Halcyon Days (book)
| Subject | Software Development |
|---|---|
| Genre | Non-fiction |
Publication date | 1997 |
Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers is a digital book edited by James Hague and published in 1997.[1][2] The book was originally formatted using HTML and sold via mail-order, shipped on a floppy disk by Dadgum Games for USD$20.[3] In 2002, Halcyon Days was made freely available on the web.[1][4] The book continued to be sold by Dr. Dobb's Journal, on a CD-ROM also containing Susan Lammers's Programmers at Work,[5] until Dr. Dobb's shut down at the end of 2014.
The introduction to Halcyon Days is written by John Romero[6] who told Wired News the interviews were "like hearing messages from old gods."[7]
Halcyon Days has since become a common reference for writings on game history, including Racing the Beam (MIT Press, 2009),[8] and Retrogame Archeology (Springer, 2016).[9]
Interviewees[edit]
- Ed Averett: Magnavox Odyssey² games
- Danielle Bunten Berry: M.U.L.E., The Seven Cities of Gold
- Stephen C. Biggs
- Adam Billyard
- Bill Budge: Raster Blaster, Pinball Construction Set
- Chris Crawford: Eastern Front, Legionnaire
- Steve DeFrisco
- David Fox: Rescue on Fractalus!
- Jon Freeman & Anne Westfall
- Gary Gilbertson
- Marc Goodman: The Bilestoad
- Dan Gorlin: Choplifter
- Tom Griner
- Steve Hales: Fort Apocalypse
- John Harris
- Eugene Jarvis
- David Lubar
- Scott Ludwig
- Archer Maclean
- Jeff Minter
- Brian Moriarty
- Doug Neubauer: Star Raiders, Solaris
- Philip Price
- Warren Robinett: Adventure
- Ed Rotberg: Battlezone, Blasteroids, S.T.U.N. Runner
- Warren Schwader: Sammy Lightfoot
- Paul Shirley: Spindizzy
- Tim Skelly
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b The full HTML Halcyon Days book
- ^ Classic Gaming review
- ^ Accidental Innovation, Part 2
- ^ "Halcyon Days now online," Atari Age forums, 2002
- ^ Erickson, Jonathan (August 1, 1998). "Lessons Learned". Dr. Dobb's Journal.
- ^ "John Romero's .plan". Blue's News. February 1997.
- ^ Alderman, John. "Fan Captures History of Games' Early Creators". Archived from the original on October 24, 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Bogost, Ian (March 31, 2009). Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System. MIT Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-262-01257-7.
- ^ Aycock, John (2016). Retrogame Archeology: Exploring Old Computer Games. Springer. p. 14. ISBN 978-3319300023.