Well, it's 3rd person, but my vote is for Outcast. The terrains were all voxels, the main character and NPCs were 3D models, and it featured post processing, DOF, among other effects that were unheard of at the time, and it was all software rendered. Required a really beefy CPU to get it to run smoothly at 512X384.

I vote for Duke Nukem 3D! But that was "2,5"D actually...

Total Annihilation

Wing Commander 3, Delta Force 1 and Need For Speed 1

MDK

If I'm considering the game I had the most intense fun with in software 3D, then it's easily Quake... and Quake II. However, I recall many hours tromping around in Earthsiege2, even with a sometimes choppy framerate.

Stretch wrote:

MDK

Although MDK with the Direct3D patch is pretty awesome. 😀

VooDooMan wrote:

I vote for Duke Nukem 3D! But that was "2,5"D actually...

+1 Was sooo hooked on that game before I got my Orchid Righteous 3D. So many LAN parties.. so many memories of dropping pipe-bombs from above while hovering with my jet-pack.

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JayCeeBee64 wrote:

Artex wrote:

VooDooMan wrote:

I vote for Duke Nukem 3D! But that was "2,5"D actually...

+1 Was sooo hooked on that game before I got my Orchid Righteous 3D. So many LAN parties.. so many memories of dropping pipe-bombs from above while hovering with my jet-pack.

+2. It was so addicting just to listen to Duke's one-liners - "It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum" indeed! 🤣

+3

And Doom, and Wolfenstein 3D (if you could call them 3D), and WC III and IV, and X-wing, and TIE Fighter, and... 😁

Steel Beasts?

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Was Terminal Velocity 3D accelerated?

ahh... I just remember some others from 386 days: Comanche Maximum Overkill and Retaliator.

And one with 3D characters but 2D environment: Bioforge

And no, it was not (as far as I know), I was playing Terminal Velocity with S3 cards.

Sammy wrote:

Was Terminal Velocity 3D accelerated?

Another classic - forgot about this one. LOVED the music too!

To answer your question, not in the 'traditional' accelerated sense (bi-linear filtering, etc). I think there was either a special version or patch made for s3 virge cards to accelerate the game, or maybe the s3 virge cards just ran it better.

Edit:
S3 VIRGE Terminal velocity in dos.

Does the OP refer to games that don't use hardware acceleration at all, or just games that don't require it? If it's the latter, Unreal Tournament actually plays pretty well in software mode.

Just games that do not require it.

Great list so far! I am definitely going to play some of these I am not familiar with.

EDIT:

I actually prefer Quake in software vs hardware... maybe i'm just nuts hehe.

squareguy wrote:

I actually prefer Quake in software vs hardware... maybe i'm just nuts hehe.

But the transparent water and blurry lava is so cool!!!! 😀

Extreme Assault
outcast