WEBVTT

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Two dimensions are all very well and good,
but even the earliest game developers yearned

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to extend into the third.

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The ability to craft a virtual space. The
forging of a polygon realm.

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Of course, with limited hardware it was no
mean feat - early 3D games were burdened with

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heavy compromise.

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The very first were limited to wireframe representations
- and although simple, games like Atari's

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Battlezone could paint an immersive scene
with just a few vector lines.

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Similar tech was used to great effect in 1983's
Star Wars Arcade: putting the player in the

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pilot seat of an X-Wing to recreate the attack
on the Death Star, complete with trench run.

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Even the 8-bit home micros managed to get
in on the wireframe action: space trader Elite's

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visuals might have been spartan, but the game
offered a huge swathe of space to explore.

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The next logical step from wireframe polygons
was to fill them with flat shading: a simple

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effect, but still tricky to achieve on early
systems without dropping the frame rate to

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unacceptable levels.

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The very first flat-shaded polygonal game
was arcade title I, Robot all the way back

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in 1983.

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It was definitely ahead of its time, but a
new paradigm is a tough sell, and the game

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would not prove a financial success.

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The advanced hardware needed for 3D games
and the decline in arcade interest over the

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next few years rendered them prohibitively
expensive - so it wouldn't be until the end

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of the decade that 3D games would become more
prevalent.

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As home computers became more powerful, certain
genres would embrace flat-shaded polygons:

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a trademark of early flight simulators, which
valued full freedom of movement over arcade

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action or graphical detail.

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Some driving games employed this technique,
too: Geoff Crammond's Stunt Car Racer in 1989

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had you driving at breakneck speed round a
fanciful track complete with three dimensions.

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Not content with dull flat-shading, some turned
to hardware tricks to simulate 3D worlds:

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and the Super NES' Mode 7 could be considered
a rudimentary form of texture mapping.

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It was only a half-measure, but an ideal way
to introduce a 3D feel to classic 2D action:

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and games like Super Mario Kart maintained
a healthy frame rate while still giving the

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illusion of into-the-screen racing.

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The SuperFX coprocessor included in carts
like Star Fox enabled polygonal 3D graphics,

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blended with sprite scaling effects and other
2D elements.

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Offloading graphics onto another processor
would prove a useful technique in the future:

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but some machines would rely on sheer grunt
instead.

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IBM-compatible PCs had the benefit of a modular
design - along with a price point far aloft

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from console hardware.

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This meant that by the early 90s, they could
start to push graphical boundaries.

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However, early PC games could be pretty ugly:
4-colour CGA and 16-colour EGA modes often

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left games with a distinctive, simple look.

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VGA graphics were a step up, offering 256
colours with far more nuance and a break from

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unnaturally bright shades.

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Early PC titles would sometimes make use of
prerendered backgrounds - games like Alone

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In The Dark reserved polygons only for the
player and enemies, with the remainder of

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the world painted as a bitmap.

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This technique is a useful one for preserving
limited graphical power: instead of rendering

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a full 3D scene, you can instead divert attention
to more detailed character models.

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Some early games were more ambitious, taking
a first-person perspective instead of a fixed

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camera view.

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Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss was an
impressive game that took RPGs into the third

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dimension - and in turn would influence the
rise of the first person shooter.

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One technique that made early texture-mapped
games viable was raycasting.

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It's an efficient approach to scene rendering
that focusses solely on what the player can

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see, and when combined with simple level geometry
can be made quite performant.

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Wolfenstein 3D's levels were built on a simple
square grid, all on a single level: this meant

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that the walls could be fully texture mapped,
while the game remained playable even on a

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modest PC.

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Wolfenstein is the grandfather of 3D shooters,
but in terms of overall impact: Doom was the

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daddy.

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Building on the Wolfenstein engine, Doom extended
its featureset to permit levels with more

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organic design: no more fixed grid maps, the
addition of variable lighting, and elements

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at different elevations.

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As a result, Doom was more atmospheric, its
locations more believable - and paired with

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high-octane action it proved quite the success.

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It inspired a huge number of clones, and paved
the way for the FPS genre as we know it today.

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Many of these early games were reliant on
tricks to simulate a 3D world - limited geometry,

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the use of sprites - or other time-saving
hacks.

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True texture-mapped 3D games required a great
deal of processing power, and so it wasn't

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really until the second half of the 1990s
that such games took hold.

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Vanguards of hardware, the arcades led the
way with titles like Ridge Racer: although

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dated today, at the time it was universally
praised for its sound and graphics.

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Treading in the arcade's footsteps, the fifth
generation of consoles could more confidently

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tackle full 3D graphics, and so platforms
like the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 saw the

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rise of the polygon within a home setting.

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Super Mario 64 transplanted the previously-planar
plumber into a colourful 3D world: and would

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prove to be arguably the first successful
3D platform game.

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It blended the finest elements and charm of
previous Mario titles with new technology

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- full freedom of movement and a dynamic camera
system that permitted exploration without

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frustration.

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The PlayStation had its own 3D platforming
heroes, with games like Crash Bandicoot: and

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despite the low-polygon count afforded by
the hardware, its characters are expressive

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and its artstyle charming.

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These games were not only technically impressive
- they were fun to play: true 3D games were

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a novelty no more, and instead an integral
part of mainstream gaming.

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While console hardware arrives in discrete
generations, the pace of PC development is

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continuous: and with the popularity of PC
gaming post-Doom, there was no shortage of

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3D titles.

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Magic Carpet was an interesting attempt at
transplanting Bullfrog's earlier god-game

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formula into a third-person perspective.

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Hugely impressive from a technical perspective,
although its gameplay was slightly lacking

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and was otherwise overshadowed by more conventional
games of the era.

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Descent was notable for its six degrees of
movement, permitting full exploration of its

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maze-like mines.

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A peculiar blend of space shooter and Doom
clone, it stands as an important example of

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early software rendering - full 3D without
shortcuts or compromise.

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Id software were prime innovators within the
PC gaming space: and not content with the

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countless clones their creations spawned,
they set the bar even higher with the release

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of Quake.

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Quake was very much a true 3D game: gone were
the sprites and lack of vertical aiming of

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Doom, replaced with polygonal enemies, weapon
viewmodels and biaxial aiming.

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Quake, in all its brown-hued lovecraftian
glory, was a prelude to the next wave of 3D

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graphics development.

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One final footnote worth a mention are voxels:
volumetric pixels, an alternate approach to

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polygon construction.

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Instead of triangular faces, objects are built
from 3D pixels: essentially building blocks,

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in a manner similar to Minecraft.

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Ideal for carving out terrain from heightmaps,
games like Delta Force and Outcast are an

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interesting example of what would prove to
be an evolutionary dead-end.

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Although voxels showed some promise, any progress
was nipped in the bud by the rise of 3D acceleration.

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With dedicated hardware games now had the
power to construct smooth and detailed worlds

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without compromise.

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The magic of hardware acceleration was about
to unfold.

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Join me in part four, as the pace of 3D technology
quickens and we near our approach to the modern

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era.

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Until then, farewell.