4 ms·

2005 was a crazy year. It feels almost surreal it's been ten years. Chaos Theory was one of the first games to use DirectX 9.0c/Shader Model 3.0. A couple mont

by rl3 12y ago

2005 was a crazy year. It feels almost surreal it's been ten years. Chaos Theory was one of the first games to use DirectX 9.0c/Shader Model 3.0. A couple months later, Battlefield 2 was released. A few months after that, F.E.A.R. and Age of Empires 3. By the end of that year, X3: Reunion. All of these games had incredible graphical fidelity for their time, and the remarkable thing was that for the most part, they weren't just glorified tech demos. From 2004 to 2007, it really felt like a renaissance in graphics. Far Cry and the UE3 demo in 2004 served to kick it off. During 2007-2009, things sort of solidified in a sense, locking us in to this weird post-modern level of graphical fidelity that's stayed more or less evolutionary ever since. Hopefully there will be another golden age. Perhaps VR will lead the charge this time, rather than the GPU. --- Also, Amon Tobin's score for Chaos Theory was excellent. IMHO, it played a huge role in making the game what it was. Even today, you rarely see scores so eccentric, let alone in AAA titles.

zokier 12y ago
> From 2004 to 2007, it really felt like a renaissance in graphics. Far Cry and the UE3 demo in 2004 served to kick it off HL2 was also massive benchmark in graphics. But probably the most impactful thing that happened in that period was the release of new generation of consoles (X360/PS3). You might also note that almost all early UE3 games were released console-first.
- rl3 12y ago
  Good points. I'm not sure how HL2 slipped my mind. In addition to graphics, HL2 was more or less the game that ushered in truly modern physics. Even today, some AAA games don't have physics systems as good. Likewise for facial animation. There was also Doom 3 that year, though arguably it lacked the same level of fidelity. However, it was really ahead of its time in the years leading up to release. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj3dPyk7hPI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj3dPyk7hPI (Doom 3 at MacWorld 2001)
  - angersock 12y ago
    FEAR and Doom 3 were the most impressive from a graphics standpoint I'd say--HL2 made a lot of progress with animation, but Doom 3 was really quite notable for its unified lighting model, some cool animation tricks (IK) for grounding characters in scenes, and its pervasive use of render-to-texture for things like cameras and interactive displays. That said, Farcry and FEAR were probably the most impressive games from an AI and gameplay standpoint. The physics in Farcry were waaaay better than in HL2.
    - rl3 12y ago
      Updated original post to add FEAR, can't believe it also slipped my mind. Definitely starting to appreciate the ten years more. As far as Far Cry, I'd say it was the one game in 2004 that pretty much had it all in terms of raw technology. Heavy use of complex shader materials, dynamic lighting and shadows, foliage, terrain, water, physics, vehicles. Though, I would also argue that, despite Far Cry's physics being more robust in a technical sense, the physics in HL2 definitely felt superior when it came to actual gameplay. Probably the result of careful polish more than anything.
    - funkyy 12y ago
      Agree with Farcry - its world and gameplay was really good. Also Black for PS2 was amazing feast for such an old console imo...
      - ekianjo 12y ago
        Black was overrated I think. The particles effect were cool but did not add much to the gameplay, and then it was a pretty boring shooter.
  - on_and_off 12y ago
    I replayed Half Life 1 & 2 recently. While Half Life did not age very well, Half Life 2 and its episodes could be slightly refreshed graphically and released as a 2015 game, it would probably be the FPS of the year. I don't know whether it is a compliment for HL2 or a shame for the slow evolution of this genre but it does many things better than most modern FPSes (long and very varied campaign, some very interesting weapons, ...) and has very certainly been an huge influence in the last decade. It is not perfect of course, for example in a game where you spend all the time shooting at things, the game take away this mechanic at some key points, especially when faced with a traitor that many would be inclined to shoot at. It is hard not to lose your immersion in this situation. The silent protagonist is also slightly aggravating IMO, sadly Valve seems very committed to it.
- twostorytower 12y ago
  I'd also add that the Source engine is the only engine (that I can think of) that has scaled for three console generations. Half-Life 2 was on Xbox. The Orange Box (HL2: Episode 2, Portal, and TF2) as well as L4D (and dozens of other Source games) were on Xbox 360, and Titan Fall was on Xbox One (lauded as one of the premier next-gen games).
keypusher 12y ago
Could not agree more about Amon Tobin's score. Not every game needs a perfect score, but when done right it adds so much to the ambiance. Reaching out to an innovator of his talent was a bold move that paid off.
- weaksauce 12y ago
  the score for duet is done really well and without it I don't think it would be half as good of a game.
SCdF 12y ago
Amon Tobin's score opened an entirely new genre of music for me, and it really set the tone of the game beautifully. Chaos Theory the game intermingling with the soundtrack (and then getting the soundtrack and listening on its own, and then spreading out to his other albums and other similar artists) remain one of my favourite experiences in gaming.

by rl3 12y ago

zokier 12y ago

> From 2004 to 2007, it really felt like a renaissance in graphics. Far Cry and the UE3 demo in 2004 served to kick it off HL2 was also massive benchmark in graphics. But probably the most impactful thing that happened in that period was the release of new generation of consoles (X360/PS3). You might also note that almost all early UE3 games were released console-first.

rl3 12y ago
Good points. I'm not sure how HL2 slipped my mind. In addition to graphics, HL2 was more or less the game that ushered in truly modern physics. Even today, some AAA games don't have physics systems as good. Likewise for facial animation. There was also Doom 3 that year, though arguably it lacked the same level of fidelity. However, it was really ahead of its time in the years leading up to release. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj3dPyk7hPI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj3dPyk7hPI (Doom 3 at MacWorld 2001)
- angersock 12y ago
  FEAR and Doom 3 were the most impressive from a graphics standpoint I'd say--HL2 made a lot of progress with animation, but Doom 3 was really quite notable for its unified lighting model, some cool animation tricks (IK) for grounding characters in scenes, and its pervasive use of render-to-texture for things like cameras and interactive displays. That said, Farcry and FEAR were probably the most impressive games from an AI and gameplay standpoint. The physics in Farcry were waaaay better than in HL2.
  - rl3 12y ago
    Updated original post to add FEAR, can't believe it also slipped my mind. Definitely starting to appreciate the ten years more. As far as Far Cry, I'd say it was the one game in 2004 that pretty much had it all in terms of raw technology. Heavy use of complex shader materials, dynamic lighting and shadows, foliage, terrain, water, physics, vehicles. Though, I would also argue that, despite Far Cry's physics being more robust in a technical sense, the physics in HL2 definitely felt superior when it came to actual gameplay. Probably the result of careful polish more than anything.
  - funkyy 12y ago
    Agree with Farcry - its world and gameplay was really good. Also Black for PS2 was amazing feast for such an old console imo...
    - ekianjo 12y ago
      Black was overrated I think. The particles effect were cool but did not add much to the gameplay, and then it was a pretty boring shooter.
- on_and_off 12y ago
  I replayed Half Life 1 & 2 recently. While Half Life did not age very well, Half Life 2 and its episodes could be slightly refreshed graphically and released as a 2015 game, it would probably be the FPS of the year. I don't know whether it is a compliment for HL2 or a shame for the slow evolution of this genre but it does many things better than most modern FPSes (long and very varied campaign, some very interesting weapons, ...) and has very certainly been an huge influence in the last decade. It is not perfect of course, for example in a game where you spend all the time shooting at things, the game take away this mechanic at some key points, especially when faced with a traitor that many would be inclined to shoot at. It is hard not to lose your immersion in this situation. The silent protagonist is also slightly aggravating IMO, sadly Valve seems very committed to it.
twostorytower 12y ago
I'd also add that the Source engine is the only engine (that I can think of) that has scaled for three console generations. Half-Life 2 was on Xbox. The Orange Box (HL2: Episode 2, Portal, and TF2) as well as L4D (and dozens of other Source games) were on Xbox 360, and Titan Fall was on Xbox One (lauded as one of the premier next-gen games).

keypusher 12y ago

Could not agree more about Amon Tobin's score. Not every game needs a perfect score, but when done right it adds so much to the ambiance. Reaching out to an innovator of his talent was a bold move that paid off.

weaksauce 12y ago
the score for duet is done really well and without it I don't think it would be half as good of a game.

SCdF 12y ago

Amon Tobin's score opened an entirely new genre of music for me, and it really set the tone of the game beautifully. Chaos Theory the game intermingling with the soundtrack (and then getting the soundtrack and listening on its own, and then spreading out to his other albums and other similar artists) remain one of my favourite experiences in gaming.