4 ms·

Doom was groundbreaking. It’s less about its technical achievements in the absolute — it’s about how radically different it was than what came before. It’s inte

by gdubs 8y ago

Doom was groundbreaking. It’s less about its technical achievements in the absolute — it’s about how radically different it was than what came before. It’s interesting to read about how the developers broke through previous constraints to create something that seemed impossible at the time.

FartyMcFarter 8y ago
Quake absolutely blows my mind: real 3D graphics, moddability with a custom compiler (QuakeC), amazing online play (even on a modem) with Quakeworld. All of this in one game which they developed fairly quickly.
- cronix 8y ago
  Also had Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) doing the soundtrack/sound effects, which added a new dimension as well. The soundtrack just screams "this game kicks ass." I still dig it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n8iU7abqkQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n8iU7abqkQ
  - harveynick 8y ago
    The nail gun in Quake fires “nine inch nails”, which I always thought was a nice touch.
    - cronix 8y ago
      The nailgun ammo crates had "NIͶ" on them as well ;) https://slm-assets1.secondlife.com/assets/8685509/lightbox/NEW-_nails.jpg?1383531233 https://slm-assets1.secondlife.com/assets/8685509/lightbox/N...
- int_19h 8y ago
  I wonder how many people got into programming because of QuakeC. For me, it came after I was already hooked, but it certainly added a whole new dimension, in a sense that you could now achieve impressive things in one-two evenings of coding that could be shown to others. I remember making the nails bounce off the walls, for example.
billfruit 8y ago
Along with Descent I should have mentioned Ultima Underworld, released in 1992 itself, its 3d world is rich, full of things, varied, fully realized and large. It also allowed the player to look up and down. In fact, to my eye 3D dungeon crawling hasn't radically changed after that.
- gdubs 8y ago
  Underworld is definitely a classic. But just comparing the two, Doom still feels like a major leap forward: it’s so fluid and frenetic in comparison.

by gdubs 8y ago

FartyMcFarter 8y ago

Quake absolutely blows my mind: real 3D graphics, moddability with a custom compiler (QuakeC), amazing online play (even on a modem) with Quakeworld. All of this in one game which they developed fairly quickly.

cronix 8y ago
Also had Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) doing the soundtrack/sound effects, which added a new dimension as well. The soundtrack just screams "this game kicks ass." I still dig it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n8iU7abqkQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n8iU7abqkQ
- harveynick 8y ago
  The nail gun in Quake fires “nine inch nails”, which I always thought was a nice touch.
  - cronix 8y ago
    The nailgun ammo crates had "NIͶ" on them as well ;) https://slm-assets1.secondlife.com/assets/8685509/lightbox/NEW-_nails.jpg?1383531233 https://slm-assets1.secondlife.com/assets/8685509/lightbox/N...
int_19h 8y ago
I wonder how many people got into programming because of QuakeC. For me, it came after I was already hooked, but it certainly added a whole new dimension, in a sense that you could now achieve impressive things in one-two evenings of coding that could be shown to others. I remember making the nails bounce off the walls, for example.

billfruit 8y ago

Along with Descent I should have mentioned Ultima Underworld, released in 1992 itself, its 3d world is rich, full of things, varied, fully realized and large. It also allowed the player to look up and down. In fact, to my eye 3D dungeon crawling hasn't radically changed after that.

gdubs 8y ago
Underworld is definitely a classic. But just comparing the two, Doom still feels like a major leap forward: it’s so fluid and frenetic in comparison.