Posted By
indi
on 2016-03-07
02:54:57
|  Re: Trilogy: missing software?
David has kindly responded to your questions - here it is....
The Plus-4 was based on my Trilogy programs which at the time was
a best selling disk program for the CBM-64, which is why Commodore
came to my small company, Pacific-Tri-Micro. I had other products
out at the time including a graphics drawing program.
I spend about 8 1/2 months doing the CBM version.
Yes, I was under a lot of stress to finish the program and cut it
down to size. I was back and forth to CBM headquarters, finally
staying the last months in a near by motel. In fact the day I left
the Corporate Building after delivering the final eproms I had
an accident in the snow, not hurt seriously, but because at the
stop sign I was still preoccupied , you know running the code through
my head.
I also did a version of Trilogy for the Atari 800.
My inspiration for Trilogy was two parts. Lotus 123 on IBM-pcs
and my own experience using some IBM modelling software
when I worked at IBM , some years before.
It was a demanding project, but really cool, to save space when I
had to crunch down, I interfaced into the system math-drivers
that had been written by no less than Bill Gates himself and
apparently under a contract a couple of years earlier.
I loved the PLUS-4 There were 600,000 made. 300,000 for the
States and 300,000 for Europe.
I also did a French, and German version.
And in my small company in Californian, PTM. we continued to
support it for some years, with a news letter.
At the time many people were real fans of the effort, especially
in Europe.
The problem was that Jack had moved to take over Atari and
Mr. Smith the COB was not happy with Jack, and the PLus4
was Jack's last project at CBM, so there was not a lot of good will.
Many of the executives I dealt with during my time there, ended up
at Atari. Thus the Plus-4 was lucky to even get out the door.
PTM was a creation of my wife and myself. At one point (few years)
we had 4 of our 50, or so titles, in the top 10, nationally.
We had about 20 people at PTM
PTM ended in 1989 with me having a heart attack.
In the 90's I worked for AOL in Core Technology Group.
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