François Lionet

Overview

François Lionet believed game creation shouldn’t require assembly expertise. His STOS (Atari ST, 1988) and AMOS (Amiga, 1990) BASIC dialects included built-in commands for sprites, scrolling, and sound—features that normally demanded low-level coding. Thousands of hobbyists created their first games using Lionet’s tools.

Fast facts

Background: French programmer, self-taught.
Philosophy: powerful features through simple commands.
Commercial success: AMOS sold over 100,000 copies.
Later work: co-created Clickteam tools (Klik & Play, The Games Factory).

STOS BASIC (1988)

Designed for the Atari ST:

Sprite handling with simple commands
Hardware scrolling access
Music and sound effects
Joystick input

STOS proved game-making tools had commercial potential.

AMOS BASIC (1990)

The Amiga version expanded capabilities:

Full access to Amiga custom chips
Copper list control
Bob and sprite graphics
Module music playback
Compiled output for speed

AMOS Professional (1992)

Enhanced version adding:

Built-in editor improvements
Faster execution
Additional commands
Better debugging

Games created with AMOS

Game	Developer	Notes
Scorched Tanks	Wendell Hicken	Shareware hit
Super Skidmarks	Acid Software	Commercial release
Worms	Team17	Prototype (later rewrote in assembly)
Numerous PD games	Hobbyists	Thousands released

Impact on game creation

Lionet’s tools proved a crucial point:

Game development could be accessible
Built-in game features were valuable
Hobbyists would pay for better tools

This philosophy continued through Clickteam’s products, which remain popular for 2D game creation today.

Creator of AMOS and STOS