ROWAN SOFTWARE

Starting off as a small developer and publisher of educational games for the 32K BBC Micro, H&H Software evolved into the UK’s leading developer of 16-bit flight simulators. Learn how Rowan Software took off and conquered superiority in the air

WORDS BY RICHARD C HEWISON

» [BBC Micro] Strike Force Harrier was an early calling card for H&H and intended as an introduction to flight sims.

R od Hyde’s interest in chemistry led to an early career as a chemical engineer, working for ICI and becoming a plant manager. But by then, Rod’s fascination with computers had been ignited whilst studying at the University Of Leeds. He showed a natural aptitude for programming, and he now had a yearning to change direction. “By the early Eighties I realised that I wasn’t getting the opportunities that I really wanted. The chemical industry was going through a bad patch, and I decided I needed to go somewhere else.”

Rod’s wife Mary was a teacher, and so he retrained as a physics and mathematics teacher, but that vocation only lasted a few years. “Coding was like a drug to me, and I couldn’t get enough,” says Rod. “I had an article published in Your Computer in May 1982 that created magic squares on the ZX81. At the end, I added that I would send a tape with similar programmes for £3.50.”

That suggestion led to the creation of H&H Software, a joint endeavour between Rod and his wife. “Mary did the testing, the marketing and the sales, and I did the programming,” explains Rod. H&H produced a handful of titles for the BBC Micro, but it was its association with the recently launched Mirrorsoft label that proved pivotal. The Robert Maxwell-owned software publisher had spotted H&H adverts in the magazines, and Steve Mercer offered to release H&H’s future titles, giving them a professional distribution and publishing deal. “I was still teaching, and Steve came up to talk through the idea. Steve and Jim Mackonochie asked me to leave teaching and build a team, which grew as we took on more projects,” remembers Rod happily.

» [BBC Micro] Rowan Software started off life as H&H, making games like Spitfire 40 for the BBC Micro.

The first major project after writing a Mr Men educational title was based on the new Biggles film. “We designed and coded the second part. Steve told us the film plot in broad terms, and we built a game based on the German’s sound weapon,” says Rod. The movie struggled at the box office, but Mirrorsoft was happy with what Rod produced, and their working relationship blossomed. “Mirrorsoft’s Chairman Jim Mackonochie and I became good friends. I loved coding and he loved flying. Jim wanted to sell flight simulations and so we moved in that direction,” says Rod.

Strike Force Harrier was H&H Software’s first flight simulator, written by Rod for the 32K BBC Micro. It proved a challenge, but several clever technical savings claimed back precious kilobytes, including basing the flight model on a rocket rather than an aeroplane. During development, Mirrorsoft MD and former Royal Naval officer Jim Mackonochie arranged for a Falklands War pilot to speak to Rod about how to fly a Harrier Jump Jet, which was then incorporated into the game. “The BBC version took me three months to write and was probably one of the most financially successful games I ever did,” admits Rod.