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Digital Gamecraft 2020

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  • Digital Gamecraft logo

It has been just more than a year since SophSoft, Incorporated lost its second founding partner (of three) and I lost my wife of 31 years.  In a week, the company will be celebrating its 38th anniversary, and it will continue to develop game software.

During 2019, I took time to reflect on what was really important and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and I decided that the plans that Sherry, Rick, and I had devised (and undertaken) as business partners were honest and true representations of what we wanted to achieve.  Therefore, I will continue those pursuits, not just out of a sense of loyalty, but because they are why we got into this venture in the first place.

Digital Gamecraft will continue to develop and publish game titles in a variety of genres, and this will be our primary focus.  While some of these games may be a little different to what they would have been with my partners to help guide the development, the games will nevertheless embody the spirits of Sherry and Rick to the best of my capabilities.

SophSoft will also continue to do consulting work; however, due to sheer limitations of time, our regular client roster is effectively full.  Please feel free to contact us if you are in desperate straits or need our help with a fully-funded project that is right down our alley, but realize that we may not be able to fit you into the schedule.  (If you have just an idea, a shoestring budget, or a need for fleet management software, go somewhere else.)

We also have a couple of adjunct projects that I expect to see the full light of day within 2020; announcements will be made here as and when appropriate.

In an industry where companies come and go with a disturbing regularity, remember that we have had the same address for 30 years:

Post Office Box 4936
East Lansing, MI  48826-4936

We have had the same business phone number for 25 years:

(517) 337-3905

Our web site has also been in steady operation since 1995 (though this blog is just a baby at a mere 15 years old).  Plus, having been originally founded in 1982…

We are the oldest independent video game company in the world.

I truly appreciate your support as we continue to move forward.

Sincerely,
Gregg Seelhoff

RIP: Sherry Seelhoff (1964-2019)

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Sherry Seelhoff

At the start of the year, my wife died unexpectedly at the age of 54.  We had been married for more than 31 years and have two wonderful sons.  Sherry was a founding member of SophSoft, Incorporated, and her passing has had a profound impact on me personally and will have a lasting effect on the company, including this blog.

Sherry was a dedicated and loving wife and mother, who gave herself fully to her family and friends. Her kindness and generosity touched everyone she met, leading to recognition for her service with volunteer organizations. She was loving and loved, and her memory will be carried by all she knew.

Sherry passed away quietly and unexpectedly in her sleep as the new year began. She is survived by her husband of 31 years, Gregg Seelhoff, sons James Seelhoff (Meredith Baumann) and William Seelhoff-Ely (Sandy Seelhoff-Ely), sister Melissa Short, mother-in-law Margot Hellerman (Lance Hellerman), sister-in-law Lori Seelhoff, niece Heather Joswik, half-sisters-in-law Angelina Hellerman and Andrea Hellerman (Jim Arnold), half-brother-in-law Samuel Hellerman, two half-nieces, one half-nephew, and innumerable friends. She was preceded in death by her mother, Mary Theresa Short, her father Wyman Richard Short, and her father-in-law, Gerald Norman Seelhoff.

Sherry lived her life with empathy and passion, and had an infectious spirit. She enjoyed hiking, camping, canoeing, dancing, reading, hosting game nights, playing trivia, watching movies, and listening to music. She loved laughing with friends and family. She would want to be remembered by those she loved continuing to participate in her favorite activities and striving for the ideals and compassionate causes in which she believed.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Sherry’s name to Sierra Club, ACLU of Michigan, and/or Planned Parenthood.

“… our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it. And we can make it very wonderful indeed.” ― Richard Dawkins

“Don’t think of it as dying. Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush.” ― Terry Pratchett

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” ― Dr. Seuss


RIP: Rick Tumanis (1956-2011)

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Our good friend and Art Director has passed away.

Rick Tumanis (1956-2011)Last Friday, Richard A. “Rick” Tumanis, my long-time business partner and longer term friend, died unexpectedly in his sleep.  Rick served as Art Director for SophSoft, Incorporated and Digital Gamecraft, of which he was a founding member.

Raised in Battle Creek, Michigan, Rick received a degree in English from the University of Michigan, followed by a law degree from Cooley Law School, but he chose to pursue a career in video game artwork, as well as his personal love of making music.  Rick began in the video game industry in 1987 when he joined Quest Software and provided artwork for the classic title, Legacy of the Ancients (Electronic Arts); he followed that up by creating all of the artwork for its quasi-sequel, Legend of Blacksilver (Epyx).

In 1995, Rick joined up with (then) Sophisticated Software Systems, contributing to games such as Mission Critical (Legend Entertainment), ZPC (Zombie), Vegas Fever (Encore), Card Crazy 2 (Encore), Slot City 2 (Encore), and MVP Backgammon Professional (MVP Software).  He was lead artist on Bicycle Card Collection (Microsoft), included in Microsoft Plus! Game Pack: Cards & Puzzles.  This led to a collaboration with Goodsol Development, for which he provided almost all artwork for more than 10 years, on games including Pretty Good Solitaire, Most Popular Solitaire, Action Solitaire, FreeCell Plus, and Pretty Good MahJongg.

At the time of his death, Rick was working on a couple of upcoming iOS games and completing work on his most recent solo album, Earfull.

Services were held 1:30pm, Thursday, August 4, at Farley-Estes & Dowdle in Battle Creek, with visitation an hour prior.  Click here for Rick’s obituary page.  [edited 08/08/2011]

Rest In Peace, Rick.  It is a shame that you did not see all of our big plans come to fruition.  You will be greatly missed.

RIP: Mike Dulin (1943-2010)

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A friend and colleague passes away.

Last Wednesday, July 28, 2010, Michael Dennis Dulin died from complications of pulmonary fibrosis; he was 66.  [Here is his Obituary from the Janesville [Wisconsin] Gazette.]

Mike Dulin

Mike Dulin at SIC 2006

Mike Dulin was the founder of SharewareJunkies.com and other related web sites.  Within the shareware industry, he was perhaps better known as a perennially upbeat attendee at industry conferences, an advocate for software entrepreneurs, and the driving force (and voice) behind SharewareRadio.com.  (He interviewed me for his site back in 2007.)  Mike always had a story at the ready, including some amusing anecdotes from his previous career as an air traffic controller at Chicago O’Hare.  He qualified as a true “character” (in the best way), living and working in both Finland and Guatemala, commuting a couple of times each year.

At the time of his death, Mike Dulin was serving as the President of the Association of Software Professionals, a position to which I was instrumental in appointing him back in 2008 (when I was ASP Chairman of the Board).  Mike remained in that role and was still performing his duties for the ASP at the Software Industry Conference less than two weeks before his passing (and I am sorely disappointed that I was not there at SIC 2010).

Rest in Peace, Mike.  You will be missed.

Jason Della Rocca steps down

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The Executive Director of the IGDA resigns.

This week, the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) announced that Jason Della Rocca, its long time Executive Director, will be stepping down effective March 31. This will be just after the conclusion of the 2009 Game Developers Conference (GDC) this year.

Under Jason’s leadership over eight and a half years, the IGDA has grown massively (2900%), from 500 to 15000 members. More importantly, and understandably omitted from the press release, he took the organization from a fairly directionless group of early game developers (of which I was one) to an association that actually has significant relevance within the game industry.

You can read about Jason’s reasons for departing in this post on his personal blog. (There are lots of comments there, too, as well as at this Gamasutra article.)

I had the opportunity to work with Jason Della Rocca back in 2005 when the State of Michigan proposed legislation restricting game sales in the state, and I testified before a Senate committee, on behalf of the Detroit IGDA chapter. I saw Jason’s passion first hand, and his (and the organization’s) guidance and assistance was especially helpful. (Nevertheless, the legislation passed anyway, but then it was ruled unconstitutional, as expected, and ultimately cost Michigan an extra $182349 in restitution for industry legal fees. They should have listened to us.)

Good luck in your new endeavors, Jason!

RIP: Majel Barrett

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The voice of the Star Trek computer passes away.

Yesterday, Majel Barrett, wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, died at the age of 76 after a battle with leukemia. For those unaware of her career, she played the recurring roles of Nurse Chapel on the original Star Trek series (TOS) and Lwaxana Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG). She was also the voice of the computer on the Enterprise in ST:TNG, which is my connection to her (though we never met).

I share credits with Majel Barrett on Star Trek: The Next Generation, “A Final Unity”. I was the lead programmer for the project, and after we made the (risky, at the time) decision to ship only on CD-ROM, it was decided that the game should feature voice acting from all of the stars of the series. Unfortunately, the management at Spectrum HoloByte only counted seven actors in this group, failing to consider the voice of the computer, for which they were going to use a generic voice actress. I suspected that fans would notice the different voice, but after my wife pointed out that they would also notice the absence of Majel Barrett (or Barrett-Roddenberry) in the game credits, I went and argued the point, successfully. The computer in our game found its proper voice.

It may be interesting to see where the Star Trek universe goes from here.

For more details (and pictures), see these articles from the New York Daily News and NBC Los Angeles.

In other news, Deep Throat, the key informant in the Watergate scandal, also died yesterday, perhaps having lived long enough to see something he may have never expected in his lifetime.

To end on a positive note, A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, was published 165 year ago today. I celebrated by watching the TNT version, starring Patrick Stewart, who played Captain Picard on ST:TNG, including in the aforementioned game.

And Tiny Tim, “who did NOT die,” lives on to this day…