3D technology also progressed enormously between the 90's and 2000's with 3D games eventually becoming a staple platform for gaming. Autodesk started to release their first basic 3D packages throughout the 90's and the release of the playstation 1 in 1994 saw the rise of more 3D games. One of these games in question, that helped to spur the playstations success throughout the 90's was Tomb Raider, released in 1996.
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| Tomb Raider 1996 |
One thing that is quite apparent about technology over the last century is that the more progress we make, the faster the progress seems to come, this applies to any areas of technology, especially computers and video games. Having around a dozen sequels spread across various consoles, tomb raider is a really good example of a game that showcases the amount growth and development 3D technology for games has made over the last 20 years.
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| 2013 Lara, 1996 Lara |
The difference is pretty clear, you don't need to look far to see how much better modern Lara looks. This is the same character 17 years apart, and all the other Tomb Raider games in-between these two show the smaller steps it took to reach this point. When you take a look at the development of gaming as a whole since the 1960's, it's hard to believe that such a huge difference in quality has been made in such a relatively short time span. Most AAA game developers are constantly striving for more realism, and it's the advancements in computers that have allowed them to pursue that.
That said, most graphical improvements now seem to be pretty linear, or barely noticeable. It seems like the industry is getting to a point where things are starting to slow down. Maybe. This might be down to the hardware limitations set by the consoles we've had for the last 8 years. However next gen games for the PS4 and Xbox One seem to be boasting some very noticeable improvements in graphics.
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| The XboxOne and Playstation 4, both released in 2013 |
A really good example is the in game Alpha footage for Assassins Creed Unity.
When I got an Xbox 360 back in 2007 the first game I played was Assassins Creed. Having had a PS2 for the last 6 or so years I couldn't believe how great it looked, and there's no way I could have imagined a games graphics looking any better. Ubisoft made some minor improvements to the next 3 installments but nothing drastic.
Assassins creed 3 and 4 followed in 2012-13 with a new engine and some very nice improvements to the physics and all round graphics, but I had seen enough by then that it didn't really grip me as much as when I played the first game for the first time. Then they released this trailer:
This is what I love about the games industry. Just when you think the games couldn't look any better visually, they pull out something like this. Although you have to consider the fact that the higher specs of the next generation consoles have finally allowed developers to start creating games with much higher detail. To an extent developers are limited by the specs of mainstream consoles, because their games need to run on those machines.
Remember those cinematic cut-scenes in old Playstation 2 and Xbox games? which were way better looking than the game itself? We'd watch those and then ask ourselves "I wonder if gameplay will ever look that good"? Truth is, I think developers are reaching beyond that point already, and it's about time. The in-game graphics of modern games now look marginally better than the cg trailers and cinematics in older games, and in some cases the gameplay graphics are so good now that they even work as cinematics themselves. The above video proves that. The games Industry and all its artists are constantly finding new ways to improve the look and realism of games.
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| In game graphics are starting to look just as good as the fancy cg trailers. We're getting there. |
Anyway, I can't help but feel I have digressed a little with this whole 3D advancement thing. Having lived through this current age of gaming as more of a spectator than a gamer, perhaps I feel as though the main development in games has always been in the graphics. Even so, I think most gamers can agree that better graphics does not necessarily equal a better and more enjoyable game though.
We see pretty much the same game mechanics in every Assassins Creed, Call of Duty or whatever that gets pumped out year by year. Yea, maybe it looks better, maybe its shinier and prettier, but at its core is the game really any different? It's a business decision and there's money at stake, but sometimes it feels like developers are playing it too safe. Personally I've had more fun sliding down walls on super meat boy than I have scaling up rooftops on Assassins Creed.
