We've got another new section for you this week. The Developer Profile will bring you all the inside info on various development houses, straight from the horses' mouths. This week we focus on Rowan Software, who have just released the rather tasty MiG Alley. Rowan's head honcho Rod Hyde explains what they're up to, their plans for the future and their achievements so far...

Rowan Software Ltd. were formed in 1987 to produce games and business software. Prior to 1987 we were engaged in similar activities, trading as H&H Software, formed in 1983. Over the last 11 years we've specialised in producing flight simulations for the entertainment industry.

There are seventeen of us working at Rowan. Some concentrate on football and some on flight, but there's a group that floats from one project to the other. Given that we've been producing flight sims for 15 years, it's easy to guess that our football management game has a significant 3D element. There are many football management games out there but we think we have a few unique features that will attract people. We're keeping quiet at present though!

We've done most of the background research for our Battle of Britain sim and the game is now at the design stage. At present we're working out how we can simulate the Luftwaffe's thousand aircraft raids and get clouds that pilots can hide in and behind.

With the publication of Falcon and Flight of the Intruder, 1989-'90 was a definite high point for Rowan. However, in the early '90's both of our publishers, Mirrorsoft and Spectrum Holobyte, were part of the Maxwell empire that collapsed. This was a huge financial blow for us and I suffered a heart attack. Rowan and I survived but it took Rowan a long time to recover. It was only with Flying Corps that we felt we had the resources to compete with the best again.

With MiG Alley, which we've only just finished, we feel that we've improved on the Flying Corps standard. We've made significant changes throughout our game engine and have added a dynamic campaign mode, forward air control and radio communications. Our aim is to produce historically accurate military flight sims that are involving and fun to fly.

CV:

1989-91: Falcon, including Mission Disks (Spectrum Holobyte)
1990-91: Flight of the Intruder (Spectrum Holobyte)
1993: Reach for the Skies (Virgin)
1994: Overlord (Virgin)
1994: Dawn Patrol (Empire Interactive)
1995: Air Power (Mindscape)
1995: Navy Strike (Empire Interactive)
1995: Dawn Patrol - Head to Head (Empire Interactive)
1997: Flying Corps (Empire Interactive)
1997: Flying Corps Gold (Empire Interactive)
1999: MiG Alley (Empire Interactive)

Rowan have also produced bespoke software, including:
1990: a navigator training aid for the RAF
1991: an 8-station simulator for experimental work at Farnborough
1989: a newspaper layout program for the QE2

We're currently working on a football management game and a Battle of Britain flight sim.

If you work for a development team and want the world to know all about you and what you're up to, drop us an email for more details.