First post, by Jo22
- Rank
- l33t++
Hello everyone,
Back in the late 20th century, I was very fascinatinated by games using vector graphics.
Games like Star Wing (SNES), 3D Monster Maze (ZX81), MIG-29 (DOS), Myst (Win/Mac) or AlphaWaves (DOS) totaally blew my mind.
Up until now, I thought this solely was because of the flat, non-textured vector graphics that contributed to the atmosphere so much..
But there's more, there's much more depth to it..
A few days ago, I found out what was the true reason that makes early virtual worlds so addicting. At least to me, at least.
It's the concept of 'liminal space'.
An area that's between reality and non-reality, so to say.
Early games try hard to replicate our world, but the outcome is a world that's cold, fake, surreal and dead.
It's like you're looking in the mirror and you're being looked at back by an distorted, unsettling face that's mimicking you.
But it doesn't look life like, rather it looks like a mask.
I think that's exactly what separates early 3D games from modern day games.
Today's games are usually (successfully) aiming to create an ambient, living atmosphere that is more and more barely distinguishable from the real world.
NPCs act like real people etc etc.
Not so the early ones. They create a 'dead', synthetic world, with no friendly NPCs all around.
Early virtual worlds are quiet, flat and slower paced.
They inherent an 'out-of-dimension' feel that's eerie, lonely and mysterious.
Just like two of my favorite movies do, 'The Fog' and 'The Langoliers'.
Here's a YT video that I found that sums up everything quite well, I think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEtTpkzv50c
I hope you enjoy!
Best regards,
Jo22
"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel
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