Gordon J. Key

Gordon J. Key authored video game software for the Acorn BBC Micro, Electron and RISC OS platforms in the 1980s and 1990s.^[2] His most well-known works were published by The Fourth Dimension (earlier known as Impact Software). He is also credited with additional programming routines in FedNet's futuristic flight combat game Star Fighter 3000 (1994),^[3] and authored Party Machine for the Amstrad CPC.

Gordon J. Key
Occupation(s)	Programmer, game designer, antiques[1]
Known for	E-Type, Apocalypse

In an article about the Electron referring to Key's Holed Out! golf simulator, Steve Botterill (co-founder of The Fourth Dimension) referred to Key as being "one of the most brilliant programmers" he had ever met.^[4] In an interview in the November 1988 issue of The Micro User, Key explained that his development as a programmer began for pleasure, modifying existing games. He then used increasingly more machine code in an effort to produce magazine games of equal quality to commercial titles. At the time of publishing Clogger, he was learning ARM assembly language in addition to setting up a vehicle restoration business for old buses.^[2]

In 2010, Key answered a number of questions posed by registered members of The Icon Bar forum. He has not written any commercial software since starting in the antiques trade.^[1]

List of games

• Clogger (BBC Micro^[2]/Acorn Electron)
• E-Type (BBC Micro^[5]/Acorn Electron/Acorn Archimedes,^[6] 1989)
• Holed Out! (BBC Micro^[7]/Acorn Electron/Acorn Archimedes,^[8] 1989)
• Apocalypse (Acorn Archimedes, 1990)^[9]
• Break 147 / Superpool (Acorn Archimedes, 1991)
• Black Angel (Acorn Archimedes, 1992)
• Haunted House (Acorn Archimedes)
• The Time Machine (Acorn Archimedes)
• E-Type 2 (Acorn Archimedes/RiscPC)
• Virtual Golf (Acorn Archimedes/RiscPC)
• Powerband (Acorn Archimedes/RiscPC)^[10]
• Pendragon (BBC Micro)^[11]

References

1. Gordon J. Key
2. Davidson, Pete (November 1988). "Key to success". The Micro User.
3. "Starfighter 3000". Archived from the original on 2012-04-13. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
4. Retro Inspection: Acorn Electron
5. Wade, Stephen (August 1990). "Software Scene–E-Type". The Micro User. Less than a year after the original release for the Archimedes series comes the 8-bit version of Gordon Keys' [sic] excellent E-Type racing game [...]
6. Lazarus (December 1989). "Software Scene–E-Type ...in the fast lane". The Micro User. The author of this excellent product is Gordon Key [...]
7. McLachlan, David (June 1989). "Software Scene–Holed Out ... a fairway to spend your time". The Micro User. [...] with what is the best golf simulation I've seen on any Acorn machine.
8. Lazarus (August 1989). "Software Scene–Holed Out ... mnuch faster, better". The Micro User. [...] it is quite a stunning piece of work, ranking with Zarch and Conqueror in quality.
9. Turnbull, Steve (July 1990). "Software Scene–Apocalypse!". The Micro User. Gordon Key ranks as one of the best games programmers for Acorn machines [...] stunning speed of the vector graphic 3D shoot-'em-up Apocalypse.
10. Lazarus (January 1991). "Software Scene–Powerband". The Micro User. Gordon Key, author of the best type-in games from The Micro User and now the greatest Archimedes games, has done it yet again with Powerband.
11. "What's Old?". Archived from the original on 2009-01-11. Retrieved 2012-04-29.