{"data":{"id":15032,"title":"Portfolio: InterDimension Software","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/spectrum-dispatch\/15032-Portfolio-InterDimension-Software","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/15032","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/15032","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Portfolio","images":[{"id":4224,"name":"ID_final.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/1dic3461fjt58r\/source\/ID_final.jpg","alt":"","size":687648,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2015-09-24T23:10:36+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/4224","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/4224\/similar"},{"id":26463,"name":"source.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/media.robertsspaceindustries.com\/weozjmuuh3hwh\/source.jpg","alt":"","size":843046,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2019-09-19T15:49:32+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463\/similar"}],"images_count":7,"translations":{"en_EN":"Two Jims\nTo tell the story of InterDimension Software is to tell the story of the \u2018two Jims,\u2019 level builder James Romanov and tech designer James Vandyke. They may have begun their game development careers in disparate ways, but once introduced, they became (and continue to be) an apparently unstoppable force for developing a string of massively successful releases, from the kid-friendly Admiral Cool to the highly realistic Star Marine.\n\nShy, quiet and difficult to approach, James Vandyke very much fits the classic stereotype of the spectrum game developer. Underneath his cold exterior, however, lies unquestionable brilliance: from his early childhood it was apparent that he had a natural empathy with machines, and a level of understanding that allowed him to make them sing. Vandyke naturally gravitated towards game development not only because he was as a player himself, but because the game industry tended to push hardware and logical systems to their extremes. Fueled by a genuine desire to further technology on all levels, Vandyke skipped a formal education in favor of a job offer to develop his own game technologies through indie-publisher Perigree Press.\n\nOakhurst & Perigree\nSeemingly Vandyke\u2019s polar opposite, Romanov was an outgoing young game designer brimming with such confidence that he quickly inspired a cadre of fans eager to follow his career personally. He was inspired to begin building his own games at a young age, designing his own stylized versions of popular titles for release on the Spectrum. At age twenty, with a host of simple mobiGlas games under his belt, he took his first formal job at the industry powerhouse Oakhurst Online. His first project was an aborted port of 3400 AD, followed by six months making dungeons, quests and monsters for Henry Garrity\u2019s ULTIMATE III. Unfortunately, he was clashing with his bosses over creative direction to such a degree that, shortly before the release of ULTIMATE III, when Perigree approached him with an offer to be their Lead Designer, he quickly accepted.\n\nAnd with that, lightning struck. Vandyke and Romanov, the cardinal introvert and the shameless self-promoter, struck up an unlikely friendship that lead directly to their first co-authored game, Admiral Cool versus the Karate Dogs from Mars, released by Perigree under a \u2018try before you buy\u2019 license, that helped make the pair household names. Bright, colorful and fun, Admiral Cool\u2019s kid-friendly outlook belied outstanding technical achievements under the hood. As he has done with all projects since, Vandyke viewed the project as a technical challenge: how could he recreate the experience found in arcade machines and dedicated gaming rigs on the common mobiGlas? Turning to an encyclopedic knowledge of assembly language and machine logic, he created a stunning interface unlike anything else available for wearable systems at the time.\n\nTwo additional Admiral Cool games followed, including a final title, Admiral Cool in Vegetable Panic, created solely to fulfill a publishing contract. Romanov built the levels foreach game, turning colorful blocks, cartoon dogs, hamburgers, Opi-Ola bottles and glittering candies into an immersive, fast-paced world.\n\nUpon seeing a demo of Original\u2019s ULTIMATE spinoff series, ULTIMATE: Downbelow, Vandyke sought an even greater technical challenge for their next project: replicate and then surpass the total immersion interface being developed by high-end publishers, but in a faster-paced, action-oriented world that better suited the design aesthetics of Romanov and his growing team. This time around, Romanov opted to forgo the kid-friendly graphics that defined Admiral Cool, and instead turned to the gritty details of history: an action title based on the internecine warfare of the Messer era. The result was named Tiger3D, and the response was immediate. Players everywhere hailed the impossibly realistic environments, the sheer speed of movement allowed by the engine \u2026 and countless others focused on what they saw as a tasteless appropriation of history. While the gaming industry is no stranger to unwarranted protests, there\u2019s some truth to the claim that the team at Perigree intentionally hit a nerve. From levels covered in totalitarian banners to the final episode in which the player must battle a titan-suited parody of Ivar Messer, the game\u2019s design seemed intended to offend more delicate sensibilities.\n\nInterDimension\nDespite the outrage, Tiger 3D was a hit and catapulted the pair to the next level. In 2941, Romanov and Vandyke quietly exited Perigree and set up their own shop, founded on the idea of building out innovative technology and flavoring it with great game design. InterDimension Software sought to be a different kind of game creator, with a small-scale ethos that appealed to hardcore players around the Empire. Their first title, announced well in advance via Romanov\u2019s over-stuffed personal Comm-Link updates, was Star Marine. Building on the technology premiered in Tiger 3D, Star Marine was intended as the most ultra-realistic ground combat simulator ever attempted. Building around carefully constructed maps of a Gold Horizon station, Star Marine was crafted from Day One to immerse the player in the very heart of an epic life-or-death struggle.\n\nAfter a series of unexpected and much publicized delays, Star Marine premiered recently to great acclaim. Based in the present-day and featuring incredibly realistic design, Star Marine has become the \u201cit game\u201d of the year, with the response ranging from the creation of massive communities of competitive players and other fanatics to headlines about companies bemoaning the productivity lost to employees playing it on extended lunch breaks. It seems that nearly everyone in the universe has become a Star Marine. Asked at their launch event why they thought their latest title would be successful, Romanov, speaking for the pair, responded simply, \u201cbecause it\u2019s pretty damn fun.\u201d","de_DE":"Zwei Jims\nDie Geschichte von InterDimension Software zu erz\u00e4hlen bedeutet, die Geschichte der beiden Jims, des Level Builders James Romanov und des Tech Designers James Vandyke zu erz\u00e4hlen. Sie m\u00f6gen ihre Karriere in der Spieleentwicklung auf unterschiedliche Weise begonnen haben, aber einmal eingef\u00fchrt, wurden sie zu einer scheinbar unaufhaltsamen Kraft f\u00fcr die Entwicklung einer Reihe von massiv erfolgreichen Ver\u00f6ffentlichungen, von der kinderfreundlichen Admiral Cool bis zur hochrealistischen Star Marine.\n\nSch\u00fcchtern, leise und schwer zug\u00e4nglich, passt James Vandyke sehr gut zum klassischen Stereotyp des Spektrumsspielentwicklers. Unter seinem kalten \u00c4u\u00dferen liegt jedoch unbestreitbare Brillanz: Schon in seiner fr\u00fchen Kindheit zeigte sich, dass er ein nat\u00fcrliches Einf\u00fchlungsverm\u00f6gen in Maschinen und ein Verst\u00e4ndnisniveau hatte, das es ihm erlaubte, sie zum Singen zu bringen. Vandyke hat sich nat\u00fcrlich der Spieleentwicklung zugewandt, nicht nur weil er selbst ein Spieler war, sondern auch weil die Spieleindustrie dazu neigte, Hardware und logische Systeme auf die Spitze zu treiben. Getragen von dem echten Wunsch, die Technologie auf allen Ebenen weiterzuentwickeln, \u00fcbersprang Vandyke eine formelle Ausbildung zugunsten eines Jobangebots, um seine eigenen Spieltechnologien \u00fcber den Indie-Verlag Perigree Press zu entwickeln.\n\nOakhurst & Perigree\nAnscheinend war Romanov Vandyke's polarer Gegen\u00fcber, ein scheidender junger Spieleautor, der so selbstbewusst war, dass er schnell eine Gruppe von Fans inspirierte, die seine Karriere pers\u00f6nlich verfolgen wollten. Er wurde inspiriert, schon in jungen Jahren mit dem Bau eigener Spiele zu beginnen und seine eigenen stilisierten Versionen beliebter Titel f\u00fcr die Ver\u00f6ffentlichung auf dem Spectrum zu entwerfen. Im Alter von zwanzig Jahren, mit einer Vielzahl von einfachen mobiGlas-Spielen im Gep\u00e4ck, nahm er seinen ersten formalen Job beim Branchen-Kraftwerk Oakhurst Online an. Sein erstes Projekt war ein abgebrochener Hafen von 3400 n. Chr., gefolgt von sechs Monaten mit Dungeons, Quests und Monstern f\u00fcr Henry Garritys ULTIMATE III. Leider kollidierte er mit seinen Chefs \u00fcber die kreative Richtung in einem solchen Ma\u00dfe, dass er kurz vor der Ver\u00f6ffentlichung von ULTIMATE III, als Perigree sich ihm mit einem Angebot, ihr Lead Designer zu werden, n\u00e4herte, schnell akzeptierte.\n\nUnd damit schlug ein Blitz ein. Vandyke und Romanov, der kardinale Introvertierte und schamlose Selbstdarsteller, schlossen eine unwahrscheinliche Freundschaft, die direkt zu ihrem ersten Co-Autor-Spiel Admiral Cool gegen die Karate-Hunde vom Mars f\u00fchrte, das von Perigree unter einer Try before you buy\"-Lizenz ver\u00f6ffentlicht wurde, die dazu beitrug, die beiden zu bekannten Namen zu machen. Hell, farbenfroh und unterhaltsam, Admiral Cool's kinderfreundliche Einstellung widersprach hervorragenden technischen Leistungen unter der Haube. Wie bei allen Projekten, die Vandyke seitdem durchgef\u00fchrt hat, betrachtete er das Projekt als technische Herausforderung: Wie konnte er die Erfahrung von Arcade-Maschinen und dedizierten Gaming-Rigs auf dem gemeinsamen mobiGlas nachbilden? Er wandte sich einem enzyklop\u00e4dischen Wissen \u00fcber Assemblersprache und Maschinenlogik zu und schuf eine atemberaubende Benutzeroberfl\u00e4che, die es bei tragbaren Systemen zu dieser Zeit noch nicht gab.\n\nZwei weitere Admiral Cool Spiele folgten, darunter der endg\u00fcltige Titel Admiral Cool in Vegetable Panic, der ausschlie\u00dflich zur Erf\u00fcllung eines Verlagsvertrages entwickelt wurde. Romanov baute die Levels f\u00fcr jedes Spiel und verwandelte bunte Bl\u00f6cke, Cartoon-Hunde, Hamburger, Opi-Ola-Flaschen und glitzernde S\u00fc\u00dfigkeiten in eine immersive, rasante Welt.\n\nAls Vandyke eine Demo der Original ULTIMATE Spinoff-Serie ULTIMATE: Downbelow sah, suchte er f\u00fcr sein n\u00e4chstes Projekt eine noch gr\u00f6\u00dfere technische Herausforderung: die von High-End-Verlagen entwickelte Immersionsoberfl\u00e4che zu replizieren und dann zu \u00fcbertreffen, aber in einer schnelleren, handlungsorientierten Welt, die besser zur Design\u00e4sthetik von Romanov und seinem wachsenden Team passte. Romanov verzichtete diesmal auf die kinderfreundliche Grafik, die Admiral Cool definierte, und wandte sich stattdessen den k\u00f6rnigen Details der Geschichte zu: einem Aktionstitel, der auf der internen Kriegsf\u00fchrung der Messerzeit basiert. Das Ergebnis hie\u00df Tiger3D, und die Antwort war sofort. \u00dcberall begr\u00fc\u00dften die Spieler die unm\u00f6glich realistischen Umgebungen, die schiere Bewegungsgeschwindigkeit des Motors.... und unz\u00e4hlige andere konzentrierten sich auf das, was sie als geschmacklose Aneignung von Geschichte sahen. W\u00e4hrend die Spieleindustrie den ungerechtfertigten Protesten nicht fremd ist, stimmt die Behauptung, dass das Team von Perigree absichtlich einen Nerv getroffen hat. Von Levels, die mit totalit\u00e4ren Bannern besetzt sind, bis hin zur letzten Episode, in der der Spieler gegen eine titangeeignete Parodie von Ivar Messer k\u00e4mpfen muss, schien das Design des Spiels darauf ausgerichtet zu sein, feinere Empfindungen zu verletzen.\n\nInterDimension\nTrotz der Emp\u00f6rung war Tiger 3D ein Hit und katapultierte das Paar auf die n\u00e4chste Stufe. Im Jahr 2941 verlie\u00dfen Romanov und Vandyke Perigree leise und gr\u00fcndeten einen eigenen Laden, der auf der Idee basierte, innovative Technologien zu entwickeln und mit gro\u00dfartigem Spieldesign zu versehen. InterDimension Software versuchte, eine andere Art von Spieleentwickler zu sein, mit einem kleinen Ethos, das Hardcore-Player im ganzen Reich ansprach. Ihr erster Titel, der lange im Voraus \u00fcber Romanovs \u00fcberf\u00fcllte pers\u00f6nliche Comm-Link-Updates angek\u00fcndigt wurde, war Star Marine. Aufbauend auf der in Tiger 3D vorgestellten Technologie war Star Marine als der ultrarealistischste Bodenkampfsimulator gedacht, den es je gab. Star Marine wurde vom ersten Tag an um sorgf\u00e4ltig zusammengestellte Karten einer Gold Horizon Station herum gebaut, um den Spieler in das Herz eines epischen Kampfes um Leben und Tod zu versetzen.\n\nNach einer Reihe von unerwarteten und viel beachteten Verz\u00f6gerungen feierte Star Marine k\u00fcrzlich eine Premiere mit gro\u00dfem Erfolg. Basierend auf dem heutigen Stand und mit unglaublich realistischem Design, hat sich Star Marine zum \"it game\" des Jahres entwickelt, mit einer Antwort, die von der Schaffung massiver Communities von Konkurrenten und anderen Fanatikern bis hin zu Schlagzeilen \u00fcber Unternehmen reicht, die die Produktivit\u00e4t beklagen, die den Mitarbeitern verloren geht, die es in l\u00e4ngeren Mittagspausen spielen. Es scheint, dass fast jeder im Universum zu einer Sternenmarine geworden ist. Auf die Frage, warum sie dachten, ihr j\u00fcngster Titel w\u00fcrde erfolgreich sein, antwortete Romanov, der f\u00fcr das Paar sprach, einfach: \"Weil es ziemlich viel Spa\u00df macht\".","zh_CN":"Two Jims\nTo tell the story of InterDimension Software is to tell the story of the \u2018two Jims,\u2019 level builder James Romanov and tech designer James Vandyke. They may have begun their game development careers in disparate ways, but once introduced, they became (and continue to be) an apparently unstoppable force for developing a string of massively successful releases, from the kid-friendly Admiral Cool to the highly realistic Star Marine.\n\nShy, quiet and difficult to approach, James Vandyke very much fits the classic stereotype of the spectrum game developer. Underneath his cold exterior, however, lies unquestionable brilliance: from his early childhood it was apparent that he had a natural empathy with machines, and a level of understanding that allowed him to make them sing. Vandyke naturally gravitated towards game development not only because he was as a player himself, but because the game industry tended to push hardware and logical systems to their extremes. Fueled by a genuine desire to further technology on all levels, Vandyke skipped a formal education in favor of a job offer to develop his own game technologies through indie-publisher Perigree Press.\n\nOakhurst & Perigree\nSeemingly Vandyke\u2019s polar opposite, Romanov was an outgoing young game designer brimming with such confidence that he quickly inspired a cadre of fans eager to follow his career personally. He was inspired to begin building his own games at a young age, designing his own stylized versions of popular titles for release on the Spectrum. At age twenty, with a host of simple mobiGlas games under his belt, he took his first formal job at the industry powerhouse Oakhurst Online. His first project was an aborted port of 3400 AD, followed by six months making dungeons, quests and monsters for Henry Garrity\u2019s ULTIMATE III. Unfortunately, he was clashing with his bosses over creative direction to such a degree that, shortly before the release of ULTIMATE III, when Perigree approached him with an offer to be their Lead Designer, he quickly accepted.\n\nAnd with that, lightning struck. Vandyke and Romanov, the cardinal introvert and the shameless self-promoter, struck up an unlikely friendship that lead directly to their first co-authored game, Admiral Cool versus the Karate Dogs from Mars, released by Perigree under a \u2018try before you buy\u2019 license, that helped make the pair household names. Bright, colorful and fun, Admiral Cool\u2019s kid-friendly outlook belied outstanding technical achievements under the hood. As he has done with all projects since, Vandyke viewed the project as a technical challenge: how could he recreate the experience found in arcade machines and dedicated gaming rigs on the common mobiGlas? Turning to an encyclopedic knowledge of assembly language and machine logic, he created a stunning interface unlike anything else available for wearable systems at the time.\n\nTwo additional Admiral Cool games followed, including a final title, Admiral Cool in Vegetable Panic, created solely to fulfill a publishing contract. Romanov built the levels foreach game, turning colorful blocks, cartoon dogs, hamburgers, Opi-Ola bottles and glittering candies into an immersive, fast-paced world.\n\nUpon seeing a demo of Original\u2019s ULTIMATE spinoff series, ULTIMATE: Downbelow, Vandyke sought an even greater technical challenge for their next project: replicate and then surpass the total immersion interface being developed by high-end publishers, but in a faster-paced, action-oriented world that better suited the design aesthetics of Romanov and his growing team. This time around, Romanov opted to forgo the kid-friendly graphics that defined Admiral Cool, and instead turned to the gritty details of history: an action title based on the internecine warfare of the Messer era. The result was named Tiger3D, and the response was immediate. Players everywhere hailed the impossibly realistic environments, the sheer speed of movement allowed by the engine \u2026 and countless others focused on what they saw as a tasteless appropriation of history. While the gaming industry is no stranger to unwarranted protests, there\u2019s some truth to the claim that the team at Perigree intentionally hit a nerve. From levels covered in totalitarian banners to the final episode in which the player must battle a titan-suited parody of Ivar Messer, the game\u2019s design seemed intended to offend more delicate sensibilities.\n\nInterDimension\nDespite the outrage, Tiger 3D was a hit and catapulted the pair to the next level. In 2941, Romanov and Vandyke quietly exited Perigree and set up their own shop, founded on the idea of building out innovative technology and flavoring it with great game design. InterDimension Software sought to be a different kind of game creator, with a small-scale ethos that appealed to hardcore players around the Empire. Their first title, announced well in advance via Romanov\u2019s over-stuffed personal Comm-Link updates, was Star Marine. Building on the technology premiered in Tiger 3D, Star Marine was intended as the most ultra-realistic ground combat simulator ever attempted. Building around carefully constructed maps of a Gold Horizon station, Star Marine was crafted from Day One to immerse the player in the very heart of an epic life-or-death struggle.\n\nAfter a series of unexpected and much publicized delays, Star Marine premiered recently to great acclaim. Based in the present-day and featuring incredibly realistic design, Star Marine has become the \u201cit game\u201d of the year, with the response ranging from the creation of massive communities of competitive players and other fanatics to headlines about companies bemoaning the productivity lost to employees playing it on extended lunch breaks. It seems that nearly everyone in the universe has become a Star Marine. Asked at their launch event why they thought their latest title would be successful, Romanov, speaking for the pair, responded simply, \u201cbecause it\u2019s pretty damn fun.\u201d"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":136,"created_at":"2015-10-27T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"10 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-08 00:24:34","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":15031,"next_id":15034}}