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Acorn Arcade forums: News and features: Ixion, huh?
 

Ixion, huh?

Posted by Jeffrey Lee on 19:41, 25/2/2004 | ,
 
Yes, that's right - following some discussions over on our sister site The Icon Bar, we are now able to offer you copies of the Tom Cooper classic Ixion au gratis. The status of Ixion and a selection of other games were recently changed from commercial to freeware by their copyright holder Imparo, so we are greatly indebted to them for their generocity.

Ixion was originally released in 1992 by Software 42. The game provides a mix of action, role-playing, and puzzle solving, all with some quite tasty looking 3D graphics. The version available here should run fine on anything from a lowly ARM 2 running RISC OS 2 to the latest StrongARM running RISC OS Select, so unless you accidentally traded in your old Acorn while upgrading to an Iyonix you should have no problems at all (Although there have been reports of the music sounding different in-game to when it is played through a music player). Grab a copy of Ixion now from the free games section.

Expect a full list of games which have been freed of their commercial status to appear over the next few days.
 
  Ixion, huh?
  (00:32 26/2/2004)
  Guest (12:54 27/2/2004)
    Andrew Weston (13:07 27/2/2004)
      Jeffrey Lee (14:56 27/2/2004)
        Jason Tribbeck (16:04 27/2/2004)
          Guest (14:40 28/2/2004)
            Andrew Weston (13:19 29/2/2004)
              Jeffrey Lee (23:29 29/2/2004)
                Jason Tribbeck (23:49 29/2/2004)
                  Guest (10:59 1/3/2004)
                    Jason Tribbeck (13:58 1/3/2004)
                      Guest (15:07 12/12/2005)
 
Guest Message #87577, posted at 00:32, 26/2/2004
Unregistered user Tarty smart.

Now... how do you manage to stay alive in this game? ;)
  ^[ Log in to reply ]
 
Guest Message #87578, posted at 12:54, 27/2/2004, in reply to message #87577
Unregistered user This sounds really promising.
  ^[ Log in to reply ]
 
Andrew Weston Message #87579, posted at 13:07, 27/2/2004, in reply to message #87578
Unregistered user Can't believe it was 1992, I remember seeing the review.
Was Software 42 a forerunner of Argonet?
  ^[ Log in to reply ]
 
Jeffrey Lee Message #87580, posted at 14:56, 27/2/2004, in reply to message #87579
Unregistered user I think that Software 42 was a forerunner to Eclipse, judging by the number of Software 42 titles which Eclipse sold. Then Eclipse turned into/got taken over by Argo at some point, which then turned into Freedom 2/Argonet, which then got bought up by Imparo. Well, that's what drobe.co.uk says anyway ;)
  ^[ Log in to reply ]
 
Jason Tribbeck Message #87581, posted at 16:04, 27/2/2004, in reply to message #87580
Unregistered user I was involved in both companies.

Eclipse's first game was Blow Pipe, written by Hugo Fiennes, I believe (I could be wrong, in which case my apologies!).

This was launched fairly early on in the Arc's history - certainly well before Software 42 was formed. There was also one other Eclipse game, but it's name escapes me.

After the two games, eclipse went very quiet for a while, during which time Software 42 sprang up.

I was writing software for Eclipse's sister company, The Serial Port, which became Vertical Twist, then VTi, and then Argonet. (I was 'discovered' by TSP while writing a game which was never launched - I got into more serious application development instead).

I also wrote software for Software 42, namely a label printing program.

S42 didn't want to be involved in distribution, and decided to sell all the rights to its software to Vertical Twist/VTi. (I actually suggested it to both of them - Vertical Twist were after new products). The games were subsequently produced in the re-launched Eclipse range, which I added to.
  ^[ Log in to reply ]
 
Guest Message #87582, posted at 14:40, 28/2/2004, in reply to message #87581
Unregistered user One other early Eclipse game - WorldScape?

monkeyson
  ^[ Log in to reply ]
 
Andrew Weston Message #87583, posted at 13:19, 29/2/2004, in reply to message #87582
Unregistered user Yes I remember that. I wonder if that'll be released as well?
  ^[ Log in to reply ]
 
Jeffrey Lee Message #87584, posted at 23:29, 29/2/2004, in reply to message #87583
Unregistered user If we can get our hands on a copy of it, then yes it probably will be ;)
  ^[ Log in to reply ]
 
Jason Tribbeck Message #87585, posted at 23:49, 29/2/2004, in reply to message #87584
Unregistered user WorldScape came much after the S42 stuff - it was released about the same time as James Pond 2. It's also done by the same company (Millennium), so it's unlikely to be released.
  ^[ Log in to reply ]
 
Guest Message #87586, posted at 10:59, 1/3/2004, in reply to message #87585
Unregistered user Are you thinking of Global Effect?

I remember something akin to WorldScape being reviewed in The Micro User.

monkeyson
  ^[ Log in to reply ]
 
Jason Tribbeck Message #87587, posted at 13:58, 1/3/2004, in reply to message #87586
Unregistered user You're absolutely right. Maybe WorldScape was the other title then.

Sounds like the same kind of game :)
  ^[ Log in to reply ]
 
Guest Message #87588, posted at 15:07, 12/12/2005, in reply to message #87587
Unregistered user Hi guys - I was one quarter of Software 42. We were running it whilst doing our a-levels, and when it came to time to go to uni we sold all our rights to Eclipse (for something like the princely sum of £3.25 per copy sold, if my fading memory serves me correctly!).

I've just found this site and am getting huge pangs of nostalgia at the Ixion screenshots!

Cheers

Duncan
  ^[ Log in to reply ]
 

Acorn Arcade forums: News and features: Ixion, huh?