Editing Simon the Sorcerer (section)

== Development and release ==
Mike Woodroffe, ''Simon the Sorcerer''{{'}}s director and producer, wanted to create the game to exploit a market for comic adventure games, which he realised existed due to the success of ''[[Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge]]''. His son, Simon, penned the script. He was inspired by [[Terry Pratchett]] (Adventure Soft originally intended to make a ''[[Discworld]]'' game, but were unable to obtain a licence<ref name="BTS">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[GamesTM]]|issue=82|pages=138–143|title=Behind The Scenes Simon The Sorcerer|issn=1478-5889|publisher=[[Imagine Publishing]]}}</ref><ref name="ArtInterview"/>), and he and his father hoped that he would become involved with the game. Although he chose not to become involved, the script still contained much original humour. Many scenes are based on fairy tales, and the Wise Owl was modelled on [[Patrick Moore]].<ref name="Blueprint">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[PC Zone]]|publisher=[[Dennis Publishing]]|issue=5|date=August 1993|pages=74–77|issn=0967-8220|title=Simon The Sorcerer|location=London|department=Blueprint}}</ref> Woodroffe said that Adventure Soft (then known as HorrorSoft) had done enough horror games and wanted to try a comedy game. The change in genre prompted the name change.<ref name="BTS"/>

Simon Woodroffe explained that the character of Simon was a mixture of [[Edmund Blackadder|Blackadder]], [[Rincewind]], and [[Guybrush]], and that he was originally intended to be a trainee wizard, similar to [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]].<ref>{{cite web|author1=Philip Jong|title=Simon Woodroffe|url=http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/interviews/152/|website=Adventure Classic Gaming|access-date=13 July 2017|date=8 May 2000}}</ref> He also explained that he was invented because they needed a character to compete with characters such as Rincewind,<ref name="Treff">{{cite web|author1=Luc Gilbertz|title=Simon Woodroffe|url=http://www.adventure-treff.de/artikel/interviews.php?id=5&lang=eng|website=Adventure-Treff|access-date=13 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401202041/http://www.adventure-treff.de/artikel/interviews.php?id=5&lang=eng|date=17 September 2000|archive-date=1 April 2015}}</ref> and that the game was inspired by the ''[[Discworld]]'' books and ''[[Monkey Island (series)|Monkey Island]]''.<ref name="Bluffer">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Retro Gamer]]|publisher=[[Imagine Publishing]]|location=Bournemouth|issn=1742-3155|title=The Bluffer's Guide To Point-And-Click Adventures|pages=22–31|issue=138}}</ref> Mike Woodroffe said that the game was inspired by ''Dungeons & Dragons''{{'}} magic stories.<ref name="Archives">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Retro Gamer]]|publisher=[[Imagine Publishing]]|location=Bournemouth|issn=1742-3155|title=From The Archives: AdventureSoft UK|pages=42–47|issue=135}}</ref> Other influences, according to Simon Woodroffe, included ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', ''[[Fawlty Towers]]'', and ''[[Monty Python]]''.<ref name="ArtInterview"/> The character was invented during a journey on the [[M5 motorway]], and was not named after Woodroffe. The name "Simon the Sorcerer" had that format because of the magical nature of the character, and because other names, such as "Willy The Wizard", were rejected because they were disliked.<ref name="Treff"/> ''Simon the Sorcerer'' was developed by a team of 15 people.<ref name="Archives"/> There was an effort to be British so as to distinguish themselves from the humour of ''Monkey Island''.<ref name="BTS"/> Simon Woodroffe stated that his greatest challenges were the script creation and puzzle design, and he tuned the scripts (which were written in an in-house [[scripting language]]<ref name="ArtInterview">{{cite interview|last=Woodroffe|first=Simon|work=The Art Of Point-and-Click Adventure Games|ISBN=978-0-9956-5866-0|title=Simon Woodroffe Interview|pages=258-263|year=2018|publisher=Bitmap Books}}</ref>) continuously. The world was created for the characters rather than the puzzles, and the story was wrapped around characters the team liked. Woodroffe believed that Adventure Soft were able to rival more experienced studios due to their small team, all of whom had the same goals and passion for the game.<ref name="BTS"/> On deciding which fairy tales to include in the game, Simon Woodroffe said that he "read a whole bunch of that kind of stuff", including the ''[[Grimms' Fairy Tales]]'', and that he also owned [[Ladybird Books]] when he was growing up. He said that there were some he "really wanted" to include, such as ''[[The Magic Porridge Pot]]'', but could not.<ref name="ArtInterview"/>

Alan Brigman was the technical director and co-producer. He and Mike Woodroffe developed a game creation system, Adventure Graphic Operating System (AGOS) II, which facilitated the development of ''Simon the Sorcerer'' and enabled the team to focus on the gameplay and story without worrying about the technical aspects. The system allowed the developers to input text commands on a separate monitor, and the engine could be ported to other platforms. Other features of the engine included translating actions performed by the mouse into text commands (a sentence [[Parsing#Computer languages|parser]] carries them out), the loading of data as needed, and functions could be implemented by the simple addition of commands. The game was built as a database, which contained tables for rooms and objects. These tables contained animation code and information about what is supposed to happen.<ref name="Blueprint"/><ref name="Archives"/> [[Alan Cox (computer programmer)|Alan Cox]] was also involved in the development of the AGOS engine, which is based on [[AberMUD]].<ref name="Archives"/>

The art was developed by Paul Drummond (lead artist), Kevin Preston (who hand-drew the character art and animation<ref name="ArtInterview"/>), Maria Drummond, Jeff Wall, and Karen Pinchin. This team were based at a studio in Newcastle, rather than Birmingham, the central studio. Their work included character animations, developed in [[Autodesk Animator]] using its language POCO, which the graphics tools were built in. The artwork (including the [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprites]]) was made as a selection of clips, and a final image was formed by pasting them together. The ability to use clips in multiple locations, and the colour information being stored separately and used on an as—needed basis meant that the art took much less space than was usual. The background artwork was sketched in black-and-white, and then scanned into a computer and colourised.<ref name="Blueprint "/> The music is credited to Media Sorcery (Adam Gilmore and Mark McLeod).<ref name="auto">Manual, p. 7.</ref>

''Simon the Sorcerer'' was released on floppy disk in 1993 for the [[Amiga]] and [[IBM PC compatible]]s.<ref name="Classic">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Retro Gamer]]|publisher=[[Imagine Publishing]]|location=Bournemouth|issn=1742-3155|title=The Classic Game: Simon The Sorcerer|pages=64–67|issue=19}}</ref> It was re-released in 1994 for the [[Amiga CD32]] and PC CD-ROM, with an enhanced soundtrack featuring [[Chris Barrie]] as the voice of Simon.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="Classic"/><ref name="Retrospective">{{cite web|author1=Mark Langshaw|title=Simon the Sorcerer retrospective: How a classic was conjured up|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/retro-gaming/feature/a605715/simon-the-sorcerer-retrospective-how-a-classic-was-conjured-up/|website=Digital Spy|access-date=13 July 2017|date=25 October 2014}}</ref> Simon Woodroffe stated that he had Barrie in mind when writing the scripts (Woodroffe said he is a fan of ''Red Dwarf'' and [[Arnold Rimmer]]<ref name="ArtInterview"/>), and that it was easier for him to do so when thinking of an actor he knew speaking the lines. It cost around £3000 per day to hire Barrie.<ref name="Bluffer"/> Woodroffe said that there was "no hesitation" in doing a [[Talkies (video games)|talkie]] version, and that it was "the next big thing".<ref name="BTS"/> He also said that Barrie was "very patient and professional".<ref name="ArtInterview"/> ''Simon the Sorcerer'' used the visual and interface designs from [[LucasArts]]' games, and Woodroffe stated that this was because they had set a standard, and that Adventure Soft's focus was humour and story-telling.<ref name="Bluffer"/>

The PC version was later ported to Microsoft Windows.<ref>{{cite web|title=Simon the Sorcerer games|url=http://www.adventuresoft.com/acatalog/Simon_the_Sorcerer_games.html|website=Adventure Soft|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref> The game was published in the United States by [[Activision]].<ref name="Scorpia">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_114.pdf#page=112 | title=Simple Simon | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=January 1994 | access-date=13 July 2017 | pages=112–114 | author=Scorpia |publisher = [[Ziff Davis]] | issn= 0744-6667| issue= 114}}</ref> A patch was released, fixing compatibility issues with [[Windows ME]], [[Windows 2000|2000]], and [[Windows XP|XP]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Simon the {{not a typo|Sorceror}} [sic]|url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/simonthesorceror/index.html?q=Simon%20the%20Sorceror&tag=result;title;1|website=GameSpot UK|access-date=13 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930234515/http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/simonthesorceror/index.html?q=Simon%20the%20Sorceror&tag=result;title;1|archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref> ''Simon the Sorcerer'' was released on [[GOG.com]] in December 2008.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Mike Fahey|title=Simon the Sorcerer Joins GoG Lineup|url=http://kotaku.com/5105375/simon-the-sorcerer-joins-gog-lineup|website=Kotaku|access-date=14 July 2017|date=9 December 2008}}</ref> In 2009, the game was re-released for the [[iPhone]] by iPhSoft.<ref name="TA">{{cite web|author1=Blake Patterson|title=Graphic Adventure 'Simon the Sorcerer' Comes to the iPhone|url=http://toucharcade.com/2009/08/06/graphics-adventure-simon-the-sorcerer-comes-to-the-iphone/|website=TouchArcade|access-date=14 July 2017|date=6 August 2009}}</ref> A new version titled '20th Anniversary Edition was developed by MojoTouch and released for [[Android (operating system)|Android]] in August 2013. This version featured new animations and icons, remastered music, high-definition graphics, and new game menus.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Cauterize|title=Adventure Soft's Classic 'Simon The Sorcerer' Revived In HD Android Port For 20th Anniversary|url=http://www.retrocollect.com/News/adventure-softs-classic-simon-the-sorcerer-revived-in-hd-android-port-for-20th-anniversary.html|website=RetroCollect|access-date=13 July 2017|date=28 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mojotouch.simon|title=Simon the Sorcerer|last=MojoTouch|date=3 February 2016|via=Google Play|access-date=20 March 2018}}</ref> A 25th Anniversary Edition was released on the [[App Store (iOS)|iOS App Store]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apps.apple.com/app/id1082292752|title=Simon the Sorcerer on the App Store|website=App Store|access-date=20 March 2018}}</ref> [[Steam (service)|Steam]]<ref name="Steam25">{{cite web|url=http://store.steampowered.com/app/674150|title=Simon the Sorcerer: 25th Anniversary Edition on Steam|website=store.steampowered.com|access-date=20 March 2018}}</ref> and [[GOG.com]]<ref name="gog.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.gog.com/game/simon_the_sorcerer|title=Simon the Sorcerer: 25th Anniversary Edition|website=GOG.com|access-date=20 March 2018}}</ref> on 3 April 2018.<ref name="Steam25"/> A sequel, ''[[Simon the Sorcerer II: The Lion, the Wizard and the Wardrobe]]'', was released in 1995.<ref name="Classic"/>