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It was a golden age for the first person immersive simulation game. Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, Thief, System Shock II, Half-Life, Deus Ex - there was a period

It was a golden age for the first person immersive simulation game. Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, Thief, System Shock II, Half-Life, Deus Ex - there was a period of classics with large improvements and innovation from one game to the next, where game design space was explored just as the technology to render it became available. First person immersive sims are generally best played on the PC. When consoles that were able to do decent graphics for a reasonable period (i.e. the pace of hardware evolution slowed) came into their own, third person control worked better with joypads, and for commercial reasons, PC games often ended up as a second-rate ports of console games, with compromised controls. You really need a mouse for first person.

dfxm12 8y ago
first person immersive simulation game FPS stands for First Person Shooter. The games you're listing don't simulate much, even if some of those games have RPG elements.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- barrkel 8y ago
  I know what FPS stands for, but Thief most definitely isn't a shooter, and System Shock II is less of a shooter than a creepy exploration game. Deus Ex is half an RPG. FPS is too reductive. I'm using the phrase immersive sim in the same way as these articles: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/06/29/dark-futures-part-1-randy-smith/ https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/06/29/dark-futures-par... https://www.pcgamer.com/history-of-the-best-immersive-sims/ https://www.pcgamer.com/history-of-the-best-immersive-sims/ See also Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersive_sim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersive_sim HTH
  - dfxm12 8y ago
    No, it doesn't really help explain how Doom, Wolfenstein, or Quake, etc., are lumped in together with games like Thief as simulations. FPS is certainly not reductive. A game can be more than one genre, but sometimes an FPS is just an FPS, and more than half the games you listed are pretty much just an FPS.
- nodja 8y ago
  Immersive sim is a genre. Games with strong narratives that react to the player often in significant ways. Some of the games grandparent listed aren't immersive sims. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersive_sim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersive_sim
- falcolas 8y ago
  They weren't even referred to as FPS games at that period of time, they were DOOM clones. The FPS moniker came along later after it settled into a genre.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
balls187 8y ago
> You really need a mouse for first person. You did, until Golden Eye N64. And many of those early games (Wolf3d, Doom, Hexen) didn't have Mouse look on be default, you played them Closed (Arrow Keys and Right Ctrl/Alt) or Open (Arrow Keys and Left Ctrl/Alt). It really wasn't until Quake I/QuakeWorld that FPS' made the shift to Mouse+WASD. And evenstill in Quake1, mouse look was off by default.
- Splines 8y ago
  > You did, until Golden Eye N64. Improvements in aim assist really make console FPS games more approachable. Still not up to the usability of a mouse, but if the game is thoughtfully designed it meets a "good enough" bar. Although I wasn't a big fan of Rare's cursor aim functionality, it felt very clumsy. Personally I'm a fan of sticky aim assist (halo) or snap-to-body aim assist (call of duty, gta). These kinds of systems are the kind of work where players may not even realize they are being helped.
  - balls187 8y ago
    If the question is which is a more effective control scheme FPS, mouse+keyboard is clearly superior to a dual-analog sticks especially in competitive matches. But, my point is simply Golden Eye 64 was a console FPS where the controls weren't clunky (for it's time).
jeffbax 8y ago
Obligatory plug for the Book about this: https://unbound.com/books/rocket-jump/ https://unbound.com/books/rocket-jump/
zmonkeyz 8y ago
I didnt even realize mouse + keyboard was a thing until i downloaded the killcreek vs romero demo. I asked my friend “how are they looking around so fast?” Until then I had been using pg up to look up.

dfxm12 8y ago

first person immersive simulation game FPS stands for First Person Shooter. The games you're listing don't simulate much, even if some of those games have RPG elements.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
barrkel 8y ago
I know what FPS stands for, but Thief most definitely isn't a shooter, and System Shock II is less of a shooter than a creepy exploration game. Deus Ex is half an RPG. FPS is too reductive. I'm using the phrase immersive sim in the same way as these articles: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/06/29/dark-futures-part-1-randy-smith/ https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/06/29/dark-futures-par... https://www.pcgamer.com/history-of-the-best-immersive-sims/ https://www.pcgamer.com/history-of-the-best-immersive-sims/ See also Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersive_sim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersive_sim HTH
- dfxm12 8y ago
  No, it doesn't really help explain how Doom, Wolfenstein, or Quake, etc., are lumped in together with games like Thief as simulations. FPS is certainly not reductive. A game can be more than one genre, but sometimes an FPS is just an FPS, and more than half the games you listed are pretty much just an FPS.
nodja 8y ago
Immersive sim is a genre. Games with strong narratives that react to the player often in significant ways. Some of the games grandparent listed aren't immersive sims. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersive_sim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersive_sim
falcolas 8y ago
They weren't even referred to as FPS games at that period of time, they were DOOM clones. The FPS moniker came along later after it settled into a genre.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

balls187 8y ago

> You really need a mouse for first person. You did, until Golden Eye N64. And many of those early games (Wolf3d, Doom, Hexen) didn't have Mouse look on be default, you played them Closed (Arrow Keys and Right Ctrl/Alt) or Open (Arrow Keys and Left Ctrl/Alt). It really wasn't until Quake I/QuakeWorld that FPS' made the shift to Mouse+WASD. And evenstill in Quake1, mouse look was off by default.

Splines 8y ago
> You did, until Golden Eye N64. Improvements in aim assist really make console FPS games more approachable. Still not up to the usability of a mouse, but if the game is thoughtfully designed it meets a "good enough" bar. Although I wasn't a big fan of Rare's cursor aim functionality, it felt very clumsy. Personally I'm a fan of sticky aim assist (halo) or snap-to-body aim assist (call of duty, gta). These kinds of systems are the kind of work where players may not even realize they are being helped.
- balls187 8y ago
  If the question is which is a more effective control scheme FPS, mouse+keyboard is clearly superior to a dual-analog sticks especially in competitive matches. But, my point is simply Golden Eye 64 was a console FPS where the controls weren't clunky (for it's time).

jeffbax 8y ago

Obligatory plug for the Book about this: https://unbound.com/books/rocket-jump/ https://unbound.com/books/rocket-jump/

zmonkeyz 8y ago

I didnt even realize mouse + keyboard was a thing until i downloaded the killcreek vs romero demo. I asked my friend “how are they looking around so fast?” Until then I had been using pg up to look up.