Derek Smart - Misplaced Pages

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Derek Smart is a Independent software designer and Internet personality living in Florida. He is the creator of the Battlecruiser 3000AD video game series, now Universal Combat.

3000AD Games

Smart envisioned the ingenious premise of a space craft (Battlecruiser) simulation which would encompass various game types with features ranging from space and planatary air combat to ground combat and strategy elements.

Smart's first game, Battlecruiser 3000AD which was marketed by then publisher Take Two Interactive as "The last thing you will ever desire." was released unfinished by Take Two Interactive in 1996, after a seven year developement. The prematurely released product was found to contain many bugs that made it unplayable for the most part.

In early 1997, Smart sued Take Two for reasons related to their release of the game in its then unfinished form. The lawsuit was later settled out of court. In late 1998, in a statement Smart and Take Two president Ryan Brant in a statement lauding Smart's work and efforts announced that the matter had been resolved. Take Two later went public and in its SEC filings listed Smart's first game as accounting for 14.2% of its yearly earnings.

A constant stream of patches and upgrades were later released for the product over the next few months and, eventually, a final patch was released to fix some of the major bugs. Smart then later released the game for free on the Internet and hosted on the popular download sites.

Over the next few years, Smart continued to work on improving his game as he originally envisioned. In 1998, a deal was announced with Interplay where it would distribute BC3K v2.0 through its Value Product Division.

Smart continued to work on selling his product and later entered into an exclusive distribution deal with Electronics Boutique for his next game, Battlecruiser Millennium which his company 3000AD, Inc self-published and released in 2001. Asked by the media how he landed the deal, Smart stated "I'm paying for everything. I bear all the risk. I pay for the cost of goods, including the boxes and manuals."

In 2003 Smart signed a two product deal with Dreamcatcher Games for Battlecruiser Millennium Gold and Battlecruiser Generations. The latter being a brand new addition to the series, with newer technologies than its predecessors. A few months later, the publisher had discussions with Smart that resulted in a decision to change the premise to be more action-based than the Battlecruiser series had been known for. The name was changed to Universal Combat.

The game was not ready in time for the 2003 holidays and was shipped in early 2004 at half of the originally announced price. Smart took legal action against the publisher to stop shipment of the game which was still in final Beta stages as he felt that the budget price of $19.95 would be unprofitable for his company. He failed to obtain a temporary restraining order which would have prevented the publisher from releasing the game.

The game received mediocre to average reviews in several game magazine reviews. Gamespot, in their 59% review score, summarized their experience with the game by saying "This wildly ambitious simulation is torpedoed by an almost incomprehensible interface, the absence of a tutorial, numerous bugs, and many fit and finish issues, including dated production values." PC Gamer, the largest gaming magazine in the world, in their 75% review of their experience with the game said "...for the latter niche of hardcore space-simmers, Derek Smart's Battlecruiser series has been going strong for eight solid years. Over that time, the idiosyncratic space-combat franchise has transformed itself from a bug-ridden lemon to a respected genre contender. Universal Combat is the latest chapter in this reecently rebranded series (with new publisher Dreamcatcher), and though the game remains an acquired taste, its better than ever."

Despite an earlier 2005 announcement by Dreamcatcher Games to publish Smart's next sequel, Smart later terminated his publishing deal with the publisher and severed all ties with Dreamcatcher Games. Smart's 2005 game, Universal Combat: A World Apart is a full sequel to the original Universal Combat with a variety of revisions and enhancements especially to the graphics engine. Despite the enhancements, it received average to mediocre reviews.

Smart also released Universal Combat Gold in 2005. This is an updated version of the original Universal Combat with new scenarios and graphics enhancements. Both of the 2005 games can currently only be purchased via [online resellers.

Online Controversy

In the past, heated discussions have led supporters and detractors of Smart and his work to visit online communities in which they were not previously involved and join arguments there. Smart explained: "Sometimes when I get online, and it's quiet, and I see something that attracts my attention, I'll post just to piss these guys off. That's why I do it. Because I'm in a good mood that day, I go in there and I start trouble."

Published Products

Title	Released	Publisher
Battlecruiser 3000AD (U.S.)	1996	Take Two Software
Battlecruiser 3000AD (UK)	1997	GameTek
Battlecruiser 3000AD v2.0	1999	Interplay
Battlecruiser Millennium	2001	3000AD
Battlecruiser Millennium Gold	2003	Dreamcatcher Games
Universal Combat	2004	Dreamcatcher Games
Universal Combat Gold	2005	3000AD
Universal Combat: A World Apart	2005	3000AD
Universal Combat: Special Edition	2006	3000AD

References

External links

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