Origin Systems, Inc. (sometimes abbreviated as
OSI) was a computer game developer based in
Austin, TexasAustin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation...
that was active from 1983 to 2004. It is most famous for the
Ultima,
Wing CommanderWing Commander is a media franchise consisting of space combat simulation computer games from Origin Systems, Inc., an animated television series, a feature film, a collectible card game, a series of novels, and action figures...
, and
Crusader game franchises.
The company was founded in 1983 by brothers Robert and
Richard GarriottRichard Allen Garriott is an English-American video game developer and entrepreneur.He is also known as his alter egos Lord British in Ultima and General British in Tabula Rasa...
, their father
OwenOwen Kay Garriott, Ph.D. is a former NASA astronaut who spent 60 days aboard Skylab in 1973 and 10 days aboard Spacelab-1 in 1983. He is also the father of Robert Garriott and fellow spacefarer Richard Garriott....
and
Chuck BuecheChuck Bueche is a game programmer most famous for his involvement with the Ultima computer game series.Bueche was a high school friend and university roommate of Richard Garriott in Austin, Texas. After being introduced to computers by Garriott in 1981, Bueche founded his own company, Craniac...
after Richard had terminated his contract with Sierra On-Line to publish the third part in Richard's
Ultima series,
Ultima III: Exodus.
In September 1992,
Electronic ArtsElectronic Arts is an international developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers responsible...
acquired the company.
In 1997, they released one of the earliest and most successful graphical
MMORPGMassively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
s,
Ultima OnlineUltima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 25, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
.
Origin Systems, Inc. (sometimes abbreviated as
OSI) was a computer game developer based in
Austin, TexasAustin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation...
that was active from 1983 to 2004. It is most famous for the
Ultima,
Wing CommanderWing Commander is a media franchise consisting of space combat simulation computer games from Origin Systems, Inc., an animated television series, a feature film, a collectible card game, a series of novels, and action figures...
, and
Crusader game franchises.
History
The company was founded in 1983 by brothers Robert and
Richard GarriottRichard Allen Garriott is an English-American video game developer and entrepreneur.He is also known as his alter egos Lord British in Ultima and General British in Tabula Rasa...
, their father
OwenOwen Kay Garriott, Ph.D. is a former NASA astronaut who spent 60 days aboard Skylab in 1973 and 10 days aboard Spacelab-1 in 1983. He is also the father of Robert Garriott and fellow spacefarer Richard Garriott....
and
Chuck BuecheChuck Bueche is a game programmer most famous for his involvement with the Ultima computer game series.Bueche was a high school friend and university roommate of Richard Garriott in Austin, Texas. After being introduced to computers by Garriott in 1981, Bueche founded his own company, Craniac...
after Richard had terminated his contract with Sierra On-Line to publish the third part in Richard's
Ultima series,
Ultima III: Exodus.
In September 1992,
Electronic ArtsElectronic Arts is an international developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers responsible...
acquired the company.
In 1997, they released one of the earliest and most successful graphical
MMORPGMassively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
s,
Ultima OnlineUltima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 25, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
. After this title, Electronic Arts decided that Origin would become an online-only company after the completion of
Ultima IXUltima IX: Ascension is the ninth and final part of the main series of the computer role-playing game series Ultima.Following the Avatar's escape from Pagan, he is transported back to Britannia for one final battle with the Guardian, who is increasingly ruining the physical and moral fabric of...
in 1999. However, within a year's time, in part of Ultima IX's poor reception
http://www.frictionlessinsight.com/archives/2002/03/interview-with.html, EA canceled all of Origin's new development projects, including
Ultima Online 2,
Privateer Online, and
Harry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter, together with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his friends from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
Online. Richard Garriott left Origin shortly after and founded
Destination GamesDestination Games is a computer game development company created in April 2000 by Richard Garriott, Robert Garriott and Starr Long, following their departure from Origin Systems. Destination was founded in Austin, Texas to develop massively multiplayer online role-playing games...
in 2000.
In later years, Origin mainly existed to support and expand
Ultima Online and to develop further online games based on the Ultima franchise such as
Ultima X: OdysseyUltima X: Odyssey was to be a massively multiplayer computer role-playing game based in the Ultima universe, developed by Origin Systems for Electronic Arts....
, originally to be released in 2004 but later canceled. In February 2004, the studio was disbanded by Electronic Arts.
Notable employees
Origin employed many young game developers over its tenure who have since gone on to leading roles in numerous game development companies, especially in Austin. Among its prominent employees were (alphabetically):
- Britt Daniel
Britt Daniel is the co-founder, lead singer and guitarist of the Austin, Texas, rock band Spoon.-Biography:Britt Daniel was born in Galveston, Texas, and grew up in Temple, Texas, in a household of five children...
was a composer for numerous titles and went on to found the rock band SpoonSpoon is an American indie rock band from Austin, Texas. The band is composed of Britt Daniel ; Jim Eno ; Rob Pope and Eric Harvey .-History:...
.
- Chris Roberts creator of the Wing Commander Series. Founder of Digital Anvil, later acquired by Microsoft.
- John Romero
Alfonso John Romero is a game designer, programmer, and developer in the video game industry. He is best known as a co-founder of id Software and was a designer for many of their personal computer games including Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake...
was shortly working for Origin in 1987-1988 before co-founding id Softwareid Software is an American video game development company from Mesquite, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
- Ken Demarest
Kenneth Llewellyn Demarest III is a computer game programmer, business person, and artist.As a technical innovator, he helped advance the state of the art in computer games by developing the first 3D, texture mapped characters ever seen in a computer game for BioForge...
created the technical prototype for Ultima Online, directed BioForge, led programming on Ultima VII, and coded on Wing Commander 1.
- Martin Galway
Martin Galway is one of the best known composers of music for the Commodore 64 sound chip, the SID soundchip, and for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum...
was a Sound Designer/Composer and Audio Technician who went on to work at Digital Anvil.
- Mike McShaffry
Mike McShaffry graduated from the University of Houston, and began his video game industry career working for Origin Systems in 1990. He worked on titles such as, Martian Dreams, Ultima VII: The Black Gate, Ultima VIII: Pagan, Ultima IX: Ascension and Ultima Online. In 1997 he formed his own...
was lead developer of several of the Ultima series. Later co-founded other Austin studios and has written and taught on game development theory.
- Paul Isaac
Paul C. Isaac is a computer game developer. He is best known for his work on hit titles such as Wing Commander, Strike Commander and Freelancer.-Origin Systems / Electronic Arts :...
was technical lead on the Wing Commander and Strike Commander series. He later became a lead developer at Digital AnvilDigital Anvil was a computer game company. It was founded in 1996, when Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts left Origin Systems, Inc., along with many other employees....
/ MicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices...
worked on Freelancer and more recently joined Certain AffinityCertain Affinity is an American video game development studio based in Austin, Texas, in the USA. It was founded in 2006 by Max Hoberman and a small number of other ex-Bungie employees and other industry veterans.-History:...
as engineering lead.
- Paul Steed
Paul Howard Steed, Jr is a video game modeller and artist. He has worked for Origin Systems, Electronic Arts, id Software, Wild Tangent, Microsoft's Xbox, Atari, and now Exigent. He created artwork or models for several prominent game series including Wing Commander and Quake...
was a leading artist on the Wing Commander series and went on to serve as an art lead for id Software on the QuakeQuake is a first-person shooter video game that was released by id Software on June 22, 1996. It was the first game in the popular Quake series of video games....
series.
- Raph Koster
Raphael "Raph" Koster is an American entrepreneur, game designer, and author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design. Koster is widely recognized for his work as the lead designer of Ultima Online and the creative director behind Star Wars Galaxies...
was lead designer of Ultima Online and later joined Sony Online Entertainment in Austin developing Everquest II and Star Wars Galaxies.
- Raymond Benson
Raymond Benson is an American author best known for being the official author of the adult James Bond novels from 1997 to 2003. Benson was born in Midland, Texas and graduated from Permian High School in Odessa in 1973...
was head writer on Ultima VII—The Black Gate, contributed some writing to Ultima VII, Part Two—Serpent Isle, and went on to work as a game designer for MicroProseMicroProse, as a corporation and brand name, has been owned by several entities since its original founding by Sid Meier and Bill Stealey in 1982, as Microprose Software.-Founding of MicroProse Software Inc.:...
and Viacom New Media, then later became an official continuation author of the James Bond 007 novels.
- Richard Garriott
Richard Allen Garriott is an English-American video game developer and entrepreneur.He is also known as his alter egos Lord British in Ultima and General British in Tabula Rasa...
aka "Lord British" creator of Ultima, and cofounder of Origin. Later founded Destination GamesDestination Games is a computer game development company created in April 2000 by Richard Garriott, Robert Garriott and Starr Long, following their departure from Origin Systems. Destination was founded in Austin, Texas to develop massively multiplayer online role-playing games...
later acquired by NC Soft.
- Robert Garriott
Robert K. Garriott is a computer game industry figure and entrepreneur. He co-founded Origin Systems and Destination Games with his brother, Richard Garriott, and was the CEO of NCsoft-North America until 2008. He is the second-eldest son of NASA astronaut Owen K. Garriott...
, brother of Richard Garriott, cofounded Origin and Destination GamesDestination Games is a computer game development company created in April 2000 by Richard Garriott, Robert Garriott and Starr Long, following their departure from Origin Systems. Destination was founded in Austin, Texas to develop massively multiplayer online role-playing games...
.
- Sheri Graner Ray
Sheri Graner Ray has been making computer games since 1990. She has worked for such companies as Electronic Arts, Origin Systems, Sony Online Entertainment, and Cartoon Network, and has worked on such licenses as Star Wars Galaxies, Ultima, and Nancy Drew...
was a writer and designer on several of the Ultima series. Went on to work with several major companies including Sony Online Entertainment and Cartoon Network. Also founder of Women In Games International.
- Tom Chilton
Tom "Kalgan" Chilton was a lead game designer for Blizzard Entertainment and is a lead designer for the MMORPG World of Warcraft. He has been referred to as "Blizzard's PvP guru." Chilton, along with Rob Pardo and Jeffrey Kaplan, were the three Lead Designers for World of Warcraft: The Burning...
was lead designer on Ultima Online: Age of ShadowsUltima Online: Age of Shadows is the fifth expansion pack for the popular MMORPG Ultima Online. It was released on February 11, 2003 and was the last title by developer Origin Systems.-Malas:...
and went on to be a lead designer for Blizzard EntertainmentBlizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded in February 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce...
.
- Tony Zurovec was the designer on Crusader: No Remorse and Crusader: No Regret Series. He worked on Ultima VIII: Pagan. He went on to work with the company Digital Anvil
Digital Anvil was a computer game company. It was founded in 1996, when Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts left Origin Systems, Inc., along with many other employees....
on the PC Game Loose CannonThe expression "loose cannon" or "loose cannon on rolling deck" refers to an irresponsible and reckless individual whose behaviour endangers the group he or she belongs to, or just generally winds them up with their wrong-headed logic.Like headless chicken, running around...The term originates in...
".
- Warren Spector
Warren Spector is a role-playing game designer and a computer game designer. He is known for having worked to merge elements of role-playing games and first-person shooters. He currently resides in Austin, Texas with his wife, fantasy writer Caroline L. Spector...
producer of Ultima Underworld which was developed by Doug ChurchDoug Church is an American computer game designer and producer. He attended MIT in the late 1980s, but left and went to work with Looking Glass Studios, when they were making primarily MS-DOS-based first-person adventure/shooter/roleplaying games, including Ultima Underworld, Ultima Underworld II,...
and Looking Glass StudiosLooking Glass Studios was a computer game development company during the 1990s.The company originally formed as Looking Glass Technologies, when Blue Sky Productions and Lerner Research merged....
as well as System Shock, Wings of Glory and numerous other titles. He later co-founded ION Storm and managed its Austin office, creating Deus ExDeus Ex is a cyberpunk-themed action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in the year 2000, which combines gameplay elements of first-person shooters with those of role playing games...
.
- Zack Booth Simpson was Director of Technology and Research Fellow and went on to co-found Titanic Entertainment and later became a pioneer of interactivity as a fine art
Interactive art is a form of installation-based art that involves the spectator in some way. Some installations achieve this by letting the observer walk in, on, and around them. Works frequently feature computers and sensors to respond to motion, heat, meteorological changes or other types of...
with installations in museums around the world.
Characteristics
Origin's motto was "We Create Worlds" and its games were known for their well-realized plots and the amount of detail furnished. OSI was always ahead of the curve in terms of cutting edge graphics and game versatility.
The original Wing Commander
, for instance, came with a booklet purporting to be a shipboard magazine named Claw Marks
, written and published by the crew of the Tiger's Claw (ghost-written by
Aaron AllstonAaron Allston is an American game designer and novelist of many science fiction books, notably Star Wars novels. His works as a game designer include game supplements for several role-playing games, several of which served to establish the basis for products and subsequent development of TSR's...
); it provided the player with a number of irrelevancies (such as an interview with the star of a popular televised wartime drama) as well as convenient statistics and user guides for ships, weapon systems, and information regarding pilots and tactics on both Terran and Kilrathi sides and also hints on a rich background history.
Gameography
- Ultima series (1983–1999)
- Autoduel
Autoduel is a 1985 computer role-playing game published by Origin Systems for the Atari 400 and Atari 800 , Commodore 64, Apple II series, Mac, and DOS. It was released in 1987 for the Atari ST and in 1988 for the Amiga...
(1985)
- Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony
Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony is a computer game produced by Origin Systems and designed by Greg Malone. It was originally released in 1985 for the Apple II series of personal computers...
(1985)
- Ogre (1986)
- 2400 A.D.
2400 A.D. is a 1987 computer role-playing game designed by Chuck Bueche and published by Origin Systems. It was developed for the DOS and Apple II platforms; a version for the Commodore 64 was planned, but never completed.-Premise:...
(1987)
- Times of Lore
Times of Lore was an early computer-based roleplaying game with a detailed world. It was released for several platforms, including PC, Commodore 64/128, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, Atari ST, Apple II, NES, and Amiga.-Description:...
(1988)
- Knights of Legend
Knights of Legend, released by Origin Systems in 1989, is a computer role-playing game. There were supposed to be region and adventure modules to be released starting in 1990, but they were never released.-Features:...
(1989)
- Tangled Tales (1989)
- Omega
OMEGA is a computer game developed by Stuart Marks and published by Origin Systems in 1989. The game puts the player in the role of a cyber-tank designer and programmer. Given a limited budget, the player must design a tank that can defeat a series of ever more challenging opponent tanks...
(1989)
- Space Rogue
Space Rogue is a science fiction computer game released in 1989 by Origin Systems, makers of the hit Ultima series, for the Apple II and Commodore 64 and later ported to the PC, Macintosh, Amiga, Atari ST and FM Towns. The game combined elements of both a space combat simulator and a roleplaying game...
(1989)
- Windwalker (1989)
- Wing Commander series (1990–1998)
- Bad Blood (1990)
- Shadowcaster
Shadowcaster is a first-person shooter/role-playing computer game from 1993 developed by Raven Software. It was released by Origin Systems after Electronic Arts acquired them....
(1993)
- Strike Commander
Strike Commander is a flight sim computer game for MS-DOS released in 1993 by the now defunct Origin Systems and was designed by Chris Roberts. Its 3D graphics-engine used both gouraud shading and texture-mapping on both aircraft-models and terrain, an impressive feat at the time...
(1993)
- Privateer (1993)
- System Shock
System Shock is an action role-playing game developed by Looking Glass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. Released in 1994, the game is set aboard the fictional Citadel Station in a cyberpunk vision of 2072...
(1994)
- Pacific Strike
Pacific Strike is a 1994 DOS computer game. Created by Origin Systems, the game follows the pattern of the Wing Commander series, although it resembles more its cousin Strike Commander, in the sense that it is set in a more or less contemporary setting and allows the player to fly actual planes.The...
(1994)
- Wings of Glory
Wings of Glory is a combat flight simulator computer game for MS-DOS, developed by the now defunct Origin Systems. Released in 1994, it is one of the comparatively few World War I simulators.-Gameplay:...
(1994)
- Bioforge
BioForge is a 1995 computer role-playing game published by Origin Systems for the PC. The game was marketed as a movie-like production, because of its in-depth plot and extensive voice acting...
(1995)
- Crusader series
Crusader is a series of action-oriented computer games developed by Origin Systems and published by Electronic Arts. It consists of two titles: Crusader: No Remorse, released in 1995, and Crusader: No Regret, released in 1996...
(1995–1996)
- CyberMage: Darklight Awakening (1995)
- Jane's Combat Simulations: AH-64D Longbow (1996)
- Jane's Combat Simulations: AH-64D Longbow: Flash Point Korea (1996)
- Privateer 2: The Darkening (1996)
- Jane's Combat Simulations: Longbow 2 (1997)
- Ultima Online
Ultima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 25, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
(1997)
External links