Content deleted Content added
mNo edit summary |
|||
Line 34:
In August 1986, Keld Jensen founded the first professional Danish game developing company, Kele Line, in [[Slangerup]]. The company later moved to [[Amager]], which helped attract some young Danish developer talents. The company released their first successful games, ''The Vikings'' and ''Tiger Mission'', as well as two other games, ''Cyborg'' and ''Zyrons Escape''. Unfortunately, their distributor disappeared with all of the profits, which left Keld unable to pay his developers, causing a rift within the company.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kele Line A/S|url=https://videogamegeek.com/videogamepublisher/34907/kele-line-as|publisher=VideoGameGeek|access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Old Bits|url=http://www.sodan.dk/oldbits/oldbits.html|publisher=Sodan.dk|access-date=1 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Kele-Line|url=https://www.playright.dk/info/firma/kele-line|publisher=Play:Right|access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref><ref name="DRTV">{{cite web|title=Loading - historien om Danmarks spilpionerer|url=https://www.dr.dk/drtv/serie/loading-_-historien-om-danmarks-spilpionerer_282628|publisher=DR TV|access-date=1 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521020832/https://www.dr.dk/drtv/serie/loading-_-historien-om-danmarks-spilpionerer_282628|archive-date=21 May 2022}}</ref><ref name="digipres">{{cite web|title=Allan Christophersen on digipres.club: "Daily #dkgame number 206: Super OsWALD"|url=https://digipres.club/@duffadash/110037768545692948|publisher=digipres.club|access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref> Ivan Sølvason (b. 1960 to Bjarne Sølvason<ref>{{cite web|title=Bjarne Sølvasons bisættelse den 24.01.2024|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vEeo1rqqU0|publisher=YouTube|access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=My dad, the creator of the Animation Mask system for Hugo, Bjarne Sølvason, went to heaven today. Me and my family will miss him dearly.|url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/hugotroll/posts/2764019323754915/|publisher=Facebook|access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref>), an editor for the [[Commodore 64]] and [[Amiga]] magazine ''COMputer'' (also known as ''Det Nye COMputer''), ran a hit-piece on Kele Line in the magazine.<ref name="Ivan Sølvason">{{cite web|title=Ivan Sølvason - Chief Executive Officer - Max1Web ApS|url=https://dk.linkedin.com/in/ivansolvason|publisher=LinkedIn|access-date=4 July 2024}}</ref><ref name="Website">{{cite web|title=Om Max1AI|url=https://max1ai.dk/omos/|publisher=Max1Ai|access-date=4 July 2024}}</ref><ref name="Kele Line Scandal">{{cite web|title=Allan Christophersen on Twitter: "Så er "Skandalen Kele-Line" endeligt belyst fra den anden side. Fantastisk læsning. Her er historien som blev printet i Det Ny COMputer tilbage i 1987, formentligt skrevet af Ivan Sølvason der derefter selv dannede firma med mange af Kele-Lines ansatte."|url=https://twitter.com/Duffadash/status/1424818647042773002|publisher=Twitter|access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref> Several people left the company to form a new one in 1987, named Starvision International, with Sølvason acting in a managerial role for it.<ref>{{cite web|title=Danmarks nye SPIL-FABRIK|url=http://www.sodan.dk/oldbits/SOFT_87_06_37.jpg|publisher=Sodan.dk|access-date=1 July 2024}}</ref> Starvision was an ambitious company at the time, having a branch in [[New York City|New York]], releasing their first game ''M.A.C.H.: Maneuverable Armed Computer Humans'', and having several games in development in 1988, including ''Gigaball'', ''World Atlas'', ''Mega Pinball'' (later renamed ''Super Pinball''), ''Twin Ranger'', ''Starfighter One'', and ''Super Elite''. However, the developers quickly got tired of Sølvason's lack of participation in their work, and they had no cash inflow, which left ''M.A.C.H.'' as their only game, and Swiss Computer Arts would publish ''Gigaball'' (renamed ''Giganoid'') instead. Most of the team left to work in the [[United States]] on ''[[Sword of Sodan]]'' at Discovery Software, leaving Sølvason in Denmark to continue the remaining projects.<ref>{{cite web|author=IC RUN staff|url=https://archive.org/details/RUN1988Nr1112NovemberDecemberICRUN/page/n11|title=What's Up, Duck?|magazine=IC RUN|issue=11/12|publisher=Nordic Computer Software|date=December 1988|pages=12|access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Starvision|url=https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/results/gy/0/gh/0/gc/Starvision/gco/0/ga/0/gs/0/go/0/|publisher=Games That Weren't |access-date=1 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Super OsWald & Skærmtrolden Hugo|url=https://go64.dk/super-oswald-skaermtrolden-hugo/|publisher=go64.dk|access-date=30 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122222536/https://go64.dk/super-oswald-skaermtrolden-hugo/|archive-date=22 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="SOFT">{{cite web|last=Kirkegård Kristiansen|first=Rasmus|url=https://archive.org/details/mag_SOFT_1988-05/page/n37|title=Starvisions nyeste|quote=Danmarks mest ambitiøse spilfabrik? Det må være Starvision. Fra en start i beskedne kælderlokaler på Amager er firmaet nu rykket ind med filial på selveste Madison Avenue i New York City, USA... "For more information, contact Starvision directly at (212) 867-4486". Manden på softwarestanden ved AmiExpo er nyklippet og taler fejlfrit engelsk. Han er ivrig, energisk og deler i stort tal brochurer ud fra Starvision International, et nyt sofwarehus, der netop har etableret sig med USA-kontor på Madison Avenue, midt i en New Yorker skyskraber. Hvad de besørgende på AmiExpo ikke ved, er, at Starvision er et lille dansk softwarefirma, der for mindre end et halvt år siden stadig holdt til huse i en kælder på Amager. Starvision har nemlig slået sig stort op på den amerikanske Amiga-udstilling - de er det softwarefirma, der har den største stand overhovedet! Og med tekster som "European quality games" og "Best games for your Amiga" kræves der noget. Ikke mindst i Guds eget land, hvor alting helst skal være stort og hvor Danmark, ja det er navnet på en ny slags vanllle-is. Fantastiske spil: Starvision International er stadig dansk, og splllene er noget af det bedste, Danmark kan præstere. Men som de entusiastlske programmører bag firmaet siger: Et kontor i New York giver os en helt speciel mulighed for at sælge i verdens største Amiga-marked, nemlig USA. Hvad er det så, de vil sælge? Først og fremmest kommer "World Atlas", en lidt småkedellg affære, hvor du pr data tjekker op på 165 forskellige lande verden over. Programmet er en slags grafisk database, der godt nok er perfekt til undervisning og slige halvsløve affærer, men ikke lige sagen for en sand joystick-ekvilibrist. Den slags er der heldigvis mere af i Starvisions næste danskprogrammerede spil. Deter "Mega Pinball", hvor du fra og med november gerne skulle få mulighed for at spille ægte pinball (flipper spil) på din Amiga. Det er ren grillbarbenny, og det er skæppeskægt. Ikke bare er grafikken klar mega, lydene er også med som de skal være og så er der små sjove effekter og bonus ting gemt rundt omkring. Sådan, Starvi! "Twin Ranger", i december, er smuk, smuk, smuk graflk. Spillet er måske som så meget rumsjov, men der er heldigvis adderet lidt ekstra kræs, så der ikke bare sker det samme skyde-skyde. Alene den eminente grafik er nok til at sælge "Twin Ranger" - det spil SKAL simpelthen bare ses! Også i december ser vi sandsynligvis "Snowberry". Det er spillet, der oprindeligt blev lavet på opfordring af Nordisk Films TV og den nye TV2 til et quizshow. Starvision står for programmeringen og conceptet, så glæd dig! Selvom du er en bamse, er det ikke noget børnespll. Og selvom grafikken er tegneserie så det basker, er det ikke useriøst. I "Snowberry" gælder det nemlig om at holde tungen skarpt lige i munden. Rosinen i pølseenden (i hvert fold i denne runde) er "Starfighter One". Her er spillet, alle Danmarks inside-programmører fabler om, og det er bare S) stort, at ingen tør gætte på, hvornår (eller hvordan) det spil nogensinde bliver færdigt. "Starfighter One" er et fantastisk gigant-game, der slår alt, hvad du hidtil har set på Amigaen. Grafikken er utrolig, og der er sl mange scener, at Starvisions programmører arbejder dag og nat med det hele. Forventet release-dato? Engang i 1989...|magazine=SOFT|issue=5|publisher=Forlaget Audio|date=October 1988|pages=38|access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref><ref name="digipres"/>
One of Starvision's remaining games was ''OsWALD'', then known as ''Snowberry'' and planned to be released in November and later December 1988.<ref name="SOFT"/><ref name="Snowberry">{{cite web|title=Allan Christophersen on Twitter: "OsWald selv stammer fra en periode da størstedelen af firmaet Starvision var taget til USA for at færdiggøre Sword of Sodan hos Discovery, og ivan var efterladt hjemme i Danmark til at videreføre de tilbageværende projekter, heriblandt "Snowberry", som han pitchede til Eleva2ren."|url=https://twitter.com/Duffadash/status/1211756450151841792 |publisher=Twitter|access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref><ref name="digipres"/> Starvision landed a contract with [[Nordisk Film]] to make an interactive game experience to be used in the weekly programme ''Eleva2ren'' on Denmark's newly-launched television channel [[TV 2 (Danish TV channel)|TV 2]], which was set to begin broadcasting on 7 October 1988. Sølvason pulled together a little team consisting of programmer Esben Krag Hansen, graphics artist Jesper V. Jørgensen, and sound designers Mikael Balle and [[Jesper Kyd]] to develop the game.<ref name="COM11-88"/><ref name="Engaging Entertainment"/><ref name="Landline"/><ref name="Ivan Sølvason"/><ref name="Website"/><ref name="slides"/><ref name="digipres"/><ref name="MS-DOS"/><ref name="Lemon Credits 1">{{cite web|title=OsWALD|url=https://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=2764|publisher=LemonAmiga|access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref> All of them were members of the Danish Amiga [[demoscene]].<ref>{{cite web|title=OsWald og Hugo (1988 og 1990)|url=https://datamuseum.dk/udstillinger/danskerne-og-datamaterne/tema-rum-2/oswald-og-hugo/|publisher=Dansk Datahistorisk Forening|access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref> Jørgensen came up with the concept of a teddy bear jumping about on blocks of ice and collecting gift packages, as well as a couple of quotes during gameplay with the voice provided by Sølvason, including one when he loses a life, "Det var vel nok ærgerligt. Vi prøver igen!" ("Isn't that just bad. We'll have another try!")<ref name="Website"/><ref name="slides"/> According to Jørgensen, the developers tried to make the game look like a cartoon as much as possible, both in terms of sound and graphics. This was because there were groups in the population who were against computer games at the time, and could therefore perceive ''OsWALD'' incorrectly if they made it a traditional space [[shooter game]] or cheese game ("ostespil"). ''OsWALD'' was developed specifically for ''Eleva2ren'' during most of the summer and the early autumn of 1988, and sold to Nordisk Film for US $12,000. It ran on three [[Amiga 2000|Amiga 2000s]] (one used in the studio and two for running the programme) with video output, [[genlock]] and an [[RGB color model|RGB]] generator. The Amiga system used in the studio was hooked to a specially-designed [[modem]] that allowed contestants to speak to the host from home, and at the same time send [[DTMF]] signals from the telephone keys to play. The modem and communication software were developed by Voice Communication in [[Holbæk]], and [[Commodore International|Commodore Denmark]] provided the Amiga hardware, genlock interface and connection to Nordisk Film's studio systems and RGB generators. According to ''COMPuter'', broadcasting a telephone-controlled game on live television was a revolutionary idea, which at the time was not even known in the United States.<ref name="COM11-88"/><ref name="Engaging Entertainment"/><ref name="Marketing">{{cite book|title=Marketing Management: A Relationship Approach|isbn=9780273643784|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Marketing_Management/DyUOa1CHFWUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Ivan+Sølvason&pg=PA385|access-date=7 July 2024|last1=Hollensen|first1=Svend|date=2003|publisher=Financial Times-Prentice Hall}}</ref><ref name="Landline"/><ref name="digipres"/> The game never saw a release in Denmark for home computers, but was released on the Amiga as ''OsWALD of the Ice Floes'' through a U.S. company named Centaur Software in October 1989, along with ''World Atlas'' and ''Leonardo''.<ref name="Amiga World"/><ref name="Ice Floes"/><ref name="OpenRetro"/><ref name="digipres"/><ref name="World Atlas">{{cite web|title=Allan Christophersen on Twitter: "Ovenstående plakat er sandsynligvis lavet af Ivan Sølvason selv. De fleste af titlerne udkom aldrig, men World Atlas, som var et projekt af @NielsKroMo, udkom via publisheren Centaur Software i 1990, som også endte med at udgive første udgave af OsWald spillet."|url=https://twitter.com/Duffadash/status/1211757977327280134|publisher=Twitter|access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref>
When ''OsWALD'' became a hit on Danish television, Hansen, Jorgensen, Balle and Kyd tried to renegotiate their contract with Nordisk Film without involving Sølvason, claiming that he never signed a contract with them.<ref name="digipres"/><ref name="Contract">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVIROLHauNk&t=891s|title=How Different Cultures Shape Videogames|publisher=YouTube|access-date=4 July 2024}}</ref> In an interview with ''COMPuter'', Sølvason stated that he founded [[Interactive Television Entertainment|SilverRock Productions]] in [[Copenhagen]] on 12 May 1989, which began operations while continuing the development of ''OsWALD''. Nordisk Film asked for a sequel, and SilverRock agreed to stick with ''OsWALD'', but develop a new updated version of the game named ''Super OsWALD'', with a [[multiplayer]] mode.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Sparrevohn|first=Christian|url=https://archive.org/details/COMputerDet_Nye1992Nr1129Oktober25November/page/n21|title=Kong Hugo af Europa|magazine=Det Nye COMputer|issue=11|publisher=Audio Media|date=November 1992|pages=22|access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.ign.com/companies/ite-interactive-television-entertainment|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130803115235/http://uk.ign.com/companies/ite-interactive-television-entertainment|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 3, 2013|title=ITE - Interactive Television Entertainment Games - IGN|website=IGN|date=|access-date=2013-08-03}}</ref><ref name="slides"/> Despite the contract issue, the demoscene developers stuck around to work on the game, with Søren Grønbech joining in and doing additional programming. Sølvason and Ester Grønbæch Jørgensen provided the voices of OsWALD and OsWALDLine, and Marc Friis-Møller programmed the game's intro.<ref name="Lemon Credits 2">{{cite web|title=Super OsWALD|url=https://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=553|publisher=LemonAmiga|access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref> ''Super OsWALD'' was SilverRock's first success. It had a widespread release in Denmark through Sølvason's connections to ''COMputer'', and was sold to Nordisk Film for US $10,000.<ref name="digipres"/><ref name="Marketing"/> Unfortunately, the demoscene developers were swindled out of any compensation for their contract once again. According to video game preservationist Allan Christophersen, Sølvason was a narcissist who would take credit for his team's work while blaming them for anything that went wrong and being paranoid about people trying to pull a fast one on him. This resulted in him working at a different floor from everyone else at SilverRock, and the demoscene developers, fed up with Sølvason's deceit and narcissism, left to strike out on their own and work at other companies such as [[Innerprise Software]], [[Zyrinx]] and [[IO Interactive]].<ref name="digipres"/><ref name="Contract"/> SilverRock then created the port for the Commodore 64 in 1990. The game was designed by graphics artist Niels Krogh Mortensen (who had done graphics for ''World Atlas''<ref name="Niels Graphics">{{cite web|title=Niels Krogh Mortensen on Twitter: "World Atlas, der blev kodet af Henrik Brinch (jeg stod for grafikken), blev faktisk udgivet allerede i 88 (er jeg forholdsvis sikker på)."|url=https://twitter.com/NielsKroMo/status/1507753858398924809|publisher=Twitter|access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref>), programmer Thomas Villadsen, and composer and sound designer Jens-Christian Huus.<ref name="Lemon64">{{cite web|title=Super OsWALD|url=https://www.lemon64.com/game/super-oswald|publisher=Lemon64|access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref> Villadsen knew a programmer named Uffe Jakobsen (who later worked on ''[[Hugo (video game)|Hugo]]''<ref name="Lemon Jakobsen">{{cite web|title=Skærmtrolden Hugo|url=https://www.lemon64.com/game/skaermtrolden-hugo|publisher=Lemon64|access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref>), who helped him with some timing and grid routines. In connection with an exhibition at the [[Post & Tele Museum]], Jakobsen made a DTMF-to-joystick adapter for visitors so that they could play ''OsWALD'' via a telephone in the same manner as in ''Eleva2ren''. The MS-DOS port was developed by Interchange Software, designed by programmers Boris Jan Bonfils and Bo Bendtsen.
| |||