Joel Billings | |
|---|---|
 Billings at the 1982 West Coast Computer Faire | |
| Occupation(s) | Video game designer, producer |
| Organization | Strategic Simulations |
| Known for | Computer Bismarck |
Joel Billings is an American video game designer and producer. He is the founder of the computer game company Strategic Simulations (SSI). [1] He was also the company's president. [2]
Joel Billings wanted to work with Avalon Hill to publish his computer game Computer Bismarck but they turned him down, so instead he decided to found a new company and publish the game himself. [3] Billings started SSI in 1979 just after finishing college, with a $1000 initial investment. The first product was Computer Bismarck, which he co-wrote. Designed for the TRS-80 and Apple II home computers, it is viewed as the first computer war game ever published. It sold 7000 copies, considered reasonably successful for its time. [2] [4] The company was an industry leader for years in war games and role-playing video games.
In 1987 Billings acquired the rights to the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games from TSR,[ citation needed ] which led to the creation of the Gold Box D&D game series, one of the best selling video game franchises of the 1980s and 1990s.
After a year of losses tied to delays in the new Dark Sun game engine, Billings sold the company to Mindscape in 1994.[ citation needed ]
In 2001 Billings started a game development company called 2 By 3 Games with former SSI game programmers Gary Grigsby and Keith Brors.[ citation needed ]
In December 2013, Billings donated several SSI video games, such as Computer Bismarck, including the source code, for preservation to the ICHEG. [5] [6]
Pool of Radiance is a role-playing video game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) fantasy role-playing game for home computers, becoming the first episode in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games. The other games in the "Gold Box" series used the game engine pioneered in Pool of Radiance, as did later D&D titles such as the Neverwinter Nights online game. Pool of Radiance takes place in the Forgotten Realms fantasy setting, with the action centered in and around the port city of Phlan.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit from its founding in 1979 to its dissolution in 1994. The company was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General series.
Gold Box is a series of role-playing video games produced by SSI from 1988 to 1992. The company acquired a license to produce games based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game from TSR, Inc. These games shared a common game engine that came to be known as the "Gold Box Engine" after the gold-colored boxes in which most games of the series were sold.
Gary Grigsby is a designer and programmer of computer wargames. In 1997, he was described as "one of the founding fathers of strategy war games for the PC." Computer Games Magazine later dubbed him "as much of an institution in his niche of computer gaming as Sid Meier, Will Wright, or John Carmack are in theirs."
Strategic Studies Group (SSG) is an Australian software development company that makes primarily strategy wargames.
Chuck Kroegel is an American video game designer. He was an executive for many years with Strategic Simulations (SSI), and played a role in developing their position as an industry leader in war games and role-playing video games. His career in the video game industry now spans over 30 years.
Computer Bismarck is a computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) in 1980. The game is based on the last battle of the battleship Bismarck, in which British Armed Forces pursue the German Bismarck in 1941. It is SSI's first game, and features turn-based gameplay and two-dimensional graphics.
Bomb Alley is a 1983 computer wargame designed by Gary Grigsby and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI). Covering the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II, it runs on the Apple II platform. It has the distinction of being the first true land-sea-air computer wargame, where ground troops could advance and retreat across land.
A computer wargame is a wargame played on a digital device. Descended from board wargaming, it simulates military conflict at the tactical, operational or strategic level. Computer wargames are both sold commercially for recreational use and, in some cases, used for military purposes.
Bismarck is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1962 that simulates the hunt for the Bismarck.
Gary Grigsby's Pacific War is a 1992 strategy wargame released by Strategic Simulations, Inc. It covers World War II in the Pacific between the Japanese Empire and the Allies, which include the United States, the British Empire, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Philippines, and China. The main map of the game stretches from north of the Aleutians to southern New Zealand and Australia, and from the eastern coast of India to the West Coast of North America. It includes aircraft carrier operations, amphibious assaults, surface bombardments/engagements, strategic bombing, kamikazes, and the submarine war against naval and merchant shipping.
The International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) collects, studies, and interprets video games, other electronic games, and related materials and the ways in which electronic games are changing how people play, learn, and connect with each other, including across boundaries of culture and geography. Located at The Strong in Rochester, New York, United States, it houses one of the world's largest, most comprehensive collections of electronic game platforms, games, and related materials, with more than 37,000 items.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Slayer is a fantasy first-person, dungeon crawl / action role-playing game based on the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The game was developed by Lion Entertainment and published by Strategic Simulations in 1994 for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. A Japanese version titled Lost Dungeon (ロストダンジョン) was published by T&E Soft the following year.
Steel Panthers is a 1995 computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations. Designed by Gary Grigsby and Keith Brors, it simulates ground warfare during World War II, across the Western Front, Eastern Front and Pacific Theatre.
Torpedo Fire is a turn-based submarine warfare game written by John Lyon for the Apple II and published by Strategic Simulations in 1981.
Guadalcanal Campaign is a 1982 computer wargame developed by Gary Grigsby and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI). It was Grigsby's first released game and has been cited as the first monster wargame made for computers.
Panzer-Jagd is a 1983 video game published by The Avalon Hill Game Company for the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64.
Battle Group is a 1986 computer wargame designed by Gary Grigsby and published by Strategic Simulations. It is a follow-up to Grigsby's earlier Kampfgruppe.
War in the Pacific: The Struggle Against Japan 1941–1945 is a 2004 computer wargame developed by 2 by 3 Games and published by Matrix Games. Designed by Gary Grigsby and Keith Brors, it is the successor to Gary Grigsby's Pacific War (1992) and Uncommon Valor: Campaign for the South Pacific (2002).
Carrier Strike: South Pacific 1942-44 is a 1992 computer wargame designed by Gary Grigsby and published by Strategic Simulations Inc. It is a successor to Grigsby's earlier title Carrier Force.
 | This Dungeons & Dragons article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |