Chris Stapleton is best known for his part in Eclipse's simulation game Global Effect. He has been an Acorn fan for about 10 years, although he says he spends more time playing with Linux these days. He currently works for IBM, programming in the new Air Traffic Control Centre at Swanwick, Hampshire.
 

 
 
Acorn Arcade: What exactly was your part in Global Effect and who else was working on it?
 
 
Chris Stapleton: I was the main converter, responsible for coding the user interface, the AI and the graphics. Rich Brown was also involved in converting the Modelling side. Paul Cherry did the testing and Jason Tribbeck did the sound and front end.
 
 
 
 
 
Acorn Arcade: How did you get involved with the project?
 
 
Chris Stapleton: God knows. I think we approached Eclipse and they said "do Global Effect and maybe there will be more conversions later".
 
 
 
 
 
Acorn Arcade: How long did it take altogether?
 
 
Chris Stapleton: About 15 months.
 
 
 
 
 
Acorn Arcade: Why was the military part of the game not available when it was released?
 
 
Chris Stapleton: Because we were told that the initial sales were aimed at education and the Battle options were not required for that. (remember that at the time the environment was a big issue and I think it was thought that a program that included environmental issues would sell to schools).
 
 
 
 
 
Acorn Arcade: What do you think the future holds for the Acorn games scene and the Acorn scene in general?
 
 
Chris Stapleton: Oops, What future, Even if (and it is a BIG if) Iron Dignity turns out to be a fantastic game I don't see anything else on the horizon to continue Acorn specific games. The PC and Platform Games (I have a Sony Playstation) have a huge lead in the games department which nothing is going to change. The current crop of conversions are good but no-where near revolutionary enough to re-light the Acorn games scene!
 
 
 
 
 
The code for the military part of Global Effect currently resides in the Coding Vault.