In the late-Eighties and early Nineties, Anthony Taglione and Peter James collaborated on successful fantasy RPGs Bloodwych and Legend, but computer hardware and software was moving on at a rapid pace. The release of Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss from Origin Systems and Wolfenstein 3D from id Software in 1992 opened up new gaming environments for players with a suitably powerful PC, and id’s real game-changer Doom was still over a year away from its shareware debut. “I remember when we first saw those games and Anthony said, ‘I can do that.’ His grasp and understanding of the maths needed is genius,” explains Peter.
A trip to a spring 1993 trade show in London gave them the perfect opportunity to develop their own pseudo-3D engine, as Peter explains. “Our publisher was having problems with distribution in the US. So, at the European Computer Trade Show we spent more time chatting with Mike Simpson at the nearby Psygnosis stand, and that’s how we ended up working for them.”
Psygnosis was on the verge of being bought by Sony Electronic Publishing, and at the Crinan Street office in London, Mike Simpson hatched a plan using the development team he had previously worked with at Mirrorsoft. Anthony and Peter embarked on a new PC game called , covertly reimagining their RPG using
