Stavros Fasoulas
Encyclopedia
Stavros Fasoulas is one of the most famous Finnish
game programmer
s of the late 1980s. He is mostly known as the designer and developer of the Commodore 64
games Sanxion
, Delta
and Quedex. The games were published by the British
publisher Thalamus.
Sanxion (1986) and Delta (1987) were pretty much standard-issue shoot 'em up
s. Sanxion had a split screen
which allowed the action to be presented from two different viewpoints. The music in Sanxion and Delta has been composed by the famous video game music composer
Rob Hubbard
. Quedex (1987) was a game with an original idea, where the player steered a ball
in a maze
. Fasoulas's promising career as a game programmer was cut short when he was drafted into the Finnish Defence Forces
.
For the Amiga
Fasoulas made a game called Galactic, slightly resembling Bubble Bobble
. The Finnish computer magazine Pelit
gave the game a fairly good review. Fasoulas never found a publisher for the game, and it was finally published as a slightly unfinished Christmas
edition as a cover disk in the British computer magazine The One
.
In the 1990s Fasoulas and Ilari Kuittinen founded the company Terramarque which is currently known as Housemarque
after its fusion with Bloodhouse.
Fasoulas is currently living in San Francisco and has no ties with the computer industry. It is rumoured that he has only ever surfed the Internet
once and does not even have an e-mail
account.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
game programmer
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"...
s of the late 1980s. He is mostly known as the designer and developer of the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
games Sanxion
Sanxion
Sanxion is a 1986 side-scrolling shoot 'em up by Thalamus Ltd., developed by Stavros Fasoulas, along with Delta, another shoot 'em up, and Quedex.-Gameplay:...
, Delta
Delta (computer game)
Delta is a horizontally-scrolling shooter computer game originally released for the Commodore 64 by Thalamus Ltd in 1987. It was programmed by Stavros Flatley and the music was written by Rob Hubbard. The menu-music is based on the theme of Koyaanisqatsi by Philip Glass and the in-game-music is...
and Quedex. The games were published by the British
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...
publisher Thalamus.
Sanxion (1986) and Delta (1987) were pretty much standard-issue shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
s. Sanxion had a split screen
Split screen (computer graphics)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
which allowed the action to be presented from two different viewpoints. The music in Sanxion and Delta has been composed by the famous video game music composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard is a music composer best known for his composition of computer game theme music, especially for microcomputers of the 1980s such as the Commodore 64...
. Quedex (1987) was a game with an original idea, where the player steered a ball
Ball
A ball is a round, usually spherical but sometimes ovoid, object with various uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch, marbles and juggling...
in a maze
Maze
A maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. In everyday speech, both maze and labyrinth denote a complex and confusing series of pathways, but technically the maze is distinguished from the labyrinth, as the labyrinth has a single...
. Fasoulas's promising career as a game programmer was cut short when he was drafted into the Finnish Defence Forces
Finnish Defence Forces
The Finnish Defence Forces are responsible for the defence of Finland. It is a cadre army of 15,000, of which 8,900 are professional soldiers , extended with conscripts and reservists such that the standard readiness strength is 34,700 people in uniform...
.
For the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
Fasoulas made a game called Galactic, slightly resembling Bubble Bobble
Bubble Bobble
is an arcade game by Taito, first released in 1986 and later ported to numerous home computers and game consoles. The game, starring the twin Bubble Dragons and , is an action-platform game in which players travel through one hundred different stages, blowing and bursting bubbles, avoiding...
. The Finnish computer magazine Pelit
Pelit
Pelit is a Finnish video games magazine published 11 times a year by Sanoma Magazines, a division of the Sanoma Group. Being by far the largest of its kind in Finland and covering both PCs and consoles, it has for a long time lacked serious competition and is thought by many to be the magazine of...
gave the game a fairly good review. Fasoulas never found a publisher for the game, and it was finally published as a slightly unfinished Christmas
Christmas
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...
edition as a cover disk in the British computer magazine The One
The One (magazine)
The One was a video game magazine in the United Kingdom which covered 16-bit home gaming during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was first published by EMAP in October 1988 and initially covered computer games aimed at the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, and IBM PC markets.Like many similar magazines,...
.
In the 1990s Fasoulas and Ilari Kuittinen founded the company Terramarque which is currently known as Housemarque
Housemarque
Housemarque is a Finnish video game company founded in 1995. With Remedy Entertainment, it is the oldest game company still operating in Finland. They were a fusion of two smaller companies, Terramarque and Bloodhouse. The rise of the PC game market prompted these two companies with a background in...
after its fusion with Bloodhouse.
Fasoulas is currently living in San Francisco and has no ties with the computer industry. It is rumoured that he has only ever surfed 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...
once and does not even have an e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
account.