# Crystal Computing

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{{short description|Former British video game developer}}
{{Infobox company
|name = Crystal Computing / Design Design
|logo = Design_Design_logo.png
|founded = {{start date and age|df=yes|1982}}
|location = [Manchester](/source/Manchester), [England](/source/England)
|industry = [Video games](/source/Video_game_industry)
|products = ''[Halls of the Things](/source/Halls_of_the_Things)''<br>''[Invasion of the Body Snatchas!](/source/Invasion_of_the_Body_Snatchas!)''
}}
'''Crystal Computing''', later renamed '''Design Design''', was a British [video game developer](/source/video_game_developer) founded in 1982 by Chris Clarke and Ian Stamp while students at the [University of Manchester](/source/University_of_Manchester). Graham Stafford, Neil Mottershead, [Simon Brattel](/source/Simon_Brattel) and Martin Horsley, joined the company as it expanded.<ref name="pcw">''[Popular Computing Weekly](/source/Popular_Computing_Weekly)'', 26 January-1 February 1984 (p.26), Sunshine Publications Ltd.</ref><ref name="crash">{{cite magazine|title=Rebirth of the Things: Design Design|magazine=[CRASH](/source/CRASH_(magazine))|issue=8|page=88|publisher=[Newsfield Publications](/source/Newsfield_Publications)|date=September 1984|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=975&page=88}}</ref>  The company's first software release was a compilation of games for the Sinclair [ZX81](/source/ZX81), though it was with the [ZX Spectrum](/source/ZX_Spectrum) that Crystal found its greatest success. A deal with the machine's manufacturer [Sinclair](/source/Sinclair_Research) to distribute Crystal's ''[Zeus Assembler](/source/Zeus_Assembler)'' gave the company sufficient funds for a major marketing campaign for their next product,<ref>"As Clear as Crystal", Popular Computing Weekly, 26 January-1 February 1984 (p.26), Sunshine Publications Ltd</ref> ''[Halls of the Things](/source/Halls_of_the_Things)'', an [arcade adventure](/source/arcade_adventure) game that became their most successful title.

Clarke left in 1984 to join [Artic Software](/source/Artic_Software), where he worked on the "business side", before collaborating with [Jon Ritman](/source/Jon_Ritman) on the [''Match Day'' series](/source/Match_Day_(series)).<ref>[http://www.crashonline.org.uk/33/ritman.htm "From Namtir Raiders, to a bit of a bovver with bears then on to Batman... and beyond"], CRASH, issue 33 (p.84), Newsfield Publications, October 1986</ref>
With Clarke's departure the company was reorganised as Design Design,<ref name="crash"/> a trading name that had been used by Brattel since 1976 for his electronic audio designs.<ref>[http://www.desdes.com/ Design Design official site]</ref> Design Design's core consisted of Stafford working mainly on titles for the [Commodore 64](/source/Commodore_64), Brattel and Mottershead working on the [ZX Spectrum](/source/ZX_Spectrum) and [Amstrad CPC](/source/Amstrad_CPC), and David Lewellyn, the company's administrator.<ref name="crash"/> According to Stafford the new name was part of a wider re-branding, as they wanted a more professional image, along with a better relationship with the press and the public.<ref name="crash"/>

Stafford went on to form developer Walking Circles producing titles including ''[The Living Daylights](/source/The_Living_Daylights_(video_game))''<ref name='crashlivingdaylights'>{{cite magazine |title=The Living Daylights|magazine=Crash|issue=43|publisher=Newsfield|date=August 1987|page=94|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=1010&page=94|access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> and ''[Spitting Image](/source/Spitting_Image_(video_game))''<ref name='acespitting'>{{cite magazine |title=Snippets... Spitting Image|magazine=ACE|issue=15|publisher=Future Publishing|date=December 1988|page=10|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=1741&page=10|access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> for [Domark](/source/Domark) and the PC version of ''[Bloodwych](/source/Bloodwych)'' for [Image Works](/source/Image_Works).<ref>"The Making of: Bloodwych", ''[Retro Gamer](/source/Retro_Gamer)'', issue 23 (p.55), [Imagine Publishing](/source/Imagine_Publishing)</ref>

==Softography==
'''Crystal Computing'''
*''ZX81 Games Pack'', [ZX81](/source/ZX81), 1982. Includes versions of ''[Asteroids](/source/Asteroids_(video_game))'' and ''[Space Invaders](/source/Space_Invaders)'', as well as a ''[Dungeons & Dragons](/source/Dungeons_%26_Dragons)'' style adventure game and a [slalom skiing](/source/slalom_skiing) game, all designed to run on an unexpanded machine with 1K RAM.<ref name="sinc15">[http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/015/softwre.htm Trading With Crystal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825161521/http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/015/softwre.htm |date=2012-08-25 }}, [Sinclair User](/source/Sinclair_User), issue 15 (p.27), ECC Publications Ltd., June 1983</ref>
*''Merchant of Venus'', ZX81, 1982. A space trading/investment game.<ref name="sinc15"/>
*''[Monitor and Disassembler](/source/Zeus_Assembler)'', ZX81, ZX Spectrum, 1982. An [assembly language](/source/assembly_language) utility.<ref>Monitor and Disassembler press ad, ''[Your Computer](/source/Your_Computer_(British_magazine))'' January 1983 issue (p.131), IPC Business Press Ltd.</ref>
*''[Cosmic Guerilla](/source/Cosmic_Guerilla)'', ZX Spectrum, 1983
*''[The Dungeon Master](/source/The_Dungeon_Master_(video_game))'', ZX Spectrum, 1983
*''[Halls of the Things](/source/Halls_of_the_Things)'', ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, 1983
*''[Invasion of the Body Snatchas!](/source/Invasion_of_the_Body_Snatchas!)'', ZX Spectrum, 1983
*''[Zeus Assembler](/source/Zeus_Assembler)'', ZX Spectrum, 1983
*''[Rommel's Revenge](/source/Rommel's_Revenge)'', ZX Spectrum, 1984
*''Bug Blaster'', ZX Spectrum, 1984. A ''[Centipede](/source/Centipede_(video_game))'' clone.<ref>''Bug Blaster'' review, CRASH, issue 3 (p.83), Newsfield Publications 1984</ref>
*''Cyber Zone'', ZX Spectrum, 1984
*''[The Island](/source/The_Island_(video_game))'', ZX Spectrum, 1984
*''[The Warlock of Firetop Mountain](/source/The_Warlock_of_Firetop_Mountain_(video_game))'', ZX Spectrum, 1984
*''It's the Wooluf!'', ZX Spectrum, 1984.
*''Tube Way Army'', [Dragon 32](/source/Dragon_32) and [Tandy 32K](/source/TRS-80_Color_Computer), 1984
'''Design Design'''
*''[Dark Star](/source/Dark_Star_(1984_video_game))'', ZX Spectrum and [Amstrad CPC](/source/Amstrad_CPC), 1984
*''Spectacle'', ZX Spectrum, 1984 (Additional program supplied with ''Dark Star'' - simulated a [Teletext](/source/Teletext) environment)
*''[Return of the Things](/source/Halls_of_the_Things)'', ZX Spectrum, 1984
*''2112 AD'', ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1985
*''On the Run'', ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1985
*''Forbidden Planet'', ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1986
*''[Halls of the Things Remix](/source/Halls_of_the_Things)'', ZX Spectrum, 1986
*''Invaders'', ZX Spectrum, 1986. A ''[Space Invaders](/source/Space_Invaders)'' clone published as part of the ''Action Replay'' compilation of Crystal and Design Design games.
*''N.E.X.O.R.'', ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, 1986
*''[Nosferatu the Vampyre](/source/Nosferatu_the_Vampyre_(video_game))'', ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and [Commodore 64](/source/Commodore_64), 1986
*''Rogue Trooper'', ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, 1986
*''Kat Trap'', ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, 1987

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Crystal Computing series}}

Category:Defunct companies based in Manchester
Category:Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom
Category:Video game companies established in 1982
Category:Video game development companies
Category:Video game publishers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Crystal Computing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Computing) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Computing?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.