VENOM Software
VENOM Software was founded in 1999, during the era when programmers distributed software and games on compact discs to popular PC magazines like PC Games or PC Action, hoping their creations would be featured on the cover CD. The software label was inspired by the founder’s coder pseudonym, “venom”.
Born in Berlin, Germany, venom studied Computer Science at the Berlin Institute of Technology and was awarded the title of Diplom-Informatiker (equivalent to a Master’s Degree in Computer Science).
Since 2005, he has worked on projects for various international IT companies and currently serves as Lead Software Engineer in a 3D rendering team.
In his spare time, Venom develops 3D engines, tech demos, and games, featuring striking visual effects and immersive, high-quality digital soundscapes.
Programming History
2021–Present
Currently developing a new 3D engine, VGFXVulkan, whenever time permits.
2010-2018
Despite limited spare time, a new 3D engine, VGFXOpenGL v2, was developed, and Demo 08 – Revelation 20 was released to showcase the engine’s capabilities.
2009
The first-person shooter Lone Wolf 3 was released after four years of development during spare time.
2004
VGFXOpenGL v1 was completed, enabling the development of the first-person 3D shooter Lone Wolf 3. Additionally, the game’s intro was released as a standalone demo, Demo 07.
2003
Development of VGFXOpenGL v1 began, and the engine was utilized for the production of Demo 06.
2000-2002
Several projects were completed, including Demo 01, Demo 02, Demo 03, Demo 04, Demo 05, and the action game Lone Wolf 2. All of these productions used the in-house software engines VenomGFX and VGFX.
1999
The game Lone Wolf I was released. Following this, VENOM Software transitioned away from Borland Pascal GDI and developed an in-house SVGA (16-bit) graphics unit based on the VESA VBE 2.0 standard. This unit supported the Linear Frame Buffer (LFB) and optionally the older bank-switching technique. The first iteration of the unit was named VenomGFX, which evolved into VGFX, featuring an in-house 3D software engine written in Assembler and Free Pascal.
1998
The pixel-based action game, Invasion 2, was developed, utilizing the Borland Pascal GDI. In this game, players controlled a space fighter instead of a tank. Invasion 2 was included on the cover CD of PC Games magazine, Issue 12/1999.
1997
The pixel-based action game, Tank Leader 2, was developed. By this time, all development was done in graphics mode using the Borland Pascal GDI.
1996
The first pixel-based action game, Tank Leader 1, was developed. It used the Borland Pascal GDI to achieve a 640×480 pixel resolution with 16 colors.
1995
At just 13 years old, venom developed his first game, Invasion. The game ran in text mode, with spaceships represented by ASCII characters. Unfortunately, all source files and binaries have been lost, so no screenshots are available.