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Thalamus Ltd (also known as Thalamus) was a British computer game developer that published titles for a number of 8-bit and 16-bit platforms during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Thalamus Ltd was created in 1986 as an in-house software publishing label of British magazine publisher Newsfield Publications Ltd, to take advantage of their leading position publishing computer game magazines, such as Crash and Zzap!64 , during the mid-1980s. Ex-Activision PR Manager Andrew Wright was assigned the position of Company Director and Newsfield staff writer Gary Liddon was appointed Technical Executive. The company was initially based in Canonbury, North London, in an office shared with staff of Newsfield's newly launched lifestyle magazine LM.
Thalamus capitalised on the success of the Commodore 64 gaming scene by releasing their first batch of titles on this platform. Having established numerous contacts within the C64 development scene through the popularity of their Zzap!64 gaming magazine, Thalamus were able to sign up Finnish programmer Stavros Fasoulas to develop their first three titles, Sanxion , Delta and Quedex . Sanxion was the first release to bear the Thalamus name, and it garnered a Sizzler rating from Zzap!64 - this led to accusations of favouritism from rival publication Commodore User. Rob Hubbard provided the music for the first two titles, while Matt Gray provided the music for Quedex. "Thalamusik", the loading tune that accompanied the C64 version of Sanxion proved to be so popular amongst fans that Zzap!64 later included a full synthesised version on one of their cover cassettes.
The C64 version of Delta popularised the concept of the Mix-E-Load loading system. Provided as standard on the cassette versions of each game (and as a bonus on the floppy disk versions), the Mix-E-Load system allowed players to remix the loading music of the game, in real time, as the main program loaded in the background. [1] Mix-E-Load was created by Gary Liddon in conjunction with Rob Hubbard [2] and derived from an idea by Nick Pelling, author of well known BBC Micro games Frak! and Firetrack .
During the development of Delta , Liddon and Wright both left Thalamus, with Wright returning to Activision and Liddon pursuing a career in games programming. Ex-Quicksilva & Electric Dreams development manager Paul Cooper was brought on board to head up the company and moved the offices from London to Aldermaston in Berkshire.
Stavros Fasoulas returned to Finland for National Service, so for their next release Thalamus turned to upcoming C64 programmer Martin Walker. Having already programmed the well-received C64 titles Rupert and the Toymaker's Party, Chameleon and Back to the Future, Martin Walker delivered an innovative puzzle/shooter hybrid named Hunter's Moon. Despite a favourable response from critics, the game didn't sell as well as previous Thalamus titles.
In the second half of 1988, Thalamus returned from a period of relative silence with two new titles. Hawkeye marked the commercial debut of The Boys Without Brains, a Dutch collective who had already made a name for themselves within the C64 demo scene. The game was a side-scroller with colourful graphics and a soundtrack from Jeroen Tel. Armalyte was a shoot-'em-up in the spirit of R-Type , originally conceived as its own unique identity but publicised as a sequel to Delta.
As the 1980s drew to a close, Thalamus continued to release C64 games, including the surreal puzzle/shooter Snare, the horizontal scroller Retrograde, from the Rowlands brothers and Heatseeker, a platform game with an environmental theme by Paul O'Malley. A brief experimentation with the ZX Spectrum format saw conversions of Sanxion and Delta being released, but by this time the Spectrum market was in decline and Thalamus decided to halt development of a number of Spectrum projects.
Thalamus entered the 1990s with a few more C64 titles, including Creatures and Creatures II: Torture Trouble from the Rowlands brothers, which have been lauded by several computer magazines for the strength of their gameplay and graphics on the aging machine. Cartoon-style platformers Summer Camp and Winter Camp were also released. In 1991, Newsfield ran into serious financial trouble. Newsfield were forced to halt publication of their popular gaming magazines. Europress stepped in to save the magazines, [3] but they slowly died out over the next year or two as their respective markets dwindled.
Thalamus managed to survive the liquidation of Newsfield, but funds were running low. With 8-bit gaming being superseded by 16-bit gaming, production costs were rising, forcing hundreds of independent publishers, such as Thalamus, to either close down or allow themselves to be consumed by a publishing giant. Thalamus released their final C64 game, Nobby the Aardvark in 1993. With their various Amiga projects spiraling out of budget and no further income, Thalamus had no choice but to close down their operations.
Rick Dangerous is a platform game developed by Core Design for the Acorn Archimedes, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS. The game was released in 1989 and published by MicroProse on the Firebird Software label in the UK, and on the MicroPlay label in America. It was also published in Spain by Erbe Software. Later, it was released with two other games, Stunt Car Racer and MicroProse Soccer, on the Commodore 64 Powerplay 64 cartridge. The game was followed by a sequel, Rick Dangerous 2, in 1990. Loosely based on the Indiana Jones film franchise, the game received mixed reviews from critics.
Bombuzal is a puzzle video game designed by Antony Crowther and David Bishop for Image Works. The game was released in 1988 for the Amiga, Atari ST and Commodore 64. It was also released in 1989 for MS-DOS and in December 1990 in Japan for the Super Famicom, with the North American version released in August 1992 renamed as Ka-Blooey.
Paradroid is a Commodore 64 computer game written by Andrew Braybrook and published by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It is a shoot 'em up with puzzle elements and was critically praised at release. The objective is to clear a fleet of spaceships of hostile robots by destroying them or taking them over via a mini-game. It was later remade as Paradroid 90 for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST home computers and as Paradroid 2000 for the Acorn Archimedes. There exist several fan-made remakes for modern PCs. In 2004 the Commodore 64 version was re-released as a built-in game on the C64 Direct-to-TV, and in 2008 for the Wii Virtual Console in Europe.
Newsfield Publications Ltd was a British magazine publisher during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Zzap!64 was a computer games magazine covering games for computers manufactured by Commodore International, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact.
Head Over Heels is an action-adventure game published by Ocean Software in 1987 for several home computers. It uses an isometric engine similar to the Filmation technique first developed by Ultimate Play the Game. Head Over Heels is the second isometric game by Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond, after their earlier Batman computer game was released in 1986. The game received favourable reviews and was described by Zzap!64 as an "all time classic".
CRL Group plc was a British video game development and publishing company. Originally CRL stood for "Computer Rentals Limited". It was based in King's Yard, London and run by Clem Chambers.
Shoot-'Em-Up Construction Kit is a game creation system for the Commodore 64, Amiga and Atari ST created by Sensible Software and published by Outlaw in 1987. It allows the user to make simple shoot 'em ups by drawing sprites and backgrounds and editing attack patterns. The advertising promoted the Kit with the phrase "By the programmers of Wizball and Parallax".
Nebulus is a platform game created by John M. Phillips and published by Hewson Consultants in the late 1980s for home computer systems. International releases and ports were known by various other names: Castelian, Kyorochan Land, Subline, and Tower Toppler.
Tynesoft Computer Software was a software developer and publisher in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Delta is a horizontally scrolling shooter released for the Commodore 64 by Thalamus Ltd in 1987. It was programmed by Stavros Fasoulas and the music was written by Rob Hubbard. The game was published as Delta Patrol in the United States by Electronic Arts, for its Amazing Software action game line, in 1987 on the Commodore 64. It was also released for the ZX Spectrum in 1990 as Delta Charge.
Sanxion is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Stavros Fasoulas for the Commodore 64 and published in 1986 by Thalamus Ltd. It was the first game released by Thalamus. A ZX Spectrum port followed in 1989. Fasoulas also wrote Delta and Quedex.
Apex Computer Productions was the brothers John and Steve Rowlands, British based game designers and programmers on the Commodore 64 in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Commodore Format was a British magazine for users of the Commodore 64 home computer. It was published on the third Thursday of every month. All 61 issues were produced by Future plc. These came towards the end of the machine's commercial life - from October 1990 until October 1995.
Total Recall is a 1990 platform game developed and published by Ocean Software that was released for the Commodore 64, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, and Nintendo Entertainment System. Total Recall is based on the 1990 film of the same name.
Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax is a video game first published in 1988 for various home computers. It was released as Axe of Rage in North America. The game is the sequel to Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior, which was published in 1987. In Barbarian II, the player controls a princess or barbarian character, exploring the game world to locate and defeat an evil wizard. The game's plot is an extension of its predecessor, although the gameplay is different. While the first game offers two players the opportunity for virtual head-to-head combat, the second is a single-player beat 'em up with fewer fighting moves. It uses a flip-screen style instead of scrolling.
The Real Ghostbusters is a 1987 shoot 'em up arcade game developed and published by Data East. It is loosely based on Ghostbusters. In Japan, Data East released it as a non-Ghostbusters arcade game under the title Meikyuu Hunter G. In 1989, Activision published The Real Ghostbusters for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.
Quedex is a game released for the Commodore 64 in 1987 by Thalamus. It is the third game developed by Finnish game programmer Stavros Fasoulas. The game consists of ten planes where the player steers a silvery ball and must find an exit square in order to leave the maze-like play-area. The name Quedex derives from the subtitle "The Quest for Ultimate Dexterity". In 1988, Epyx released ports of Quedex for the Amiga and MS-DOS under the name Mindroll.
Mickey Mouse: The Computer Game, also known as just Mickey Mouse, is an action game developed and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1988 for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.
Strike Force Harrier is a 1986 combat flight simulation video game designed by Rod Hyde and published by Mirrorsoft for the 8-bit home computers. 16-bit ports were released later.