ReadySoft
 Logo used since 1991 | |
| Industry | Video games |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1987 |
| Defunct | 1996 |
| Fate | Purchased by Malofilm, later Behaviour Communications, in 1996.[1] |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Key people | David Foster: founder |
ReadySoft was a Canadian video game developer and publisher and distributor founded in 1987 by David Foster, based in Ontario, Canada. Products include various emulators as well as home computer ports of Sullivan Bluth's Laser disc game series Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, and their sequels. As a publisher, they frequently handled North American release of games by French developer Silmarils.
Emulators
ReadySoft's first product was a Commodore 64 emulator for the Amiga simply titled The 64 Emulator developed by Randy Linden.[2][3] In 1992, ReadySoft published the A-Max II and A-Max II Plus Macintosh emulators for the Amiga which were software emulators augmented by add-on hardware.[4]
Collaboration with Sullivan Bluth
In 1988, Readysoft acquired the rights to do a home port of Dragon's Lair, the Amiga port of which was their first commercial game release. The limitations of the 16-bit machines necessitated redrawing all of the graphics from the laserdisc originals, and cutting much of the original content.[5] Randy Linden programmed the port and was responsible for the video compression algorithm as well as part of the rotoscoping.[6] Reviews praised the strong graphics and sound of the ports, though noted that the gameplay did not live up to their quality.[7][8] After the success of the initial Dragon's Lair, ReadySoft continued their collaboration with Sullivan Bluth to create home ports of Space Ace. It also reworked the missing scenes that could not be included with the initial releases of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace into second parts called Escape from Singe's Castle and Space Ace II: Borf's Revenge.
Games
In addition to porting the Sullivan Bluth laserdisc games, ReadySoft also created their own interactive cartoons in a similar style, initially with Guy Spy and the Crystals of Armageddon and later Brain Dead 13 when full-motion video became a viable technology on home computers.
Developed or ported by ReadySoft
- Brain Dead 13 (1995)
- Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp (1996) Rerelease
- Space Ace (1995) Rerelease
- Dragon's Lair III: The Curse of Mordread (1992)
- Guy Spy and the Crystals of Armageddon (1992)
- Space Ace II: Borf's Revenge (1991)
- Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp (1990)
- Space Ace (1989)
Published or distributed by ReadySoft
- Deus (1996) US release
- Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity (1995) Canadian release of DOS version
- Robinson's Requiem (1994) US release of 3DO and DOS versions
- The Patrician (1993) US release of DOS version
- Arctic Baron (1993) US release of DOS version
- Sleeping Gods Lie (1991) North American release of DOS version
- Volfied (1991) DOS port
- Wrath of the Demon (1990)
- Bomb Busters (1988)
- Rock Challenge (1988)
- Cosmic Bouncer (1988)
References
- ^ ReadySoft | Video Game Publisher, at VideoGameGeek
- ^ Into the Lair II, Advanced Computer Entertainment - issue 39 - page 86
- ^ The 64 Emulator for Amiga computers
- ^ A-Max II Plus, Compute! - issue 146 - page A22
- ^ David Foster (ReadySoft/Dragon's Lair) – Interview
- ^ Dragons Lair on the Amiga - How a laserdic game fit onto 6 floppy disks | MVG
- ^ Bluth Movies, ZERO Magazine Issue 08 - page 58
- ^ Heimlich Maneuver, Electronic Games - Volume 3 Issue 8 - page 110
External links
- ReadySoft at MobyGames