Dark Reign: The Future of War is a 1997 Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game, developed by Auran Development (now known as N3V Games) for Windows PCs. Its single-player campaign centres on the conflict between the downtrodden Freedom Guard and the mighty Imperium. The player takes on the role of a Togran survivor (one of the few left after the aforementioned conflict) who is sent back in time to intervene in the war in an attempt to prevent the destruction of their people. The campaign is divided into missions which can be played from both the perspective of the Freedom Guard as well as the Imperium.
“Goldfields” is a simulation of a nineteenth century gold rush. It is designed to give students a “feel” for the social history of the gold rushes. As a player, you are a recent, penniless arrival to Suze Port. To succeed in the game, you must survive the long and dangerous walk to the gold fields and then you have to become wealthy within one year.
“Pieces of Eight” is designed as an individual or small-group manageable, language-based, educational courseware package. The program, when operating with a small group, promotes dynamic, collaborative interaction and co-operation. Using the software makes students apply a broad range of problem-solving techniques and logical-thinking skills.
Bruce Mitchell had been an unhappy Vice-Principal in a primary school in Victoria when he submitted a simple project to Jacaranda Software for possible publication. Roseanne Gare liked it and they started corresponding. When Gare resigned from Jacaranda, she suggested Mitchell as a possible replacement.
Ron Harris was a Brisbane-based engineer. According to Vaughan Clarkson, he worked shift work on ABC TV transmission. Outside the hours of his ABC roster, he apparently ran (?) Microbee’s national publishing arm, Honeysoft. Harris’ contribution to “Hoards of the Deep Realm” was as a mentor on microcomputer programming and the industry in general.
Rosanne Gare, originally a teacher, was appointed to set up the software division within Jacaranda Wiley, and oversaw and contributed to the development of many notable games particularly for the educational sector.
A self-taught programmer, Luckett worked on several games including Goldfields, Vote 1, Zoopak, Bush Rescue, Kraken: A deep-sea quest , Crossing the Mountains, Maths Bingo, Clockwise: Time activities for the whole primary school, and Desert Quest.
Like most other state Education Departments in the 1980s, the Queensland Department of Education had a software development unit. This unit employed the individuals who created the game “Pieces of Eight”.
