SubLOGIC

Founding of subLOGIC

SubLOGIC (stylized subLOGIC) was founded in 1977 by Bruce Artwick, with incorporation occurring in 1978 by Stu Moment under the name SubLOGIC Communications Corporation.
Artwick, then a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, had already been working on computer-graphics and 3D simulation as part of his master's thesis.
Moment brought business discipline and a passion for aviation; together, they aimed to turn Artwick's simulation ideas into a commercial software company.
In its earliest days, SubLOGIC sold 3D graphics packages and driver software for microcomputers (such as those using the 6502 and 8080 processors) before soon pivoting to full flight simulation.

In 1979, SubLOGIC released its first major product: FS1 Flight Simulator for the Apple II and TRS-80.
The simulation was notable for its 3D wireframe graphics, a first for many home computers of the era.
As microcomputer hardware proliferated, Microsoft saw the potential of SubLOGIC's simulator. In 1982, SubLOGIC licensed a version of its flight simulator for IBM PC to Microsoft, which released it as Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Meanwhile, SubLOGIC continued developing and improving its own line: in 1983, it released Flight Simulator II, which introduced richer scenery, more instruments, and expanded support.

SubLOGIC did not limit itself to flight simulators. The company built a broader software portfolio including:
- A graphics animation library for the Apple II (the A2-3D1 package)
- Educational software and 3D tools for CP/M platforms
- Games like Night Mission Pinball, which was ported to multiple platforms (Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS)
- Simulation titles like Jet, released in 1985, which allowed users to fly modern jet aircraft.
SubLOGIC also published “scenery disks”: add-on geographic libraries for Flight Simulator, such as the Western U.S., Europe, and Japan, enabling users to fly over more realistic and varied landscapes.
The company distributed software both by floppy disk and, in early years, cassette, catering to the storage media common on early home computers.

In 1988, a turning point for SubLOGIC occurred: Bruce Artwick left the company and formed a new firm, BAO Ltd. (Bruce Artwick Organization).
Artwick took with him the rights for Microsoft Flight Simulator, and BAO continued to work closely with Microsoft on that line.
Under Moment's leadership, SubLOGIC shifted its focus toward other kinds of simulation. In 1990, they released Flight Assignment: A.T.P., a more professional airline-transport-pilot simulator designed to simulate commercial airline operations.

Throughout the early 1990s, SubLOGIC developed additional titles, including Flight Light Plus and other simulation products.
In 1995, SubLOGIC was acquired by Sierra On-Line.
Sierra completed a flight simulator project that SubLOGIC had been working on, releasing it as Pro Pilot in 1997.
Even after the acquisition, the SubLOGIC brand continued under Moment, though its role diminished in the mainstream market.

SubLOGIC's greatest legacy is its role in spawning and shaping Microsoft Flight Simulator, one of the longest-running and most influential simulation franchises in computing history.
The company helped pioneer real-time 3D simulation on home microcomputers, pushing the boundaries of what these early machines could do graphically.
Their work in scenery add-ons and modular simulation also laid the foundation for the ecosystem of "add-ons" later popularized in flight-sim communities.