Simutronics

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American online games company

title: "Simutronics" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["companies-based-in-st.-louis", "companies-established-in-1987", "mud-organizations", "video-game-companies-of-the-united-states", "mobile-game-companies"] description: "American online games company" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simutronics" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American online games company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameSimutronics Corp.
logoSimutronics.webp
typePrivate
foundation, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
locationSt. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
industryVideo games
ownerStillfront Group (55.06%)
num_employees30
homepage
::

| name = Simutronics Corp. | logo = Simutronics.webp | type = Private | foundation = , in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | location = St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | industry = Video games | owner = Stillfront Group (55.06%) | num_employees = 30 | homepage =

Simutronics Corp. is an American online games company whose products include GemStone IV and DragonRealms. It was founded in 1987 by David Whatley, with husband and wife Tom & Susan Zelinski. The company is located in St. Louis, Missouri. It became part of the Stillfront Group in 2016.

The company's flagship product is the text based game, GemStone IV, which went live in November 2003, with predecessor games running back in 1988. GemStone was originally accessed through General Electric's internet service provider GEnie, later becoming accessible through AOL, Prodigy, and CompuServe before Simutronics finally moved all their games to their own domain in 1997.

Simutronics products

Multiplayer online games

  • GemStone IV, Simutronics' flagship product, a text-based multiplayer fantasy game, which has seen over one million users over the years. It is the longest-lived commercial MUD game, followed by Avalon: The Legend Lives.
  • DragonRealms, a 1996 MUD set in GemStone Elanthia world, with popularity on online services AOL, Compuserve, and Prodigy. In comparison with GemStone, DragonRealms has more skill-based gameplay.{{cite web | last = Olivetti | first = Justin | title = The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The games | work = Massively | date = 2011-04-19 | url = http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/19/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-the-games/ | accessdate = 2011-04-25 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110507224055/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/19/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-the-games/ | archive-date = 2011-05-07 | url-status = dead
  • CyberStrike, also known as CyberStrike Classic, a graphical futuristic ship combat game. It won the first ever "Online Game of the Year" award from Computer Gaming World magazine in 1993.

Mobile games

  • Tiny Heroes, a tower defense game for iPhone and iPad, released in 2011
  • One Epic Knight, an endless runner game, released in 2012 for iOS devices and in 2013 for Android
  • Lara Croft: Relic Run, a spin-off sequel to the Lara Croft sub-series in the Tomb Raider franchise and a mission-based runner released on iOS and Android in 2015.
  • Siege: Titan Wars, a 3D real-time PvP game that launched on iOS and Android in 2017.
  • Siege: World War II, a wartime sequel to Siege: Titan Wars, launched on iOS and Android in 2018.

Former games

  • Modus Operandi, a MUD set on a fictional Caribbean island, originally designed to encourage mystery-based roleplay, which closed on November 2, 2015.
  • Alliance of Heroes, formerly Hercules & Xena: Alliance of Heroes, this adventure-based MUD was set in the universe of the TV shows Hercules: The Legendary Journeys & Xena: Warrior Princess. In later years the game changed its license, and removed specific Hercules & Xena trademarks, and ran as a retooled "tongue in cheek" mythology MUD until its closure on November 2, 2015.
  • Orb Wars, (no longer available) an early graphical game involving team combat between wizards
  • GemStone ][ (no longer available), an early commercial text-based multiplayer fantasy game
  • GemStone III (morphed into GemStone IV), a text-based multiplayer game which was originally based on the Rolemaster rules from Iron Crown Enterprises
  • CyberStrike 2, a sequel to CyberStrike, released in 1998

HeroEngine

Main article: HeroEngine

HeroEngine is a 3D game engine and server technology platform developed specifically for building MMO-style games, based around a system similar to the IFE using the Hero Script Language (HSL). Originally developed for the company's own game Hero's Journey - vaporware which never made it to the testing stage - the engine has since been licensed by other companies. Simutronics sold the HeroEngine to Idea Fabrik, Plc. on August 5, 2010.

References

Sources

  • {{cite book | last = Bartle | first = Richard | author-link = Richard Bartle | title = Designing Virtual Worlds | publisher = New Riders | year = 2003 | isbn = 0-13-101816-7}}

References

  1. (25 April 2024). "Stillfront Group".
  2. McCrary, William S.. (January 9, 1994). "Games People Play". St. Charles Journal.
  3. "Facts about early Avalon the Legend Lives".
  4. (13 January 2014). "Raph Koster's Timeline of Online Worlds".
  5. (October 1993). "CGW's Game of the Year Awards".
  6. Campbell, Nissa. (9 September 2011). "Tiny Heroes Review". Touch Arcade.
  7. (14 August 2012). "Run for Gold! One Epic Knight Launch Date Announced, Sprints for Free onto iOS Devices August 23". [[Gamasutra]].
  8. Ward, Brad. (5 June 2013). "The 6 most underrated games for Android: May 2013 edition". Android Authority.
  9. Suckley, Matt. (2017-07-06). "Simutronics on Siege: Titan Wars and 30 years of multiplayer gaming".
  10. Larsson, Jörgen. (19 September 2018). "Stillfront Group AB: Simutronics announces "SIEGE: World War II"".
  11. (August 8, 2006). "BioWare Licenses Simutronics HeroEngine for MMO Game Project". Business Wire.
  12. Brand, Wolfgang. (5 August 2010). "Idea Fabrik Plc purchases HeroEngine technologies".

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companies-based-in-st.-louiscompanies-established-in-1987mud-organizationsvideo-game-companies-of-the-united-statesmobile-game-companies