Difference between revisions of "Category:Sherwood Forest Software"

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[[File:sherwood.gif|thumb|290px|Sherwood Forest]]Another industrious pairing, Rob Sherwood and Dan Whalen pumped out game after game. Their concern lay more in high concept scenarios than in exploring [[Game-Maker]]’s abilities. The result is that each game stays well within the limits of Game-Maker’s back-of-the-box feature set, and so comes off like a cross between ''[[Pipemare]]'' and ''[[Sample]]'', except without the polish. To the last, the games are top-down action adventures, controlled with the arrow keys and the space bar. They even use most of the same filenames.
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{{featured}}[[File:sherwood.gif|thumb|320px|Sherwood Forest]]The Pennsylvanian pairing of '''Rob Sherwood''' and '''Dan Whalen''' latched onto Game-Maker early, quickly pumped out game after game, and then quickly vanished. Generally their concern lay more in high concept scenarios than in exploring [[Game-Maker]]’s capabilities. The result is that most games stay well within the limits of Game-Maker’s back-of-the-box feature set.  
  
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Although the individual games may be unremarkable, when you scrape up a big enough pile of them you begin to take each new concept strictly within the limits of the Sherwood Forest template. ''[[Shootout at Dodge]]'' has a wild west setting, and a kind of neat side-scrolling overworld or map screen. ''[[Big Bob’s Drive-In]]'' has a 1950s diner setting, which rationalizes attacks as food orders and monsters as customers. ''[[Robo Wars]]'' wraps its generic top-down action in a sci-fi techno setting. ''[[Rocket Fighter]]'' tries to sell itself as a space shooter, though you and I know better.
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There is a curious duality to Sherwood's games. Often the basic concepts are unusual and full of potential; instead of ice and lava worlds and sassy rodents, we have waitresses and British imperialists. As time goes on, Sherwood's sprite design and background work grow bold and highly detailed. Yet in many games, the actual design is curiously slapdash. Levels are built with little regard for the player, and often repeated with only minor changes.  
  
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Perhaps Sherwood Forest’s best-known game is an adult title called ''The Adventures of Melvin Freebush'', that may or may not have been created with Game-Maker. Although I have yet to track down a reference copy, I have noticed a certain fond following in some circles.
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Sherwood and Whalen's efforts extend beyond RSD's Game-Maker. Their most widely known game, the adult-oriented ''The Adventures of Melvin Freebush'', is a product of MVP Software's Game Builder. Aside from their dalliance with porn, the duo's most significant efforts are probably in educational games such as the [[:Category:Rascal the Raccoon series|''Rascal the Raccoon'' series]].
  
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Erotic Game-Maker games are hardly unusual, particularly in the wake of Sheldon Chase’s ''[[Woman Warrior and the Outer Limits | Woman Warrior]]'' games. Yet it is interesting to see wink-wink eroticism as just another plug-and-play theme next to wild west shootouts and space operas. I suppose that in the end Game-Maker is just an empty engine that fills in its blanks with standard data files. Yet it takes a certain chutzpah to not only lay that structure bare but then in one’s callousness to extrapolate it into our wider understanding of theme and narrative.
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In the new millennium the politically and socially conservative Sherwood expressed displeasure for the industry's trend toward violent games, and ended his relationship with a videogame store that he had been managing. He then applied for a loan and opened a successful HO-scale train store, '''Rob's Hobby Shop''', in downtown Sharon.
  
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All is one, most is crap, and the sooner you submit the further you can go. I’m not sure what to make of this philosophy. All I can think of now is how Sherwood could easily have included porn in any of its genres. Had they that foresight, I wonder where they would be today.
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== Registration information ==
  
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[[Category:Game-Maker artists]]
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: Sherwood Forest Software
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: 371 Ohio Street
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: Sharon PA 16146
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== Links ==
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=== Sites ===
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* [http://web.archive.org/web/19990427201602/http://www.infonline.net/~sherwood Website (Internet Archive)]
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==== Social Media ====
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* [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003383346896 Facebook profile]
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=== Interviews / Articles ===
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090402034148/http://www.skiosk-esd.com/clickteam/SPOTLIGHT6.htm Clickteam interview with "Disney Rob"] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20090402034132/http://www.skiosk-esd.com/clickteam/SPOTLIGHT46.htm Follow-up interview]) (archive.org)
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* [http://www2.sharonherald.com/localnews/recentnews/0312/ln121403e.html Sharon Herald interview]
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* [http://www.diygamer.com/2010/07/gamemaker-archive-part-12-cutandpaste-opportunism/ Cut-and-Paste Opportunism (DIYGamer)]
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* [http://www.diygamer.com/2010/09/gamemaker-archive-part-16-trees-forest/ Trees in the Forest (DIYGamer)]
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=== Listings ===
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* [http://www.mobygames.com/company/sherwood-forest-software MobyGames entry (Sherwood Forest Software)]
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* [http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,458919/ MobyGames entry (Rob Sherwood)]
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* [http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,458920/ MobyGames entry (Dan Whalen)]
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=== Misc. Links ===
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* [http://games.usvsth3m.com/fight/whats-the-best-sherwood-forest-software-game What's the Best Sherwood Forest Software Game?] (UsVsThem)
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[[Category: Game-Maker artists]]
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[[Category: Users at large]]
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[[Category: Pennsylvania]]
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[[Category: DIYGamer]]

Latest revision as of 17:13, 7 September 2016

Featured.png
Sherwood Forest

The Pennsylvanian pairing of Rob Sherwood and Dan Whalen latched onto Game-Maker early, quickly pumped out game after game, and then quickly vanished. Generally their concern lay more in high concept scenarios than in exploring Game-Maker’s capabilities. The result is that most games stay well within the limits of Game-Maker’s back-of-the-box feature set.

There is a curious duality to Sherwood's games. Often the basic concepts are unusual and full of potential; instead of ice and lava worlds and sassy rodents, we have waitresses and British imperialists. As time goes on, Sherwood's sprite design and background work grow bold and highly detailed. Yet in many games, the actual design is curiously slapdash. Levels are built with little regard for the player, and often repeated with only minor changes.

Sherwood and Whalen's efforts extend beyond RSD's Game-Maker. Their most widely known game, the adult-oriented The Adventures of Melvin Freebush, is a product of MVP Software's Game Builder. Aside from their dalliance with porn, the duo's most significant efforts are probably in educational games such as the Rascal the Raccoon series.

In the new millennium the politically and socially conservative Sherwood expressed displeasure for the industry's trend toward violent games, and ended his relationship with a videogame store that he had been managing. He then applied for a loan and opened a successful HO-scale train store, Rob's Hobby Shop, in downtown Sharon.

Registration information

Sherwood Forest Software
371 Ohio Street
Sharon PA 16146

Links

Sites

Social Media

Interviews / Articles

Listings

Misc. Links

Subcategories

This category has the following 4 subcategories, out of 4 total.

R

S

W

Media in category "Sherwood Forest Software"

The following 127 files are in this category, out of 127 total.

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