[1] Bob Clardy first was exposed to personal home computers at that time, following the releases of the Apple II and Tandy TRS-80, both in 1977.

[3]: 43  In January 1980, Bob began to write Odyssey: The Compleat Apventure (1980), building on the themes and gameplay of the two earlier Campaign games.

[1][2]: 41  Odyssey was exhibited at the Fifth West Coast Computer Faire, where Bob's original Apple II was stolen.

[6] Wilderness Campaign, which added resource management to an adventure set in the "Kingdom of Draconia",[2]: 41 [7] is credited with inspiring the gameplay of the 1981 electronic board game Dark Tower.

[3]: 45  Synergistic hired its first full-time employee in March 1981, a programmer named Mike Branham, followed by Bob's younger brother Will, later that year, to handle marketing.