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Douglas E. Smith

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American video game programmer (1960 - 2014)
Douglas Edwin Smith
Smith circa 1985
Born(1960-10-28)October 28, 1960
Died(2014-09-07)September 7, 2014
Occupation(s)Video game designer
Video game programmer
Video game producer
Notable workLode Runner

Douglas Edwin Smith (October 28, 1960 – September 7, 2014), usually credited as Doug Smith, was an American video game designer and programmer best known as the author of the 8-bit game Lode Runner (1983), considered a seminal work of the 1980s.

Smith, of Renton, Washington, wrote his most famous game while an architecture student at the University of Washington. He wrote the game on a VAX-11/780 in Fortran with some Pascal and assembly over the course of a summer, where it was played by students who provided feedback and levels. It became a "cult hit" on campus. After his nephew asked to play on the Apple II Plus he ported it over a 3-day weekend in 6502 assembly language. He borrowed money to purchase a color monitor and joystick and continued to improve the game. Around Christmas of 1982, he submitted the game to four publishers and quickly received offers. He took the deal with Broderbund and the game was published in 1983. It was one of the first games to include a level editor. While the game sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the United States, in Japan it sold millions, becoming the first Western video game to attain major success in Japan.

His credits include titles like Lemmings, Final Fantasy VII, and Secret of Mana. He contributed to the localization of Chrono Trigger and was the executive producer of Secret of Evermore.

Smith died on September 7, 2014, at 53 years old. According to one of his five children, his death was by suicide.

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Gagne, Ken; Linke, Rebecca (December 30, 2014). "Tech luminaries we lost in 2014". Computerworld. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  2. "In Memoriam, Douglas E. Smith, 1960 - 2014". Tozai Games. 9 September 2014. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  3. Good, Owen S. (13 September 2014). "Douglas Smith, creator of 1980s PC-gaming milestone Lode Runner, dies". Polygon. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  4. ^ Smith, Douglas E. (1999-02-17). "Lock'n'Lode: Interview". IGN.
  5. Dillon, Roberto (2011). The Golden Age of Video Games: The Birth of a Multibillion Dollar Industry. CRC Press. p. 148. ISBN 9781439873236. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  6. ^ Parish, Jeremy (September 17, 2014). "TGS: With Lode Runner Creator Doug Smith's Passing, The World has Lost a Gaming Pioneer". USgamer.net. Archived from the original on 2014-09-16. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  7. Smith, Nina. "About the Artist". Northwest Nina. Archived from the original on 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2024-09-20. Nina's dad created the popular video game Lode Runner, two years before she was born. He died by suicide in 2014.

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