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Tweak BMB references to give a better intro.
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fragglet committed Feb 5, 2024
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Showing 1 changed file with 16 additions and 14 deletions.
30 changes: 16 additions & 14 deletions history.md
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Expand Up @@ -20,14 +20,15 @@ system. The PC remains an important platform for games to this day.

Sopwith is one of the earliest networked games, and indeed was developed as
a demo program for the proprietary [Imaginet](history2.md) system, an early
form of [LAN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_area_network). Certainly
there are other earlier and contemporary examples, including
form of [LAN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_area_network) developed by
BMB Compuscience of Ontario, Canada. Sopwith was not the first networked game;
other contemporary examples exist, including
[Maze War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maze_War) and
[SGI Dogfight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SGI_Dogfight); Sopwith was not
the first. However, at the time of its release there were still relatively
few other examples. An unfortunate detail is that the game only worked with
the proprietary BMB hardware and drivers, meaning that very few people were
able to use this feature.
[SGI Dogfight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SGI_Dogfight). However, at the
time of its release there were still relatively few other examples. An
unfortunate detail is that the game only worked with the proprietary BMB
hardware and drivers, meaning that very few people were able to use this
feature.

Sopwith is one of the oldest video games still in active development today.
In 2018, PC Gamer [published a list](https://www.pcgamer.com/the-80s-and-90s-pc-games-still-unbelievably-being-updated-today/)
Expand All @@ -43,13 +44,14 @@ versions, and still includes changelog comments that date all the way back to

![Illustration: BMB Compuscience logo](img/bmb_logo.png)

BMB Compuscience was a Canadian company founded in 1979 and based in Milton,
Ontario by Bill MacLean, Marcel Brunschweiler and Barbara Brunschweiler. The
initials of their first names were the origin of the name BMB. The business
originally acted as a reseller for Commodore computers, targeting scientists
and researchers. BMB then pivoted to focus on the IBM PC after it was released
in 1981. This proved to be a smart move and BMB racked up enough in sales
that it was able to open six retail stores.
Sopwith's title screen proudly identifies it as the work of **BMB
Compuscience**, a Canadian company founded in 1979 and based in Milton, Ontario
by Bill MacLean, Marcel Brunschweiler and Barbara Brunschweiler. The initials
of their first names were the origin of the name BMB. The business originally
acted as a reseller for Commodore computers, targeting scientists and
researchers. BMB then pivoted to focus on the IBM PC after it was released
in 1981. This proved to be a smart move and BMB racked up enough in sales that it
was able to open six retail stores.

The company went public in 1983 but then experienced difficulties the following
year after a market downturn. BMB responded by discontinuing the retail side
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