The Origin of Flat-shaded 3D Games
This article is concerned with the first 3D flat-shaded computer games to appear on Western computer-game machines. Flat-shaded computer games are those whose 3D objects are solid-filled with colors or patterns. Flat-shaded games are contrasted with wireframe games, which only outline the polygons.
Flat-shaded objects can be light-sourced and reflective as well as cast shadows. Often, dithering or pattern-filling is employed to give the 3D objects a "texture". cf. The First Texture-mapped Computer Games.
Gouraud-shaded 3D games are technically not flat-shaded. However, for simplicity's sake I define flat-shaded as solid-filled with the absence of texture-mapping. Note that texture-mapped 3D games can be Gouraud-shaded. You can search string "Gouraud" in the f-shaded and t-mapped articles.
Flat-shaded computer games were mostly software-rendered via CPUs. And texture-mapped computer games had taken over by the time hardware-accelerated via dedicated GPUs became common.
Bit-blitters and math coprocessors (i8087 of 1980, 3-input bimmer of 1985, iDX CPU of 1987) were sometimes tapped by coders of flat-shaded games that featured (for example) fractal generation or flight sim navigation and kinematics calculations.
It depends on polygon-count and countless other factors, but IBM PC i80286es generally rendered flat-shaded geometry at 20 FPS in 320x200 resolution whereas the 7-8 MHz Motorola 68Ks of the Amiga and Atari ST generally rendered flat-shaded geometry at 15 FPS in 320x200 resolution. It's a lot more complex than that (eg., coprocessors, no. of on-screen colors, poly-count), but what I said generally holds true.
15-20 FPS was actually an acceptable framerate in the late 80s to early 90s. People did not complain because 8-bit games had been getting similar framerates in the mid 80s -- in wireframe.
Given a typical flat-shaded 16-bit game (say, Starglider 2), 8-bit micros based on (for example) the 6510 or Z80A would be lucky to hit 2 FPS. Which is why such games were coded for 16-/32-bit micros, not 8-bit ones. Of course, there were indeed 8-bit flat-shaded games. And some 8-bit games combined flat-shading environments with wireframe objects and actors.
Number of flat-shaded computer games currently chronicled (incl. different versions): 74.
This document was last updated on December 23, 2024.
1984-86 Flat-shaded Games
F-15 Strike Eagle Atari 8 Bit 1984
MicroProse released the original F-15 Strike Eagle in 1984 for the Atari 8-bits. An exceedingly advanced computer game for 1984 -- HELLO -- F-15 Strike Eagle was coded by Sid Meier. Unbelievably, this 1984 flight sim was Meier's 15th commercially released computer game.
F-15 Strike Eagle IBM PC MS-DOS 1985
Randall Don Masteller ported F-15 Strike Eagle to IBM PC in 1985. Running in CGA or EGA 320x200 display mode, the IBM PC Booter version requires an i808x and 128 kbytes RAM.
Rescue on Fractalus Atari 8 bit 1985
LucasFilm Games released Rescue on Fractalus in 1985 for Atari 8-bits. Rescue on Fractalus has you flying through canyons rendered in real-time by fractal-generated terrain. Yeah, this game is impressive for 1985. And it is running on 1979 hardware. HELLO.
Revs 1985 BBC Micro
Gunship Commodore 64 & Atari ST 1986
MPS Labs of MicroProse released the original Gunship on Commodore 64 and Atari ST in 1986. The key coders of Gunship were Sid Meier and Andy Hollis. Gunship is notable for its flat-shaded terrain on the 8-bit C64/128 (brain-stormed by Hollis).
.
1987 Flat-shaded Games
Project Stealth Fighter Commodore 64 1987
MIDI Maze Atari ST 1987
Michael Park and George Miller of Xanth F/X released MIDI Maze for the Atari ST in 1987. MIDI Maze is the first FPS to feature multi-player. MIDI Maze is also the origin of Deathmatch (max 16 players via MIDI-ring). You can also play solo versus up to 15 drones. 16-color 320x200. 160x100 render-field. Smooth screen updates on a mere 8 MHz 520 ST with 512K RAM.
Zarch Archimedes 1987
1988 Flat-shaded Games
IBM PC version of 1989:
Falcon AT IBM PC MS-DOS 1988
Midwinter IBM PC MS-DOS 1989
Stunt Car Racer IBM PC MS-DOS 1989
DeathTrack IBM PC MS-DOS 1989
M1 Tank Platoon IBM PC MS-DOS 1989
MechWarrior IBM PC MS-DOS 1989
F-15 Strike Eagle 2 IBM PC MS-DOS 1989
Vette IBM PC MS-DOS 1989
Interphase Atari ST 1989
The Assembly Line (Xenon 2) released Interphase for Atari ST, Amiga and IBM PC MS-DOS in 1989. Interphase is a flat-shaded 3D shooter and puzzle game influenced by William Gibson's Neuromancer novel of 1984. Interphase's mouse controls include firing (cannons, missiles), diving, banking and elevation as well as acceleration and deceleration. There are also tractor beam and docking devices.
Interphase features a smooth rendering engine on 7-8 MHz ST/Amigas. The render-field is 288x136 pixels. Interphase was programmed by Adrian Stephens.
Interphase was the first 3D game to employ ellipses. That rotating cube in the top-left frame is light-sourced Gouraud-shaded. It may be the first Gouraud-shaded object to appear in a commercial computer game.
1990 Flat-shaded Games
Red Baron IBM PC MS-DOS 1990
Knights of the Sky IBM PC MS-DOS 1990
LHX Attack Chopper IBM PC MS-DOS 1990
Damocles Amiga 1990
Novagen Software released Damocles: Mercenary 2 for Atari ST and Amiga in May of 1990. Damocles was programmed by Paul Woakes, written by Bruce Jordan, drawn by Mo Warden and composed by Simon Berry. Damocles is historically notable for featuring seamless exploration from space to planet to landscape to building and vice versa.
In Damocles the player assumes the role of a 21st century Soldier of Fortune who has undertaken to prevent the comet Damocles from striking the planet, Eris. The mercenary can walk, run, use elevators and pilot ground vehicles, aircraft and interplanetary spacecraft. Objects in the gameworld can be picked up, held in an inventory, put down, bought and sold off.
There are multiple pathways to solving the main quest of Damocles, which is timed. The mercenary can explore the Gamma System consisting of nine planets and 19 moons orbiting the star, Dialis.
Apocalypse Archimedes 1990
1991 Flat-shaded Games
Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker IBM PC MS-DOS 1991
Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker was designed and coded by Archer Maclean for ST/Amiga in 1991. Tim Watson coded the IBM PC MS-DOS version in 1991. All three versions feature super-smooth realtime flat-shaded 3D; the viewport can be seemlessly gripped, rotated and zoomed. The intuitive interface is otherwise icon-driven.
Cybercon 3 Amiga 1991
The Assembly Line (Xenon 2) released Cybercon 3 for the Amiga in June of 1991. Cybercon 3 was designed by Ricardo Pinto, programmed by Andy Beveridge, drawn by Ricardo Pinto and composed by Dynas Thiew. Consisting of over 300,000 lines of code, Cybercon 3 was developed on the Snasm Cross-development System.
In Cybercon 3 players assume the role of The Volunteer who, clad in power armor, goes up against the robot-legions of the Cybercon defense complex, which consists of 400 areas. The robots include gyroscopes, walkers and fliers. The Volunteer can move, jump, strafe, fire weapons, interact with placeables and pick up and put down objects. Cybercon 3 also features positionable cameras, picture-in-picture monitoring and various primary and secondary systems readouts.
Cybercon 3 was the first 3D game to employ up/down looks in first-person perspective, not Ultima Underworld.
Hunter Amiga 1991
Activision released Hunter for the Amiga and Atari ST in February of 1991. Hunter was conceived, designed and coded by Paul Holmes. As in Midwinter of 1989 Hunter employs fractal terrain generation; it is also an early open-world computer game.
Elite Archimedes 1991
Falcon 3.0 IBM PC MS-DOS 1991
Employs math coprocessor.
F-117A Stealth Fighter 2.0 IBM PC MS-DOS 1991
1992 Flat-shaded Games
Armor-Geddon IBM PC MS-DOS 1992
Psygnosis released Armor-Geddon for IBM PC MS-DOS in 1992. Armor-Geddon features multi-unit command as per Carrier Command of 1988.
Armor-Geddon was distributed on 3x 3.5" 720K DS DD diskettes and extracts and installs via Shadow Software Install v.3.0. The install size is 1.5 megs.
Armor-Geddon audio supports Roland LAPC-1, AdLib, Sound Blaster and Pro Audio Spectrum. SB and PAS require 64K of EMS RAM.
Epic IBM PC MS-DOS 1992
Epic was released by Digital Image Design in 1992 for IBM PC MS-DOS 3.3. Epic was conceived and designed by Martin Kenwright and coded by Colin Bell and Russell Payne. i80286 and 640K RAM required. 256-color VGA 320x200.
1993 Flat-shaded Games
Frontier Elite 2 Amiga 1993
TFX IBM PC MS-DOS 1993
Gouraud-shaded.
Star Wars: X-Wing IBM PC MS-DOS 1993
Michael Jordan In Flight IBM PC MS-DOS 1993
ZCT System's Group released Michael Jordan In Flight for IBM PC MS-DOS in 1993. Michael Jordan In Flight was distributed on 2x 3.5" 1.44MB HD diskettes. The install size is 3.5 megs (151 files).
Sprite-scaler.
1994 Flat-shaded Games
cf.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.