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Post by phediuk on Mar 9, 2018 14:14:11 GMT -5
Legends of Valour (1992, DOS) the first fully 3D open-world RPG ever*clicks on vid* *immediately sees a huge 2D character* "Fully 3D" meaning in the context of 1992 that you can rotate 360 degrees, you can move at oblique angles, and you aren't confined to a grid. Also features texture mapping.
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Post by phediuk on Mar 9, 2018 20:01:36 GMT -5
Also, if "fully 3D" requires everything to be polygonal, then the first fully 3D RPG is Star Cruiser (PC-88, 1988), predating both Legends of Valour and Ultima Underworld by a few years:
Also the first first-person shooter from Japan that isn't a rail shooter or flight combat game, I believe.
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Post by phediuk on Mar 9, 2018 20:03:42 GMT -5
Also, another fun fact: December 1990 saw the release of both Hard Drivin' and Star Cruiser for the Genesis. They were the two very first polygonal console games of any kind.
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Post by phediuk on Mar 9, 2018 20:18:33 GMT -5
One "first" I'm curious to know is what the first polygonal home computer game was. There are wireframe 3D games going back to Flight Simulator (1979), but filled polygons took awhile to emerge.
I of the Mask (ZX Spectrum, c. November 1985) seems to be a contender here, though the hallway sections are all "baked"; the only dynamic angles occur in the flight combat segments:
On the other hand Arcticfox for the Amiga (c. April 1986) is definitively a polygonal game:
And of course there's also the aforementioned Wibarm, also a 1986 game.
Polygonal games star emerging in larger numbers with the advent of the Freescape engine (1987), which leads to stuff like Driller and Total Eclipse. Then you have Midwinter and Flames of Freedom and the like.
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Post by phediuk on Mar 9, 2018 20:27:55 GMT -5
For a non-technical "ahead of its time" in video gaming, there's Basketball for the Atari 400/800 (1979), which features the first black person in a video game ever, and playable too.
Also, the first female protagonist was in Kid Venture (Apple II, 1980), and the first LGBT character was in Infocom's Moonmist (1986).
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Post by phediuk on Mar 9, 2018 20:31:49 GMT -5
Also, are there any games preceding Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Atari 2600, 1983) with onscreen blood?
Because if not, then the first game with an onscreen ejaculation (Beat 'em and Eat 'em, 1982) actually precedes the first game with blood. And the first close-up ejaculation is from 1983 too, in Stroker for C64. Okay now I'm a bit embarrassed I know all of this.
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Post by condroid on Mar 10, 2018 17:14:10 GMT -5
One "first" I'm curious to know is what the first polygonal home computer game was. There are wireframe 3D games going back to Flight Simulator (1979), but filled polygons took awhile to emerge. I think that depends on what you consider a 'real' polygonal 3D game. Games from the early 80s that have a flat-shaded look usually employ various 2D techniques that make them look 3D. Wayout (1982, Atari 800) Capture the Flag (1983, Atari 800) Plazma Line (1984, PC-6001)
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Post by Woody Alien on Mar 10, 2018 17:31:28 GMT -5
Thanks phediuk for all of those entries, they're all genuinely interesting! I'm going to add another one to the pile, Jaron Lanier's Moondust for C64, made in 1983. It's both the first music game and the first art game, with the abstract music score procedurally generated and influenced by the joystick's movements and actions. The joystick also controls seven characters at once and the gameplay involves spreading of moon dust and space seed, or something. Lanier was (is) a computer visionary, but it's still hard to describe this software he made, also because his descriptions kind of sound like pretentious hippie bullshit. But it's quite fascinating.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Mar 10, 2018 18:46:19 GMT -5
I think I'd call that one a very rudimentary music creation tool or just an art installation rather than a music game. But it is kinda cool.
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Post by condroid on Mar 10, 2018 20:01:10 GMT -5
Also, if "fully 3D" requires everything to be polygonal, then the first fully 3D RPG is Star Cruiser (PC-88, 1988), predating both Legends of Valour and Ultima Underworld by a few years. I think calling Star Cruiser an RPG is a bit of a stretch. But there is Alien Fires: 2199 AD from 1987. Apart from being an early 3D RPG, this game it is also notable for having fully voiced dialog via speech synthesis in the Amiga version:
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Post by condroid on Mar 10, 2018 20:18:01 GMT -5
Also, are there any games preceding Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Atari 2600, 1983) with onscreen blood? Forbidden Forest is also from 1983 and was something like the ultimate gore game of its era.
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Post by phediuk on Mar 10, 2018 20:45:33 GMT -5
Also, are there any games preceding Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Atari 2600, 1983) with onscreen blood? Forbidden Forest is also from 1983 and was something like the ultimate gore game of its era. Speaking of Forbidden Forest, is there any game preceding it that has a real-time day-night cycle? The closest I'm aware of is The Hobbit (1982), which does keep track of the passage of time, but not to the point of having distinct day and night phases.
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Post by phediuk on Mar 10, 2018 20:49:36 GMT -5
Also, if "fully 3D" requires everything to be polygonal, then the first fully 3D RPG is Star Cruiser (PC-88, 1988), predating both Legends of Valour and Ultima Underworld by a few years. I think calling Star Cruiser an RPG is a bit of a stretch. But there is Alien Fires: 2199 AD from 1987. Apart from being an early 3D RPG, this game it is also notable for having fully voiced dialog via speech synthesis in the Amiga version: Oh shit! A game I've legit never heard of until now. Really groundbreaking stuff. Interesting how really important games like this can be relegated to complete obscurity.
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Post by toei on Mar 10, 2018 20:52:58 GMT -5
Also, if "fully 3D" requires everything to be polygonal, then the first fully 3D RPG is Star Cruiser (PC-88, 1988), predating both Legends of Valour and Ultima Underworld by a few years. I think calling Star Cruiser an RPG is a bit of a stretch. Star Cruiser is definitely a RPG. You equip weapons, go around talking to NPCs, exploring dungeons, etc. And Alien Fires doesn't look like proper 3D to me? I'm no expert, but those dungeons looks like 2D replicating 3D, quite similar to the dungeons in Phantasy Star (also released in 1987 in Japan).
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Post by phediuk on Mar 10, 2018 20:55:34 GMT -5
One "first" I'm curious to know is what the first polygonal home computer game was. There are wireframe 3D games going back to Flight Simulator (1979), but filled polygons took awhile to emerge. I think that depends on what you consider a 'real' polygonal 3D game. Games from the early 80s that have a flat-shaded look usually employ various 2D techniques that make them look 3D. Wayout (1982, Atari 800) Capture the Flag (1983, Atari 800) Plazma Line (1984, PC-6001) I have heard of Wayout but wasn't sure if it counted or not. And yeah, these are interesting ones, because they also precede the canonical "first polygonal game ever", I Robot from 1984.
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