Rick Dyer is an American video game designer and writer best known for creating Dragon's Lair.[1][2][3] He founded RDI Video Systems, the developer of Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, and also Thayer's Quest, which was a conversion kit for Dragon's Lair.[4]
Rick Dyer | |
---|---|
Born | United States |
Occupation(s) | Video game designer, writer, realtor |
Years active | 1982–present |
Known for | Dragon's Lair |
Dyer next designed the video games Kingdom: The Far Reaches and Kingdom II: Shadoan,[5] the former being a remake of Thayer's Quest and the latter a new game based on it.
Dyer is also known for being the person responsible for RDI Video System's Halcyon gaming console, named after the 2001: A Space Odyssey AI 'HAL 9000'.[6] He also appeared on multiple news networks for the technological advances the LaserDisc system offered between 1983 and 1985 as the figurehead for RDI systems.[7] Despite the TV appearances and being branded as 'David' among videogame companies in a David and Goliath comparison, Rick Dyer Industries (RDI) Systems went out of business in 1985 and the console was never released.[8] In the late 1980s, he designed a line of fitness equipment called Powercise. One of his last major successes in the gaming industry was the development of Time Traveler in 1991.
Rick Dyer became a realtor for Apple Tree Realty based in Julian, California.[9][10]
Works
editYear | Name | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Director | Writer | Producer | ||
1983 | Dragon's Lair | No | Concept | Yes |
1984 | Space Ace | No | No | Yes |
Thayer's Quest a.k.a. Kingdom: The Far Reaches | Yes | Creator | Yes | |
1991 | Time Traveler | No | Creator | No |
1996 | Kingdom II: Shadoan | Yes | Creator | Yes |
References
edit- ^ Saltzman, Marc (May 18, 2007). "Review: 'Dragon's Lair' returns on Blu-ray Disc". CNN. Gannett News Service. Archived from the original on October 25, 2010.
- ^ Fox, Matt (December 1, 2012). The Video Games Guide: 1,000+ Arcade, Console and Computer Games, 1962-2012 (2nd ed.). McFarland. ISBN 9781476600673 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Rick Dyer, Shadoan and the Frontier of Animated CD Entertainment". Animation World. Vol. 1, no. 1. April 1996. Archived from the original on August 4, 2009.
- ^ "Thayer's Quest". Dragon's Lair Project.
- ^ "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers". dadgum.com. June 2, 2024 [1992]. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
- ^ RDI Halcyon. Incog. September 2, 2008 – via YouTube.
- ^ Rick Dyer and Halcyon - from 1983 1984 - RDI. Gustavo M. B. April 6, 2009 – via YouTube.
- ^ de Rochefort, Simone (October 27, 2017). "Something out of science-fiction: A short history of Dragon's Lair". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 27, 2017.
- ^ "Rick Dyer". Apple Tree Realty. April 21, 2017. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017.
- ^ "Rick Dyer". www.realtor.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2019.
External links
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