- Joined
- Jan 2, 2020
- Messages
- 1,414
I got started with programming during the 80's using BASIC like most programmers back then. Later I got into machinecode, mainly because, that was what you had to do to get good graphics and sound back then. Most ppl wanted to make their own games so programming languages for making arcade-quality games and "Game makers" popped up like crazy.
For nostalgia purposes I made a list over some of the "game makers" that existed back then. These were the pioneers :
1982 The Arcade Machine (only Apple II, Atari 8-bit)
1983 Simons' BASIC
1983 Pinball Construction Set
1983 GamesDesigner
1983 SCOPE
1984 The Games Creator
1984 Adventure Construction Set (1986 Amiga)
1984 White Lightning (Red lightning, Blue lightning) These were BASIC's and Assembly -like packages
1985 Laser Basic
1985 SCOPE II the games designer
1985 Racing Destruction Set
1985 Game maker
1987 Shoot-'Em-Up Construction Kit
1987 3D GameMaker
1988 2D GameMaker
1988 Arcade Game Construction Kit
1988 STOS
1990 AMOS
1990 BLITZ BASIC I (This is rare and pretty unknown, it used a copy protection dongle and was priced around 90usd)
1991 BLITZ BASIC II (Cerberus-X's great great grandfather)
1993 the Web arrived and everything went crazy with "Authorware" instead of Gamemakers for a few years.
You used to see these in the magazines back then, You could read about them in a wide variety of ads, from small text-only ads, to fully dedicated pages with lots of screenshots and information about them. You could easily appreciate the amount of work that was put into these. They were basically mini-posters.
Feel free to add If I missed something that you feel I missed.
For nostalgia purposes I made a list over some of the "game makers" that existed back then. These were the pioneers :
1982 The Arcade Machine (only Apple II, Atari 8-bit)
1983 Simons' BASIC
1983 Pinball Construction Set
1983 GamesDesigner
1983 SCOPE
1984 The Games Creator
1984 Adventure Construction Set (1986 Amiga)
1984 White Lightning (Red lightning, Blue lightning) These were BASIC's and Assembly -like packages
1985 Laser Basic
1985 SCOPE II the games designer
1985 Racing Destruction Set
1985 Game maker
1987 Shoot-'Em-Up Construction Kit
1987 3D GameMaker
1988 2D GameMaker
1988 Arcade Game Construction Kit
1988 STOS
1990 AMOS
1990 BLITZ BASIC I (This is rare and pretty unknown, it used a copy protection dongle and was priced around 90usd)
1991 BLITZ BASIC II (Cerberus-X's great great grandfather)
1993 the Web arrived and everything went crazy with "Authorware" instead of Gamemakers for a few years.
You used to see these in the magazines back then, You could read about them in a wide variety of ads, from small text-only ads, to fully dedicated pages with lots of screenshots and information about them. You could easily appreciate the amount of work that was put into these. They were basically mini-posters.
Feel free to add If I missed something that you feel I missed.
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