Vortex Software

Vortex Studio is a simulation software platform developed by CM Labs Simulations. It features a real-time physics engine that simulates rigid body dynamics, collision detection, contact determination, and dynamic reactions. It also contains model import and preparation tools, an image generator, and networking tools for distributed simulation which is accessed through a desktop editor via a GUI. Vortex adds accurate physical motion and interactions to objects in visual-simulation applications for operator training, mission planning, product concept validation, heavy machinery and robotics design and testing, haptics devices, immersive and virtual reality (VR) environments. The Vortex Studio content creation platform and the C++ SDK have several modules that simulate physics-based particles, sensors, floating bodies, cable systems, earthmoving operations, grasping, and vehicles (wheeled or tracked). Vortex has modular architecture: developers can integrate their projects into 3D visualisation frameworks and deploy them in environments that contain software-in-the-loop (SIL), MATLAB, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), and motion platform components.

Vortex Software was a video game developer founded by Costa Panayi and Paul Canter in the early 1980s to sell the game Cosmos which Panayi had developed for the Sinclair ZX81. They converted the game to the ZX Spectrum, but due to the low sales of the ZX81 version they licensed the game to Abbex. Luke Andrews, Costa's brother-in-law, and Crete Panayi, Costa's brother, became involved to handle the business affairs and advertising respectively. The company was based in Manchester. In the summer of 1984, Mark Haigh-Hutchinson was offered a position and ported several of the games to the Amstrad CPC in addition to writing Alien Highway for the ZX Spectrum. Chris Wood and David Aubrey-Jones were also associated with Vortex as outside contractors. The company produced several notable games for the 8-bit home computers of the period. Deflektor was also ported to the Amiga and Atari ST. After the production of Hostile All Terrain Encounter in 1988, Costa spent the next two years deciding where he wanted to go. In 1990 Vortex was reborn with Costa, Mark and Luke and the intention to develop a game for the Amiga and Atari ST. They developed a much enhanced version of Highway Encounter in just three months, but failed to find a software publisher for the game, so it remained unpublished. Several games achieved critical success, Tornado Low Level and Highway Encounter appearing in the "Your Sinclair official top 100", for example. ===Commodore C64=== Highway Encounter (Pedigree Software, 1986, published by Gremlin Graphics) Deflektor (Gremlin Graphics, 1987¹, published by Gremlin Graphics) Hostile All Terrain Encounter (H.A.T.E.) (Gremlin Graphics, 1987, published by Gremlin Graphics) ==References== ==External links== History of Vortex Software by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson Costa Panayi at World of Spectrum

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