Incentive Software

Incentive Software
Industry	Video games
Founded	1983
Founder	Ian Andrew
Successor	Superscape
Headquarters	Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom

Incentive Software Ltd. was a British video game developer and publisher founded by Ian Andrew in 1983.[1] Programmers included Sean Ellis, Stephen Northcott and Ian's brother Chris Andrew.

Later games were based on the company's Freescape rendering engine. Developed in-house, Freescape is considered to be one of the first proprietary 3D engines to be used in video games, although the engine was not used commercially outside of Incentive's own titles.[2] The project was originally thought to be so ambitious that according to Ian Andrew, the company struggled to recruit programmers for the project, with many believing that it could not be achieved.

According to Paul Gregory (graphics artist for Major Developments, Incentive's in-house design team),[3] Freescape was developed by Chris Andrew starting in September 1986 on an Amstrad CPC, as it was the most suitable development system with 128K memory and had adequate power to run 3D environments. Due to the engine's success, it was later ported to all the dominant systems of the era: ZX Spectrum, IBM PC, Commodore 64, Amiga, and Atari ST. Freescape development ended in 1992 with the release 3D Construction Kit II.

The company was renamed Dimension International as it moved into the VR field in 1995 with its next-generation Superscape VRT engine,[4][5][6] then later changed name again to Superscape.[7]

List of titles

The following games were published and/or developed by Incentive Software:

Year	Title	Platform
Year	Title	Amiga	Atari ST	Amstrad CPC	Commodore 64	IBM PC compatible	ZX Spectrum	BBC/Electron	Dragon 32
1983	Splat!	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes[8]	No	No
1984	Millionaire[9]	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
1984	Confuzion	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
1984	Back Track	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
1985	Moon Cresta	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes[10]	Yes
1985	Eddie Steady Go!	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
1986	The Ket Trilogy [11]	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
1986	The Graphic Adventure Creator[12]	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes[13]	No
1986	Winter Wonderland	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes[10]	No
1986	Dragon's Tooth	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes[10]	No
1986	The Legend of the Apache Gold	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
1987	Driller [14]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
1987	Karyssia: Queen of Diamonds	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
1988	The ST Adventure Creator	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
1988	Dark Side	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
1988	Total Eclipse	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
1990	Castle Master	Yes [15]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
1990	Castle Master II: The Crypt	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
1990	Total Eclipse II: The Sphinx Jinx	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
1991	3D Construction Kit[16][17]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
1992	3D Construction Kit II[18]	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No

References

Incentive Software's first game Splat was released in 1983, and reviewed in Crash Magazine Issue 1, 1984, page 89-90.
"Exploring the Freescape". IGN. 22 October 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
Retro Gamer 22, Incentive article, page 26
"Virtual Reality (1995 Archive) - "VR - Virtually Here" - by Linda Von Schweber & Erick Von Schweber - Infomaniacs". www.infomaniacs.com.
"A Star-Studded Site | Computer Graphics World". www.cgw.com.
Inc, Ziff Davis (14 March 1995). "PC Mag". Ziff Davis, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
"The Westin Tokyo's Web Site Traffic Increases by 45% With Interactive 3D From Superscape(R) / March 1999".
This version was later ported to the Sam Coupe with enhanced graphics and sound.
"The Glasgow Herald". The Glasgow Herald – via Google Books.
There is a version for the BBC Micro but not the Acorn Electron
Contained Mountains of Ket, Temple of Vran and The Final Mission
Dillon, Roberto (3 December 2014). Ready: A Commodore 64 Retrospective. Springer. ISBN 9789812873415 – via Google Books.
Released as text-only The Adventure Creator for the Acorn Electron
Released as Space Station Oblivion in the United States
Amiga version has some differences in maps and enigmas compared to the 8 bit version (C64, ZX Spectrum, CPC Amstrad)
Released as Virtual Reality Studio in the United States
Abend, Pablo; Beil, Benjamin; Ossa, Vanessa (28 April 2020). Playful Participatory Practices: Theoretical and Methodological Reflections. Springer Nature. ISBN 9783658286194 – via Google Books.
Released as Virtual Reality Studio II in the United States

External links

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[1] Incentive Software's first game Splat was released in 1983, and reviewed in Crash Magazine Issue 1, 1984, page 89-90.

[2] "Exploring the Freescape". IGN. 22 October 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2009.

[3] Retro Gamer 22, Incentive article, page 26

[4] "Virtual Reality (1995 Archive) - "VR - Virtually Here" - by Linda Von Schweber & Erick Von Schweber - Infomaniacs". www.infomaniacs.com.

[5] "A Star-Studded Site | Computer Graphics World". www.cgw.com.

[6] Inc, Ziff Davis (14 March 1995). "PC Mag". Ziff Davis, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)

[7] "The Westin Tokyo's Web Site Traffic Increases by 45% With Interactive 3D From Superscape(R) / March 1999".

[8] This version was later ported to the Sam Coupe with enhanced graphics and sound.

[9] "The Glasgow Herald". The Glasgow Herald – via Google Books.

[bbc_only-10] There is a version for the BBC Micro but not the Acorn Electron

[11] Contained Mountains of Ket, Temple of Vran and The Final Mission

[12] Dillon, Roberto (3 December 2014). Ready: A Commodore 64 Retrospective. Springer. ISBN 9789812873415 – via Google Books.

[13] Released as text-only The Adventure Creator for the Acorn Electron

[14] Released as Space Station Oblivion in the United States

[15] Amiga version has some differences in maps and enigmas compared to the 8 bit version (C64, ZX Spectrum, CPC Amstrad)

[16] Released as Virtual Reality Studio in the United States

[17] Abend, Pablo; Beil, Benjamin; Ossa, Vanessa (28 April 2020). Playful Participatory Practices: Theoretical and Methodological Reflections. Springer Nature. ISBN 9783658286194 – via Google Books.

[18] Released as Virtual Reality Studio II in the United States