Pie in the Sky (game engine)
Encyclopedia
This article is about the game engine, for other uses see Pie in the sky
.
Pie in the Sky is a 2.5D
and 3D
first person shooter engine most popular in the mid to late 1990s
by Pie in the Sky Software, also known as the 3D Game Creation or 3D Game Creation System engine. The engine was used in two games by the company as well as many other independent games and amateur projects after it was turned into a game creator, largely due to it minimizing the amount of computer programming
knowledge needed to make 3D games in its editing tools.
3D screen saver called InnerMission in 1987. After more developments, they developed a 3D flight simulator
Corncob 3D in 1992
. The game was inspired by a flight simulator for the Apple II
. The game was first released as shareware
and then later commercially as Corncob Deluxe by MVP Software. After seeing Wolfenstein 3D
, they wrote a new 3D engine in C
and used it in the first person shooter Lethal Tender in 1993
. Based on that, they were hired by a German
group to create a German
first person shooter.
Pie in the Sky released Terminal Terror, the sequel to Lethal Tender, in 1994
. The development of this game, to be published by Expert Software, had taken precedence over the German development and thus strained the relationship. The game was relatively successful, but the company sensed they were unable to keep up and stay ahead of other first person shooter developers. To get around this and enter a niche market
, they decided to create the 3D Game Creation System and market themselves to consumers who wanted to make their own 3D games. It is first used by games such as Red Babe by The DaRK CaVErN Productions and La Cosa Nostra by Slade 3D Software.
In 1995
it was used in the Despair series, Terror in Christmas Town, Deer Napped, and Castaway: The Ordeal Begins. Meanwhile, the various bugs in the program were worked out and upgrades and patches were released, partly due to the rushed development of the system in the first place. The contract with the German group changed, and instead the new game creation system was re-released in German as well as English
.
The engine was ported to Microsoft Windows
and Direct X in 1998
, as well as updating it beyond Wolfenstein 3D-like standards. The company had first detected the decline of MS DOS in 1994, and had decided to port to Windows and adopt 3D API technology using the Renderware
library. This was first attempted in a racing game
called Baja Bash, but emphasis was switched to converting the old game creation engine due to market demands, time constraints, and some criticism of the later game - despite its attempted physics advances. Due to licensing constraints however, they eventually opted to use Direct3D
.
In this updated form that it was used in the game Pencil Whipped, designed for the 2000
Independent Games Festival
. Chub Gam 3D, an earlier freeware
game, was reissued in director's cut
form in 1998. In 2001
the third version of the engine was released, featuring true-3D polygonal enemies and weapons, 3D terrain, super lighting effects, and other improvements.
The engine ceased being sold in May 2003
and soon after the Pie in the Sky company website came down. The book 3D Game Creation by Luke Ahearn for Cyberrookies has a section which examines making games using the Pie in the Sky development tools, and the system, alongside Game Maker
, The Games Factory and FPS Creator, was used in the "Problem Solving through Game Creation" course put out by the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
In 2010
the company was restarted, and has created a physics engine
demo and a dice
simulation for the Android operating system, tested on the Motorola Droid
. The choice of a physics engine is likely inspired by the popularity of the Corncob 3D physics. The company's new website notes "the focus will be more about making fun stuff that being a money-producing business." The rebirth of the company was inspired by a feeling that small companies can make a better headway in the mobile market than on the PC market
, based on their struggling experience trying to keep the Pie in the Sky tools current to big name standards in the 1990s.
products and later examples for the Game Creation System,
game. The game takes place in a world where Hitler
died in childhood and World War II
never happened. It its stead, aliens have invaded the Earth
. The player must take control of a F4U Corsair
, the only World War II plane that made it into this alternate history, and defeat the alien invaders. The game takes place in a variety of different locations and was noted for its original gameplay and presentaton. It is also known for being one of the few shareware
flight simulators.
Nick Hunter must thwart the evil Thorne Devereaux, who is planting bombs in U.S. currency. The game featured various singular features such as taking the uniforms of dead enemies for protection. The game is described by Home of the Underdogs
as a "a fun, albeit amateurish, first-person shooter." The game set out the style followed closely by most other Pie in the Sky engine games, particularly noting its inventory system, though even its graphics were mostly reused by later games as well. The game is also known as Legal Tender.
compared it to System Shock
in that it was ahead of its time, referencing its new features such as friendly non-playable characters and damage varying based on where hit. The game was published by Expert Software.
. Future versions were to become a "30+ level intricate 3D game, and an Adult
fantasy type with nudity
".
compilation containing the first episode of the game. The second level of the first episode's level track is the theme from the film The Terminator
, hinting the soundtrack comprises various MIDI files found on the Internet
, though the game's variety in terms of textures, graphics and sounds is more than most Pie in the Sky engine games. The game was developed by Tony L. Ford under the group title of Slade 3D Software.
-themed 3D shooter, featuring the player having to rescue Santa Claus
from a kidnapping polar bear
. The game was created by Michael Zerbo and released 1995.
working for Santa and must rescue his reindeer
from the Abominable Snowpeople. The game was created by Nic-Ty Entertainmentick, which consisted of Nick Fletcher and Tyler Smith of Smiths Falls, Ontario
who were both only age 14 at the time of the game's release. The game was made while participating in a program called "I want to be a Millionaire". The aim of the program was to encourage young entrepreneur
s to learn about business through hands on experience. The game is notably non-violent as enemies are turned into harmless snowmen rather than dying.
game wherein the player has face an alien
attack of a space station
, one of the last bastions of humanity
following Earth
's recent destruction. The majority of the enemies in the game are either reprogrammed defence systems or cloned humans made by the aliens to compensate for their low birthrate (probably a concession to the human-like guard sprites that came with the editor). The game centres around releasing the ship's imprisoned crew and and either disarm the self-destruct sequence or escape in time. The shareware level contains five levels.
10 Tons of Games: Mega Collection 1.
first person shooter games. The game features the adventures of a Harrier jet pilot after his plane crashes and is invited in by the eccentric creatures Chub and Rex. However, rather than settling down for the night as asked, the pilot discovers Rex's shocking secret project. The game is claimed to have won no awards, a traceable one being its inclusion as one of MPI World's "Top 952 Free Games of '98". A director's cut
was later released by ChubGamSoft with several improvements, including cutscenes. and it was supposedly sold in Brazil
.
and featured much more advanced options.
tools, and more recently work has been done on an iPhone
remake.
Pie in the sky
Pie in the sky may refer to:*Pie in the Sky , a UK television series about a retired police officer turned restaurateur*Pie in the Sky , 1996 romantic-comedy starring Josh Charles and Anne Heche...
.
Pie in the Sky is a 2.5D
2.5D
2.5D , 3/4 perspective and pseudo-3D are terms used to describe either:* 2D graphical projections and techniques which cause a series of images or scenes to fake or appear to be three-dimensional when in fact they are not, or* gameplay in an otherwise three-dimensional video game that is...
and 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
first person shooter engine most popular in the mid to late 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
by Pie in the Sky Software, also known as the 3D Game Creation or 3D Game Creation System engine. The engine was used in two games by the company as well as many other independent games and amateur projects after it was turned into a game creator, largely due to it minimizing the amount of computer programming
Computer programming
Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
knowledge needed to make 3D games in its editing tools.
History
The company first learned to program 3D by creating a modestly popular TSRTerminate and Stay Resident
Terminate and Stay Resident is a computer system call in DOS computer operating systems that returns control to the system as if the program has quit, but keeps the program in memory...
3D screen saver called InnerMission in 1987. After more developments, they developed a 3D flight simulator
Flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
Corncob 3D in 1992
1992 in video gaming
-Events:-Notable releases:* Gremlin Graphics releases Zool, Amiga's answer to Mario and Sonic. It goes on to become the best selling Commodore Amiga game, boosting the already popular computer to be the leading gaming machine in Europe....
. The game was inspired by a flight simulator for the Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
. The game was first released as shareware
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
and then later commercially as Corncob Deluxe by MVP Software. After seeing Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D is a video game that is generally regarded by critics and gaming journalists as having both popularized the first-person shooter genre on the PC and created the basic archetype upon which all subsequent games of the same genre would be built. It was created by id Software and...
, they wrote a new 3D engine in C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
and used it in the first person shooter Lethal Tender in 1993
1993 in video gaming
-Events:*March — In Sweden, the Swedish video game magazine Super PLAY starts. The original name is Super Power.*Midway Games embroiled in controversy for its game Mortal Kombat from 1992 when the game is launched for video game consoles in 1993....
. Based on that, they were hired by a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
group to create a German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
first person shooter.
Pie in the Sky released Terminal Terror, the sequel to Lethal Tender, in 1994
1994 in video gaming
-Events:*Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.*"Project...
. The development of this game, to be published by Expert Software, had taken precedence over the German development and thus strained the relationship. The game was relatively successful, but the company sensed they were unable to keep up and stay ahead of other first person shooter developers. To get around this and enter a niche market
Niche market
A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing; therefore the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact...
, they decided to create the 3D Game Creation System and market themselves to consumers who wanted to make their own 3D games. It is first used by games such as Red Babe by The DaRK CaVErN Productions and La Cosa Nostra by Slade 3D Software.
In 1995
1995 in video gaming
-Events:*May 11 – Introduction of trade magazine GameWeek *May 11-16 — The 1st annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is held in Los Angeles, California...
it was used in the Despair series, Terror in Christmas Town, Deer Napped, and Castaway: The Ordeal Begins. Meanwhile, the various bugs in the program were worked out and upgrades and patches were released, partly due to the rushed development of the system in the first place. The contract with the German group changed, and instead the new game creation system was re-released in German as well as English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
The engine was ported to Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Direct X in 1998
1998 in video gaming
-Events:*Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo to the AIAS Hall of Fame*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 1st annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards...
, as well as updating it beyond Wolfenstein 3D-like standards. The company had first detected the decline of MS DOS in 1994, and had decided to port to Windows and adopt 3D API technology using the Renderware
RenderWare
RenderWare is a computer and video game middleware from British games developer Criterion Software.-Overview:RenderWare is a 3D API and graphics rendering engine used in video games, Active Worlds, and some VRML browsers...
library. This was first attempted in a racing game
Racing game
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
called Baja Bash, but emphasis was switched to converting the old game creation engine due to market demands, time constraints, and some criticism of the later game - despite its attempted physics advances. Due to licensing constraints however, they eventually opted to use Direct3D
Direct3D
Direct3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface . Direct3D is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems , and for other platforms through the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems...
.
In this updated form that it was used in the game Pencil Whipped, designed for the 2000
2000 in video gaming
-Events:* May 11–13 — 6th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo ; the 3rd annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³* June 26 — International Game Developers Association renamed from Computer Game Developers Association...
Independent Games Festival
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference, the largest annual gathering of the indie video game industry. It was founded in 1998 to assist and inspire innovation in video game development and to recognize the best independent video game developers...
. Chub Gam 3D, an earlier 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...
game, was reissued in director's cut
Director's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
form in 1998. In 2001
2001 in video gaming
-Events:* Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts John Carmack of id Software to the AIAS Hall of Fame...
the third version of the engine was released, featuring true-3D polygonal enemies and weapons, 3D terrain, super lighting effects, and other improvements.
The engine ceased being sold in May 2003
2003 in video gaming
-Events:*February 27 — Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Yu Suzuki of Sega to the AIAS Hall of Fame....
and soon after the Pie in the Sky company website came down. The book 3D Game Creation by Luke Ahearn for Cyberrookies has a section which examines making games using the Pie in the Sky development tools, and the system, alongside Game Maker
Game Maker
GameMaker is a Windows and Mac IDE originally developed by Mark Overmars in the Delphi programming language. It is currently developed and published by YoYo Games, a software company in which Overmars is involved...
, The Games Factory and FPS Creator, was used in the "Problem Solving through Game Creation" course put out by the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
In 2010
2010 in video gaming
The year 2010 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games, including several new titles.-Events:-Game releases:List of games scheduled for release in 2010 in North America....
the company was restarted, and has created a physics engine
Physics engine
A physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain physical systems, such as rigid body dynamics , soft body dynamics, and fluid dynamics, of use in the domains of computer graphics, video games and film. Their main uses are in video games , in which case the...
demo and a dice
Dice
A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
simulation for the Android operating system, tested on the Motorola Droid
Motorola Droid
The Motorola Droid is an Internet and multimedia enabled smartphone designed by Motorola, which runs Google's Android operating system. The Droid had been publicized under the codenames Sholes and Tao and the model number A855...
. The choice of a physics engine is likely inspired by the popularity of the Corncob 3D physics. The company's new website notes "the focus will be more about making fun stuff that being a money-producing business." The rebirth of the company was inspired by a feeling that small companies can make a better headway in the mobile market than on the PC market
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, based on their struggling experience trying to keep the Pie in the Sky tools current to big name standards in the 1990s.
Internal Usage
Pie in the Sky Software made several games on the engine and its predecessors, first its own sharewareShareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
products and later examples for the Game Creation System,
Corncob 3D
The Pie in the Sky engine's fairly popular predecessor game. Instead of being a first person shooter like the later games based on Pie in the Sky it is a flight simulatorFlight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
game. The game takes place in a world where Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
died in childhood and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
never happened. It its stead, aliens have invaded the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. The player must take control of a F4U Corsair
F4U Corsair
The Vought F4U Corsair was a carrier-capable fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Demand for the aircraft soon overwhelmed Vought's manufacturing capability, resulting in production by Goodyear and Brewster: Goodyear-built Corsairs were designated FG and...
, the only World War II plane that made it into this alternate history, and defeat the alien invaders. The game takes place in a variety of different locations and was noted for its original gameplay and presentaton. It is also known for being one of the few shareware
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
flight simulators.
Lethal Tender
Secret agentSecret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
Nick Hunter must thwart the evil Thorne Devereaux, who is planting bombs in U.S. currency. The game featured various singular features such as taking the uniforms of dead enemies for protection. The game is described by Home of the Underdogs
Home of the Underdogs
Home of the Underdogs was an abandonware archive founded by Thai Sarinee Achavanuntakul , aka: Underdogs or Fringer on her own blog, in September 1998, and grew to be one of the most significant abandonware websites on the Internet, despite losing its domains to cybersquatters and then briefly...
as a "a fun, albeit amateurish, first-person shooter." The game set out the style followed closely by most other Pie in the Sky engine games, particularly noting its inventory system, though even its graphics were mostly reused by later games as well. The game is also known as Legal Tender.
Terminal Terror
Pie in the Sky Software's sequel to Lethal Tender. The game featured an expanded array of features, including early examples of the stealth gameplay of later games like Thief. The player is again Nick Hunter, with a mission to take back into custody the international terrorist Bruno Riggs, who has fortified himself and his men in a captured air force base with several hostages, including Hunter's fiance. AbandoniaAbandonia
Abandonia is an abandonware website, focusing mainly on showcasing computer games and distributing games made for the MS-DOS system.Abandonia also features a music section and an Abandonware List, a continuously expanded database of over 4600 games including information about their publishers,...
compared it to System Shock
System Shock
System Shock is a first-person action-adventure video game developed by Looking Glass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. Released in 1994, the game is set aboard the fictional Citadel Station in a cyberpunk vision of 2072...
in that it was ahead of its time, referencing its new features such as friendly non-playable characters and damage varying based on where hit. The game was published by Expert Software.
Industrial Killers
An example game made in 1995 to demonstrate the original DOS version, and takes the form of a short game featuring giant killer bugs. In particular it shows off the engine's outdoors capability within its large first level. Included were various notes and promotional for the Game Creation System.Santa's Rescue 3D
A Christmas-themed example featuring a alternative sprite set to match the theme, as well as non-violent play. This formed the basis of both Deer Napped and Terror in Christmas Town.Max Resistance
Max Resistance was an example game from the company website that was released to promote the final version of the Game Creation System, to showcase both its gameplay and graphical abilities - particularly 3D terrain and models. It was also made quickly and cheaply, to show the relative quality that could be made easily with the tool. The story involves a man named Max taking up arms against an alien invasion.DOS Developers
The majority of games were made in the first version of the Game Creation System, which was released for MS DOS.Red Babe
Red Babe was one of the first games to use the Pie in the Sky engine that was not made by the engine creators themselves, being made by The DaRK CaVErN Productions. The game features the player's quest to save the beautiful Sharla, the titular "Red Babe" due to her penchant for a red dressDress
A dress is a garment consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice or with a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment.Dress may also refer to:*Clothing in general*Costume, fancy dress...
. Future versions were to become a "30+ level intricate 3D game, and an Adult
Adult video game
An adult video game is a video game which has significant sexual content , and are therefore intended for an adult audience. Adult games can fall into many genres and have diverse gameplay.-PC and console:...
fantasy type with nudity
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
".
La Cosa Nostra
A mobster themed first person shooter game using the Pie in the Sky engine. The player takes the role of NYPD investigator Slade A. Ryker, who must stop the crime boss Girabaldi and his gang after they murdered his partner/brother-in-law and now hold his wife hostage. It was included on at least one sharewareShareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
compilation containing the first episode of the game. The second level of the first episode's level track is the theme from the film The Terminator
The Terminator
The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...
, hinting the soundtrack comprises various MIDI files found on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, though the game's variety in terms of textures, graphics and sounds is more than most Pie in the Sky engine games. The game was developed by Tony L. Ford under the group title of Slade 3D Software.
Despair series
The entire Despair trilogy use the Pie in the Sky engine. All games feature a battle with aliens, with the third game featuring a wind machine threatening Earth. The games were developed by U-Neek Software.Terror in Christmas Town
A ChristmasChristmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
-themed 3D shooter, featuring the player having to rescue Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
from a kidnapping polar bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
. The game was created by Michael Zerbo and released 1995.
Deer Napped
Like Terror in Christmas Town, this game features a Christmas theme. The player is a ninjaNinja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
working for Santa and must rescue his reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
from the Abominable Snowpeople. The game was created by Nic-Ty Entertainmentick, which consisted of Nick Fletcher and Tyler Smith of Smiths Falls, Ontario
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Smiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is in the census division for Lanark County, but is considered a separated town and does not participate in county government...
who were both only age 14 at the time of the game's release. The game was made while participating in a program called "I want to be a Millionaire". The aim of the program was to encourage young entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
s to learn about business through hands on experience. The game is notably non-violent as enemies are turned into harmless snowmen rather than dying.
Castaway: The Ordeal Begins
A game by John T. Gallon that features the player landing on a foreign planet, and must proceed to shoot his way through the game. The back story describes the results of the Slrrian War, and how the Terran Stellar Union had failed to defend its lush terraformed planets, and the practice of cloning human prisoners to conquer more Terran worlds unbreathable to them and make up for their low birthrate (probably to accommodate the default human sprites).Space Station Escape
A release by RBSoft (Roy L. Person Sr.) in 1995, Space Station Escape is a science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
game wherein the player has face an alien
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
attack of a space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
, one of the last bastions of humanity
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
following Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
's recent destruction. The majority of the enemies in the game are either reprogrammed defence systems or cloned humans made by the aliens to compensate for their low birthrate (probably a concession to the human-like guard sprites that came with the editor). The game centres around releasing the ship's imprisoned crew and and either disarm the self-destruct sequence or escape in time. The shareware level contains five levels.
Colosso Adventure Series
The Colosso Adventure Series is a trilogy of games by Campana Productions (Thom Campana) made with the engine, with the first part released in April 1996. Based on a childhood dream of creating computer games, the author based his design on his likes and dislikes from mainstream games of the time. The first episode, Escape from Dr. Colosso, was released in December and follows the efforts of man to rescue the kidnapped Red Princess from the vile Dr. Colosso and his legion of henchmen and monsters. Episode two, Colosso Revenge, takes place after the events of the first game and features the quest to deactivate Colosso's create creating machine. Finally, episode three, Colosso Secret, invlves the attempt to rid the world of Colosso's mutants back through their time gates. All three episodes were packaged together as the Colosso Value Pack as well, and the series marks an early incarnation of the episodic game model. A successor series was worked on, utilizing a later version of Pie 3D, but only tests and betas were ever released.PhreAk Software
In 1996, PhreAk Software (comprisng of Garrie Wilson and Michael Wilford) released two titles using the engine. The Maze! does not have a stated plot; the shareware level featured four levels, and the registered version twenty. Secret Agent : The Escape features the titular agent's attempt to escape a prison complex. The Maze! was included in the compilationCompilation
Compilation may refer to:* In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler.* Compilation, in accountancy, the presentation of information in the form of financial statements that are the representation of management, without expressing any opinion or assurance...
10 Tons of Games: Mega Collection 1.
Chub Gam 3D
Chub Gam 3D is claimed to be one of the earliest freewareFreeware
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...
first person shooter games. The game features the adventures of a Harrier jet pilot after his plane crashes and is invited in by the eccentric creatures Chub and Rex. However, rather than settling down for the night as asked, the pilot discovers Rex's shocking secret project. The game is claimed to have won no awards, a traceable one being its inclusion as one of MPI World's "Top 952 Free Games of '98". A director's cut
Director's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
was later released by ChubGamSoft with several improvements, including cutscenes. and it was supposedly sold in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
Windows Developers
Versions 2.0, released in 1998, and 3.0, released in 2001, were made for Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and featured much more advanced options.
Pencil Whipped
Pencil Whipped might be the most well known of the Pie in the Sky games and one of the only ones to utilize a later version of the engine. The game won developer Lonnie Flickinger (aka Chiselbrain Software) a chance at the $15,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize and awards for technical excellence, game design, visual art, and audio. Based on a strange dream Flickinger had, the game became known for its unique black and white pencil drawn world and for its wider novelty value, being described by Wired.com as "like being trapped inside a very disturbed child's drawing." In 2006 work was done towards a sequel on using The Game CreatorsThe Game Creators
The Game Creators, Ltd. is a British game development software company formed through a partnership between programmer Lee Bamber and Richard Vanner in 1999, located in Lancashire, England, United Kingdom. The company was formerly known as DarkBASIC Software Limited.The company primarily develops...
tools, and more recently work has been done on an iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
remake.
The Tickle People
A previous game by Chiselbrain Software that served as Lonnie Flickinger's educational project. The plot involved an accident with a super-computer that lead to all the nearby workers to be absorbed inside it's strange artificial environemnts. A demo version was released, but the final game was never completed. As with Pencil Whipped, a more modern remake was attemtped.XYLOT's Revenge
XYLOT's Revenge was developed by Somewhere in the Dark USA (sitdusa) featuring an eclectic mixing of modern, fantasy and science fiction themes. The premise is that twenty years after defeating the half-machine Xylot and recovering the medallion of creation, the people of Zyles learn that the villain has returned and recaptured the medallion within his tomb. Kudar, head of the Elders, sends Ephradius, the original challenger of Xylot, to face him once again.See also
- 3D Construction Kit3D Construction Kit3D Construction Kit , also known as 3D Virtual Studio, is a utility for creating 3D worlds in Freescape. Developed by Incentive Software and published by Domark, it was released in 1991 on multiple platforms. The game originally retailed for £24.99 in the United Kingdom...
, another early 3D creation tool. - Game MakerGame MakerGameMaker is a Windows and Mac IDE originally developed by Mark Overmars in the Delphi programming language. It is currently developed and published by YoYo Games, a software company in which Overmars is involved...
, features 2.5D game creation abilities. - The Game CreatorsThe Game CreatorsThe Game Creators, Ltd. is a British game development software company formed through a partnership between programmer Lee Bamber and Richard Vanner in 1999, located in Lancashire, England, United Kingdom. The company was formerly known as DarkBASIC Software Limited.The company primarily develops...
, focus on making 3D development easy. - Platinum Arts Sandbox Free 3D Game MakerPlatinum Arts Sandbox Free 3D Game MakerPlatinum Arts Sandbox Free 3D Game Maker is a kid friendly World & Video Game Creation Tool based on the Cube 2: Sauerbraten game engine. The focus of Platinum Arts Sandbox 3D Game Maker is on Game Creation and ease of use so that it is accessible even to young children but also viable to create...
External links
- New Pie in the Sky Software website
- Pie in the Sky engine on MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
- GCS Archives
- GCS Games
- G2 Website
- GCS Central
- Pie 3D at Demu.org