Incentive Software Games - LaunchBox Games Database

Incentive Software

1984: A Game of Government Management

BBC Microcomputer System - Released - 1984

A Game of Government Management is a financial management game which gives you the chance to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the United Kingdom in the 1980's. Starting in 1984 with the real economy figures from 1982/83, you must try to survive in office for as long as possible trying to keep the books balanced and making more money for the country without upsetting too many people. Your first screen shows you the Government Balance Sheet with the figures balanced and over the next year you will attempt to keep it balanced. As you play over your first year you will be presented with various screens and these either show you the stats for various sectors or others will ask you various questions about adjusting figures like the Minimum Lending Rate or the percentage in wage increases for various sectors. Other sectors or departments you will have to juggle the figures for include investments, Industrial Levy, funding, foreign aid and Industrial Grants. You will also have a cabinet meeting that asks you a question on various incidents that are happening at the time. Once you have completed your first year, you will be shown various graphs and given a performance rating. Then it's on to 1985 and hopefully many years after that.

3D Construction Kit

Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Released - 1991

3D Construction Kit is a utility for creating 3D worlds in Freescape. Developed by Incentive Software and published by Domark, it was released in 1991 on multiple platforms. The game originally retailed for £24.99 for the 8-bit version, and £49.99 for 16-bit version. 3D Construction Kit was originally released on the ZX Spectrum in early 1991. Later the same year it was adapted for numerous other platforms, including versions for the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, PC as well as the Commodore 64 and Commodore 128. A version for the Amiga was released on June 1, 1991 and proved relatively popular with computer users. The Acorn Archimedes was released in January 1992. The different versions of the game varied slightly in their user interface, which was progressively improved with each successive release. An unofficial version for the Commodore Plus 4 was released in 1992. The 3D Construction Kit packages came with a 30-minute video tape, featuring an introduction and a tutorial presented by Ian Andrew, the original designer of the Freescape system. 3D Construction Kit is available in five language editions: English, German, French, Spanish and Italian.

3D Construction Kit

Acorn Archimedes - Released - 1992

3D Construction Kit, also known as 3D Virtual Studio, is a utility for creating 3D worlds in Freescape. This package allows users to create their own 3D worlds, using technology related to the Freescape universe seen in games such as Castle Master and Driller / Space Station Oblivion. Pull-down menus allow objects to be created and positioned, with movement loops and simple animation defined. A network of rooms can be created. A simple BASIC-style language is integrated to allow puzzles and conditions (open a door when a key in placed into it, for example). You can also include enemies which must be shot. At any moment you can enter the gameworld to test it.

3D Construction Kit 2.0

MS-DOS - Released - November 10, 1992

3D Construction Kit 2 (3DCK2) is a great sequel to Incentive/Domark's 3D Construction Kit, released a year earlier. As with the first title, 3DCK2 isn't really a game but a powerful application that lets you create 3D action/adventure games. The engine is powered by Freescape, Incentive's acclaimed game engine that anyone who has played '80s classics Castle Master or Driller, or any other Incentive game is familiar with. 3DCK2 allows you to create a 3D world by building objects, then positioning them accordingly. For example, a house can be made up of a cube with a pyramid-shaped roof. Add a door and windows, and you've got your own virtual bungalow. You can also inspect your work from any angle, at any time, by simply walking or flying around the area it's in. With enough time and patience, you can actually design an entire town, complete with the insides of every building. But a 3D game isn't a game if it's just a pastiche of different virtual environments, and here is what makes 3DCK2 much more superior than simple 3D applications. As in the first Kit, 3DCK2 lets you write the entire game using a special language which can be accessed on the Conditions menu. The language is similar to BASIC, but customized to 3D games. You can control things, enter doors, pick up objects, display messages, and write complicated routines and characteristics for each object to your heart's content. When you are done, you can then save your game with the compiler provided. This allows the game to function separately from the program so you can give copies to your friends. And it'll be just like a real Freescape game, with a plot, goals and missions, whatever you want - they won't be able to edit or alter anything. Overall, 3DCK2 improves upon the first release with many more options, a much more user-friendly interface, and most importantly, sharp 256-color VGA graphics. If you ever want to create your own 3D game, you'd be amazed at what this small 1992 application can do.

Back Track

Dragon 32/64 - Released - 1984

The protagonist of this game, who looks like one of those head-on-feet characters which three-year-olds tend to draw, is the subject of a cruel experiment. Level after level, he is locked inside a maze and must get out before his willpower reaches zero. This means that you will have to find all the necessary keys for locking up the exit, and these are spread all over the maze, of which only one room can be seen at a time. Try to find the map, it will facilitate easier navigation, but each time you look at it time will run much faster, giving you a lower score. The maze is filled with certain dangers, in the guise of snakes which will eat you alive if you startle them. Try to avoid their rooms, or cross them quickly when they turn away from your direction. Finding items such as keys, food or maps will keep your willpower up. The game runs in medium resolution in four colours and features a 3D animation top view of your character as well as animated sequences between levels.

Castle Master

Atari ST - 1990

Castle Master is the fourth and final individual game to use the Freescape first-person solid 3D game system (after Driller, Dark Side and Total Eclipse). As a Prince or Princess armed with a slingshot, you have to explore a medieval castle to free your beloved from the evil Magister. Gameplay combines action and puzzle-solving, across four primary towers with three levels each. Doors must be opened using one of the ten included keys. These are unmarked, as are the various potions - making it a challenge to know which keys open which doors, and which potions are beneficial. Contact with ghouls drains your energy, as does falling too far (there are narrow pathways to negotiate), while eating cheese can replenish this. Movement and aiming are controlled separately.

Confusion

Acorn Electron - Released - 1984

A huge 64 storey automated industrial plant used for the production and storage of deadly Confuzion Bombs versus a highly intelligent and quick thinking mind (yours!)! The Objective : To destroy the complete complex by eliminating the entire explosive stock pile. Confuzion : Its features include Bonus levels, Extra Sparks, Skill Stepping, Speed Spark and Multiplayer options. A totally addictive and frustrating arcade game using a fresh and original playing concept. The Fuzion Of Mind And Machine.

Confuzion

BBC Microcomputer System - Released - 1985

Confuzion (or Confusion as spelled on the Alternative Software release) is a puzzle game developed and published by Incentive Software for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, BBC Micro, and Acorn Electron. The object is to guide a spark along a fuse wire. It is similar to the 1982 arcade game Loco-Motion. Confuzion was written by Paul Shirley who also wrote Spindizzy. The cassette tape on which the game was supplied also contained an audio track also titled "Confusion", which was composed by the Band Private Property (Matt Smith Lyrics, Joanne Holt/Steve Salt Music) and performed by Joanne Holt, Matt Smith, Steve Salt, Chris Weller and Gary Seaward. Rob Hubbard translated the original track into the game's soundtrack. The band persuaded Incentive Software to change their audio cassette duplication process from monophonic to stereophonic, so that the music could be better appreciated (mono was fine for the computer program data which was distributed on cassette tapes in the 80s).

Confuzion

Amstrad CPC - Released - 1985

This is a puzzle game in which players must explode all of the bombs in each level using a spark. The spark flows along a fuse, which is made up of a series of tiles. These tiles can be moved in the manner of a sliding puzzle. In other words, there is only one unoccupied space and adjacent tiles can be moved into that space, freeing a new space in the process. The aim is then to move the tiles so that the fuse forms a path from the spark to each bomb. There is a time limit, however, and extra time is knocked off if the spark reaches a dead end. Some levels also contain water droplets that extinguish the spark if they touch it.

Driller

Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Released - 1987

A 3D strategy / action game featuring scaling and rotating polygon graphics. You're the sole voyager happening upon an abandoned space station that's ready to explode from the pressure of dangerous vapors building up inside. For each sector, you must locate the build-up area, then drill to release the pressure. Features 18 different areas to explore, each with its own unique laws of physics and logic, and a number of secret rooms and hidden levels to discover.

Driller

Amstrad CPC - Released - 1987

Millionaire

Amstrad CPC - Released - 1985

In the game you are starting a session at the U.S. stock market with a beginning net worth equal to $10,000. Three companies from Computer, Oil & Gas, Retail Sales, Auto, and Heavy Industries are present on this market. Stock prices are changing each week due to economical, political, or social situations. On each turn you should examine the news and trends, and buy or sell a certain quantity of stocks in order to increase your net worth. Based on your net worth, you'll be classified by one of the five ranks: Novice, Investor, Speculator, Professional, or Broker. The higher rank you have, the more investment opportunities are available to you. The goal is to finish the session with as a high a net worth as possible; the highest rank is Millionaire. The game is available for single player and the game may be saved to be restored later.

Moon Cresta

BBC Microcomputer System - Released - 1985

Moon Cresta is an arcade game released in 1980 by Nichibutsu. A moving starfield gives the impression of vertical scrolling, but the game is a fixed shooter in the vein of Namco's Galaxian. Incentive Software published a version for the BBC Microcomputer in 1985.

Moon Cresta

Dragon 32/64 - Released - 1986

Moon Cresta is a vertical scrolling shoot-'em-up. The action involves the player moving their ship along the base of the screen, while wave after wave of aliens come towards it. The yellow aliens split when shot, while the magenta ones are the toughest of all. Once the coast is clear, the player must attempt to manually dock their ship in a limited amount of time. Docking successfully will earn the player bonus points. The Dragon 32 port of the Arcade game was by John Martin and Incentive Software.

Space Station Oblivion

Commodore 64 - Released - 1988

Splat!

Amstrad CPC - Released - 1985

A spider must be guided safely through a maze, eating all the patches of grass. The screen scrolls in four directions, and the walls of the level are in a different pattern on each level, and must always be avoided for fear of losing a life. The main thing making life harder is that the level is always scrolling in random directions, and contact with the wall at the edge of the screen costs you a life. As a result, careful planning is required to ensure that you don't get trapped into a corner. There are seven levels of increasing difficulty to get through.

The Ket Trilogy

Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Released - 1984

A compilation of all three parts of the Ket trilogy: Mountains of Ket Temple of Vran The Final Mission The story so far: The Lords of Ket rule a strife-torn land where magic and mayhem are common place. Raiders from the east sweep in and devastate the countryside, spurred by the villainous Priest-King Vran Verusbel, arch-mage of the cult of mad monks and by the beautiful, though utterly evil, Priestess Delphia. Unjustly condemned for a murder you did not commit, you have been offered the chance of escaping the hangman's noose by undertaking a perilous quest. Naturally you accept, but to ensure your loyalty to the cause, the Lords have placed a magic assassin bug on your neck, ordered to sink his poisonous fangs into you at the slightest sign of cowardice. Poised at the brink of the unknown village, you stand alone with the daunting mission before you.. With just a handful of coins, your trusty sword and the will to succeed. Your task is to travel beyond the mountains and then underground via Vran's Temple to the ultimate confrontation himself, penetrating his inner sanctum, beyond the Guardians of the Gates...

The Lords of Midnight

Commodore 64 - Released - 1985

The Lords of Midnight brings to life this epic land, as Doomdark's forces aim to wrest control of its 4000 screens. Your initial party of the task contains four fighters - Luxor the Moonprince, Morkin (his son), Corleth the Fey and Rothron the Wise, each of whom has their own characteristics. Many more lords can be recruited as the game progresses, with names such as Lord Dreams, Lord Blood and the Utarg of Utarg. If Luxor is killed, only Morkin remains under human control. The game can be won in two ways - by overthrowing the full might of Doomdark's forces, or by stealing the moon ring back from its location (a task only Morkin can attempt), meaning that the game can be played as a straight strategy title or an RPG of sorts. The land of Midnight includes lakes, keeps, plains and forests (the Fey are usually located here). You can always look in each of the 8 compass directions, meaning that the game features 32000 views - a remarkable tally in systems of this size. Doomdark's forces, the Foul, move at night, giving the game a turn-based structure. Your characters can also die at the hands of dragons, skulkrin and wolves.

Total Eclipse

Commodore Amiga - Released - 1989

Uses 3D system called Freescape developed by Incentive Software Ltd. A pyramid has been built to destroy anything that blocks the sun and now a total eclipse is about to occur. Collect ankhs to open doors, shoot mummies, drink water and maybe then you solve the puzzle of pyramid. Controlling yourself in 3D world, you may change angle of your rotation and width of your steps to avoid some obstacles. Also you can use your gun to shoot some doors or to eliminate some foes.

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