Apple Computer Inc. killed their project, but the founders of Stagecast Software Inc. won't let it die.

Larry Tesler, David Smith and Allen Cypher -- all former senior Apple executives -- are marching forward with plans to develop software that allows children to make their own video games and programmable graphics.

The trio's new company, Stagecast Software, has even licensed Apple's Cocoa technology to make it happen.

"I wanted to make sure the project got to market somehow," said Tesler, Apple's former chief scientist and manager of the AppleNet division. "I've been sort of a friend of the project. It lets me do something I've wanted to do for a long time."

Tesler said education software will help today's children compete in tomorrow's complex world.

Tesler's AppleNet division had spent nearly four years developing the Cocoa technology before Apple killed the unit earlier this year.

That's when Smith and Cypher left Apple to found Stagecast. Tesler stayed on to run various projects for former Chief Executive Gil Amelio, eventually jumping ship in August to become Stagecast's president.

Stagecast plans to expand Apple's Cocoa software so that it runs across all platforms, including Macintosh- and Windows-based computers and handheld devices.

Cocoa software lets kids design characters and program their onscreen actions without ever having to type in a programming command. They simply adjust graphics by clicking on the screen with their mouse.

"The idea behind Cocoa was to lower the floor and raise the ceiling so that kids could do things in just a few minutes that were really interesting," Tesler said.

For example, a child who wants to create a flying bird simply has to draw or paste a bird with its wings down in one cell, and its wings up in another. The resulting program features a bird with its wings flapping up and down. By playing with the graphics, the child then can make the bird fly around other characters, crash into them or even eat them and belch.

Users can create simple images, where a character speeds across the screen again and again. Or they can push the technological limit, designing games with multiple levels featuring recorded sound and complex graphics.

Tesler plans to add even more features to Stagecast's first version of the program, due out sometime next year. No price has been set.

The company plans to sell the software to parents, institutional buyers, and teachers, who can use it during lessons.

Smith said the product can be used to teach the scientific method in the classroom, especially when a character doesn't run in the direction a student expects.

"When their hypothesis is refuted, then they really get engaged, and say 'why did it do that?' and they go back into the program and try to fix it," said Smith, who along with Cypher, co-invented Cocoa at Apple.

The developers also hope the software will help close the gender gap in computer use.

"Most of the software that's out there now, some adult created it, usually a young man who created a game for boys," Tesler said. "Here the kids are the authors, so girls are going to make things that girls like and boys are going to make things that boys like."

Smith and Tesler say they're working to create gender-neutral software, but boys still like bullets.

When asked about his former employer during an interview, Tesler paused diplomatically, saying only that he stays in touch with the company, especially those in the education division.

Of the changes at Apple -- including Steven Jobs' return as interim CEO -- Tesler said: "When I look at the big picture, this is just what the doctor ordered. Some big changes needed to be made."

As for leaving Apple for a start-up, both Telser and Smith say they like the creative freedom that comes with being entrepreneurs. They seem to enjoy working without the corporate net.

"It's scary, but it's also exciting and very energizing," Smith said. "You control the success or failure of the company."

Copyright (c) 1997 ZDNet. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of ZDNet is prohibited. ZDNet and the ZDNet logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Inc.