About early FP & TP view (3D) ARPG & AA games

[ommadawnyawn2]

This basically means 3D games (or close enough, ie Wolfenstein 3D or Alone in the Dark-like 3D) in the genre(s). I've been thinking about where exactly to divide the history of these games into forerunners and the first proper generation/era.

Currently I have the cutoff point at 1992 when Ultima Underworld released, but that leaves me with a forerunners period from 1975-1991 and there were various full or near 3D games that basically qualify from before UU, except they weren't nearly as popular.

For example Star Cruiser, Hunter, Corporation, Cybercon III, Midwinter II: Flames of Freedom and Mercenary III: The Dion Crisis. 


worldsunraveled.weebly.com/fp--tp-view-games.html



When do you think think the cutoff point for games in these perspectives/in 3D starting "proper" should be?

[condroid]

I think somewhere around 1984/85 to 1991 is probably where these concepts had mainstream appeal for the first time. Games like Elite, Mercenary, Rescue on Fractalus, The Eidolon, Koronis Rift, Tau Ceti, WibArm, Space Rogue, Midwinter 1+2, Ashes of Empire, Hunter, Driller, Dark Side, Total Eclipse, Castle Master, Star Cruiser, The Colony, Cholo, Captain Blood, Sleeping God Lie, Drakkhen, Vette, Terminator, Interphase, Damocles etc. are all from that period.

What came after (starting around 1992/93) does already feel like the next evolutionary step with games like Ultima Underworld, Wolfenstein, Doom, Elder Scrolls, Ambermoon, Alone in the Dark, Frontier, Privateer etc. These titles consolidated the earlier concepts into a few popular sub-genres.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Heya. Most seemed to think 1992 was a good point over on the GOG forums, so I think I'll go with that. It's around then that most of them took more definitive shapes as what's later seen as FPS, TPS, ARPG etc. too and actually became more mainstream, besides maybe Elite. It's not set in stone though.

I'm interested in the ones you mentioned that aren't on the site (unless they're space combat sims), if you don't mind saying something about them.