First post, by xjas
- Rank
- l33t
So what was it? Quake (1996)? PowerSlave for Saturn/PSX (1996)? Descent (1994) or System Shock (1994)? Eternam (1992)? Nah.
The recent discussion on FPSes got me thinking of a couple of my favorite games which are, honestly, kind of overlooked for some reason. Maybe I'm wrong but I think really not a lot of people know about these. The tech was mind-blowing at the time but they just don't seem to be widely played.
What if I told you that the first fully-3D environment, polygon-based first-person shooter came out in ... 1987? Would you believe me?
Well, allow me to introduce Space Station Oblivion (aka Driller). For CGA, EGA, Hercules, Tandy, Amstrad CPC(!), C64(!!), and a bunch of others:
It's a real 3D world with polygon-based geometry that you can move fluidly around in:
You can look up & down with full freedom & proper perspective, unlike 2.5D games:
Can you shoot? Of course! (Although you have to hit space to arm your weapon, but then you can aim by moving the crosshair around) :
How's *that* for an FPS?
"But wait a minute", you might say, "you're in a vehicle! True FPS games have you go on foot!"
I don't buy that argument myself, but just in case you do, I give you
Total Eclipse (1988), made on the same Freescape engine:
It has 3D objects made from polygon models, just like modern day stuff:
3D room geometry with stairs and bridges you can walk over, and of course ability to look up & down with full perspective:
And of course you can shoot, because you're carrying a good old handgun as you run around:
(And yes, there are enemies to shoot, even if I didn't capture them here.)
Total Eclipse also had pretty advanced sound routines, with 'nice' digitized sample playback on the PC speaker. Just wait for the scream the first time you die. 😈
So yeah, the true-3D run-and-gun? Forget Quake; you saw it here first.
What do you guys think? Anyone have an older example?
twitch.tv/oldskooljay - playing the obscure, forgotten & weird - most Tuesdays & Thursdays @ 6:30 PM PDT. Bonus streams elsewhen!
