Rise of the Videogame on Discovery Channel

[Kitsunexus]

So you mean a video game documentary actually decided to forgo factual information in favor of COMMERCIALISM!? I'm SHOCKED, SHOCKED I tell you. 

[MissaFX]

Tonight I learned that Wolfenstein 3-D and Doom were 3-D games using dedicated floating point unit processors.  Gee, I never knew my fathers 386 DX 25 had a 3-D chip.

[Kitsunexus]

Tonight I learned that Wolfenstein 3-D and Doom were 3-D games using dedicated floating point unit processors.  Gee, I never knew my fathers 386 DX 25 had a 3-D chip.

Floating-point isn't 3D, I mean, it helps with some 3D maths, but calling it a 3D accelerator would be incorrect.

I doubt Wolfenstein used floating-point maths, but I read somewhere that Doom did (I'd be damned if I could find it again, for some reason it seems like something I read way back in CGW).  Also, the dedicated processor is actually sometimes true, because older processors that did not have the floating point sometimes got upgrade chips (remember those, they were still making them even with the original Pentium and Pentium 2) with this capability.

[Necromancer]

Tonight I learned that Wolfenstein 3-D and Doom were 3-D games using dedicated floating point unit processors.  Gee, I never knew my fathers 386 DX 25 had a 3-D chip.

Surely no 3D chip, but it likely had a 387 math coprocessor for floating point operations (as Kitsune alluded).  The introduction of the 486DX essentially ended the use of coprocessors, as the floating point unit was on chip.  They did make a 487 coprocessor for use with the 486SX processors, but they were actually complete 486DX processors that would disable the 486SX completely.

[MissaFX]

I rememeber specifically the 387 chip was optional.  Wolfenstein and Doom are both 2-D games, which use tiles and sprites as far as I know.  Specifically the special talked about dedicated floating point processors and how Doom and Wolfenstein were ONLY possible because of them.  Doom might use polys for the walls, but the rest of the game is 2-d for sure.  Nirgends on the PC-FX is more 3-D than Doom.

[Kitsunexus]

I rememeber specifically the 387 chip was optional.  Wolfenstein and Doom are both 2-D games, which use tiles and sprites as far as I know.  Specifically the special talked about dedicated floating point processors and how Doom and Wolfenstein were ONLY possible because of them.  Doom might use polys for the walls, but the rest of the game is 2-d for sure.  Nirgends on the PC-FX is more 3-D than Doom.

The more important issue here is how Rise Of The Triad kicks both previously mentioned games' asses.

[nodtveidt]

Wolfenstein was a raycaster game. It was developed long before 3D hardware even appeared on the commercial market. DOOM uses a software-based BSP tree algorithm. Neither game originally requires or even supports the use of a math coprocessor. Quake was the first FPS by id that required a math coprocessor (since it used an actual 3D engine), but even it still was software-based. I don't know about FPS games made by other companies, mainly because most of them at the time simply recycled id's engines.

[Turbo D]

quake was and still is bad-ass. 

[MissaFX]

Wolfenstein was a raycaster game. It was developed long before 3D hardware even appeared on the commercial market. DOOM uses a software-based BSP tree algorithm. Neither game originally requires or even supports the use of a math coprocessor. Quake was the first FPS by id that required a math coprocessor (since it used an actual 3D engine), but even it still was software-based. I don't know about FPS games made by other companies, mainly because most of them at the time simply recycled id's engines.

The history channel needs you to work for them   I've never even heard of ray casting.

[kenomac78]

i have been looking for the torrent of this show, i have seen 1 and 2 but not 3! where is it?

 i need to see what they say

[cybercross]

Most commentaries on videogame history seem to act as though Japan never existed back then and the only things that are important are those that did well in the US.

Of most of the American video game docs I've watched it definitely fells that way. They often tend to go on what was popular in the US, and despite any other not-so-mainstream game/console (regardless of having huge cult-status or some kind of influence on the industry), they see it as unimportant. They should've had more coverage-and episodes.
As for the the show it self, it was a mixed bag for me. The 2nd ep was the only one that was interesting at all-even though they left several gaps of unmentioned consoles . As for the rest, I could care less about Sim City or a history lesson on FPS-no offense to those who do. I'd love to see a documentary on Japanese video gaming history-at least maybe they would have better coverage on the PC Engine.

[nat]

The only FPS games I get any enjoyment out of are the originals-- Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Rise of the Triad etc. Around the time of Quake is when I started becoming less interested in that kind of stuff.

But yeah, I wish someone would do a REAL video game documentary and cover the actual history of video gaming, not just the stuff we saw as popular in this country. It's a crime to call your program a "documentary" when you leave out huge chapters from the land where it all started-- Japan. If it wasn't for Japan we wouldn't have video games today. At least, not like we do now.

[Necromancer]

It's a crime to call your program a "documentary" when you leave out huge chapters from the land where it all started-- Japan. If it wasn't for Japan we wouldn't have video games today. At least, not like we do now.

I heartily disagree that the Japanese are the originators of video gaming.  They may have revitalized the market after the '84 crash, but it would've been done by somebody else if not the Japanese, so they shouldn't even be credited for the gaming industries current state.  If anything, I'd credit the computer industry for the latter day advances in gaming, as computers have long been pushing the technology envelope much further than consoles have.

[Odonadon]

It's a crime to call your program a "documentary" when you leave out huge chapters from the land where it all started-- Japan. If it wasn't for Japan we wouldn't have video games today. At least, not like we do now.

I heartily disagree that the Japanese are the originators of video gaming.  They may have revitalized the market after the '84 crash, but it would've been done by somebody else if not the Japanese, so they shouldn't even be credited for the gaming industries current state.  If anything, I'd credit the computer industry for the latter day advances in gaming, as computers have long been pushing the technology envelope much further than consoles have.

I disagree with your statement, I think it's the other way around - someone would've invented one eventually, and the videogames we see today wouldn't exist without Japanese influence.  PC games haven't been as influenced by the Japanese as console games.

OD

[MurderDate]

I watched the gaming DVD that Netflix has , the one hosted by Tony Hawk.. Man, what garbage. They skipped over PC-E entirely too.  Screw'em.  I say good - keep the real deal (that is, PC-E/TG16) underground.  If you want it you have to go and find it!