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Dynamix PC Games


Dynamix



Dynamix of the U.S.A. was founded in 1984 by Jeff Tunnell and Damon Slye. Most Dynamix games were published by Sierra, but also by Activision and Electronic Arts. Dynamix closed in 2001.

Dynamix are most notable for developing biplane, armor and sports sims; they were big on tanks, mecha and WWI/II aircraft. Historically significant Dynamix games include MechWarrior, Red Baron and Front Page Sports: Football. Upon their release, Red Baron was the best biplane sim in the world and FPSF was the best American football sim ever made. The customization features of Red Baron and FPSF were inexhaustible.


Being American, Dynamix primarily developed for the PC; the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga were of secondary concern because they were not fast enough and did not have enough RAM or a hard disk drive as standard. That said, Dynamix ported Red Baron of 1990 to the Amiga in 1992, but stock Amigas would not have been able to do Front Page Sports: Football justice.

Dynamix dabbled in several minor genre (and sometimes to great effect), but their "Aces" sim-line (which includes Red Baron) is their main claim to fame.

On a technical level, Dynamix are most notable for their early software-rendered realtime flat-shaded 3D games (e.g., the 3Space engine), which were programmed by Damon Slye, Lincoln Hutton, David McClurg, Christopher Reese and Paul Bowman. By 1991 Dynamix had already spent half a decade honing their 2D and 3D routines.

Dynamix designed slick and spartan user interfaces that employed smooth hardware mouse cursors. In addition, Dynamix made splendid use of EGA and VGA color palettes by 1989 (e.g., DeathTrack EGA and A-10 VGA). In 1989 Dynamix began employing VGA-quality in-game digitized graphics in great quantity. By 1993 many Dynamix games featured dozens of high-quality digitizations, as well as digital audio.

Along with the likes of Origin Systems (Wing Commander) Dynamix were one of the first PC developers to push the higher-end hardware capacities of PCs. In addition to digitized graphics and digital audio, consider that Front Page Sports: Football's user interface displayed in SVGA 640x400 in 1992, which is high resolution.


As with MPS Labs, Dynamix had developed articulated 3D models by 1989 and 3D terrain detail by 1990. However, unlike MPS Labs Dynamix invented no new genre. Dynamix led the way in biplane sims, mecha games and team-sports sims whereas MPS Labs led the way in sub, armor, gunship and stealth fighter/bomber sims. Dynamix were more prone to develop oddball or casual games than were MPS Labs, which could have impacted the legacy of Dynamix if not for the fact that the core of their catalogue is so strong.

Alphabetical List of Dynamix Games



The image-assembly embedded above shows the titlescreens of 26 Dynamix PC DOS games. The Arcticfox, Skyfox and Skyfox II titlescreens are Amiga-version titlescreens.

The following list includes Dynamix games as well as games by Damon Slye and Jeff Tunnell (the founders of Dynamix).

  • A-10 Tank Killer PC DOS Dynamix 1989
  • A-10 Tank Killer v1.5 PC DOS Dynamix 1991
  • A-10 Tank Killer Amiga Dynamix 1990
  • Abrams Battle Tank PC DOS Dynamix 1988
  • Aces of the Pacific PC DOS Dynamix 1992
  • Aces of the Pacific: WWII 1946 PC DOS Dynamix 1992
  • Aces Over Europe PC DOS Dynamix 1993
  • Aces of the Deep PC DOS Dynamix 1994
  • Adventures of Willy Beamish PC DOS Dynamix 1991
  • Arcticfox Amiga Dynamix 1986 cf. Stellar 7
  • Arcticfox Atari ST Dynamix 1987
  • Betrayal at Krondor PC DOS Dynamix 1993 (cRPG)
  • Betrayal in Antara Windows PC Dynamix 1997
  • Caveman Ughlympics Commodore 64 Dynamix 1988
  • Caveman Ughlympics PC DOS Dynamix 1989
  • Championship Baseball Amiga Dynamix 1988 (MLB)
  • Command: Aces of the Deep Windows PC Dynamix 1995
  • CyberGladiators Windows PC KAA / Dynamix 1996
  • CyberStorm 2: Corporate Wars Windows PC Dynamix 1998 (MissionForce 2) (TBS)
  • David Wolf: Secret Agent PC DOS Dynamix 1989
  • DeathTrack PC DOS Dynamix 1989
  • Die Hard PC DOS Dynamix 1989
  • Driver's Education '99 Windows PC Dynamix 1998 (EDU)
  • Earthsiege 2 Windows PC Dynamix 1996 (mecha)
  • F-14 Tomcat Commodore 64 Dynamix 1989
  • F-14 Tomcat PC DOS Dynamix Activision 1990
  • Field & Stream: Trophy Bass 3D Windows PC Dynamix 1999
  • Field & Stream: Trophy Bass 4 Windows PC Dynamix 2000
  • Front Page Sports Baseball '94 PC DOS Dynamix 1994 (MLB)
  • Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro '96 Windows PC Dynamix 1996
  • Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro '98 Windows PC Dynamix 1997
  • Front Page Sports Football PC DOS Dynamix 1992 (NFL)
  • Front Page Sports Football Pro PC DOS Dynamix 1993
  • Front Page Sports Football Pro '95 PC DOS Dynamix 1994
  • Front Page Sports Football Pro '96 PC DOS Dynamix 1995
  • Front Page Sports: Ski Racing Windows PC Dynamix 1997
  • Front Page Sports: Trophy Bass 2 Windows 3.x Dynamix 1996
  • GBA Championship Basketball: Two-on-Two Amiga Dynamix 1986 (NBA)
  • Ghost Busters II PC DOS Dynamix 1989
  • Heart of China PC DOS Dynamix 1991 cf. Rise of the Dragon
  • Heart of China Amiga Dynamix 1992
  • Incredible Machine PC DOS Jeff Tunnell Productions 1993
  • Incredible Machine 2 PC DOS Jeff Tunnell Productions 1994
  • Incredible Machine: Even More Contraptions Windows PC Dynamix 2001
  • MechWarrior PC DOS Dynamix 1989 (mecha)
  • Metaltech: Earthsiege PC DOS Dynamix 1994 (mecha)
  • Metaltech: Battledrome PC DOS Dynamix 1994 (mecha)
  • MissionForce: CyberStorm Windows PC Dynamix 1996 (TBS)
  • Nova 9: The Return of Gir Draxon PC DOS Dynamix 1991 cf. Stellar 7
  • Nova 9: The Return of Gir Draxon Amiga Dynamix 1992
  • Outpost 2: Divided Destiny Windows PC Dynamix 1997 (RTS)
  • Pete Rose Pennant Fever PC DOS Dynamix 1988 (MLB)
  • Pro Pilot '99 Windows PC Dynamix 1998
  • Project Firestart Commodore 64 Dynamix 1989
  • Quarky & Quaysoo's Turbo Science PC DOS Jeff Tunnell Productions 1992 (EDU)
  • Rama PC DOS SVGA Dynamix 1996 (Arthur C. Clarke)
  • RC Racers II Windows PC Dynamix 2000
  • Red Baron PC DOS Dynamix 1990
  • Red Baron Mission Builder PC DOS Dynamix 1992
  • Red Baron Amiga Dynamix 1992
  • Red Baron II Windows PC Dynamix 1997
  • Red Baron 3D Windows PC Dynamix 1998
  • Return of the Incredible Machine: Contraptions Windows PC Dynamix 2000
  • Rise of the Dragon PC DOS Dynamix 1990 cf. Heart of China
  • Rise of the Dragon Amiga Dynamix 1991
  • Sid & Al's Incredible Toons PC DOS 2 megs Dynamix 1993
  • Sierra Pro Pilot: Complete Flight Simulator Windows 95 Dynamix 1997
  • Sierra Soccer: World Challenge Edition Amiga Dynamix 1994
  • Silent Thunder: A-10 Tank Killer II Windows PC Dynamix 1996
  • Skyfox Atari ST Dynamix 1986
  • Skyfox Amiga Dynamix 1986
  • Skyfox II: Cygnus Conflict Commodore 64 Dynamix 1987
  • Skyfox II: Cygnus Conflict PC DOS Dynamix 1988
  • Skyfox II: Cygnus Conflict Amiga Dynamix 1988
  • Space Quest V: Roger Wilco - Next Mutation PC DOS Dynamix 1993
  • Starsiege Windows PC Dynamix 1999 cf. MetalTech/Earthsiege
  • Starsiege: Tribes Windows PC Dynamix 1998 (FPS)
  • Stellar 7 Apple II Damon Slye 1983 cf. Arcticfox, Nova 9
  • Stellar 7 Commodore 64 Damon Slye 1984
  • Stellar 7 PC DOS Dynamix 1990
  • Stellar 7 Amiga Dynamix 1991
  • Stellar 7 Macintosh Dynamix 1993
  • Suzuki's RM250 Motocross PC DOS Dynamix 1989
  • Sword of Kadash Commodore 64 Dynamix 1985
  • Sword of Kadash Atari ST Dynamix 1986
  • Take a Break! Crosswords PC DOS Dynamix 1992
  • Take a Break! Pinball PC DOS Dynamix 1993
  • Train: Escape to Normandy PC DOS Dynamix 1988
  • Tribes 2 Windows PC Dynamix 2001 (FPS)
  • Trophy Bass Windows 3.x Dynamix 1995
  • 3D Ultra Cool Pool Windows PC Dynamix 1999
  • 3D Ultra Lionel Traintown Windows PC Dynamix 1999
  • 3D Ultra MiniGolf Windows PC Dynamix 1997
  • 3D Ultra MiniGolf Deluxe Windows PC Dynamix 1998
  • 3D Ultra Maximum Pool Windows PC Dynamix 2000
  • 3D Ultra NASCAR Pinball Windows PC Dynamix 1998
  • 3D Ultra Pinball Windows PC Dynamix 1995
  • 3D Ultra Radio Control Racers Windows PC Dynamix 1999

I listed the 3D Ultra games last because they are not really indicative of Dynamix.

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