Delta 4
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for clobbered parameters|check|nested=1|template=Infobox company|cat=Template:Main other|name; company_name|logo; company_logo|logo_alt; alt|trade_name; trading_name|former_names; former_name|type; company_type|predecessors; predecessor|successors; successor|foundation; founded|founders; founder|defunct; dissolved|hq_location; location|hq_location_city; location_city|hq_location_country; location_country|num_locations; locations|areas_served; area_served|net_income; profit|net_income_year; profit_year|owners; owner |homepage; website }}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox company with unknown parameter "_VALUE_" | ignoreblank=y | alt | area_served | areas_served | assets | assets_year | aum | brands | company_logo | company_name | company_type | defunct | dissolved | divisions | embed | equity | equity_year | fate | footnotes | former_name | former_names | foundation | founded | founder | founders | genre | homepage | hq_location | hq_location_city | hq_location_country | incorporated | image | image_alt | image_caption | image_size | image_upright | income_year | industry | ISIN | key_people | location | location_city | location_country | locations | logo | logo_alt | logo_caption | logo_class | logo_size | logo_upright | members | members_year | module | name | native_name | native_name_lang | net_income | net_income_year | num_employees | num_employees_year | num_locations | num_locations_year | operating_income | owner | owners | parent | predecessor | predecessors | production | production_year | products | profit | profit_year | rating | ratio | revenue | revenue_year | romanized_name | services | subsid | successor | successors | traded_as | trade_name | trading_name | type | website| qid | fetchwikidata | suppressfields | noicon | nocat | demo | categories }} Delta 4 was a British software developer founded by Fergus McNeill, writing and publishing interactive fiction.<ref name="su45">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Delta 4 designed games between 1984 and 1992. Some were self-published, others were released by CRL Group, Piranha Software, Silversoft, or On-Line Entertainment. Delta 4 were also credited with providing the code for Jonathan Nash's tape magazine YS2 which was given away free with Your Sinclair magazine and published by Future Publishing.
HistoryEdit
Delta 4 was formed by McNeill with a few friends whilst still at school. Their debut text adventure games were the Dragonstar trilogy ("...like Classic Adventure but without the interesting bits"<ref name="su45"/>) and two Holy Joystick comedy adventures, self-published in 1984. Gilsoft's The Quill was the design software.
Their first critical success was Bored of the Rings, inspired by the Harvard Lampoon novel of the same name.<ref name="su45"/> Published in 1985, it received a Sinclair User Classic award.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> They also published Robin of Sherlock.
In the early 1990s, Delta 4 developed several CD-based games. The Town with No Name, Psycho Killer and The Hound of the Baskervilles were all developed using D.U.N.E. (Developers Universal Non-programming Environment),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and all games were panned by both critics and players.
Games developedEdit
- Sherwood Forest (Delta 4, 1984)
- The Dragonstar Trilogy (Delta 4, 1984)
- Quest for the Holy Joystick (Delta 4, 1984)
- Return of the Holy Joystick (Delta 4, 1984)
- Bored of the Rings (Delta 4/CRL Group, 1985)
- Robin of Sherlock (Silversoft, 1985)
- Galaxias (Delta 4, 1986)
- The Colour of Magic (Piranha Software, 1986)
- The Boggit (CRL Group, 1986)
- The Big Sleaze (Piranha Software, 1987)
- Murder Off Miami (CRL Group, 1987)
- The Town with No Name (Delta 4/On-Line, 1992)
- Psycho Killer (Delta 4/On-Line, 1992)
Psycho Killer Template:AnchorEdit
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| label2 = Developer(s) | data2 = Delta 4
| label3 = Publisher(s) | data3 = On-Line Entertainment
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| label10 = Composer(s) | data10 = Template:If first display both
| label11 = Series | data11 =
| label12 = Engine | data12 =
| label13 = Platform(s) | data13 = Commodore CDTV, MS-DOS
| label14 = Release | data14 = 1992 (CDTV) and 1993 (MS-DOS).
| label15 = Genre(s) | data15 = Action-adventure, graphic adventure
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Psycho Killer is a graphic action-adventure game released by On-Line Entertainment in 1992 for the Commodore CDTV.<ref name="mobygames cdtv">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A version for MS-DOS was released in 1993.<ref name="mobygames dos">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The game involves the protagonist (unnamed in game but listed in credits as "John Schulz") going on a quest in order to save a woman (listed as "Sarah Collins") from a murderer ("Morgan James"), and to save himself. The graphics for the game were created using digitised still photographs that were taken in the suburbs of London.<ref name="format i32"/><ref name="format i39"/>
Gameplay of Psycho Killer is restricted to a point-and-click interface, such as clicking certain arrows to go their respective direction.<ref name="format i32"/> There are multiple times in the game where the player must respond promptly to a quick time event in order to proceed to the next scene. Failure to do so can result in the game ending with the protagonist's death.<ref name="format i32"/><ref name="format i39"/>
Template:Video game reviews In issue 32 of Amiga Format, the reviewer gave the game 13% and complained of "poor gameplay",<ref name="format i32">Template:Cite magazine</ref> comparing it to an "interactive home movie" and asked who would want to play a game featuring a "spotty herbert who drives a Vauxhall Chevette". The game was reviewed again in issue 39 of the same magazine; the review gave it the same score,<ref name="format i39">Template:Cite magazine Alt URL</ref> and complained again about the poor gameplay.
Amiga Joker reviewed the game more positively. The magazine gave the game a 3/5,<ref name="joker">Template:Cite magazine</ref> stating, "with a little bit of goodwill, the game could be described as a interactive movie". The magazine ended the review calling the game "the best pure CD game ever."
Amiga Magazine also reviewed the game positively, but did not give a score. The magazine spoke about the "forgiving reaction time".<ref name="amiga magazine">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The magazine also said that the game is well-tuned to the CDTV. The magazine complained that the mouse pointer was black which made it "impossible to see" during some scenes.