Tag Archives: polygons

A-10 Tank Killer, PC

Dynamix‘s 1989 combat flight sim, A-10 Tank Killer, is fast and fluid on the PC, making it one of the first serious combat flight sims to offer more than 20 frames a second to games-players. In the early days of combat flight sims: the games were battling against weaker machine specs and lower CPU cycles. When 386 and 486 type PCs entered the market (in 1989), and VGA graphics cards became affordable, only then did the genre finally have the power to be “fast” and “fluid”.

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Alone In The Dark 2, PC

Alone In The Dark 2 is a suitably frantic, scary and chilling sequel to 1992’s Alone In The Dark.

Part two came out just over a year after the first game, in 1993, and French developer Infogrames made it bigger and more challenging than the first game.

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Driller, PC

American publisher Epyx released UK hit game Driller onto US PC markets under the title of Space Station Oblivion in 1988.

There was no need for a title change really. Driller says it all.

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Driller, Atari ST

Driller and Freescape started life on the ZX Spectrum in 1987 – performing miracles on Sir Clive’s humble little machine. Creating 3D worlds where previously there were none…

And, being more than just a graphics engine, Freescape (and Driller) lived on into the 16-bit realm, and beyond.

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Driller, ZX Spectrum

Driller first appeared on the ZX Spectrum in 1987. This version is where it all began.

Driller‘s engine – called Freescape – was to go down in history as one of the first to make 3D gaming a real possibility.

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Driller, Amstrad CPC

Driller was the very first Freescape game. A very important game for its time. It first came out in 1987.

It was one of the first ever games that allowed you to explore a full 3D environment, and Freescape was the engine that made it possible.

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Starstrike II, ZX Spectrum

The sequel to Realtime Software‘s brilliant Starstrike 3D, Starstrike II is another excellent and groundbreaking first-person space shooter, only this time with impressive “filled” polygons, instead of the simpler wireframe graphics of the original.

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Starstrike 3D, ZX Spectrum

More than just a clone of Atari‘s arcade classic Star Wars, Starstrike 3D (or 3D Starstrike, whatever you prefer) is a wireframe, shooter masterpiece on the humble ZX Spectrum that really set the gaming world alight, back in the early Eighties.

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Dark Side, ZX Spectrum

Dark Side is the 1988 sequel to Driller is a very early example of a first-person, full 3D, explorable world, that can be viewed from almost any angle.

The game engine – Freescape – has gone on to become famous as one of the earliest examples of its type, and one that was hugely influential on every 3D exploration game that followed.

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