We have come so far . . . .

[TL]

Erm . . .

I think you missed the point of this thread  :35:

[Bobinator]

Oh. I figured we were just showing how different genres have changed over the years, honestly. That'd make a good thread, too.

[TL]

Oh. I figured we were just showing how different genres have changed over the years, honestly. That'd make a good thread, too.

You are right, it would! 

[Rogue Trooper]

Oh. I figured we were just showing how different genres have changed over the years, honestly. That'd make a good thread, too.

it would and may i humbly suggest that as well as discussing how things have advanced , graphically, we also looked at how 'little' progress has been made in other areas in certain genres, ie A.I and when dealing with 3D instalments, how later versions still blighted by poor camera system.Just throwing in some ideas into the melting pot, thought it might add to the topic to see where focus has gone (ie better visuals-marketing dept love, but once novelty wears off, player stuck with dodgy camera, unresponsive controls etc, so, i'd be turning it on it's head slightly, we've come so far, yet travelled such a short distance?)

[TL]

Here is an interesting one, seen it was only on the market for a short time - the Atari Jaguar:

   
Checkered Flag (1994)                                                         World Tour Racing (1996)

   
Cyber Morph (1993)                                                              Battle Morph (1995)

   
Crescent Galaxy (1993)                                                        Native (1997)

   
Troy Aikmen NFL Football (1994)                                           Arena Football '95 (1995)

   
Bubsy (1994)                                                                        Rayman (1995)

[Crusto]

Whoa, that native looks strikingly like another popular shoot em up from a few years previous..

[davyk]

Funny - I actually prefer the original Indy 500 (even the look!) to the more modern Sprint Master on the 2600...

But yeah - Star Ship was barely a game - Solaris on the other hand is a tech and game design miracle.

[TL]

Let's see some games from the Nintendo Entertainment System:

   
Mario Bros. (1985)                                                                Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)

   
Pinball (1985)                                                                       Pin*Bot(1990)

   
Urban Champion (1985)                                                       TMNT: Tournament Fighters (1993)

   
Soccer (1985)                                                                        Konami Hyper Soccer (1992)

   
Pro. Wrestling (1987)                                                            WWF King Of The Ring (1993)

[onthinice]

We have come so far, yet never reach full potential before being abandoned for the next console.

[TL]

We have come so far, yet never reach full potential before being abandoned for the next console.

I dunno about that, I think systems like the NES, 2600, PS1, Mega Drive and SNES were pushed to their limits.

Systems like the 7800, Saturn, Jaguar, 3DO and 32X weren't though.

[TrekMD]

We have come so far, yet never reach full potential before being abandoned for the next console.

I dunno about that, I think systems like the NES, 2600, PS1, Mega Drive and SNES were pushed to their limits.

Systems like the 7800, Saturn, Jaguar, 3DO and 32X weren't though.

I'd agree with that.  I am still waiting for a homebrewer to develop a game that takes the Jaguar to its limits.  Unfortunately, not seeing it happen but I keep hoping. 

[Rogue Trooper]

We have come so far, yet never reach full potential before being abandoned for the next console.

I dunno about that, I think systems like the NES, 2600, PS1, Mega Drive and SNES were pushed to their limits.

Systems like the 7800, Saturn, Jaguar, 3DO and 32X weren't though.

Not sure i'd agree concerning the saturn:

Games like:
- VF2, Last bronx running in high res mode at 60 FPS (VF2 Pal 704X512)

-Sonic R

-Quake (which had to be graphically toned down in places over early version in order to maintain speed/frame rate)

-D-xird (real time lighting)

-Games like the Digital Pinball games, decathlete, Winter Heat etc running in high res modes

-Burning Rangers clearly asking too much of the hardware (would have loved to have seen a DC version)


Not sure just what else likes of Treasure, Lobotomy, Travellers Tales, etc could have got out of it.

AM2's graphics libaries got more out of the system along the way, Lobotomy refined 3D engines, travellers tales pulled off all manner of lighting effects etc many considered impossible on the hardware.

Not forgetting Scavenger with Scorcher, lighting effects, fast 3D etc.they developed their own set of libaries to exploit the hardware's strengths.

The 'official' Saturn development system was made by Cross products (UK based company) formed by Ex-game coders from people behind Star strike, Carrier command, Bomber etc etc (Real Time Games and Vektor graphics), so i'm wondering who if anyone could have tapped further into Saturn hardware.

[TL]

Look at the demo version of Saturn Shenmue, that really shows what the machine could do in terms of 3D. No released game looked as amazing as that did.

[Rogue Trooper]

Look at the demo version of Saturn Shenmue, that really shows what the machine could do in terms of 3D. No released game looked as amazing as that did.

but it was exactly that a demo.as i said earlier, inital shots of Saturn Quake looked a lot more impressive than the final version, but comprimises had to be made in order to maintain overall quality of the game throughout.

Scavengers Saturn tech demo's looked far better than actual Saturn games  they produced, a 'rolling' 3D demo is not going to have factors like A.I etc, so are misleading.

[Rogue Trooper]

7800 i know little about.

32X? VF pretty much pushed that as far as it could go, 3D wise, but i would have loved to have seen how far things could go 2D wise.

Jaguar:I would have loved to have seen Quake finished and games such as Need For Speed and Daytona USa converted (rumours were they would be coming) only then would we really have seen how far machine could be pushed, but everything would depend on just how was handling the conversions from Saturn/3DO in case of last 2.

Would we have seen Jaguar CD games that (technically) were a big leap over likes of Hoverstrike CD/ Fight for Life (in terms of a 3D polygon engine with 2 texture mapped characters), Battlesphere and Battlemorph i wonder? or just improvements in a few areas?