Supersoft

Supersoft is a software and computer game developer and publisher founded in England in 1978. It was founded by Peter Calver and Pearl Wellard to develop and publish software primarily for the Commodore PET.

History

Hardware

In 1980 Supersoft released the first user-installable firmware product to be developed in the UK, the "Petmaster Superchip". The following year the company expanded into hardware with the release of a high-resolution graphics card for the Commodore PET - and although by modern standards the resolution of 320 x 200 pixels is not high, it was a considerable improvement on the 80 x 50 capability of the standard model. Originally run from the founders' home in Eastcote, Middlesex the business moved to office premises in Wealdstone in 1981.

oftware

Early games published by Supersoft for the Commodore PET included "Air Attack" (see "Blitz computer game") and "Super Glooper", the latter based on the popular "PacMan" arcade game. A text-adventure game based on the Douglas Adams book "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" was withdrawn following legal action. The game's programmer, Bob Chappell, rewrote the game to remove all "Hitchhiker's" references, and republished it as "Cosmic Capers." [ [http://www.inform-fiction.org/manual/html/s47.html#p376 Design Manual] for the Interactive Fiction language Inform. Accessed 2 August 2006. See also [http://www.inform-fiction.org/manual/html/cited.html their works cited] under "Hitchhiker-64."] . The most successful business program developed by Supersoft was "Busicalc", a spreadsheet program originally produced for the Commodore PET, and converted to the Vic-20 and Commodore 64; it was one of Supersoft's most successful products in the UK and became the company's first and most successful product in the USA, where it was published under license by Skyles Electric Works. "Busicalc 2" and "Busicalc 3" followed, the latter offering three-dimensional capabilities.

Forming Audiogenic

In 1984 development commenced on a cricket game for the Commodore 64, which was programmed by Michael McLean and released the following year as "Graham Gooch's Test Cricket" by Audiogenic Software, a newly-formed subsidiary of Supersoft. From 1985 onwards Supersoft focused on home office programs and utilities, as the Audiogenic name was better-known in the games business.

Microvox

In 1987 Supersoft released "Microvox", a high-quality digital sampler for the Commodore 64 which, with its accompanying software was developed by Andrew Trott. While only hundreds were sold (the device cost more than the computer), many were used by serious musicians and in professional studios, and one was supplied to Feargal Sharkey, the former lead singer of the Undertones.

Present day

Although Supersoft is still in existence, the company has not developed any new products for retail sale since 1990. The company is wholly-owned by Peter Calver.

ee also

*Audiogenic
*Commodore 64 software

Notes