It's all Chris Roberts' fault, of course.
No, really. Anyone who's been around computer gaming for a few years may remember a flight sim called Strike Commander. Strike Commander had some of the most beautiful 3D graphics available at the time - all software rendered- in all their 320x200, 256-color glory. But the aircraft were Gouraud shaded, texture mapped, and beautiful. The problem was, if you turned up all the whiz-bang features, it ran like a dog on a 486/66 - and that was the fastest computer you could get back then.
Before Strike Commander, technology wasn't a primary focus of game developers. Compelling content was more interesting, and game developers tended to simply develop within the constraints of the current environment. But Strike Commander demonstrated what could be done. And that started a gradual upward spiral, bringing us where we are today.
3D Graphics at GDC
I thought about Strike Commander a lot while I was at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) a week or so ago. Everywhere, everywhere, there was 3D - 3D graphics, 3D audio, 3D games. One of the prettiest games to come out in a long time is Baldur's Gate - but you didn't see that running in any of the booths at GDC. After all, it's not 3D.
But the 3D graphics that were there were beautiful. Let's take a virtual stroll and see what was around.
Here's 3DO's first-person shooter, running at 1,920x1,440 at the nVidia booth. Holy moley, 1,920x1,440! We've come a long ways from 320x200. Even at 1,920x1,440, it was running smoother than Strike Commander on a 486/66.
Next: The year of the 32-bit graphics
