Hyperion Entertainment

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Not to be confused with the product line and former software company Hyperion Solutions or the Hyperion computer.

Hyperion Entertainment
Company typePrivate
IndustryComputer software
FoundedApril 1999
Headquarters
Brussels
,
Belgium
Key people
Ben Yoris, Benjamin Hermans, Timothy de Groote, Evert Carton
ProductsAmigaOS 4
Websitewww.hyperion-entertainment.com

Hyperion Entertainment CVBA (formerly Hyperion Entertainment VOF) is a Belgian software company which in its early years focused in porting Windows games to Amiga OS, Linux, and Mac OS. In 2001, they accepted a contract by Amiga Incorporated to develop AmigaOS 4 and mainly discontinued their porting business to pursue this development. AmigaOS 4 runs on the AmigaOne systems, Commodore Amiga systems with a Phase5 PowerUP accelerator board, Pegasos II systems and Sam440/Sam460 systems.

History[edit]

Hyperion Entertainment was founded in April 1999 by Ben Hermans and Evert Carton to port PC games to the Amiga.[1] Hans-Joerg Frieden, who had previously worked on the Warp3D library and ports of the games Descent and Abuse, was contracted to be Hyperion's main developer.[2] The company's first project was an Amiga port of Heretic II, released in 2000 to commercial failure.[3] As a result, Hyperion expanded its scope to also include ports for Linux and Mac OS. Later that year, Hyperion ported SiN for Linux, postponing and ultimately cancelling a port of the game to the Amiga due to hardware requirements.[4] An improved version of Heretic II was released for AmigaOS 4 in early 2024.[5]

They also approached Monolith Productions to port their Lithtech engine, culminating in their port of Shogo: Mobile Armor Division for Amiga, Linux, and Mac OS in 2001.[6][7] The game had not sold as well as had been hoped, most notably on Linux, despite becoming a best seller on Tux Games. Hyperion stated that Linux users were likely to dual boot with Windows to play easily available games rather than purchase more expensive specialised versions years after release.[8] In early 2002, Hyperion introduced the Amiga port of Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War.[9] An improved version for AmigaOS 4 followed in 2010.[10] After id Software released its source code,[11] Hyperion marketed later in 2002 a commercial Amiga port of Quake II.[12] A Linux port of Gorky 17 was developed by Hyperion and published by Linux Game Publishing in 2006,[13] while a version for AmigaOS 4 was released nearly a decade later in 2015.[14]

During work on the Heretic II port, Hyperion Entertainment developers created an OpenGL subset called MiniGL, which sits on top of Warp3D to ease the porting of 3D games.[15] The MiniGL library was released for free to other software developers.[16]

AmigaOS 4[edit]

In 2001, Hyperion announced that, after licensing the rights from Amiga, Inc., it would be working on the successor to AmigaOS 3.9 and concentrating its efforts on the development of AmigaOS 4. Hyperion still claimed that it is based upon AmigaOS 3.1 source code and, to a lesser extent certain, AmigaOS 3.9 sources. A quick port of 68k AmigaOS to PowerPC was originally planned, with new features added as development continued. Ben Hermans, writing on Amiga forum Ann.lu, claimed that these sources, along with the source of the PPC kernel WarpOS would be sufficient to provide a version to users within a year, making his now-infamous "change some flags and recompile" comment.[citation needed]

AmigaOS 4.0 was first released to end-users and second-level beta testers in April 2004, with AmigaOS 4.1 following in September 2008. It is currently still in development.[17][needs update]

In 2004, Hyperion attempted to obtain a licence for an AmigaOS 4 native port of the file manager Directory Opus, which had originally and been developed on the Amiga but for which development had since moved to the Microsoft Windows platform. Talks between Hyperion and GP Software broke down.[18]

The first managing partner of Hyperion, Benjamin Hermans, in the period between the announcement and release of AmigaOS 4, ignited a community controversy by repeatedly claiming that MorphOS, an AmigaOS-like competitor (which had been released in complete form in 2003), was illegal and had on several occasions threatened to take legal action against it either on the grounds that it was parasitic competition to AmigaOS 4,[19] or even that it was actually based on stolen AmigaOS source code.[20] No evidence to support either claim ever became public, nor did any legal action against MorphOS take place; neither prevented such views being repeated in public Amiga forums and mailing lists. This situation was inflamed by ex-Commodore engineer Dave Haynie, who backed up Herman's claims: "If you have seen the Amiga source code, you cannot produce a legally separate work-alike",[21] though again without any direct evidence.

Hermans claimed that Bill Buck, who led the Genesi company funding MorphOS, was a "con-artist".[22]

Evert Carton took over the managing partner position after Hermans stepped down in 2003, due to a lack of time for daily administrative work.[23] Timothy de Groote became another partner in 2003.[24]

Dispute and settlement with Amiga, Inc.[edit]

See also: History of the AmigaOS 4 dispute

In 2007, Hyperion was sued by Amiga Incorporated for trademark infringement in the Washington Western District Court in Seattle, Washington.[25][26] Amiga, Inc. sued Hyperion for breach of contract, trademark violation and copyright infringement concerning the development and marketing of AmigaOS 4, stating that Hyperion had continued to develop and market AmigaOS 4 without paying agreed royalties and had continued to do so even after being warned to cease and desist.[27]

Hyperion launched a counteraction, claiming fraud in Amiga, Inc. handling of Amiga intellectual properties and debts, including the use of debt-holding shell companies, by shifting responsibility between these shell companies. They also claimed that Amiga, Inc. had failed to uphold their part of the contract and had been untruthful in correspondence[citation needed] and that they had failed to deliver the AmigaOS 3.1 source that AmigaOS 4 was developed from, forcing Hyperion to find it elsewhere.[28] In autumn 2007, Hyperion released a standalone version of AmigaOS 4 for classic Amiga,[29] an action Amiga, Inc. claimed was illegal.

On 29 May 2007, the new managing partner stated under oath – without further evidence – that the open-source AmigaOS reimplementation of AROS was "probably illegal", as documented on page 27 of court documents related to the Amiga-Hyperion court case.[30]

On 30 September 2009, Hyperion and Amiga, Inc. reached a settlement. Hyperion was granted an exclusive license to develop and market AmigaOS 4 and subsequent versions under the name AmigaOS.[31][32] However, the "Amiga" trademark remained with Amiga, Inc. and was then also licensed to other parties, including Commodore USA and iContain. This meant that "Amiga"-branded hardware could and would be sold without AmigaOS 4.[33]

In 2009, Hyperion changed its legal status from a business partnership (VOF) to a company with limited liability (CVBA).[34]

On 24 April 2011, Evert Carton announced he was stepping down as the managing partner of Hyperion.[35] In charge of the company were then Ben Hermans and Timothy de Groote.[24]

Insolvency Declaration of 2015[edit]

On 27 January 2015, Hyperion Entertainment was declared insolvent.[36] Ben Hermans has claimed that this was an administrative mistake by a third party and that the company would appeal the insolvency decision.[37] The declaration was overturned on 2 April 2015[38] and the company posted a clarification on its website.[39]

Recent events[edit]

AmigaOS 4 developer and Aminet administrator Costel Mincea joined Hyperion in mid-2015 as a third director.[40] Hyperion reported in January 2017 that Hermans has resigned as a director, in charge of the company remained Timothy De Groote and Costel Mincea.[41] In October 2017, Hyperion was removed from Belgium's official company register due to not filling out annual reports for the last three years.[42] Hyperion supplied the reports to the National Bank of Belgium.[43] In July 2020, amiga-news.de reported that Costel Mincea resigned from his post at Hyperion and that remaining director Timothy de Groote was in a legal dispute with former Hyperion's managing partner Ben Hermans.[44] In February 2021, Timothy de Groote was no longer director of Hyperion and Ben Hermans assumed full control of the company.[45]

Game ports[edit]

Hyperion's game ports include Heretic II, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, Gorky 17, Quake II, SiN and Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War. Hyperion also announced that it acquired the license to port Worms Armageddon[46] and Soldier of Fortune,[47] but these were not released.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Hyperion portiert Team17's Kult-Spiel "Worms: Armageddon"" (in German). Amiga-News.de. 28 July 2011 [31 July 1999]. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Interviews - Hans-Joerg Frieden". Digital Amiga Dream. Archived from the original on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  3. ^ "playamiga.de: Heretic II Review" (in German). Amiga-News.de. 25 June 2000. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Amiga-Port von SiN fertig, aber..." (in German). Amiga-News.de. 12 May 2001. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Alinea Computer will take over distribution of the next two Hyperion games" (Press release). Alinea Computer. amiga-news.de. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  6. ^ "Lithtech 3D Linux Port". LinuxGames. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  7. ^ "Monolith Adds Games For Linux". Slashdot. 20 January 2000. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  8. ^ "A.T. Hun's Haus of Shogo: Interview with Hyperion's Ben Hermans". thehaus.net. Archived from the original on 18 October 2007.
  9. ^ "H&P: Freespace: Endlich lieferbar" (in German). Amiga-News.de. 7 January 2002. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Freespace updated to AmigaOS 4.1 - Amiga-NG". Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  11. ^ "Quellcode von Quake2 veröffentlicht (Update)" (in German). Amiga-News.de. 24 December 2001. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Quake2 Amiga-Port erhältlich" (in German). Amiga-News.de. 7 November 2002. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  13. ^ Larabel, Michael (7 June 2006). "Gorky 17 Goes Gold". Phoronix.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  14. ^ "AmigaOS 4: Gorky 17 released". Amiga-News.de. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  15. ^ Vost, Ben (December 1999). "Previews, Heretic II". Amiga Format. No. 130. Future Publishing. pp. 28–29. ISSN 0957-4867.
  16. ^ "Hyperion: Neue MiniGL Library fertig" (in German). Amiga-News.de. 16 April 2000. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  17. ^ "Hyperion AmigaOS 4 development timeline". 28 May 2011.
  18. ^ "Greg Perry of GP Software on Directory Opus for AmigaOS 4". Archived from the original on 6 March 2011.
  19. ^ "Ben Hermans on ANN.lu, challenged on suing MorphOS. Let's find out".
  20. ^ "Ben Hermans, ANN.lu. "MorphOS people are using OS3.1 source codes, it's a known fact."".
  21. ^ "Haynie: MorphOS code is stolen". Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  22. ^ "Ben Hermans claiming "Bill Buck is the con-artist"". Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  23. ^ "Hyperion: Evert Carton now sole Managing Partner". Amiga-News.de. 14 November 2003. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  24. ^ a b "Actualité de mars/avril 2011, Départ d'Evert Carton de Hyperion" (in French). Obligement. April 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  25. ^ "Amiga Inc v. Hyperion VOF :: Justia Dockets & Filings". Dockets.justia.com. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  26. ^ "Amiga Inc.: "Lizenzabkommen beendet" / Klage gegen Hyperion (Update 3)" (in German). Amiga-News.de. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  27. ^ Proven, Liam (3 May 2007). "The trials of the Amiga continue". The Inquirer. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  28. ^ "Hyperion's official statement". Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2007.
  29. ^ Zivadinovic, Dusan (26 November 2007). "AmigaOS 4.0 für klassische Amigas mit PPC-Erweiterungen" (in German). heise.de. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  30. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. ^ "Hyperion, Amiga, Inc. settlement". OSNews. 17 October 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  32. ^ "Das Ende ist gekommen!". Amiga Future (in German). No. 82. APC&TCP. January 2010. p. 25.
  33. ^ [1] Archived 6 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  34. ^ "Actualité de septembre/octobre 2009, Accord Amiga Inc./Hyperion". Obligement. October 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  35. ^ "Announcement : Goodbye To All". amigaworld.net. 24 April 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  36. ^ "Hyperion declared bankrupt". Amiga-News.de. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  37. ^ David Doyle. "Amigaworld.net - The Amiga Computer Community Portal Website". amigaworld.net.
  38. ^ "Hyperion: Erklärung der Zahlungsunfähigkeit offenbar aufgehoben" (in German). Amiga-News.de. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  39. ^ "Clarification of Current Situation". Hyperion Entertainment. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  40. ^ "Hyperion: Costel Mincea becomes third director". Amiga-News.de. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  41. ^ "Hyperion Management Restructuring". Hyperion-entertainment.com. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  42. ^ "Hyperion forcibly deleted from Belgium's company register". Amiga-News.de. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  43. ^ "Hyperion added back to Belgium's company register". Amiga-News.de. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  44. ^ "Changes in Hyperion's Management". Amiga-News.de. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  45. ^ "Timothy de Groote no longer a director at Hyperion". Amiga-News.de. 27 February 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  46. ^ Frederick, Jake (September 1999). "Games News And Previews, Worms:Armageddon". Amazing Computing/Amiga. Vol. 14, no. 9. PiM Publications. p. 28. ISSN 1053-4547.
  47. ^ "Earth2140 und Soldier of Fortune" (in German). Amiga-News.de. 13 June 2000. Retrieved 3 June 2018.

External links[edit]

Official website

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