Dynamix, Inc. was an American developer of video games from 1984 to 2001, best known for the flight simulator Red Baron, the puzzle game The Incredible Machine, the Front Page Sports series, Betrayal at Krondor, and the online multiplayer game Tribes.
History The company was founded in Eugene, Oregon in 1984 by Jeff Tunnell and Damon Slye. Their first title, Stellar 7, was released before company founding and was later remade with the Dynamix name on it. They made a number of games for the Commodore 64, among them Project Firestart, which was one of the most atmospheric titles for the C64.
In the following years, Dynamix created a line of action games for Penguin Software and Electronic Arts, including one of the first games for the Amiga, Arcticfox. Later titles were developed for Activision. After self-publishing their games for a short while, in 1990 Dynamix was bought by Sierra On-Line.
Dynamix had published A-10 Tank Killer and distributed it through Mediagenic, but the acquisition occurred during the development of Red Baron, which became the first game in Dynamix's "Great Warplanes" flight simulator series published by Sierra. Dynamix created some of their most famous games, including a line of adventures and simulators that included Red Baron and The Adventures of Willy Beamish. They also created the puzzle game The Incredible Machine, along with the spinoff Sid & Al's Incredible Toons. Another successful product line was the Front Page Sports series, designed by Pat Cook and Allen McPheeters which included Football, Baseball, and Golf. Versions of Red Baron and Front Page Sports Football were included as part of the ImagiNation Network.
As a developer, Dynamix was notable for their early use of digitized graphics, animations and sounds effects in PC, Atari ST and Amiga games. The techniques were first used in 1988 in Pete Rose Pennant Fever, and used most notably in movie tie-in games like Die Hard and Ghostbusters II, as well as David Wolf: Secret Agent and Death Track.
By 1994 Slye agreed with a Computer Gaming World statement that "Now when someone hears 'Dynamix' they immediately think 'flight simulator'". In 1994, the first game in a new series called Metaltech was released, a giant robot combat game with similarities to the BattleTech universe and games. This series resulted in two Earthsiege games and eventually Starsiege. As a side development of the Starsiege game, the successful Tribes series was created. Dynamix also created Outpost 2: Divided Destiny, the second game in Sierra's strategy/survival franchise, Outpost.
The Dynamix studio was closed by Sierra On-Line on August 14, 2001, as part of Sierra's restructuring under Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing. Several veterans of the studio (including Tunnell), however, stayed in Eugene and founded a new studio / electronic publisher, GarageGames.
Torque Game Engine
Some of the core Dynamix members started GarageGames, an independent-friendly engine developer and game publisher. They negotiated an agreement with Sierra for the source code to the Tribes 2 game engine. After reworking the code, GarageGames released it as a V12 but were soon told that an engine already had the name, so it was then called the Torque Game Engine (or TGE). The source code for TGE, a professional-grade 3D engine, was available to nearly anyone for fees starting at USD100, but has since been released as open source under the MIT License.
List of games developed by Dynamix TitleReleasePublisherStellar 71983 (Apple II)1984 (C64)Software Entertainment CompanyPenguin Software (C64)Sword of Kadash1985 (Apple II, C64)1986 (Atari ST, MacOS)Penguin SoftwarePolarware (MacOS)Skyfox (ports only)1986 (Atari ST, MacOS)Electronic ArtsArcticfox1986 (Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, C64)1987 (DOS)1988 (Amstrad CPC, PC-98, ZX Spectrum)1989 (MSX)Electronic ArtsDROsoft (MSX)GBA Championship Basketball: Two-on-Two1986 (Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, DOS)1987 (Apple IIGS, ZX Spectrum)ActivisionChampionship Baseball1987 (Amiga, Atari ST)ActivisionSkyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict1987 (C64)1988 (Amiga, DOS)1989 (Atari ST)Electronic ArtsThe Train: Escape to Normandy1988 (DOS)AccoladePete Rose Pennant Fever1988 (DOS)Gamestar, Inc.Caveman Ughlympics1988 (C64)1989 (DOS)1990 (NES)Electronic ArtsData East (NES)F-14 Tomcat1988 (C64)1990 (DOS)ActivisionAbrams Battle Tank1989 (DOS)1991 (Genesis)Electronic ArtsSega (Genesis)Motocross1989 (DOS)Gamestar, Inc.MechWarrior1989 (DOS)1992 (X68000)1993 (PC-98)ActivisionCross Media Soft (PC-98, X68000)A-10 Tank Killer1989 (DOS)1991 (Amiga)DynamixGhostbusters II1989 (DOS)ActivisionDeathtrack1989 (DOS)ActivisionDie Hard1989 (C64, DOS)ActivisionDavid Wolf: Secret Agent1989 (DOS)DynamixProject Firestart1989 (C64)Electronic ArtsStellar 7 (re-release)1990 (DOS)1991 (Amiga)1993 (MacOS)Dynamix Red Baron1990 (DOS) 1992 (Amiga, MacOS)Sierra On-LineRise of the Dragon1990 (DOS)1991 (Amiga, MacOS)1992 (Sega CD)2017 (Windows)Sierra On-LineDynamix (Sega CD)Activision (Windows)The Adventures of Willy Beamish1991 (DOS)1992 (Amiga, MacOS)1993 (Sega CD)2017 (Windows)Sierra On-LineSega (Sega CD)Activision (Windows)Nova 9: The Return of Gir Draxon1991 (DOS)1992 (Amiga)Sierra On-LineHeart of China1991 (Amiga, DOS)1992 (MacOS)2017 (Windows)Sierra On-LineDynamix (DOS)Activision (Windows)Red Baron: Mission Builder1991 (DOS)Sierra On-LineWWII: 19461992 (DOS, Windows 3.x)Sierra On-LineAces of the Pacific1992 (DOS, Windows 3.x)Sierra On-LineThe Incredible Machine1992 (DOS)1994 (3DO)Sierra On-LineDynamix (3DO)Front Page Sports Football1992 (DOS)DynamixTake a Break! Crosswords1992 (Windows)Sierra On-LineStellar 7: Draxon's Revenge1993 (3DO)Dynamix (3DO)Stellar-Fire1993 (Sega CD)DynamixSid & Al's Incredible Toons1993 (DOS)Sierra On-LineBetrayal at Krondor1993 (DOS)2010 (Windows)DynamixActivision (Windows)Alien Legacy1993 (DOS)Sierra On-LineSpace Quest V1993 (DOS)Sierra On-LineFront Page Sports Football Pro1993 (DOS)DynamixAces Over Europe1993 (DOS)Sierra On-LineTake a Break! Pinball1993 (Windows 3.x)Sierra On-LineSierra Soccer1994 (Amiga)Sierra On-LineMetaltech: Battledrome1994 (DOS)Sierra On-LineMetaltech: Earthsiege1994 (DOS)Sierra On-LineFront Page Sports: Baseball '941994 (DOS)Sierra On-LineBouncers1994 (Sega CD)Sega3-D Ultra Pinball1995 (Windows, Windows 3.x, MacOS)Sierra On-LineCommand: Aces of the Deep1995 (Windows)Sierra On-LineThe Incredible Machine 31995 (Windows, Windows 3.x)Sierra On-LineEarthsiege 21995 (Windows, Windows 3.x)Sierra On-LineAces of the Deep Expansion Disk1995 (DOS, Windows, Windows 3.x)Sierra On-LineTrophy Bass1995 (Windows, Windows 3.x)Sierra On-LineSilent Thunder1996 (Windows, Windows 3.x)Sierra On-LineMissionForce: CyberStorm1996 (Windows)Sierra On-LineFront Page Sports: Trophy Bass 21996 (Windows, Windows 3.x)Sierra On-Line3-D Ultra Pinball: Creep Night1996 (Windows, Windows 3.x, MacOS)Sierra On-LineHunter Hunted1996 (Windows)Sierra On-LineFront Page Sports: Trophy Bass 2 - Northern Lakes1997 (Windows, Windows 3.x)Sierra On-Line3-D Ultra Pinball: The Lost Continent1997 (MacOS, Windows, Windows 3.x)Sierra On-LineRed Baron II1997 (Windows)Sierra On-LineFront Page Sports: Trophy Rivers1997 (Windows, Windows 3.x)Sierra On-LineFront Page Sports: Ski Racing1997 (Windows)Sierra On-LineRed Baron With Mission Builder1997 (DOS, Windows)Sierra On-LineOutpost 2: Divided Destiny1997 (Windows)Sierra On-LineSierra Pro Pilot 98: The Complete Flight Simulator1997 (Windows)Sierra On-Line3-D Ultra NASCAR Pinball1998 (Windows)1999 (MacOS)Sierra On-LineStarsiege1999 (Windows)Sierra On-LineStarsiege: Tribes1998 (Windows)Sierra On-LineCyberStorm 2: Corporate Wars1998 (Windows)Sierra On-LinePro Pilot 991998 (Windows)Sierra On-LineRed Baron 3-D1998 (Windows)Sierra On-LineDriver's Education '99 1998(Windows) Sierra On-LineField & Stream: Trophy Bass 3D1999 (Windows)Sierra On-LineCurse You! Red Baron1999 (Windows)Sierra On-Line3D Ultra Lionel Traintown1999 (Windows)Sierra On-Line3-D Ultra Radio Control Racers1999 (Windows)Sierra On-Line3-D Ultra Cool Pool1999 (Windows)Sierra On-LineField & Stream: Trophy Bass 42000 (Windows)Sierra On-LineField & Stream: Trophy Hunting 42000 (Windows)Sierra On-LineReturn of the Incredible Machine: Contraptions2000 (Windows)Sierra On-LineRC Racers II2000 (Windows)Sierra On-LineTribes 22001 (Linux, Windows)Sierra On-LineThe Incredible Machine: Even More Contraptions2001 (MacOS, Palm OS, Windows)Sierra On-LineMini Golf Maniacs (Unreleased)2001 (Windows, PS2)Sierra On-Line
References
External links Official website via Internet Archive