People
Here is an incomplete list of FTL Games staff members, or people who worked with them in one way or another.
Photos
Bruce Webster, Nancy Holder and Wayne Holder in ‘FTL Games’ embroidered jackets, taken between 1982 and 1984 when Bruce developped Sundog: Frozen Legacy for the Apple II.
Wayne Holder (President)
Wayne Holder and Bruce F. Webster went to Grossmont High School in eastern San Diego county and graduated in 1971. A few years later, Wayne founded a company called Oasis Systems, working on spell checking software (for example it created the original spelling check software for Microsoft Word).
Here are some products released by Oasis Systems: The Word 1.0 and The Word 2.0, The Word Plus 1.0 and 1.2, Punctuation + Style.
Review of ‘Word Plus 1.0’ published in American magazine ‘InforWorld’, Vol 4 No 30, August 2, 1982, Page 52
Review of ‘Word Plus 1.0’ published in American magazine ‘InforWorld’, Vol 4 No 30, August 2, 1982, Page 53
Review of ‘Punctuation + Style’ published in American magazine ‘InforWorld’, Vol 5 No 43, October 24, 1983, Page 52
Review of ‘Punctuation + Style’ published in American magazine ‘InforWorld’, Vol 5 No 43, October 24, 1983, Page 53
Review of ‘Punctuation + Style’ published in American magazine ‘InforWorld’, Vol 5 No 43, October 24, 1983, Page 54
Advertisement for ‘Microsoft Spell’ published in American magazine ‘InfoWorld’, Vol 6 No 45, November 5, 1984, Page 52
Advertisement for ‘Microsoft Spell’ published in American magazine ‘InfoWorld’, Vol 6 No 45, November 5, 1984, Page 53
Advertisement for ‘Microsoft Spell’ published in American magazine ‘InfoWorld’, Vol 6 No 49, December 3, 1984, Page 44
Advertisement for ‘Microsoft Spell’ published in American magazine ‘InfoWorld’, Vol 6 No 49, December 3, 1984, Page 45
In the Computer Chronicles TV show about Word Processing Software from March 19, 1984 (recorded on May 12, 1983) you can watch Wayne talking about his software (between 13:08 and 17:08).
Also available on YouTube:
In the early 80’s, he founded a second company called Software Heaven Inc. (on December 15, 1982), and a game division called FTL Games (on April 27, 1984). Wayne hired Bruce F. Webster to lead that new division.
Wayne and Bruce co-designed the first FTL game, Sundog: Frozen Legacy. Wayne is credited as Producer for Sundog, Dungeon Master, Chaos Strikes Back and Dungeon Master II. The Dungeon Master Manual also credits him for the game’s audio.
After FTL Games demise, Wayne Holder worked on the Java programming language. Here are some facts about that:
- Wayne Holder and Doug Bell were speakers at JavaOne in 1997 (Sun’s Worldwide Java Developer Conference).
- Wayne Holder and Doug Bell co-authored a book, Java Game Programming For Dummies on amazon.com (IDG Books Worldwide, April 1998, ISBN: 0764501682).
- On Wayne’s page (not available anymore), you could find some java applets including one called “Dungeon Master Java - A simple user-modifiable 3D maze based on FTL’s classic game Dungeon Master”!
- Wayne Holder teached Java courses at the University of California, San Diego (USCD).
- Here is Wayne Holder’s blog where you can see a photo of him.
Bruce F. Webster
Bruce F. Webster and Wayne Holder went to Grossmont High School in eastern San Diego county and graduated in 1971. Bruce was hired by Wayne in mid 1982 to create FTL Games. Together, they designed the first FTL game, Sundog. Bruce did most of the coding on the Apple II versions. After releasing Sundog version 2.0 for Apple II, Bruce resigned from FTL.
You can visit Bruce F. Webster’s web site for more information, including a photograph.
Doug Bell (Technical director)
Doug Bell was born on February 24, 1961.
Doug Bell was president of PVC Dragon, co-founded with Andy Jaros to create computer games for the Apple II, from 1981 to 1984 until they both joined FTL Games. Their ‘Crystal Dragon’ RPG project eventually became Dungeon Master.
He worked at FTL Games from 1985 to 1996 where he was the principal and lead developer on the computer games Dungeon Master, Chaos Strikes Back and Skullkeep (Dungeon MAster II), and on the port from the Apple II to the Atari ST of Sundog.
Doug Bell ported Sundog to the Atart ST with Andy Jaros and Mike Newton. He is credited as Director for Sundog Atari ST, Dungeon Master, Chaos Strikes Back and Dungeon Master II. The Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back manuals also credit him for program design.
Doug Bell and Wayne Holder co-authored a book, Java Game Programming For Dummies on amazon.com (IDG Books Worldwide, April 1998, ISBN: 0764501682).
Doug Bell teached courses at the University of California, San Diego (USCD).
You can visit Doug Bell article on wikipedia.org for more information.
Dennis Walker
Dennis Walker is credited as Assistant Director and Program Designer for Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back. He is also credited as Programmer in Dungeon Master II.
Mike Newton
Mike Newton ported Sundog to the Atart ST with Doug Bell and Andy Jaros. He is credited in Sundog Atari ST for Ship, Sound and Special Effects. He is also credited as Second Unit Director and Program Designer for Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back.
He built the original Dungeon Master dungeon with a tool named “Dungeon Construction Set” (DCS, never released publicly) that he programmed himself.
You can visit Michael Newton’s web site for more information.
Andy Jaros (Art and game design)
Andy Jaros ported Sundog to the Atart ST (with Doug Bell and Mike Newton). He is credited for Graphics in Sundog Atari ST, Dungeon Master, Chaos Strikes Back and as an FTL Artist in Dungeon Master II. He is also credited for scenario in Chaos Strikes Back.
Nancy L. Holder
Nancy Holder (Nancy Lindsay Jones Holder) is born on August 29, 1953. She was Wayne Holder’s wife (they got married on 27 December 1980, La Mesa, California, USA). She is a writer, author of many novels and short stories. She wrote the prologues in the manuals of Sundog, Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back. Here is a site where you can view Nancy Holder’s Bibliography. You can also visit Nancy Holder’s web site.
Nancy Holder teaches courses at the University of California, San Diego (USCD). Have a look at the Nancy Holder instructor profile at USCD.
David R. Darrow
David R. Darrow did the box cover paintings for Sundog: Frozen Legacy, Oids, RPV (Remotely Piloted Vehicle), Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back.
David studied at Art Center College of Design, in Pasadena, CA. He worked as a freelance illustrator in San Diego, CA through 1989, worked a few years in Los Angeles as a film promotion artist, working on such films as Back to the Future III, Terminator 2, Havana, Jurassic Park, and many others.
David R. Darrow died on May 18, 2025, after battling cancer for 2 years. See https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ0PAzwPcXp/ and https://www.instagram.com/p/DNCi232qaJK/.
You can visit David R. Darrow’s web site for more information.
You can see the original painting and comments by the author on the Dungeon Master page.
Don Jordan (Apple IIGS programming)
Don Jordan worked at FTL Games as Software Engineer from 1985 to 1989.
He ported Dungeon Master to the Apple IIGS (he is credited as IIGS director). Here is an Interview of Don Jordan by Danial Durgan (October 1998). There is a Don Jordan page at mobygames.com.
Don Jordan still works in software development, but no more games. He worked on a Windows video streaming application for a company called TeraGlobal Communications in San Diego, California.
Philip J. Mercurio (Amiga programming)
Phil Mercurio worked for FTL Games from February 1987 to February 1989.
Phil Mercurio is credited as Amiga Director in Dungeon Master Amiga version 3.6.
You can check Philip J. Mercurio’s web site where you can find his Curriculum Vitae.
Phil Mercurio teached courses at the University of California, San Diego (USCD).
Bill W. Kelly (Amiga programming)
Bill W. Kelly joined FTL in 1989 to take over Amiga programming after Phil Mercurio’s departure. He is listed in Dungeon Master Amiga version 3.6 credits. He is also credited as Director for Chaos Strikes Back, and as Programmer in Dungeon Master II.
Bill died on July 4th, 2021 at the age of 49.
David L. Simon (Art design)
David L. Simon is listed in Dungeon Master Amiga version 3.6 credits. He is also credited for Graphics and Animation in Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back. He was also an FTL artist on Dungeon Master II.
He has also worked with other game development companies like Interplay and Gremlin Interactive. He is credited in the following games:
Dragon Dice (1997, Interplay), Realms of the Haunting (1997, Interplay), Star Trek: Judgment Rites (1995, Interplay), Stonekeep (1995, Interplay).
Kirk A. Baker (Amiga/Macintosh programming)
Kirk worked for FTL Games from January 1990 to January 1996. He worked on such games as Oids and Dungeon Master II: The Legend Of Skullkeep.
Kirk Baker is listed in Dungeon Master Amiga version 3.6 credits. He is also credited as Second Unit Director in Chaos Strikes Back, and as Programmer in Dungeon Master II.
Kirk Baker has re-released OIDS (another game by FTL) as shareware for the Macintosh in 2003. Please visit Kirk Baker’s web site where you can find more information. Look in the About section for more information about Kirk himself.
Bert Huntsinger
Bert Huntsinger is listed in Dungeon Master Amiga version 3.6 credits.
Bert worked for FTL Games/Software Heaven from June 1990 to June 1994. He worked as animator for the Dungeon Master IBM release and also on Dungeon Master II (Puzzle Design/Level Builder/Artist/Animator) to make 16 color art of characters, environments, and props. He designed and wired together many of the game levels. On Dungeon Master II he was credited as Bert Huml. You can visit Bert Huntsinger page at mobygames.com for more information.
Check out this Interview of Bert Hunsinger (October 2, 2024).
Bert once contacted me by email and I got the chance to ask him what was his job at FTL. Here are his answers:
“I did some animations for various versions of Dungeon Master. I don’t remember the specifics on that.
I was initially hired to do art for Dungeon Master II. I also designed a number of the levels. They were trying to work with and adapt the original dungeon master game engine.
Interplay was brought on to distribute the game. They put pressure on FTL to update the game engine to at least support better graphics. The game engine was changed from having one 16 color palette per level, to having one 16 color palette per graphic, to one 256 color palette per graphic. Since the switch from 16 colors per graphic to 256 colors per graphic happened after myself and the other in house artists quit, Interplay artists were called in to touch up the art - in some cases dramatically.
Chaos strikes back and Dungeon Master II were both started with the thought of being a quick addendum to the first game. All the games were made with the original engine that was patched together and modified constantly.
The game was made up as it went along, so there was a lot of trying something to see if it worked, throwing it out and trying again. It made for a very long production cycle with long working hours. But we were all young then and didn’t care. We were all friends and spent lots of time together both in and outside of work. We put letters from fans up on the wall and they meant a lot to us.
There was a fairly sophisticated level design program that worked on the Atari ST. It was based on the idea of electronic circuit design - logic gates - wiring things together etc.
It’s really too bad that DM II didn’t come out right after DM I. It had a lot of cool things going on in it. The creatures were fairly smart for the time with a rudimentary AI. Weather patterns were simulated, as was a simple economy. There were two “towns” that you could trade goods between to make money and buy lots of nice stuff. Of course the main game would intervene eventually.
Wayne Holder’s wife is Nancy Holder. She is a writer and prefers the horror genre.”
Hiroyo Sunamoto
Hiroyo Sunamoto is credited for the Japanese translation of Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back.
Tsukasa Tawada
Tsukasa Tawada composed music for all the Japanese titles in the game series:
- Dungeon Master for Super Famicom / Super NES (1991, with Hikoshi Hashimoto)
- Theron’s Quest (1992)
- Dungeon Master II (1994, Japanese editions only)
- Dungeon Master Nexus (1998)
Tsukasa Tawada’s YouTube channel
Hikoshi Hashimoto
Tsukasa Tawada composed music for Dungeon Master for Super Famicom / Super NES (1991, with Tsukasa Tawada).
Joe F. Linhoff (Atari ST programming)
Joe Linhoff worked for FTL Games between 1988 and 1991.
He is credited as Assistant Director and Program Designer in Chaos Strikes Back.
Russ Boelhauf (Marketing manager)
Russ Boelhauf was the Marketing Director at FTL Games, Software Heaven, Inc. from January 1985 to March 1993
Credited for the manual of the US version of Dungeon Master for Super NES.
After leaving FTL Games in 1993, Russ pursued a career in the sporting goods industry.
News about his current business
James Ratkos
Freelance author of the Chaos Strikes Back Adventurer's Handbook in 1989.
Dan Hewitt (Atari ST/Macintosh programming)
Dan worked for FTL Games as a Software Engineer from 1987 to 1992 where he created Oids on Atari ST and Macintosh. He did all the programming, game-art, sound effects, and even wrote and illustrated the manual.
Credited as programmer in Dungeon Master II.
Sylvia Esposito (Wholesale sales supervisor)
Don Jordan wrote: she was the secretary, receptionist, shipper, and generally kept the office running.