http://www.tech3d.net

The thing that is driving PC gaming to hell (which is my favourite gaming platform), is the fact the hardware is going through TOO MUCH development, and stupid development companies are insisting on pushing the latest hardware to it’s limit with beautiful, yet pointless graphics. The only thing that TRULEY matters is the game play and story, graphics come after those.

But in turn, people won’t buy a game cos they’re computer can’t handle, so they have to upgrade, they’re not gonna do it cos’ it cost’s quite a bit of money. And not buy the game. The only thing that’s gonna save PC gaming, is to stop trying so hard to force companies to release new and more powerfull hardware.

The other problem is people’s stupidity at “HD Gaming” with the PS3 and X-Box 360. As soon as they realise that HD gaming has been around for years (obviously with computers), and the fact our computers can go over HD, maybe people will switch.

Other thing you have to remember, is that because a games console is a specialist unit, it specialises in GAMES. So the hardware doesn’t have to be anywhere near as powerful as a computer to run the same game, therefore making it cheaper. And it’s less hassle, unless your unfortunate to have a 360 anyway. haha.

And to solve that problem?
Just hope that Microsoft won’t fuck up W7, cos’ if they do, being an ENORMOUS fan of PC gaming, I may even be led to leave in favour of console gaming, no matter how terrible the controls are, at least it’ll be cheaper.

I wonder how many will agree with me on this???

And I apologise for two simultaneous posts.
If either of these get’s deleted due too this, then I ask to delete my other messege, and not this one.

Now that I’ve seen how these guys are handling it, I now WANT to download it and see if I like it enough to want to buy it.

I usually go for games I’ve heard good things about, of if I’ve played demos of them, and as a last resort, download them and try the full game for a bit.

I wasn’t considering getting it at all. But it’s downloading in uTorrent now. This will be FIRST on my list games I need to actually buy (if I like it of course).

Thank you to the ACE Team for showing some common sence. We need more development teams just like you.

Companies either will embrace it like EA (Company of Heroes), ID (Quake Live) or they will die.

Today there is NO reason to purchase a game when there hundreds of FREE alternatives.

LONG LIVE FREEDOM and the Pirate Bay

the games ive bought after pirating/trying…..

the entire warcraft set (even wow)
starcraft
halflife and mods
halflife 2 and mods and episodes
the call of duty set
age of empires set
command and conquer series
civilization set
bioshock
shadowrun
halo, and halo 2, not halo 3(im a pc gamer, MICROSOFT!!!!!!!)

i could go on for a while……

I have more legit copies of games than I do illegal. Infact the vast majority of my pirated games are ones that, for one reason or another, I can’t actually buy. (Not released, abandoned, censored for local market, etc).

If games came out that were closer to $50 AUS (about $30US), I think they’d see a marked increase in sales. $50 is a buy legit, $100 is a pirate.

Well… there just isn’t that many good games being made anymore, and I blame the consoles. They brought an entire new market to exploit and it’s now so big that most developers go for the console drones that have almost never played a good game and is used to really high prices and PC gamers become second class citizens with dumb down, low quality games and paid updates. MEH! Indie gaming is bringing a new era on PC, it’s back and it’s better than ever. :)

This is a clever tactic from the software house and they are plaing those dumb pirates perfectly!

ya think if everyone had to pay 400$ for vista ultimate there would be even its level a use OR xps 150$ price tag?

“I never play computer games – so I don’t care !”

LOL the most constructive comment today!

Anyway, things are going into the right direction for piracy, even tho the current state of war against it in some countries. Things will get interesting till summer this year in the piracy world, cant tell more, just wait and presence it.

CW TV used to have episodes of shows online to watch, they stopped that because of people watching online instead of watching in the neilson box ratings….no idea why but when you work different hours that watching the neilson box times doesn’t meet with todays group of people….shame that CW dropped the episodes after the first season…

If someone came up with a way that I can download/steam any TV show I want, then I would get rid of MY evert channel TV subscription even though we never watch TV.

TV show distribution has to change

Cheers,

OT

when you pirate stuff you don’t go buy it later on. that’s bs excuse”

@57: Time to shoot down yet another troll. I am living proof that your claim is false. I had Bioshock and Psychnauts pirated for a while and after fully evaluating it from start to finish, THEN I bought it as I will do with any worthwhile game (or else just delete it in time).

One of the most influential games of all-time, 1992′s Wolfenstein 3D was the first great first person shooter. While Wolfenstein 3D’s concept was nothing revolutionary, its nearly flawless implementation, presentation, and use of technology helped catapult id Software to its current superstar status.

The title screen of Wolfenstein 3D

In a worthless piece of videogame trivia, it turns out that William J. Blazkowicz’s (the person you play in Wolfenstein 3D) grandson turned out to be Commander Keen.

Released during the glory days of shareware, still a few years before the Internet became mainstreamed, Wolfenstein 3D’s shareware version (and the full version as well, in some cases) was widely distributed via thousands of BBS’s (bulletin board systems) and passed along to countless friends via floppies. While no one will ever know exactly how many people played the shareware version of Wolfenstein 3D (millions), over 250,000 copies were sold direct via mail order and limited retail distribution. ActiVision re-released Wolfenstein 3D some time ago, bundled with Quake II and Hexen II demos, so you may even see it on the store shelves to this day.

While Wolfenstein 3D certainly wasn’t the first FPS game ever released, it’s combination of (at the time) stunning technology, visceral action, and realistic theme made it an instant hit. The “256-color, smooth scrolling virtual reality” engine was unlike anything most people had ever seen before. When combined with the awesome sound and ahead of its time music by Bobby Prince (who later did Commander Keen’s and DOOM’s sound work), the result was an immersive, fresh experience for even the most jaded PC gamer.

Wolfenstein 3D in action

Nearly everyone who played Wolfenstein 3D shortly after its release can remember being in awe for a few minutes and then nearly jumping out of their chair once spotted by a shouting German guard. This was one feature (amongst many others) that was directly taken from the game that Wolfenstein 3D was heavily inspired by, Silas Warner’s Castle Wolfenstein for the Apple II. Castle Wolfenstein is (obviously) a great game in its own right, and was popular enough to spawn a sequel (Beyond Castle Wolfenstein). Wolfenstein 3D also produced a sequel, the not nearly as popular Spear of Destiny.

Wolfenstein 3D is also a great example of how far ’3D’ games have advanced. The game seems incredibly primitive when compared to the FPS games of today, as levels feature only 90-degree angles, no changes in elevation, lighting, or height. However, Wolfenstein 3D’s gameplay, for the most part, still serves as the foundation for the FPS games of today. There are a few arcade-style influences that weren’t really necessary to implement in hindsight, such as a traditional point scoring system and a limited amount of lives (with one-ups), but the basic ‘find the key, push switches, pick up guns that are laying around and kill everything in sight’ style of gameplay is still going strong.

While the graphics look dated and pixilated now, they’re still pretty decent. The sound and music may actually be even better than you remember it, as most sound cards of the time didn’t support some of the more advanced MIDI instruments that are used in the game. The hardest thing about playing Wolfenstein 3D is the fact that the game runs too fast (at least while you’re running) on today’s powerful computers. You can solve this problem with the DOS application Mo’Slo for example.

Very few games have made a bigger impact than Wolfenstein 3D. Wolfenstein 3D not only practically gave birth to an entire new genre, its repercussions changed the entire industry forever.

ID software was the forfront of game design and distribution…that is why they all could affort nice cars…it wasn’t the middle men in distribution that took the majority of the share of profits it was ID itself…they continues to release their Doom and Quake games to huge audiences….

Wolfenstein 3d took about a week to download and it was about 3 floppies to install….17 years ago…

Cudos to ID Software.

Cheers,

OT