Ian Bell (programmer)

Bell attended the independent St Albans School. He studied at Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating with a degree (1st) in Mathematics in 1985, and a Cambridge Diploma in Computer Science in 1986.

His work on Elite (1984), included programming in machine code using assembly. The game was based on an open-ended non-linear game model, and included revolutionary 3D graphics, at the time.{{cite web |last=LaMosca |first=Adam |title=Lost in the Void |publisher=The Escapist |date=18 July 2006 |url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_54/324-Lost-in-the-Void |accessdate=8 May 2015 |archive-date=25 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225101232/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_54/324-Lost-in-the-Void |url-status=dead }} Prior to Elite, he developed Free Fall, a game set inside a coriolis space station with the player controlling an alien punching astronaut, described by Bell as "the first ever Beat 'em up". Free Fall, also a game for the BBC Micro, was published by Acornsoft in 1983.{{cite web|url=http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/freefall/index.htm |title=Free Fall |accessdate=9 May 2015 |author=Ian Bell}} Bell put later Free Fall and Elite with the associated source code for free download on his website.{{cite web|url=http://www.elitehomepage.org/archive/index.htm |title=Elite Archives |accessdate=2015-11-08 |author=Ian Bell}}

Bell was a speaker at the 2009 GameCity game festival.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2009/oct/25/games-events|title=GameCity: the interview|work=guardian.co.uk|publisher=Guardian News and Media |date=October 2009 |accessdate=2010-01-05 | location=London | first=Keith | last=Stuart}} Bell mentioned in his speech about the impact of games:

You're reaching into the minds and the imaginary spaces of children, and you're to an extent shaping their characters and their life stories. I'm glad [Elite] isn't Doom because I'm glad that even though we didn't really think in these terms, I think its effect on players and on people's lives is good, both in the sense of giving them good memories but also in making people think in different ways and awakening interest.{{cite web|url=http://www.hookedgamers.com/blogs/wolfwood/2009/10/29/my_life_with_elite_event_in_nottingham_uk.html|title=My life with elite event in Nottingham, UK|access-date=9 May 2015|author=Marko Susimetsä|date=20 October 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518063707/http://www.hookedgamers.com/blogs/wolfwood/2009/10/29/my_life_with_elite_event_in_nottingham_uk.html|archive-date=18 May 2015}}

After the initial success of Elite and having completed ports of it to the Commodore 64 (1985), Apple II (1986), and NES (1991), Bell spent a number of years undertaking personal research. In 2008 he joined Autodesk as a Senior Software Engineer.{{cite web|author=Kean Walmsley|url=http://through-the-interface.typepad.com/through_the_interface/2013/10/an-interview-with-ian-bell.html |title=An interview with Ian Bell |date=9 October 2013}} As of 2024 he was still working in Computer Aided Design.Iain Thompson, [https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/18/elite_game_retro/ 40 years since Elite became the most fun you could have with 22 kilobytes], The Register, 18 January 2024

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/ Personal website]
• [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/oct/18/features.weekend The Guardian article Masters of Their Universe (2003)]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-K0F25QZ1o Gameplay video of Free Fall (1983)]

{{Elite}}

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Category:1962 births

Category:Living people

Category:British video game programmers

Category:British computer programmers

Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge

Category:People from Hatfield, Hertfordshire

Category:British video game designers

Category:Video game producers