Simutronics Explained

Simutronics Corp.
Type:	Private company
Foundation:	St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. (1987)
Location:	St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Industry:	Video games
Owner:	Stillfront Group^[1] (55.06%)
Num Employees:	30
Homepage:	Simutronics Official Site

Simutronics is an American online games company whose products include GemStone IV and DragonRealms. It was founded in 1987 by David Whatley, with husband and wife Tom & Susan Zelinski. The company is located in St. Louis, Missouri.^[2] It became part of the Stillfront Group in 2016.

The company's flagship product is the text based game, GemStone IV, which went live in November 2003, with predecessor games running back in 1988. GemStone was originally accessed through General Electric's internet service provider GEnie, later becoming accessible through AOL, Prodigy, and CompuServe before Simutronics finally moved all their games to their own domain in 1997.

Simutronics products

Multiplayer online games

• GemStone IV, Simutronics' flagship product, a text-based multiplayer fantasy game, which has seen over one million users over the years. It is the longest-lived commercial MUD game, followed by .^{[3] [4]}
• DragonRealms, a 1996 MUD set in GemStone Elanthia world, with popularity on online services AOL, Compuserve, and Prodigy. In comparison with GemStone, DragonRealms has more skill-based gameplay.^[5]
• CyberStrike, also known as CyberStrike Classic, a graphical futuristic ship combat game. It won the first ever "Online Game of the Year" award from Computer Gaming World magazine in 1993.^[6]

Mobile games

• Tiny Heroes, a tower defense game for iPhone and iPad, released in 2011^[7]
• One Epic Knight, an endless runner game, released in 2012^[8] for iOS devices and in 2013 for Android^[9]
• , a spin-off sequel to the Lara Croft sub-series in the Tomb Raider franchise and a mission-based runner released on iOS and Android in 2015.
• Siege: Titan Wars, a 3D real-time PvP game that launched on iOS and Android in 2017.^[10]
• Siege: World War II, a wartime sequel to Siege: Titan Wars, launched on iOS and Android in 2018.^[11]

HeroEngine

See main article: HeroEngine. HeroEngine is a 3D game engine and server technology platform developed specifically for building MMO-style games, based around a system similar to the IFE using the Hero Script Language (HSL). Originally developed for the company's own game Hero's Journey - which never made it to the testing stage - the engine has since been licensed by other companies.^[12] Simutronics sold the HeroEngine to Idea Fabrik, Plc. on August 5, 2010.^[13]

References

Sources

• . Pure Internet Play . Nancy K. . Austin . 15 October 1999.
• Book: Bartle, Richard . Richard Bartle . . New Riders . 2003 . 0-13-101816-7.
• Book: Kim, Amy Jo . Amy Jo Kim . Community Building on the Web . 2000 . Peachpit Press . 0-201-87484-9.
• . Recruiting Strategies: Motivation . 15 October 1999 . THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THE FORCE: With all the hype that surrounded the opening of Star Wars: Episode I --The Phantom Menace, it's no surprise that the film created a minor truancy problem for some companies. Like numerous other CEOs whose companies made this year's list, David Whatley of Simutronics Corp. (#295), in Rockville, Md., decided to do a preemptive strike. "I thought it would be more cost-effective to see the movie as a group," he says. "It was either that or have people call in sick for a week.".

External links

• Simutronics company website
• Play.net, Simutronics on-line games website
• One Epic Knight website
• Siege: World War II website
• Simutronics profile from MobyGames
• Simutronics profile from IGN
• Simutronics profile from Giant Bomb

Notes and References

1. Web site: Stillfront Group. 25 April 2024 .
2. News: Games People Play . St. Charles Journal. January 9, 1994. McCrary, William S..
3. Web site: Facts about early Avalon the Legend Lives .
4. Web site: Raph Koster's Timeline of Online Worlds . 13 January 2014 .
5. Web site: Olivetti . Justin . The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The games . Massively . 2011-04-19 . 2011-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110507224055/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/19/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-the-games/ . 2011-05-07 . dead .
6. October 1993 . CGW's Game of the Year Awards . Computer Gaming World . 111 . 70–74 .
7. Web site: Tiny Heroes Review . 9 September 2011 . Nissa . Campbell . Touch Arcade.
8. Web site: Run for Gold! One Epic Knight Launch Date Announced, Sprints for Free onto iOS Devices August 23 . 14 August 2012 . Gamasutra.
9. Web site: The 6 most underrated games for Android: May 2013 edition . Brad . Ward . 5 June 2013 . Android Authority.
10. Web site: Suckley . Matt . 2017-07-06 . Simutronics on Siege: Titan Wars and 30 years of multiplayer gaming . 2024-06-06 . pocketgamer.biz.
11. Web site: Larsson . Jörgen . 19 September 2018 . Stillfront Group AB: Simutronics announces "SIEGE: World War II" . stillfront.com.
12. Business Wire . August 8, 2006 . BioWare Licenses Simutronics HeroEngine for MMO Game Project . Austin Game Conference 2006.
13. Web site: Idea Fabrik Plc purchases HeroEngine technologies . 5 August 2010 . Wolfgang . Brand.