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hi i would like to know how do i find friends to play stronghold crusader 2 with
Post edited April 07, 2020 by Juice-SA
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TentacleMayor: In all honesty they look terrible to me, and yes, I was around when they were new. Even back then, there was something gaudy about those polygons compared to the timeless elegance of the 16-bit look.
I think it's an aesthetic that age rather well. Back then, it was supposed to be cutting edge AAA stuff, and I could see that it was just ... not very good, and I could see games moved in that direction. So I felt threatened by it. But today, I can appreciate the gaudiness. It's bad taste in its purest form.
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Mr.Mumbles: Burn it! Burnt it with fire!

Whoever loves the fugliness of Playstation-era 3D graphics needs to be slapped with an extra-large trout.
I do feel that there are low poly graphics which can be made charming, it just so happens the PSX had other issues to boot.
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KasperHviid: I found a few:
Superhot isn't quite aiming for nostalgia, but the simplicity works
Dusk might be worth a try
Amid Evil looks nice
Strafe doesn't seem like much visually, I think
Devil Daggers, which you already mentioned, that one got it right!
Prodeus Not yet released, but looks promising
Prodeus looks the most like what I mentioned while the others are similar to early PC 3D games.
Superhot has the flatshaded style from games like Interstate 76.
Post edited April 07, 2020 by Spectre
I hate early 3D. However, my most favorite game of all time is a PS1 game, and I only played it this year so I don't have nostalgia goggles. It's based on a licensed property and thus unlikely to be remade, and the mechanics couldn't be realized in 2D, so the version that exists is the best version that can exist, and I made peace with that.
That depends. I'm not totally rejecting 3D games from that period due to the graphics itself (although it also depends on who is introduced in the game - games where we've got machines/robots (like Future COP: LAPD) or animals (like Croc: Legend of the Gobbos) in my opinion are looking nowadays much better than those with human models.

My main problem is usually with two things with games from this period (aside from bad looking people models):

a)Very popular "3D action" game model from this period, with clunky control and more fighting with control than with enemies. If someone played in such games as "Perfect Weapon" or Planet of the Apes will probably know, what I mean. And alas, it's the one thing which didn't change up to this day - if there is any "hot" licence (e.g. movie), it "must" have some 3D action game (a bit earlier it was rather "platform game", but we're still around making some kind of "action game").

Here is my (probably a bit unpopular) opinion - I think that this clunky model was bad also for first games in Resident Evil series. Those games could be, in my opinion, made in the way way more normal to control and still without losing any part of atmosphere etc. Fortunately, after RE4 this model was

b)"It must be 3D" trend - thing which killed Simon the Sorcerer 3(D), together with packed completely unecessary "action sequences". And many other games. It's especially annoying, due to the fact that at the half of 90 (and later) both PCs and consoles were capable of really great looking 2D graphics and animation... Yet we didn't see it so often as we could, due to that 3D-mania.
I just installed Knights of the Old Republic for my SO. (1080P, widescreen mod, upscaled movies, etc...)
I thought it was a fine looking game when I played it in 2008 (or something). Now it looks a bit like a relic from the early 2000s.
The biggest evolution in 3D graphics seems to have happened in the second half of the 2000s. Sure, CONTROL looks better than Mass Effect 1... but the difference isn't that impressive as what changed between KOTOR1 & ME1.

I still love both KOTOR games. They're not early 3D... middle 3D? :-P
Maybe I should admit that I like some of the early 3D games but that is more like in spite of the awful graphics.
I liked older 3D games, they have their charms with their weir 3D models and clumsy animations. I actually don't like modern games, one of the reason is motion capture. With motion capture you lose the artist touch, and instead everything feels like watching a boring TV series, especially when a cut-scene is too long.
I like games that have a consistent art style with some appeal to me. That appeal is rather independent of the technology, the number of pixels or polygon used, and the year the game was made. I can't really make a general statement about that, some games just look cool and others fugly, old or new, some games are fun despite the crappy graphics, others are crap despite the good looks. In general, I think it's a valid design decision to go for a retro look, just like some movie directors decide to shoot in black and white or mimick the style of movies from the 70's etc. The choice for a particular style in itself does not turn me off. It isn't an incentive for me to play something out of nostalgia either though. In the end it still comes down to how fitting and consistent the style is and whether the rest of the game is fun.
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Spectre: I was going to make a thread about his a while ago but specifically for the PS1 style graphics as their qualities represent that era better and PCs were still fairly expensive.

Whether it was the bitty sized texture effect or the warping polygons and a few other features that gave it a special look that doesn't look quite right on modern emulators.

https://www.gog.com/game/devil_daggers is game that has that look and one of the Ys games. Are there any more on GoG?
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KasperHviid: I found a few:

Superhot isn't quite aiming for nostalgia, but the simplicity works

Dusk might be worth a try

Amid Evil looks nice

Strafe doesn't seem like much visually, I think

Devil Daggers, which you already mentioned, that one got it right!

Prodeus Not yet released, but looks promising
Check this out:
https://twitter.com/hellscreen_game?lang=en

A retro fps with a rear view mirror? Interesting, isn't it? Plus it has a unique graphics style that might appeal to you. Its set to come out this year 2020. Check out "Hellscreen"
Post edited April 18, 2020 by CORSA1R_
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timppu: I am pretty sure it was much earlier than that, much closer to Tomb Raider's PC release date (which was apparently Nov 14, 1996). I was a very early adopter for 3Dfx (Orchid Righteous 3D), having been following the development of the emerging 3D accelerators very keenly and searching for any PC games supporting 3Dfx.
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Cadaver747: Maybe. I bought 3dfx Voodoo card after 2 months since the release, mine was Diamond Monster 3D.
But I know that it the patch was definitely released in 1997.
I couldn't find the info about the patch date, but it's easy to find a legacy patch and check the file date, it's 11 Feb 1997.
Also I was able to find some old PC Game Magazine with Tomb Raider testing with 3dfx patch, it was dated 4 March 1997.
The original poster is correct. I bought an Orchid Righteous 3D in October of 1996 and was playing Tomb Raider with the 3dfx patch in November. You can't actually go by the date of the patch you found because the patch itself was updated several times since the original release. That's probably the final version.
Post edited April 18, 2020 by Dysphoric1
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Dysphoric1: The original poster is correct. I bought an Orchid Righteous 3D in October of 1996 and was playing Tomb Raider with the 3dfx patch in November. You can't actually go by the date of the patch you found because the patch itself was updated several times since the original release. That's probably the final version.
Maybe, I just can't find any evidence to confirm that Tomb Raider 1 was Glide patched before the Quake in Jan 1997. I can't find any magazines mentioning playing Tomb Raider 1 with Glide in 1996. Moreover the game was released on 25 Oct 1996 and was available worldwide in November 1996, meaning that Core Design / Eidos should have worked together with 3dfx from the very beginning to release the patch so early. Also I checked that it was Glide2, not Glide1 (maybe I'm wrong here), so how it's even possible to make a Glide2 patch after 1 month of initial release of 3dfx Voodoo card.
Lastly I remember that I played Tomb Raider 1 with Glide in 1997, not 1996 (again, I could be wrong) and the date I took was from legacy drivers (first available one), the last patch dated April 1997.

UPDATE:
Here is what I've found, taken from http://falconfly.vogonswiki.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB3a8b.html?num=1377381935/2

The first 3DFX Voodoo card released was the Orchid Rigtheous 3D. It came out in October 1996, a month ahead of Diamond Monster 3D. It came bundled with:

The Orchid 3D comes with the following software: (that utilizes the Voodoo chipset)

•Descent II 8-level demo
•Monster truck madness (D3D) preview version.
•Hellbender (D3D) preview version.
•VR Soccer - Semifinals
•Whiplash full version
•Scorched Planet demo version
•Mechwarrior II full version

Monster 3D comes with the following software: (that utilizes the Voodoo chipset)

•Monster truck madness (D3D) preview version.
•Hellbender (D3D) preview version.
•VR Soccer
•Descent II, 8-level demo.
•Tomb raider 1-level demo.
•EF2000 Graphics plus, instant action demo. (No campaigns)
•Hyperblade full version.
•Mechwarrior II full version.
•Whiplash full version.

As you can see from the list Mechwarrior 2, VR Soccer/Actua Soccer, Whiplash/Fatal Racing were the first full version games to include 3DFX Glide support.

The versions of EF2000, Tomb Raider, Descent II, Scorched Planet were shortened/demo versions and not full releases. Hellbender, Monster Truck Madness and Hyperblade were the first Direct3D games.

The beta 3DFX patch to Tomb Raider were simultaneously released in November/December for the full game. Descent II and EF2000 also released its patch for the full version pretty quickly. New games to support Voodoo with patches included GLQuake and Battle Arena Toshinden in Jan 1997. Basically the first few months were very limited on support.

First retail release with 3DFX support was Scorched Planet in December 1996.

UPDATE 2:
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Dysphoric1:
So yes, it seems you and original poster were right. I remember that I had Tomb Raider 1 3dfx demo from my Diamond Monster 3D card and how I was taken aback with the fact that I can't play the full game with Glide patch, I tried to replace the files from the demo as well and I had dial-up internet and read at least 2 different games magazines for any news on that game (also checked on local BBS). Very odd how I missed that "beta patch" which was released by the end of November 1996.
And the February date is most likely the date for the first full version 3dfx patch which was released after the initial beta one.
Post edited April 18, 2020 by Cadaver747
Thinking of early 3D graphics reminds me of games like Castle Master or Starglider 2. And these look much better than the the screenshots in that article.
Early 3D flight simulators are totally fine for me.
You know, they existed since the 8-bit era.