Polygon Realm: A Brief History of Graphics, Part Three

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

to extend into the third.

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

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

heavy compromise.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

unacceptable levels.

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

in 1983.

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

would not prove a financial success.

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

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

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

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

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

action or graphical detail.

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

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

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

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

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

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

illusion of into-the-screen racing.

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

blended with sprite scaling effects and other
2D elements.

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

but some machines would rely on sheer grunt
instead.

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

from console hardware.

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

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

left games with a distinctive, simple look.

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

unnaturally bright shades.

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

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

the world painted as a bitmap.

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

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

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

camera view.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

modest PC.

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

daddy.

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

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

at different elevations.

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

high-octane action it proved quite the success.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

rise of the polygon within a home setting.

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

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

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

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

frustration.

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

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

and its artstyle charming.

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

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

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

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

3D titles.

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

formula into a third-person perspective.

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

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

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

maze-like mines.

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

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

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

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

of Quake.

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

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

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

graphics development.

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

polygon construction.

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

in a manner similar to Minecraft.

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

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

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

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

without compromise.

The magic of hardware acceleration was about
to unfold.

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

era.

Until then, farewell.