ingrid's Back: Gnome Ranger 2 (for Mandarin, 1988)
- ScapeghostScapeghostScapeghost is a text adventure game by Level 9 released in 1989. It is the last adventure game by the company to be published.-Plot:...
(1989) - The Legend of Billy the KidThe Legend of Billy the KidThe Legend of Billy the Kid is a 1994 television documentary film about Billy the Kid. It was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards. Narrator David Marshall Grant received an Emmy nomination for his work on the film. The film explores the Kid's wild life, the Lincoln County War, his team, and...
(for Ocean SoftwareOcean SoftwareThe British company Ocean Software was one of the biggest European video game developers/publishers of the 1980s and 90s...
, 1990; never released) - Champion of the Raj (1991)
- It Came from the DesertIt Came From the DesertIt Came from the Desert is a 1989 computer game by Cinemaware. It was originally released for the Amiga, but later ported to other systems, as well as released in distinctly different forms to consoles....
(PCIBM PCThe IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
port for CinemawareCinemawareCinemaware was a computer game developer and publisher that released several popular titles in the 1980s based on various movie themes. The company was resurrected in 2000, before being acquired by eGames in 2005.-Cinemaware Corp...
, 1991)
External links
- Level 9 Memorial
- Level 9 Fact Sheet
- Level 9 - Past Masters of the adventure game by Richard Hewison
- "On the level" by Chris Bourne
- Let's Tell a Story Together (A History of Interactive Fiction) by Jimmy Maher