David Jones (programmer)

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David Jones is a former freelance computer game programmer who was prolific in the mid-to-late 1980s. He is best known for the creation of the cult computer game character Magic Knight [1] in his 1985 game Finders Keepers for the Mastertronic budget label and released on the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX and Commodore 64. [2] He later went on to work for Psygnosis and Acclaim.

Finders Keepers spawned three cult sequels: Spellbound (1985), Knight Tyme (1986) and Stormbringer (1987).

In 2019, Jones donated the Tandy TRS-80 Model III computer that he used to create the Magic Knight series of games to The Centre for Computing History. [3] Also donated were many floppy disks, and a hard disk that containing source code and assets for many of his games. The data will be preserved as part of the Centre's ongoing video game preservation work. [4]

As of 2019, Jones is a Games Lecturer at Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. [5]


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Spellbound may refer to:

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Magic Knight is a computer game character created by freelance programmer David Jones in his 1985 game Finders Keepers for the Mastertronic budget label. Finders Keepers is a flip-screen platform game released on the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX and Commodore 64. The game spawned three more ambitious sequels on the Mastertronic Added Dimension budget label: Spellbound (1985), Knight Tyme (1986) and Stormbringer (1987). The three sequels are far less action-orientated, being effectively graphic adventure games that use a basic menu system to interact with characters and items instead of typed commands.

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Spellbound is a video game that was designed and programmed by David Jones with music by Rob Hubbard and released in 1985 for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC home computers. Versions for the Commodore 64 and the Atari 8-bit computers and an enhanced 128K Spectrum version with music and additional graphics were all released in 1986. It is the second game in the Magic Knight series and was published by Mastertronic as part of their Mastertronic Added Dimension label.

<i>Finders Keepers</i> (1985 video game)

Finders Keepers is a video game written by David Jones and the first game in the Magic Knight series. It was published on the Mastertronic label for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Commodore 64, and Commodore 16 in 1985. Published in the United Kingdom at the budget price of £1.99. Finders Keepers is a platform game with some maze sections.

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Knight Tyme is a computer game released for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and MSX compatibles in 1986. It was published by Mastertronic as part of their Mastertronic Added Dimension label. Two versions of the ZX Spectrum release were published: a full version for the 128K Spectrum and a cut-down version for the 48K Spectrum that removed the music, some graphics and some locations.

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Stormbringer is a computer game written by David Jones and released in 1987 by Mastertronic on the Mastertronic Added Dimension label. It was originally released on the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and MSX. A version for the Atari ST was published in 1988. It is the fourth and final game in the Magic Knight series. The in-game music is by David Whittaker.

Finders Keepers may refer to:

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References

  1. Peter Parrish (19 October 2007). "Spellbound Retro Review". Eurogamer . Retrieved 2010-10-28.
  2. "David Jones". computinghistory.org.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  3. "Magic Knight Computer Preserved at Museum". computinghistory.org.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  4. "David Jones video game preservation case study". computinghistory.org.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  5. "David Jones". computinghistory.org.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.