Last Updated 5th May 2019

From Dave Palmer (29/1/2002):

I was interested to see your web site and all the info about Alligata Software! My name is Dave Palmer and I was in at the get go with Mike Mahoney who started Alligata (he is my ex wifes cousin and we were quite good friends) 1981/82 it started. I ran a business then as a manufacturers agent and manufacturer of Hi-Fi and acoutical equipment, I was an ex RAF aircraft engineer and technically up to speed on most things. So the computer business was a natural location to get involved in. I had spent some time looking at wholesale import and production of components as a possible new area of business for me, but when the vid game thing started in its early days I was more interested in this so started with Mike as a side line and a bit of fun. It became a time consuming business. I handled sales and PR function, but in truth I was involved at every stage from day one, devising designing, duplicating cassettes, checking artwork, packing, game testing, running programmers to and from school at lunch time (yes most of them were at school still and writing games).

I left in October 1986 and started Alternative Software with a guy called Roger Hulley :~/ I ran all the production side from my offices in Sheffield and sales were handled in Pontefract. I escaped from him in 1988 (literally!!) and set up Hi Tec Software, 100% my own company and the rest is history...... My involvement has to be well over 200 video games in 20 years - Ouch! Feelin old.....

FYI -Mike Mahoney packed in as MD of Alligata somewhere in 1988 I think it was, he started a market garden near Retford where he lived, Mike said to me he did not like how the industry was becoming and what it was doing to him as a person. Mike was a really nice guy. I do not know what he is doing now. His younger brother Tim took over Alligata and it was not long before it closed down and some titles were sold off to someone in the North East (trying to remember who?). Although they did not own some of the IP in some of the games to be able to do this!

Of the original programmers? (I missed some out but it is hard to remember everyone involved?).

Steve Evans - Last time I knew Steve was a very senior consultant at Arthur Anderson's the accounting firm. (Cosmic Asteroids, Lunar Rescue, Rocket Roger, Guardian, Who Dares Wins ++).

Tony Crowther - Working at Infograme Sheffield (formerly Gremlin). Blagger, Son Of, Loco, Trap........

Ross Goodley - Working at Fluid in Sheffield. This very young man told me Elite game could not be done on a Beeb? Two months later that game came out! A brilliant programmer none the less. Cant remember his gameography....

Chris Butler - Running a dev company in Sheffield. Transistors revenge, Fruity Freddy (Softspot titles), Then did Blagger goes to Hollywood. Chris went on the do the famous Putty games on NES and SNES for System 3.

Marcus Altman - Marcus was Chris's original partner. Marcus went to college to become either an optician or an opthalmic surgeon???

Not all of the above is complete..

The 80's were great, a new industry, great fun, never knew quite what would happen next with it, no BIG corproate businesses to start out with, it was a fun time.

They also made one compilation, Fistful of Fun.

Please contact me if you have any additional information about the company or its games!

The Big Three:

All the rest: