Dona Bailey
Encyclopedia
Dona Bailey is a game programmer
who, along with Ed Logg
in 1981, created the video game Centipede. Centipede is one of the first video games to incorporate Artificial intelligence
(AI). She was one of the only female game programmers in the industry at that time. As a highly successful arcade game produced by Atari
, Centipede also earned a name for itself for being the first game to begin luring women into the video arcades across the United States
.
The object of the game was to destroy a centipede
that winds itself faster and faster through a maze of mushrooms along with other insect enemies that invade the field. As the player shoots the centipede's segments, the insect fragments itself into smaller, faster sections, making the destruction even more difficult.
Dona Bailey currently teaches in the department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
, including a class geared specifically toward students training in game design
.
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...
who, along with Ed Logg
Ed Logg
George Edward Logg born in Seattle in 1948 is a retired arcade video game designer, employed first at Atari and after at Atari Games. He co-developed the video game Asteroids with Lyle Rains...
in 1981, created the video game Centipede. Centipede is one of the first video games to incorporate Artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence refers to techniques used in computer and video games to produce the illusion of intelligence in the behavior of non-player characters . The techniques used typically draw upon existing methods from the field of artificial intelligence...
(AI). She was one of the only female game programmers in the industry at that time. As a highly successful arcade game produced by Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
, Centipede also earned a name for itself for being the first game to begin luring women into the video arcades across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The object of the game was to destroy a centipede
Centipede
Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric animals with one pair of legs per body segment. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Centipedes have an odd number of pairs of...
that winds itself faster and faster through a maze of mushrooms along with other insect enemies that invade the field. As the player shoots the centipede's segments, the insect fragments itself into smaller, faster sections, making the destruction even more difficult.
Dona Bailey currently teaches in the department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Little Rock , is a public research university located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, and the second largest university by enrollment in the state of Arkansas....
, including a class geared specifically toward students training in game design
Game design
Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
.
See also
- Carol ShawCarol Shaw (video game designer)Originally an Atari employee, Carol Shaw is said to be the first female video game designer . Later she joined Activision, where she programmed her best known game, River Raid...
, considered the first female video game designer.
External links
- The Original Gaming Bug: Centipede Creator Dona Bailey from GamasutraGamasutraGamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...