Archer Donald Maclean (28 January 1962 – 17 December 2022) was a British video game programmer. He was the author of Dropzone which he developed for the Atari 8-bit computers and was ported to other systems. Maclean also developed the Commodore 64 version of International Karate and the sequel, IK+ which was developed for the Commodore 64 and ported to other systems. He was also known for his series of snooker and pool games, which commenced with Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker in 1991 (originally called 147).

Maclean left Awesome Studios—the studio he helped found and establish—in July 2005 and ran Awesome Play.

Maclean died on 17 December 2022, at the age of 60.

Early life

Maclean showed interest in electronics from an early age, being self taught by way of dismantling electronic devices. In 1972, he dismantled a television. In 1975, he commenced working part time in a television repair shop in Brentwood, Essex.

After a chance meeting with its owner in 1976, Maclean started part-time work at electronics company Ambit International. This work allowed Maclean to start spending "unfeasibly large amounts of money on computer hardware, as a school kid".

Maclean also wrote a monthly column for Retro Gamer magazine.

{| class="wikitable"

|+Notable works

! Release

! Title

! Role(s)

|-

| 1984

| Dropzone

| Writing

|-

| 1986

| International Karate

| Design, graphics

|-

| 1987

| International Karate +

| Design, writing, graphics, sound FX

|-

| 1991

| Jimmy White's 'Whirlwind' Snooker

| Game design, programming, graphics, sound FX

|-

| 1992

| Archer Maclean's Pool

| Original design, programming, sound FX

|-

| 1998

| Jimmy White's 2: Cueball

| Direction, design, original code, music, sound FX

|-

| 2001

| Jimmy White's Cueball World

| Design

|-

| 2004

| Archer Maclean Presents Pool Paradise

| Creative director

|-

| 2005

| Archer Maclean's Mercury

| Original concept

|-

| 2009

| Wheelspin

| Direction, production, design

|}

References

  • Awesome Play
  • Archer Maclean interview from Halcyon Days
  • 2009 interview regarding the Wii from Wii's World