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{{short description|Former British video game developer}}
'''Crystal Computing''' were one of the smaller software companies which produced games for home computers in the early 1980s. It was formed by Chris Clark and Graham Stafford who were both students in Manchester.
{{Infobox company
|name = Crystal Computing / Design Design
|logo =
|foundation = {{start date and age|df=yes|1982}}
|location = [[Manchester]], [[England]]
|industry = [[Video game industry|Video games]]
⚫
|products = ''[[Halls of the Things]]''<br>''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchas!]]''
}}
'''Crystal Computing''', later renamed '''Design Design''', was a British [[video game developer]] founded in 1982 by Chris Clarke and Ian Stamp while students at the [[University of Manchester]]. Graham Stafford, Neil Mottershead, [[Simon Brattel]] and Martin Horsley, joined the company as it expanded.<ref name="pcw">''[[Popular Computing Weekly]]'', 26 January-1 February 1984 (p.26), Sunshine Publications Ltd.</ref><ref name="crash">Rebirth of the Things: Design Design, ''[[CRASH (magazine)|CRASH]]'', issue 8 (p.88), [[Newsfield Publications]], 1984</ref> The company's first software release was a compilation of games for the Sinclair [[ZX81]], though it was with the [[ZX Spectrum]] that Crystal found its greatest success. A deal with the machine's manufacturer [[Sinclair Research|Sinclair]] to distribute Crystal's ''[[Zeus Assembler]]'' gave the company sufficient funds for a major marketing campaign for their next product,<ref>"As Clear as Crystal", Popular Computing Weekly, 26 January-1 February 1984 (p.26), Sunshine Publications Ltd</ref> ''[[Halls of the Things]]'', an [[arcade adventure]] game that became their most successful title.


Clarke left in 1984 to join [[Artic Software]], where he worked on the "business side", before collaborating with [[Jon Ritman]] on the [[Match Day (series)|''Match Day'' series]].<ref>[http://www.crashonline.org.uk/33/ritman.htm "From Namtir Raiders, to a bit of a bovver with bears then on to Batman... and beyond"], CRASH, issue 33 (p.84), Newsfield Publications, October 1986</ref>
Crystal split after an evening of argument known later as 'the night of the long knives' with the key programmers leaving Crystal to set up another company (Chandrex Ltd) which traded under the name Design Design Software.
With Clarke's departure the company was reorganised as Design Design,<ref name="crash"/> a trading name that had been used by Brattel since 1976 for his electronic audio designs.<ref>[http://www.desdes.com/ Design Design official site]</ref> Design Design's core consisted of Stafford working mainly on titles for the [[Commodore 64]], Brattel and Mottershead working on the [[ZX Spectrum]] and [[Amstrad CPC]], and David Lewellyn, the company's administrator.<ref name="crash"/> According to Stafford the new name was part of a wider re-branding, as they wanted a more professional image, along with a better relationship with the press and the public.<ref name="crash"/>


Stafford went on to form developer Walking Circles producing titles including ''[[The Living Daylights (video game)|The Living Daylights]]''<ref name='crashlivingdaylights'>{{cite magazine |title=The Living Daylights|magazine=Crash|issue=43|publisher=Newsfield|date=August 1987|page=94|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=1010&page=94|access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> and ''[[Spitting Image (video game)|Spitting Image]]''<ref name='acespitting'>{{cite magazine |title=Snippets... Spitting Image|magazine=ACE|issue=15|publisher=Future Publishing|date=December 1988|page=10|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=1741&page=10|access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> for [[Domark]] and the PC version of ''[[Bloodwych]]'' for [[Image Works]].<ref>"The Making of: Bloodwych", ''[[Retro Gamer]]'', issue 23 (p.55), [[Imagine Publishing]]</ref>
==Notable releases==

⚫
* ''Merchant of Venus'' - 1982. (A trading game for the ZX81)

* ''Zeus Assembler'' - 1983. The fastest Z80 assembler, over 60 times faster than the nearest competitor. Later distributed by Sinclair.
==Softography==
⚫
* ''[[Halls of the Things]]'' - 1983. Awarded game of the year by Sinclair User.
'''Crystal Computing'''
⚫
* ''[[Rommel's Revenge]]'' - 1983.
*''ZX81 Games Pack'', [[ZX81]], 1982. Includes versions of ''[[Asteroids (video game)|Asteroids]]'' and ''[[Space Invaders]]'', as well as a ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' style adventure game and a [[slalom skiing]] game, all designed to run on an unexpanded machine with 1K RAM.<ref name="sinc15">[http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/015/softwre.htm Trading With Crystal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825161521/http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/015/softwre.htm |date=2012-08-25 }}, [[Sinclair User]], issue 15 (p.27), ECC Publications Ltd., June 1983</ref>
⚫
* ''[[The Dungeon Master (computer game)]]'' - 1983.
⚫
*''Merchant of Venus'', ZX81, 1982. A space trading/investment game.<ref name="sinc15"/>
⚫
* ''It's the Wooluf!'' - 1984. (Not written in-house)
*''[[Zeus Assembler#Monitor and disassembler|Monitor and Disassembler]]'', ZX81, ZX Spectrum, 1982. An [[assembly language]] utility.<ref>Monitor and Disassembler press ad, ''[[Your Computer (British magazine)|Your Computer]]'' January 1983 issue (p.131), IPC Business Press Ltd.</ref>
* ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchas!]]'' - 1984. Reviewed in Crash issue 1 - 69.5%. Version of the arcade game [[Defender (game)|Defender]].
*''[[Cosmic Guerilla]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1983
* ''Bug Blaster'' - 1984. (Not written in-house) Reviewed in Crash issue 3 - 68%
⚫
*''[[The Dungeon Master (video game)|The Dungeon Master]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1983
* ''Cyber Zone'' - 1984. (Not written in-house) Reviewed in Crash issue 3 - 85%
*''[[Halls of the Things]]'', ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, 1983
*''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchas!]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1983
*''[[Zeus Assembler]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1983
⚫
*''[[Rommel's Revenge]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1984
*''Bug Blaster'', ZX Spectrum, 1984. A ''[[Centipede (video game)|Centipede]]'' clone.<ref>''Bug Blaster'' review, CRASH, issue 3 (p.83), Newsfield Publications 1984</ref>
*''Cyber Zone'', ZX Spectrum, 1984
*''[[The Island (video game)|The Island]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1984
*''[[The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (video game)|The Warlock of Firetop Mountain]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1984
⚫
*''It's the Wooluf!'', ZX Spectrum, 1984.
*''Tube Way Army'', [[Dragon 32]] and [[TRS-80 Color Computer|Tandy 32K]], 1984
'''Design Design'''
*''[[Dark Star (1984 video game)|Dark Star]]'', ZX Spectrum and [[Amstrad CPC]], 1984
*''Spectacle'', ZX Spectrum, 1984 (Additional program supplied with ''Dark Star'' - simulated a [[Teletext]] environment)
*''[[Halls of the Things#Return of the Things|Return of the Things]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1984
*''2112 AD'', ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1985
*''On the Run'', ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1985
*''Forbidden Planet'', ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1986
*''[[Halls of the Things#Remix|Halls of the Things Remix]]'', ZX Spectrum, 1986
*''Invaders'', ZX Spectrum, 1986. A ''[[Space Invaders]]'' clone published as part of the ''Action Replay'' compilation of Crystal and Design Design games.
*''N.E.X.O.R.'', ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1986
*''[[Nosferatu the Vampyre (video game)|Nosferatu the Vampyre]]'', ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and [[Commodore 64]], 1986
*''Rogue Trooper'', ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, 1986
*''Kat Trap'', ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, 1987

==References==
{{reflist}}


{{Crystal Computing series}}
{{Crystal Computing series}}


[[Category:Defunct video game companies]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Manchester]]
[[Category:Video game companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Video game developers]]
[[Category:Video game companies established in 1982]]
[[Category:Video game development companies]]
[[Category:Video game publishers]]
[[Category:Video game publishers]]

Latest revision as of 00:54, 8 January 2024

Crystal Computing / Design Design
IndustryVideo games
Founded1982; 42 years ago (1982)
HeadquartersManchester, England
ProductsHalls of the Things
Invasion of the Body Snatchas!

Crystal Computing, later renamed Design Design, was a British video game developer founded in 1982 by Chris Clarke and Ian Stamp while students at the University of Manchester. Graham Stafford, Neil Mottershead, Simon Brattel and Martin Horsley, joined the company as it expanded.[1][2] The company's first software release was a compilation of games for the Sinclair ZX81, though it was with the ZX Spectrum that Crystal found its greatest success. A deal with the machine's manufacturer Sinclair to distribute Crystal's Zeus Assembler gave the company sufficient funds for a major marketing campaign for their next product,[3] Halls of the Things, an arcade adventure game that became their most successful title.

Clarke left in 1984 to join Artic Software, where he worked on the "business side", before collaborating with Jon Ritman on the Match Day series.[4] With Clarke's departure the company was reorganised as Design Design,[2] a trading name that had been used by Brattel since 1976 for his electronic audio designs.[5] Design Design's core consisted of Stafford working mainly on titles for the Commodore 64, Brattel and Mottershead working on the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, and David Lewellyn, the company's administrator.[2] According to Stafford the new name was part of a wider re-branding, as they wanted a more professional image, along with a better relationship with the press and the public.[2]

Stafford went on to form developer Walking Circles producing titles including The Living Daylights[6] and Spitting Image[7] for Domark and the PC version of Bloodwych for Image Works.[8]


Softography

[edit]

Crystal Computing

Design Design

  • Dark Star, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1984
  • Spectacle, ZX Spectrum, 1984 (Additional program supplied with Dark Star - simulated a Teletext environment)
  • Return of the Things, ZX Spectrum, 1984
  • 2112 AD, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1985
  • On the Run, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1985
  • Forbidden Planet, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1986
  • Halls of the Things Remix, ZX Spectrum, 1986
  • Invaders, ZX Spectrum, 1986. A Space Invaders clone published as part of the Action Replay compilation of Crystal and Design Design games.
  • N.E.X.O.R., ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1986
  • Nosferatu the Vampyre, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, 1986
  • Rogue Trooper, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, 1986
  • Kat Trap, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, 1987

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Popular Computing Weekly, 26 January-1 February 1984 (p.26), Sunshine Publications Ltd.
  2. ^ a b c d Rebirth of the Things: Design Design, CRASH, issue 8 (p.88), Newsfield Publications, 1984
  3. ^ "As Clear as Crystal", Popular Computing Weekly, 26 January-1 February 1984 (p.26), Sunshine Publications Ltd
  4. ^ "From Namtir Raiders, to a bit of a bovver with bears then on to Batman... and beyond", CRASH, issue 33 (p.84), Newsfield Publications, October 1986
  5. ^ Design Design official site
  6. ^ "The Living Daylights". Crash. No. 43. Newsfield. August 1987. p. 94. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Snippets... Spitting Image". ACE. No. 15. Future Publishing. December 1988. p. 10. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  8. ^ "The Making of: Bloodwych", Retro Gamer, issue 23 (p.55), Imagine Publishing
  9. ^ a b Trading With Crystal Archived 2012-08-25 at the Wayback Machine, Sinclair User, issue 15 (p.27), ECC Publications Ltd., June 1983
  10. ^ Monitor and Disassembler press ad, Your Computer January 1983 issue (p.131), IPC Business Press Ltd.
  11. ^ Bug Blaster review, CRASH, issue 3 (p.83), Newsfield Publications 1984
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