In the 1980's, British publisher Level 9 Computing was held in high esteem and was one of the most recognisable "brands" within the adventure community.
The company was established in 1983 by brothers Mike, Nick and Pete Austin. Their first product being an BASIC extension for the Nascom, they followed this with a number of arcade games before writing their own, extended version of Colossal Cave. Their games were coded in A-code, which allowed for highly efficient text compression and allowed the brothers to easily port games to new machines. From Knight Orc onwards, they switched to the KAOS system which allowed for widespread use of NPCs.
1989's Scapeghost turned out to be their adventure swan song. With the deteriorating adventure market, they spent a great deal of time and effort on H.U.G.E. (wHolly Universal Graphic Environment), which allowed them to move to new territory with the ambitious, but commercially unsuccessful Champion of the Raj, an unreleased Billy the Kid game for Ocean, and the PC port of Cinemaware's It Came From the Desert. The company finally closed down in 1991.
Manuel Schulz' Level 9 Memorial has extensive information on all Level 9 titles.
An article on the history of the company, by Richard Hewison.
Trivia: Regarding the origin of the company name - "Levels are the sort of things you come across a lot in dungeons. And it's useful to have a number in the title. For one thing, you can slip adverts in your own games". [source]
Title |
Publisher |
Year |
Language |
Documents |
Adventure Quest |
Level 9 Computing |
1982 |
English |
Solution, Map, Hints, Clue sheet |
Archers, The |
Level 9 Computing , Mosaic Publishing |
1986 |
English |
|
Colossal Adventure |
Level 9 Computing |
1982 |
English |
Solution, Map, Hints, Clue sheet |
Dungeon Adventure |
Level 9 Computing |
1982 |
English |
Solution, Map, Clue sheet |
Emerald Isle |
Level 9 Computing |
1985 |
English |
Solution, Map, Hints, Clue sheet |
Fantasy |
Level 9 Computing |
1982 |
English |
|
Gnome Free |
Level 9 Computing |
1989 |
English |
|
Gnome Ranger |
Level 9 Computing |
1987 |
English |
Solution, Hints, Clue sheet |
Gross Encounters of the Worst Kind |
Level 9 Computing |
? |
English |
|
Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, The |
Level 9 Computing , Virgin Games |
1987 |
English |
|
Ingrid's Back! |
Level 9 Computing |
1988 |
English |
Solution |
Knight Orc |
Level 9 Computing , Rainbird |
1987 |
English |
Solution, Hints, Clue sheet |
Lancelot |
Level 9 Computing , Mandarin Software |
1988 |
English |
Solution |
Lords of Time |
Level 9 Computing |
1984 |
English |
Solution, Map, Hints, Clue sheet |
Price of Magik, The |
Level 9 Computing |
1986 |
English |
Solution, Map, Hints |
Red Moon |
Level 9 Computing |
1985 |
English |
Solution, Map, Hints, Clue sheet |
Return to Eden |
Level 9 Computing |
1984 |
English |
Solution, Map, Hints, Clue sheet |
Saga of Erik the Viking, The |
Level 9 Computing , Mosaic Publishing |
1984 |
English |
Solution, Map, Hints |
Scapeghost |
Level 9 Computing |
1989 |
English |
Solution, Map |
Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾, The |
Level 9 Computing , Mosaic Publishing |
1985 |
English |
Solution, Hints |
Snowball |
Level 9 Computing |
1983 |
English |
Solution, Map, Hints, Clue sheet |
Trouble in Store |
Level 9 Computing |
? |
English |
|
Worm in Paradise, The |
Level 9 Computing |
1985 |
English |
Solution, Map, Hints |