MicroIllusions
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games, Software development |
| Founded | 1980s |
| Defunct | 1990 |
| Headquarters | Granada Hills, California , United States |
| Products | Computer games, Multimedia software |
MicroIllusions operated as a computer game developer and publisher primarily during the late 1980s and early 1990s, focusing on the home computer market. Headquartered in Granada Hills, California, the company concentrated on the Amiga system, typically launching their software there before adapting it for other platforms.
Following a year-long collaboration as a publishing partner, Activision terminated their association with MicroIllusions. The company ultimately shut down around 1990.
General
MicroIllusions was recognized for creating innovative software that anticipated the rise of multimedia technology. Among its notable achievements, Photon Paint introduced high-quality photographic image editing well before Adobe Photoshop emerged, while Music-X offered an early example of accessible music creation tools similar to GarageBand.
Founding
According to The Digital Antiquarian, MicroIllusions originated when Steinert challenged David Joiner to showcase Amiga’s speech synthesis capabilities. Joiner responded swiftly with a program named "talk to me," which performed strongly in sales under an equal profit-sharing arrangement with Steinert. Encouraged by this success, Steinert decided to develop Amiga software alongside Joiner’s technical skills.
Applications
- Photon Paint 1.0 (2D painting combined with 3D effects) (1987) Amiga
- Photon Video: Cel Animator (animation software) (1988) Amiga
- Transport Controller (animation tool) (1988) Amiga
- Photon Paint 2.0 (advanced 2D painting and 3D generation) (1989) Amiga / Mac
- Edit Decision List Processor (film and video editing) (1989) Amiga
- Genesis: The Third Day (3D landscape creation) (1991) Amiga
- Music-X (1989) developed by David Joiner (Talin)
- Music-X Jr
- Dynamic CAD 2.3
- Dynamic Word
- The Planetarium
- Micro Midi
- Dynamic Publisher
Games
- Discovery (1986), released on Amiga, MS-DOS, C64, Mega Drive; developed by David Joiner (Talin). Available expansions included language, Math, Science, Social Studies, Spell, and Trivia 1 modules
- Discovery 2.0 (1990)
- Blackjack Academy (1987), for Amiga, MS-DOS, Apple IIGS; created by Westwood
- Ebonstar (1988), Amiga; developed by The Dreamers Guild
- Romantic Encounters at the Dome (1988), available on Amiga, MS-DOS, Mac
- Faery Tale Adventure (1987), on Amiga, C64, MS-DOS, Mega Drive
- Galactic Invasion (1987), Amiga; crafted by Silent Software
- Tracers (1988), Amiga; developed by Hacker Corp.
- Fire Power (1988), released for Amiga, C64, Apple IIGS, MS-DOS
- Mainframe (1988), for C64
- Craps Academy (1988), an Amiga title exclusive to Europe; developed by Silent Software
- Questmaster 1: Prism of Heheutotol, also known as Dondra: A New Beginning (1988), available on C64 and MS-DOS; Apple II version published by Spectrum Holobyte
- Turbo (1989), Amiga; produced by Silent Software
- Laser Squad (published in 1989), available on multiple platforms including Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, MSX, PC-98; developed by Blade (Teque)
- Dr. Plummet's House of Flux (1989)
- Jetsons George Jetson and the Legend of Robotopia (1989), released for Amiga and Mac; created by The Dreamers Guild
- Land Of Legends, an unreleased title developed by Parsec Soft Systems
- Faery Tale Adventure II: Halls of the Dead (1997), completed by The Dreamers Guild across various systems; occasionally attributed to MicroIllusions