12 ms·

The 'hup' for me will always be associated with Quake, as I played that for a long time. When I was a youngster in the early 90s, a grade school classmate of m

The 'hup' for me will always be associated with Quake, as I played that for a long time. When I was a youngster in the early 90s, a grade school classmate of mine had a huge computer network at home. His dad worked for the (local) Washington, DC NBC affiliate as one of their system engineers. Their house was fully networked mecca of multiple Unix, Windows, and Apple machines on different floors. Back then most homes didn't have a computer, and if they did, it was just one. Internet connections were achieved with dial-up modems to the local BBS or service provider. Almost nobody my age was playing computer games, only people working in industry. Even fewer had a network, since online play didn't exist for most games (tho there were exceptions, like Netrek...miss that game too) I originally learned the command line by using it to start computer games. This guy had basically ALL of the major gaming titles through about 1997, at which point I bought my own computer. Many of the other shooters back then were horror-themed knockoffs of Doom and Quake (like Hexen, Heretic, etc.), though all had their nuances. What I think of as the golden age of FPS games happened shortly after, in 98, with the release of Half-Life and Unreal. That early experience was how I got into computing at a time when most kids had no real exposure to computers. Still miss those times.

deleted 5y ago
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scoot 5y ago
> When I was a youngster in the early 90s [...] most homes didn't have a computer "Most homes" might be technically correct, but home computers were a thing since the late 70s, and really taking off in the early 1980s withe the ZX81, ZX Spectrum, VIC 20, Commodore 64, and a myriad of others, depending on your geography. > Almost nobody my age was playing computer games, only people working in industry. This, of course, is complete nonsense. By the early 90s capable home computers such as the Amiga and Atari had if anything reached their hayday, with a myriad of popular games available. (Not to mention the popularity of dedicated games consoles.)
- grayclhn 5y ago
  Went to high school in an affluent suburb in the 90s in the US. “Playing computer games with friends” was either on one computer or involved dragging a computer over to a friend’s house and wiring it together with their desktop. Parent’s experience rings true to me.
- moralestapia 5y ago
  >Almost nobody my age was playing computer games, only people working in industry. I recall these days and this statement has some truth to it. Sure, a lot of folks had home computers, but they were mostly people who were interested in computers in the first place, and that was because of their work in the industry.
- Forgeties79 5y ago
  This strikes me as a bit pedantic as both of you are somewhat right and ultimately a lot of the assessments have been pretty subjective/qualitative. I tend to lean towards the other guy’s characterization personally, but I wouldn’t say you’re wrong. Part of it is that we have to recognize the video game industry dwarfs all other media right now - but in the early 90’s? Not even close. Yes gaming existed prior, including computer games, but the vast majority of kids did not have the technical know-how, let alone the hardware, to install and run them until later in the decade. Adults at the time were a very mixed bag about it, with most electing to not participate at all. Doom came out in 1993. Things really began to shift about that time. By ‘96/‘97 you had Starcraft and other games start blowing up, but that’s latter half of the decade for sure.
  - EvanAnderson 5y ago
    My perspective (from near Dayton, Ohio, US, born in 1977) was that a significant number of people had home computers (a lot of Commodore 64's and VIC 20's, various TRS-80 models, some Atari 8-bit machines, some TI machines, a few Amiga machines, a scant few Apple II's and even fewer Macintosh machines) but most kids my age weren't using the machines significantly. Kids might play a game here or there, or type a school paper on them, but that was mostly it. I went to a few of the local "computer club" meetings that were mostly attended by the stereotypical middle-aged "computer guy" (who I have now become... >sigh<). Doom was definitely "a thing" in the early 90s and started to bring some of the kids over into PC gaming. We had a small BBS scene, too, so that brought a few of the more computer-inclined kids into computing. (Of course, the ISPs moving in in 94-95 killed the BBS scene quickly.) Game consoles-- the Atari 2600, NES, and SNES-- were the only significant interaction with computing devices at home that I saw. The "gaming scene", in the early 90s, was mostly about NES / SNES carts and arcade games (Mortal Kombat was a big deal). I didn't got to a particularly well-funded public school so I saw Atari 8-bit, Apple II, and Mac LC machines there. Oh, and TI calculators, of course (but, sadly, mostly the TI-81... The '85 wasn't becoming "a thing" until I was in college).
vehemenz 5y ago
> What I think of as the golden age of FPS games happened shortly after, in 98, with the release of Half-Life and Unreal. I think there are two components to this: the quality of the games and the community. Modern shooters like Overwatch are amazing. Where they tend to falter: 1. Lack of emergent gameplay (circle jumping, bunny hopping, conc grenade jumping) 2. Curated experience (matchmaking) is inferior to community-led servers and maps The magic of games from that period was due to both the game design and the nature of the Internet itself.
- rubicon33 5y ago
  Totally agree. Half Life also had Tau/Gauss jumping. Movement dynamics by comparison nowadays are way more restricted, scripted, and generally "easier" but less rewarding. Nothing quite as thrilling as timing a perfect conc nade jump to launch yourself across the map deep into the teams flag room :)
- BoorishBears 5y ago
  Funny you mention Overwatch because it has both Mountains of emergent gameplay (if you play at a high enough level), and community led servers with custom game modes via the workshop. But people still queue up for competitive because the very existence of a 24/7 accessible competitive system with instant post match feedback (read: not going to tournaments) is a huge draw for a lot of people, even if it's at the expense of the community aspect.
  - thot_experiment 5y ago
    Wrong. Don't get me wrong Overwatch is a well done game but there just isn't nearly the level of freedom and community you had with UT2k4 and Q3. The nature of the game itself is so so much more prescriptive. I played OW enough to get some faint shadow of 2000's era gaming (scrims, a regular team, loads of time to dedicate to it) but it's trash compared to the experience of hopping on a clan server.
    - BoorishBears 5y ago
rubicon33 5y ago
It was gaming, specifically Half Life, Quake, and Unreal that really gripped me in my young years and fascinated me. I attribute my love for software those wonderful years!
BatFastard 5y ago
I still recall playing Hexan at the office in the 90s. I kept one of my co-worker as a chicken for 2 hours! Was driving him crazy. But as soon as he would return from chicken transform, I would shoot an egg at him and turn him back into a chicken! He would not give up...
rob74 5y ago
What the article kind of gets wrong or at least doesn't mention explicitly: pre-Quake id shooters didn't have a jumping sound not because it wasn't a priority, but because it simply wasn't possible to jump in Wolf 3D or Doom 1/2. So it totally makes sense that the first id game where you could jump would also have a sound for it.
pacificat0r 5y ago
I played lots of quake2-3 but that wasn't the golden age. Now you have even better selection for competitive gaming, like CS Go, valorant with their 128 ticks/s servers.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

scoot 5y ago

> When I was a youngster in the early 90s [...] most homes didn't have a computer "Most homes" might be technically correct, but home computers were a thing since the late 70s, and really taking off in the early 1980s withe the ZX81, ZX Spectrum, VIC 20, Commodore 64, and a myriad of others, depending on your geography. > Almost nobody my age was playing computer games, only people working in industry. This, of course, is complete nonsense. By the early 90s capable home computers such as the Amiga and Atari had if anything reached their hayday, with a myriad of popular games available. (Not to mention the popularity of dedicated games consoles.)

grayclhn 5y ago
Went to high school in an affluent suburb in the 90s in the US. “Playing computer games with friends” was either on one computer or involved dragging a computer over to a friend’s house and wiring it together with their desktop. Parent’s experience rings true to me.
moralestapia 5y ago
>Almost nobody my age was playing computer games, only people working in industry. I recall these days and this statement has some truth to it. Sure, a lot of folks had home computers, but they were mostly people who were interested in computers in the first place, and that was because of their work in the industry.
Forgeties79 5y ago
This strikes me as a bit pedantic as both of you are somewhat right and ultimately a lot of the assessments have been pretty subjective/qualitative. I tend to lean towards the other guy’s characterization personally, but I wouldn’t say you’re wrong. Part of it is that we have to recognize the video game industry dwarfs all other media right now - but in the early 90’s? Not even close. Yes gaming existed prior, including computer games, but the vast majority of kids did not have the technical know-how, let alone the hardware, to install and run them until later in the decade. Adults at the time were a very mixed bag about it, with most electing to not participate at all. Doom came out in 1993. Things really began to shift about that time. By ‘96/‘97 you had Starcraft and other games start blowing up, but that’s latter half of the decade for sure.
- EvanAnderson 5y ago
  My perspective (from near Dayton, Ohio, US, born in 1977) was that a significant number of people had home computers (a lot of Commodore 64's and VIC 20's, various TRS-80 models, some Atari 8-bit machines, some TI machines, a few Amiga machines, a scant few Apple II's and even fewer Macintosh machines) but most kids my age weren't using the machines significantly. Kids might play a game here or there, or type a school paper on them, but that was mostly it. I went to a few of the local "computer club" meetings that were mostly attended by the stereotypical middle-aged "computer guy" (who I have now become... >sigh<). Doom was definitely "a thing" in the early 90s and started to bring some of the kids over into PC gaming. We had a small BBS scene, too, so that brought a few of the more computer-inclined kids into computing. (Of course, the ISPs moving in in 94-95 killed the BBS scene quickly.) Game consoles-- the Atari 2600, NES, and SNES-- were the only significant interaction with computing devices at home that I saw. The "gaming scene", in the early 90s, was mostly about NES / SNES carts and arcade games (Mortal Kombat was a big deal). I didn't got to a particularly well-funded public school so I saw Atari 8-bit, Apple II, and Mac LC machines there. Oh, and TI calculators, of course (but, sadly, mostly the TI-81... The '85 wasn't becoming "a thing" until I was in college).

vehemenz 5y ago

> What I think of as the golden age of FPS games happened shortly after, in 98, with the release of Half-Life and Unreal. I think there are two components to this: the quality of the games and the community. Modern shooters like Overwatch are amazing. Where they tend to falter: 1. Lack of emergent gameplay (circle jumping, bunny hopping, conc grenade jumping) 2. Curated experience (matchmaking) is inferior to community-led servers and maps The magic of games from that period was due to both the game design and the nature of the Internet itself.

rubicon33 5y ago
Totally agree. Half Life also had Tau/Gauss jumping. Movement dynamics by comparison nowadays are way more restricted, scripted, and generally "easier" but less rewarding. Nothing quite as thrilling as timing a perfect conc nade jump to launch yourself across the map deep into the teams flag room :)
BoorishBears 5y ago
Funny you mention Overwatch because it has both Mountains of emergent gameplay (if you play at a high enough level), and community led servers with custom game modes via the workshop. But people still queue up for competitive because the very existence of a 24/7 accessible competitive system with instant post match feedback (read: not going to tournaments) is a huge draw for a lot of people, even if it's at the expense of the community aspect.
- thot_experiment 5y ago
  Wrong. Don't get me wrong Overwatch is a well done game but there just isn't nearly the level of freedom and community you had with UT2k4 and Q3. The nature of the game itself is so so much more prescriptive. I played OW enough to get some faint shadow of 2000's era gaming (scrims, a regular team, loads of time to dedicate to it) but it's trash compared to the experience of hopping on a clan server.
  - BoorishBears 5y ago

rubicon33 5y ago

It was gaming, specifically Half Life, Quake, and Unreal that really gripped me in my young years and fascinated me. I attribute my love for software those wonderful years!

BatFastard 5y ago

I still recall playing Hexan at the office in the 90s. I kept one of my co-worker as a chicken for 2 hours! Was driving him crazy. But as soon as he would return from chicken transform, I would shoot an egg at him and turn him back into a chicken! He would not give up...

rob74 5y ago

What the article kind of gets wrong or at least doesn't mention explicitly: pre-Quake id shooters didn't have a jumping sound not because it wasn't a priority, but because it simply wasn't possible to jump in Wolf 3D or Doom 1/2. So it totally makes sense that the first id game where you could jump would also have a sound for it.

pacificat0r 5y ago

I played lots of quake2-3 but that wasn't the golden age. Now you have even better selection for competitive gaming, like CS Go, valorant with their 128 ticks/s servers.