Mad Doc Software

Background
Mad Doc Software was a video game developer based on Andover, Massachusetts. Founded in November 1999 by Ian Lane Davis, the studio was a primary developer of the Empire Earth series and a few Star Trek games under Activision. They also developed an enhanced version of the 2006 Rockstar game Bully, sub-titled Scholarship Edition. After the release of said game in March 2008, Rockstar Games acquired Mad Doc and rebranded it as Rockstar New England.

1st Logo (November 19, 2001-October 4, 2002)
Logo: A transparent oblong border containing an Erlenmeyer flask and the words "mad • doc" (with an underline cut from the border) and "SOFTWARE" (in place of that border) in a half-rounded font fades in. Then, a black circle with a glow around it, caused by radiant liquid pouring onto it from the top, appears behind the logo. The pour widens and gradually fades out, while the flask and "mad • doc" fills up with the liquid.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: Factory sounds including gears rolling and a machine turning on, and a pouring sound when the logo fills up.

Availability: Seen on Star Trek: Armada II, Jane's Attack Squadron, and the Empire Earth expansion pack The Art of Conquest.

2nd Logo (November 11, 2003-December 22, 2006)
Logo: A background appears and fades out, then "strikes" to a scene involving an elderly scientist in a brown laboratory-like room. The doc has a pair of flasks on his table, containing mild and  liquid respectively, with more flasks and their containers behind him. He spices the liquid, stirs it and pours it into the  liquid. The impact of this causes a monster to appear from a gas cloud, who then scares the surprised doc. He looks around in hurry, then suddenly gets an idea. Depending on the game, this idea and the scene remaining is as follows:


 * Dungeon Siege: The doc proceeds to drink his own mix, and transforms into a bigger monster, scaring away the original monster. He then grabs the empty flask, and thrusts it onto the table.
 * Empire Earth II: The doc leans under the table and tosses a few tools before putting a big button on the table. He presses the button, to which a mechanical arm appears and grabs the monster before it tries to escape, then flings it around, much to the doc's amusement. Another arm with a hammer on it appears and knocks the monster into unconciousness, who then gets thrown into a trash bin labeled with the Mad Doc flask emblem.
 * Star Trek: Legacy: The doc pulls out the same button, and as he presses it, the monster gets beamed out of the laboratory. It then screams in anger as it appears to have been teleported to a Mars-like planet, from which we pan out as a satellite labeled with the Mad Doc flask emblem flies in.

At the end, the flask from before is shown in a close-up, then zooms out to show the full Mad Doc logo.

Variants:
 * On Dungeon Siege, the logo is flat 2D with a oblong, the flask's colors inverted, and the name fully inside the oblong.
 * On Empire Earth II, the whole logo is embossed and both an ® and ™ symbol are seen with it. The scene preceding it has also been enhanced with clearer lighting and more detailed textures (most noticeably a brick wall instead of rusted iron, and more accessories behind the doc).
 * On Star Trek: Legacy, the oblong is omitted, instead having the flask on a mild background enclosed in a white circle. The scene preceding it also proceeds directly from the preceding GameSpy logo.

Technique: CGI, directed by Mad Doc lead artist Peter Calabria.

Music/Sounds: An electric guitar riff, followed by a thunder strike and sounds corresponding to the proceeding scene (including a heavenly choir when the scientist gets his idea, and his occasional grunts and bits of dialogue). The same riff from the beginning plays afterwards, with the scientist laughing at the very end.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On Dungeon Siege, the scientist's idea moment is signified by a ding.
 * On Star Trek: Legacy, the rock tune cuts in near the thunder strike.

Availability: Seen on the Dungeon Siege expansion pack Legends of Aranna, Empire Earth II (and its expansion pack The Art of Supremacy), and Star Trek: Legacy.

3rd Logo (November 6, 2007-March 7, 2008)
Logo: Fading in on a white background, we see the scientist from before gazing over a flask containing radiant liquid and an iron ball (which he presumably threw into the liquid). The Star Trek: Legacy variant of the Mad Doc logo then zooms out on a black background.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: Liquid bubbling sounds (preceded by the iron ball being thrown into it), followed by the guitar riff from the previous logo.

Availability: Seen on Empire Earth III and the Xbox 360 version of Bully: Scholarship Edition.