Bill Williams (game designer)

This article is about the game designer. For the actor, see Bill Williams (actor).
Bill Williams
Born May 29, 1960
Pontiac, Michigan
Died May 28, 1998 (aged 37)
Rockport, Texas
Occupation Game designer, programmer, author
Known for Alley Cat, Bart's Nightmare, Mind Walker, Necromancer, Salmon Run, Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon

Bill Williams (May 29, 1960 – May 28, 1998) was an American game designer, programmer, and author. Williams' games for the Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore Amiga are admired for their unique and imaginative design concepts, beautiful graphics, innovative sound and music, and skillful implementation.

He left games to attend the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.[1]

Williams died from cystic fibrosis in 1998, at the age of 37.[2]

Game Design

Bill Williams' first published game was Salmon Run for the Atari 8-bit computers, published by Atari Program Exchange in 1982. He then authored two titles for Synapse Software: Necromancer and Alley Cat. Alley Cat was begun by another programmer, John Harris,[3] who abandoned the project.

He then moved to the Amiga, designing and programming Mind Walker, Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon, Pioneer Plague, and Knights of the Crystallion. Pioneer Plague was notable as the first Amiga game to make full use of Hold-And-Modify mode for the in-game graphics.

Near the end of his game development career he wrote Monopoly for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Bart's Nightmare for Super NES. Company meddling during the development of the last game prompted Williams to leave the video game industry completely, calling the experience "Bill's Nightmare".[4]

Writing

Williams wrote the book, "Naked Before God: The Return of a Broken Disciple", published by Morehouse Publishing in May, 1998. It imagines himself as a disciple of Jesus with cystic fibrosis in the present day, trying to understand his struggles with CF and diabetes, and Jesus's message.

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Bloomsbury Publishing, Bill Williams Author Page".
  2. ↑ "Backwards Compatible: Bill Williams". Good Game. ABC TV. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  3. ↑ http://www.dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/HARRIS.HTM
  4. ↑ Reimer, Jeremy. "A history of the Amiga, part 7: Game on!". Ars Technica.


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