Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!news
From: richard.cutting@virgin.net (Richard Cutting)
Newsgroups: scee.yaroze.freetalk.english
Subject: Re: 3D sucks, sprites rule
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 15:51:36 GMT
Organization: PlayStation Net Yaroze (SCEE)
Lines: 51
Message-ID: <3597b591.15575942@news.playstation.co.uk>
References: <35979427.1E01015C@easynet.co.uk>
NNTP-Posting-Host: p60-rosella-gui.tch.virgin.net
X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.11/32.235

On Mon, 29 Jun 1998 14:18:31 +0100, Philip Gooch <philg@easynet.co.uk>
wrote:

>There's a fun discussion on scea.freetalk that started out about
>Nintendo's new system due for release in 2000 that inevitably
>degenerated into an N64 vs Playstation, and then developed into Mac vs
>PC and 'mine is better than yours'.
>
>Well, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I was in HMV Oxford St on
>Saturday and stood transfixed watching a demo running of a new game
>called Alundra. It had beautful sprites, beautiful animation and looked
>so superb. And it made me realise - 3D sucks, sprites rule.
>
>Fact is, polygons will always look like polygons. I saw some screenshots
>of Unreal in Edge and, you know, not bad, but not a curve in sight! Just
>lots of straight lines - the monsters looked like they had been cut out
>from the back of a Cornflakes packet with shears.
>

People should just give up trying to produce realistic environments
using polygons.  It's ok if you have loads of computer hardware at
your disposal and are writing flight sims for the MOD or something but
for a games console or PC it's just not possible.  I have friends who
produce computer animation  for films and even they complain about the
time it takes a single frame to render and they're using high end
graphics workstations.  Lets face it, a Playstation doesn't have a
chance unless you use so much depth cueing that you can only see 2 ft
in front of you ( or the game is set at night.... ).

>And these first-person PoV games make me feel sick and dizzy. Maybe it's
>also the lack of curves that does it - it could be a Feng Shui thing. I
>was playing Goldeneye on a friend's N64 recently and I had to have a few
>spliffs to get rid of the migraine and nausea it induced.
>

Heh heh. I usually need a few spliffs BEFORE I can get anywhere on
most video games...I will admit though a lot of 3D games do make me
feel sick after playing for too long, maybe along with the games
charts they should have the top 10 vomit inducing games that you 
should avoid.

>I'm hoping the tide will turn soon, to either a more organic 3D using
>voxels or back to the 2D world that got us into games in the first
>place. But please, no more polygons!
>

>Anyone else have any views on this?
>
>Phil
>