Seumas McNally#DX-Ball

McNally's first published video game was a side-scrolling helicopter shooter titled Tiger's Bane, programmed on the Amiga.{{cite web|url=http://www.speedy3d.com/interviews/seumas_mcnally_tm1/index.shtml|title=Seumas McNally on treadmarks|first=Kevin|last=Perko|work=Speedy 3D.com|date=July 11, 1999|accessdate=October 31, 2021}} Previously known as a demo by the name Flying Tigers, the game went live on November 11, 1997, published through Aminet.[https://web.archive.org/web/20241210154458/http://aminet.net/package/game/shoot/TigersBane Tiger's Bane on Aminet] The same year, Seumas formed the software development company Longbow Digital Arts (also known as Longbow Games), working together with his father, Jim McNally (game designer), his mother, Wendy McNally (lead artist) and his brother, Philippe McNally (3D artist).{{cite web|url=http://www.gamedev.net/community/memorial/seumas/|title=In Memory of Seumas McNally – A bright light has been extinguished far too soon|publisher=gamedev.net|accessdate=November 1, 2021|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222163005/http://www.gamedev.net/community/memorial/seumas/|archivedate=December 22, 2008|location=United States}} The company released DX-Ball 2 in 1998, a sequel to the 1996 cult-classic PC game DX-Ball by Michael P. Welch, while simultaneously working on the 3D terrain tank-racing game Tread Marks, which was released in 2000.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmmvrS6I_ak |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/qmmvrS6I_ak |archive-date=December 22, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Remembering Seumas McNally – Radio Interview|first=|last=|work=CBC Radio|date=2000|accessdate=October 29, 2021}}{{cbignore}} While DX-Ball 2 had accumulated more than 5 million downloads by the end of 2002,https://web.archive.org/web/20021207124225/http://www.longbowdigitalarts.com:80/dxball2.html Tread Marks won three Independent Games Festival Awards for "Best Game", "Best Design" and "Best Programming". Other products McNally programmed include Particle Fire, a screensaver exhibiting a fiery display of flexuously moving particles; Texturizer, for creating seamless textures; and WebProcessor'', for creating fast HTML macros.{{cite web|url=https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,12794/|title=Seumas McNally – Developer Biography|first=|last=|work=MobyGames|date=November 30, 2000|accessdate=October 29, 2021}}

McNally is credited for visual contribution to the original DX-Ball by Michael P. Welch (creator of Pocket Tanks), a freeware computer game for the PC first released in 1996.The game's startup screen lists Seumas as contributing "3D" graphics. The game, originally based on an earlier series of Amiga games known as MegaBall, is patterned after classic ball-and-paddle arcade games such as Breakout and Arkanoid. DX-Ball has been succeeded by four follow-ups: DX-Ball 2 (1998), Rival Ball (2001), Super DX-Ball (2004) and DX-Ball 2: 20th Anniversary Edition (2018).[https://www.mobygames.com/group/237/dx-ball-series/]DX-Ball series - Moby Games

Developed by Longbow Digital Arts as a derivation of the original DX-Ball, DX-Ball 2 introduced the feature of board-set selection, allowing the player to pick between various sets of boards to play. The free demo came packed with a total of 24 boards divided into 6 board-sets of 4 boards each. Additional board packs could then be purchased and installed for more boards, whereas the initial Board Pack 1 expansion would extend the demo board-sets into full sets of 25 boards each, summing a total of 150 boards. While a total of five board packs were released for the game, DX-Ball 2 was later succeeded by Rival Ball in 2001.[http://www.longbowgames.com/forums/topic/?id=84 "Topic: More DX-Ball 2 Boards!"]. June 13, 1999. Longbow Digital Arts. Retrieved June 27, 2012.

McNally was diagnosed in 1997 with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, at the age of 18. McNally died on March 21, 2000, shortly after winning the grand prize for Tread Marks.{{cite web|url=https://longbowgames.com/remembering-seumas-mcnally/|title=Remembering Seumas McNally|first=Jim & Wendy|last=McNally|work=Longbow Games|date=March 21, 2010|accessdate=October 29, 2021}}

McNally's family continued to operate Longbow Digital Arts following his death, primarily focusing on casual games.[https://web.archive.org/web/20050525010728/http://www.ldagames.com/ LDA Games Home] The company's website from May, 2005, exhibiting their assorted games. The company later announced the development of a historical wargame in 2005, the basic design drafts of which McNally's father had helped to formulate.[https://web.archive.org/web/20060130135451/http://www.ldagames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=175 Announcing Hegemony: Philip of Macedon] Official announcement for Hegemony: Philip of Macedon. Posted on the LDA forums, Friday, June 3, 2005.[https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/great-expectations-hegemony-interview Great Expectations: Hegemony Interview]. On the website of Rock Paper Shotgun, visited February 4, 2021 (English) It was released in 2010 as Hegemony: Philip of Macedon and became the first entry in a series of historical wargames. Longbow Games' product catalogue has since expanded with the additions of Golem, a 3D puzzle-adventure game, and a "20th Anniversary Edition" of DX-Ball 2, which were both released in 2018.[https://web.archive.org/web/20180608032922/https://www.longbowgames.com/ Golem is Available Now!] Official announcement for the release of Golem.{{cite web|url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/922400/DXBall_2_20th_Anniversary_Edition/|title=DX-Ball 2: 20th Anniversary Edition|first=|last=|work=Steam|date=|accessdate=November 3, 2021}}

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Category:1979 births

Category:Canadian video game designers

Category:2000 deaths

Category:Deaths from Hodgkin lymphoma

Category:Deaths from cancer in Ontario