Adam Ryland
Encyclopedia
Adam Ryland is a British
programmer
best known for creating the Extreme Warfare
series of games.
, England
, Ryland graduated from Aston University
in 2001 with a degree in computer science
. After graduating, Ryland worked for Wrox Press Ltd. for 2 years as the Chief Editor and Project Manager of Wrox's .NET web sites, C#Today and VBToday, and also contributed as an editor to the ASPToday web site and several of Wrox's .NET Handbook titles.
series, a series of professional wrestling
management games. They were developed as freeware
from 1995 until 2003. The last game in the freeware series was Extreme Warfare Revenge. Ryland stopped producing the series because the game was getting too complex to work on in his free time and "by the end, it simply became impossible to spend that much time writing them as well as doing a regular 9-5 job."
Ryland's first professional project was Total Extreme Warfare 2004 (TEW 2004). Originally titled Total Extreme Warfare 2004, the name was changed to Total Extreme Wrestling to distance itself from its freeware predecessor. The first TEW game was released on March 31, 2004 by .400 Software Studio, to generally good reviews.
Ryland then switched publishers to Grey Dog Software
for his next release, Wrestling Spirit: Rookie to Legend, Ryland's third, Total Extreme Wrestling 2005 (TEW 2005) was released on October 6, 2005, his fourth was Wrestling Spirit 2, released on June 29, 2006, and his fifth was Total Extreme Wrestling 2007, released on December 29, 2006. The next game in the series, Total Extreme Wrestling 2008 (TEW2008) was released in June, 2008.
, and World of Mixed Martial Arts 2
, with the first game being released in December 2007, and the sequel was released in April 2009, both through Grey Dog Software
.
A third game, World of Mixed Martial Arts 3
, was released in December 2010.
and use SQL
for data querying (previous games were created in Visual Basic
6.0).
In the first FAQ, Adam said that gamers can mod the game like his previous ones. It is also stated that the name is a pun
, with The Greatest Cape being a play on the title of The Great Escape
.
Like his previous games, much of the character art will be crowdsourced from members of the Grey Dog Software message forums.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
programmer
Programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
best known for creating the Extreme Warfare
Extreme Warfare
Extreme Warfare is a series of professional wrestling management text simulators created by British programmer Adam Ryland for the PC since 1995.- Classic Extreme Warfare :...
series of games.
Background
Born July 23, 1980 and currently residing in BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Ryland graduated from Aston University
Aston University
Aston University is a "plate glass" campus university situated at Gosta Green, in the city centre of Birmingham, England.Established in 1895 as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School, Aston was granted its Royal Charter as Aston University on 22 April 1966...
in 2001 with a degree in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
. After graduating, Ryland worked for Wrox Press Ltd. for 2 years as the Chief Editor and Project Manager of Wrox's .NET web sites, C#Today and VBToday, and also contributed as an editor to the ASPToday web site and several of Wrox's .NET Handbook titles.
Wrestling games
Ryland's first projects were games in the Extreme WarfareExtreme Warfare
Extreme Warfare is a series of professional wrestling management text simulators created by British programmer Adam Ryland for the PC since 1995.- Classic Extreme Warfare :...
series, a series of professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
management games. They were developed as freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
from 1995 until 2003. The last game in the freeware series was Extreme Warfare Revenge. Ryland stopped producing the series because the game was getting too complex to work on in his free time and "by the end, it simply became impossible to spend that much time writing them as well as doing a regular 9-5 job."
Ryland's first professional project was Total Extreme Warfare 2004 (TEW 2004). Originally titled Total Extreme Warfare 2004, the name was changed to Total Extreme Wrestling to distance itself from its freeware predecessor. The first TEW game was released on March 31, 2004 by .400 Software Studio, to generally good reviews.
Ryland then switched publishers to Grey Dog Software
Grey Dog Software
Grey Dog Software is a computer games development company, based in Phoenix, Arizona, and specializing in sports text simulations. Notable games released by Grey Dog include the Total Extreme Warfare series and the Wrestling Spirit series.- History :...
for his next release, Wrestling Spirit: Rookie to Legend, Ryland's third, Total Extreme Wrestling 2005 (TEW 2005) was released on October 6, 2005, his fourth was Wrestling Spirit 2, released on June 29, 2006, and his fifth was Total Extreme Wrestling 2007, released on December 29, 2006. The next game in the series, Total Extreme Wrestling 2008 (TEW2008) was released in June, 2008.
World of Mixed Martial Arts
Ryland also has released two games based on the sport of mixed martial arts. The games, World of Mixed Martial ArtsWorld of Mixed Martial Arts
The World of Mixed Martial Arts is a PC game designed by Adam Ryland and Grey Dog Software, the makers of the Total Extreme Warfare series. It includes fictional fighters with descriptive bios to make the game interesting. It is a simulation game, in which the player is the booker of a Mixed...
, and World of Mixed Martial Arts 2
World of Mixed Martial Arts
The World of Mixed Martial Arts is a PC game designed by Adam Ryland and Grey Dog Software, the makers of the Total Extreme Warfare series. It includes fictional fighters with descriptive bios to make the game interesting. It is a simulation game, in which the player is the booker of a Mixed...
, with the first game being released in December 2007, and the sequel was released in April 2009, both through Grey Dog Software
Grey Dog Software
Grey Dog Software is a computer games development company, based in Phoenix, Arizona, and specializing in sports text simulations. Notable games released by Grey Dog include the Total Extreme Warfare series and the Wrestling Spirit series.- History :...
.
A third game, World of Mixed Martial Arts 3
World of Mixed Martial Arts
The World of Mixed Martial Arts is a PC game designed by Adam Ryland and Grey Dog Software, the makers of the Total Extreme Warfare series. It includes fictional fighters with descriptive bios to make the game interesting. It is a simulation game, in which the player is the booker of a Mixed...
, was released in December 2010.
Comic Book Hero: The Greatest Cape
On April 16, 2011 Grey Dog Software announced Adam's newest game, Comic Book Hero: The Greatest Cape. A Super Hero text-based simulation game. Aside from being his first commercial game not based on sports, Comic Book Hero is notable for being the first game of his to move to the .NET Framework.NET Framework
The .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...
and use SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
for data querying (previous games were created in Visual Basic
Visual Basic
Visual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...
6.0).
In the first FAQ, Adam said that gamers can mod the game like his previous ones. It is also stated that the name is a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
, with The Greatest Cape being a play on the title of The Great Escape
The Great Escape (disambiguation)
-History:* Stalag Luft III escape, known as the "Great Escape", a World War II mass escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp Stalag Luft III** The Great Escape , a 1950 book by Paul Brickhill describing the escape...
.
Like his previous games, much of the character art will be crowdsourced from members of the Grey Dog Software message forums.
External links
- Total Extreme Wrestling Wiki at WikiaWikiaWikia is a free web hosting service for wikis . It is normally free of charge for readers and editors, deriving most of its income from advertising, and publishes all user-provided text under copyleft licenses. Wikia hosts several hundred thousand wikis using the open-source wiki software MediaWiki...
- Grey Dog Software
- Extreme Warfare Battleground Forum
- Adam Ryland Interview UKEvents.net
- "Adam Ryland (Creator of "Extreme Warfare") Speaks Out In His First Audio Interview", by Matthew Tremley, April 22, 2004, LordsOfPain.com
- "Talking with Adam Ryland, Creator of Total Extreme Wrestling", December 11, 2006, by Matt Hocking, OnlineOnslaught.com
- "Adam Ryland Interview", By: Russ, September 24, 2005, Wrestling101.com