Unknown lead platform:
The Battle of Shiloh
One could intuitively assume that because SSI clearly favored the Apple II as a lead development platform, even for outsourced projects like Computer Quarterback, that The Battle of Shiloh by their internal Tactical Design Group would be an Apple-first effort as well. The Apple version's graphics were, at least, optimized for the Apple II's 6-color display, and not converted from the abstract tile-based Atari version, or from the TRS-80 version which had none.
But there are some things different about the Tactical Design Group games that prevent me from being too certain. These games, which also include Tigers in the Snow, Battle for Normandy, Knights of the Desert, and Breakthrough in the Ardennes, were multiplatform from the start, all but Ardennes supporting Apple, Atari, and TRS-80 from the start, all three programs usually credited to David Landrey, and all but Shiloh being ported to PC and C64 soon after the initial releases. Designer David Landrey's prior experience were three TRS-80-exclusive wargames, and the TRS-80 versions of Shiloh and Tigers in the Snow differ significantly in gameplay according to The Wargaming Scribe. This gives some credibility to the counter-theory that TRS-80 is the original design, and the Apple II and Atari versions are simultaneously-released ports that added graphics.
These observations apply to all other games by Tactical Design Group and will not be repeated.
The Battle of the Bulge: Tigers in the Snow
First released for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and TRS-80 on 1981 by Tactical Design GroupPorted to PC on 1982 by Edward Haar
Battle for Normandy
First released for Apple II and TRS-80 on 1982 by Tactical Design Group
Ported to Atari 8-bit in 1982 by Dale Disharoon
Ported to PC in 1983 by Edward Haar
Knights of the Desert
First released for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and TRS-80 on 1983 by Tactical Design Group
Ported to C64 in 1983Ported to PC in 1983 by Edward Haar
Questron
First released for Apple II on April 1984
Released for C64 on 1984
Ported to Atari 8-bit on 1984 by John C. Dougherty
An Apple II->C64 conversion seems probable given the earlier release date and SSI's evident platform preference at the time. Hauge's list credits Charles W. Dougherty with the C64 version and John C. Dougherty an Atari conversion, but does not say if C64 or Apple II was Charles' original design.
Colonial Conquest
First released for Atari 8-bit and C64 on August 1985
Released for Apple II on April 1986
Roadwar 2000
First released for Apple II in September 1986
Released for Commodore 64 in October 1986
Ported to PC in March 1987 by Edward Haar
Ported to Amiga in June 1987 by Westwood Associates
Ported to Apple IIgs in December 1987 by Westwood Associates
Curse of the Azure Bonds
First released for Commodore 64 and PC in July 1989
Released for Apple II in September 1989
Ported to Amiga and Macintosh in 1990 by MicroMagic
Pool of Radiance, the first Gold Box game, is known to have been first written for the Commodore 64 and later rewritten in Pascal for 16-bit computers. Most Gold Box games support C64, but every Gold Box game runs on DOS. My thinking is that at some point, the lead platform switched from C64 to DOS, and game-specific engine features were backported to C64 assembly. This may have happened as early as this game.
Champions of Krynn
First released on PC in January 1990
Released for Amiga, Apple II, and C64 in January 1990.
The C64 version credits Paul Murray and James Jenning with "Commodore 64 programming" and also credits Westwood Associates with additional development, and the Amiga version credits Norm Kroger with "Amiga programming," but the PC version credits Russ Brown and Scot Bayless with just "programming." This, along with the release order, suggests to me that PC is the base platform and Amiga and C64 are conversions.
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
First released on Amiga, C64, and PC in 1990.
The credits situation is similar to Champions of Krynn, leading me to the same probable conjecture. The PC version also features 256-color VGA graphics, exceeding the specs of any other platform.
Secret of the Silver Blades
First released on C64 and PC in 1990.
Death Knights of Krynn
First released on Amiga, C64, and PC in 1991.
The Dark Queen of Krynn
First released on Amiga, Macintosh, and PC in 1992.
This game is credited to MicroMagic, whose previous credits are mainly of creating the Amiga and Macintosh conversions of Gold Box games. It's possible, then, that the Amiga or Macintosh are the original designs for this particular game.
Select chronology:
BASIC era:
| Title | Lead platform | Date | Contemporary ports |
| Computer Bismarck | Apple II |
1980-1 | 1980 port to TRS-80, possibly by John Lyon |
| Computer Air Combat | Apple II | 1980 |
|
| Computer Ambush | Apple II | 1980 |
|
| Computer Conflict | Apple II | 1980 |
|
| Computer Napoleonics: The Battle of Waterloo |
Apple II | 1980 |
|
| The Battle of Shiloh | ??? | 1981 | Simultaneous releases on Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and TRS-80 |
| The Battle of the Bulge: Tigers in the Snow |
??? | 1981 | Simultaneous releases on Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and TRS-80 1982 port to PC by Edward Haar |
| Cartels & Cutthroat$ | Apple II | 1981 |
|
| Computer Quarterback | Apple II | 1981 | 1981 port to Atari 8-bit |
| Computer Baseball | Apple II | 1981 |
|
| Battle for Normandy | ??? | 1982 | Simultaneous releases on Apple II and TRS-80 1982 port to Atari 8-bit by Dale Disharoon 1983 port to PC by Edward Haar |
| Knights of the Desert | ??? | 1983 | Simultaneous releases on Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and TRS-80 1983 ports to C64 and PC |
| 50 Mission Crush | Commodore 64 | 1984 | 1984 ports to Apple II and Atari 8-bit by Keith Brors |
| Gemstone Warrior | Apple II | 1984 | 1985 ports to Atari 8-bit and FM-7 |
| Questron | ??? | 1984-4 | Same-year releases on Apple II and C64 Same-year port to Atari 8-bit by John C. Dougherty |
Late 8-bit era:
| Title | Lead platform | Date | Contemporary ports |
| Kampfgruppe | Apple II |
1985 | 1985 ports to Atari 8-bit and C64 |
| Colonial Conquest | ??? | 1985-8 | Simultaneous releases on Atari 8-bit and C64 1986 release on Apple II |
| Phantasie | Apple II | 1985 | 1985 port to C64 by Logical Design Works 1986 ports to Atari ST and various Japanese computers |
| Phantasie II | Apple II | 1986-3 |
|
| Wizard's Crown | Apple II |
1986-3 | 1986 ports to Atari 8-bit, and C64 1987 ports to Atari ST and PC |
| Roadwar 2000 | ??? | 1986-9 | Same-year releases on Apple II and C64 1987 ports to various 16-bit computers |
| Phantasie III: The Wrath of Nikademus | Apple II | 1987-3 | 1987 ports to Amiga, Atari ST, and C64 by Westwood Associates 1988 ports to PC and various Japanese computers |
| Demon's Winter | Apple II | 1988-8 | 1989 ports to various computers |
Gold Box era:
| Title | Lead platform | Date | Contemporary ports |
| Pool of Radiance | Commodore 64 | 1988-10 | 1988 port to PC 1989 ports to various computers |
| Curse of the Azure Bonds | ??? | 1989-7 | Same-quarter releases on Apple II, C64, and PC 1990 ports to Amiga and Macintosh by MicroMagic |
| Champions of Krynn | ??? | 1990-1 | Same-year releases on Amiga, Apple II, C64, and PC |
| Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday | ??? | 1990 | Same-year releases on Amiga, C64, and PC |
| Secret of the Silver Blades | ??? | 1990 | Same-year releases on C64 and PC 1991 ports to Amiga and Macintosh by MicroMagic |
| Pools of Darkness | DOS | 1991 | 1992 ports to Amiga and Macintosh |
| Death Knights of Krynn | ??? | 1991 | Same-year releases on Amiga, C64, and PC |
| The Dark Queen of Krynn | ??? | 1992 | Same-year releases on Amiga, Macintosh, and PC |
Post-Gold Box era:
| Title | Lead platform | Date | Contemporary ports |
| Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth Drannor | DOS | 1993 | 1994 port to PC-98 |
| Dark Sun: Shattered Lands | DOS | 1993 |
|
| Panzer General | DOS | 1994 | 1995 ports to 3DO and PC-98 |
| Fantasy General | DOS | 1996-3 |
|
| Panzer General II | Windows | 1997-10 |
|
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