Real Holographic Display!

[retroborg]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EndNwMBEiVU

The holographic display from Star Wars!! I'm sure the plans & theory on this technology existed from back in the 70s, otherwise how could they have known to implement this in that movie in 1977?!

Its also the CDOS display from Another World 1991!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNeayv-OTK0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgkf6wooDmw

[yoda313]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EndNwMBEiVU

The clip at 1:28 - notice the rings? They look quite a bit like the ring effect used in Star Trek Nemesis. That's THELORAN RADIATION!

Its also the CDOS display from Another World 1991!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNeayv-OTK0

Crap I remember that game. I owned it once upon a time. Might still have it somewhere - can't remember if it was 3 1/2 floppy or 5 1/4 . THough in 1990 it surely wasn't a cdrom game. Or at least I didn't have the cdrom version. I don't think I had a cdrom on a computer until I got my first windows 95 computer. That was a Pentium 1 200mhz tower if I remember correctly. No cd burner yet either.... Those were the dark days of computing for me

Also I remember that Another World used a code wheel for its password to let you play the game. Remember those days?

I still have my xwing dos box and disks. They had the password codes in the manual itself. You had to flip to the right page to enter the right three symbol sequence to play.

Ahhh memories.

You know the disappointing thing about that video on the 3d display was nobody put a hand through it to fully show it was floating in air with nothing in the way.

Edit - by the way how did they get a widescreen cap of that out of this world game? That was back in 4:3 days. Did they do some cropping and stretching of it or has it been rereleased?

[retroborg]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EndNwMBEiVU

The clip at 1:28 - notice the rings? They look quite a bit like the ring effect used in Star Trek Nemesis. That's THELORAN RADIATION!

Its also the CDOS display from Another World 1991!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNeayv-OTK0

Crap I remember that game. I owned it once upon a time. Might still have it somewhere - can't remember if it was 3 1/2 floppy or 5 1/4 . THough in 1990 it surely wasn't a cdrom game. Or at least I didn't have the cdrom version. I don't think I had a cdrom on a computer until I got my first windows 95 computer. That was a Pentium 1 200mhz tower if I remember correctly. No cd burner yet either.... Those were the dark days of computing for me

Also I remember that Another World used a code wheel for its password to let you play the game. Remember those days?

I still have my xwing dos box and disks. They had the password codes in the manual itself. You had to flip to the right page to enter the right three symbol sequence to play.

Ahhh memories.

You know the disappointing thing about that video on the 3d display was nobody put a hand through it to fully show it was floating in air with nothing in the way.

Edit - by the way how did they get a widescreen cap of that out of this world game? That was back in 4:3 days. Did they do some cropping and stretching of it or has it been rereleased?

Indeed it does look like the radiation generator in Star Trek Nemesis!

This was not the only game that used a password wheel by the way. Pretty much all Lucas Arts adventure games used it too!

This was definitely released on 3 1/2 Floppy disks on both the AMIGA & PC versions. The SEGA CD & Panasonic 3DO were released on CD 2-3 years later as well as in cartridge form for the SNES.

My 1st PC in 1995 after the AMGA 1200 which I got in 1993, was an AMD 486DX4 100MHZ 8MB Ram and I got a 6x CD-Rom Drive with my very first CD game which was the awesome Hexen!! The CD music of that game was gorgeous!

Actually this is not true Wide screen. I remember the AMIGA version did not take up the whole screen and it would cut the top and bottom part of the screen making it look like wide screen. I think the PC version was the same. But there was an anniversary enhanced version released 4-5 years ago for the PC, which might have featured true wide screen option...

[yoda313]

The CD music of that game was gorgeous!

Are you sure it wasn't really midi music? I can't imagine that early of a cd game having mp3 compressed music. Nor would it have actual cda tracks with real cd audio.

did not take up the whole screen and it would cut the top and bottom part of the screen making it look like wide screen.

So maybe it was originally letterboxed?? Or squished compacted letteroboxed I mean since it wasn't probably full screen back then?

But there was an anniversary enhanced version released 4-5 years ago for the PC, which might have featured true wide screen option...

Really. Hmm interesting.

This was not the only game that used a password wheel by the way. Pretty much all Lucas Arts adventure games used it too!

True enough. But this game wasn't lucasarts. It was some French company I think. It might have been whatever became Ubisoft. But I don't know if was France French or Canadian French. I might be wrong on that.

The Xwing game obviously was Lucasarts and it used a manual code not a wheel - the game linked to used the wheel.

I remember the Star Trek 25th anniversary point and click game had a code deal too. It was a star chart but I can't remember how it worked exactly. I think that game was activision.

Thanks for the memories Retroborg

[retroborg]

The CD music of that game was gorgeous!

Are you sure it wasn't really midi music? I can't imagine that early of a cd game having mp3 compressed music. Nor would it have actual cda tracks with real cd audio.

did not take up the whole screen and it would cut the top and bottom part of the screen making it look like wide screen.

So maybe it was originally letterboxed?? Or squished compacted letteroboxed I mean since it wasn't probably full screen back then?

But there was an anniversary enhanced version released 4-5 years ago for the PC, which might have featured true wide screen option...

Really. Hmm interesting.

This was not the only game that used a password wheel by the way. Pretty much all Lucas Arts adventure games used it too!

True enough. But this game wasn't lucasarts. It was some French company I think. It might have been whatever became Ubisoft. But I don't know if was France French or Canadian French. I might be wrong on that.

The Xwing game obviously was Lucasarts and it used a manual code not a wheel - the game linked to used the wheel.

I remember the Star Trek 25th anniversary point and click game had a code deal too. It was a star chart but I can't remember how it worked exactly. I think that game was activision.

Thanks for the memories Retroborg

Are you sure it wasn't really midi music? I can't imagine that early of a cd game having mp3 compressed music. Nor would it have actual cda tracks with real cd audio.


Absolutely! I have the original Hexen CD version of the game (1995) and it features Red-book CD music tracks straight out of the disc, no mp3/ogg compression what so ever. In fact you could play the music directly through your CD stereo system.

How ever, in the setup menu of the game you did have the option to choose between Midi tracks and the CD tracks if you didn't have the disc, but most people just installed it at their friend's house and used the midi tracks instead.

I actually converted these CD tracks into 320Kbit mp3s.

Heretic in 1994 truly only featured Midi tracks even though it later came bundled in a CD with 2 extra episodes named "Shadow of the Serpent Riders"

This is Another World Anniversary enhanced edition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba8-SlkUIwc

In this video it doesn't seem to use wide screen but the game looks gorgeous.

Delphine Software that published Another World & Flashback is indeed a French company.

Its a shame I never got to complete Flashback on my AMIGA back in the day, as at some point far into the game, when it requested to insert floppy disc #4, the disc was corrupt!
I should get back to that game too...

One of these days I'll try the sequel on the SEGA CD:
Heart of the Alien
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW4RBhXPRUY

And this there is another more recent game similar to another World on the AMIGA 1200 & PC that looks gorgeous!
onEscapee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E8VNfiPAaE

A star chart for the codes of the game?!
That's cool, I haven't seen this!
I would choose the Delta Quadrant with the Borg!

By the way, have you played the cool Blackthorne?
The PC version is the best due to its uncensored violence!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCaGHwfugNw

X-Wing?! Wow that game was hectic back in the day and too complicated for my Arcade oriented tastes back then!
Descent on the PC was cool though, the closest thing to X-Wing I enjoyed.

By the way, didn't Darkforces also feature the wheel code like the other Lucas arts games?
One more game I have to complete one of these days...

[yoda313]

Absolutely! I have the original Hexen CD version of the game (1995) and it features Red-book CD music tracks straight out of the disc, no mp3/ogg compression what so ever. In fact you could play the music directly through your CD stereo system.

How ever, in the setup menu of the game you did have the option to choose between Midi tracks and the CD tracks if you didn't have the disc, but most people just installed it at their friend's house and used the midi tracks instead.

Impressive. Though I'm not surprised that midi was part of the equation. That must have been one of the first to do real music and not synth stuff.

Delphine Software that published Another World & Flashback is indeed a French company.

Thanks for the confirmation. Though I couldn't remember the name nor the true country of origin.

A star chart for the codes of the game?!
That's cool, I haven't seen this!
I would choose the Delta Quadrant with the Borg!

Sorry wrong Star Trek. The 25th anniversary game was TOS Kirk and company.

By the way, have you played the cool Blackthorne?
The PC version is the best due to its uncensored violence!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCaGHwfugNw

Doesn't sound familiar. I'll check out the link later.

X-Wing?! Wow that game was hectic back in the day and too complicated for my Arcade oriented tastes back then!
Descent on the PC was cool though, the closest thing to X-Wing I enjoyed.

Xwing remains my near number 1 all time pc game ever. Always loved it. I even had it before I got my first sound card - an 8bit mono soundblaster isa card. I played it without sound and I still loved it! - I'm nearly certain it didn't have pc speaker sound.

I sorta remember Descent but not really.

By the way, didn't Darkforces also feature the wheel code like the other Lucas arts games?
One more game I have to complete one of these days...

Honestly I can't say. I don't think I ever owned the original. I had it on one of those collector edition sets they released in the 90s.

By the way retroborg - are you in your 30's by any chance? It seems like we are on a similar generational frame of reference here

[retroborg]

Absolutely! I have the original Hexen CD version of the game (1995) and it features Red-book CD music tracks straight out of the disc, no mp3/ogg compression what so ever. In fact you could play the music directly through your CD stereo system.

How ever, in the setup menu of the game you did have the option to choose between Midi tracks and the CD tracks if you didn't have the disc, but most people just installed it at their friend's house and used the midi tracks instead.

Impressive. Though I'm not surprised that midi was part of the equation. That must have been one of the first to do real music and not synth stuff.

Delphine Software that published Another World & Flashback is indeed a French company.

Thanks for the confirmation. Though I couldn't remember the name nor the true country of origin.

A star chart for the codes of the game?!
That's cool, I haven't seen this!
I would choose the Delta Quadrant with the Borg!

Sorry wrong Star Trek. The 25th anniversary game was TOS Kirk and company.

By the way, have you played the cool Blackthorne?
The PC version is the best due to its uncensored violence!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCaGHwfugNw

Doesn't sound familiar. I'll check out the link later.

X-Wing?! Wow that game was hectic back in the day and too complicated for my Arcade oriented tastes back then!
Descent on the PC was cool though, the closest thing to X-Wing I enjoyed.

Xwing remains my near number 1 all time pc game ever. Always loved it. I even had it before I got my first sound card - an 8bit mono soundblaster isa card. I played it without sound and I still loved it! - I'm nearly certain it didn't have pc speaker sound.

I sorta remember Descent but not really.

By the way, didn't Darkforces also feature the wheel code like the other Lucas arts games?
One more game I have to complete one of these days...

Honestly I can't say. I don't think I ever owned the original. I had it on one of those collector edition sets they released in the 90s.

By the way retroborg - are you in your 30's by any chance? It seems like we are on a similar generational frame of reference here

Impressive. Though I'm not surprised that midi was part of the equation. That must have been one of the first to do real music and not synth stuff.

Actually quite a few CD games back then featured Red-book CD music tracks both on the PC & consoles like the SEGA Saturn & SEGA MEGA CD, as the processing power of the systems was not enough to decode compressed music tracks in real time. The SONY PS-1 was one to ditch red-book and switch to compressed music tracks and Unreal 1 (1998) FPS game on the PC.

Interestingly enough, I'm fortunate that Hexen featured CD music tracks as my 486 PC back then featured an ESS sound blaster pro compatible sound cards, nit capable of playing Midi so music would have been much worse in simple FM Synth.

FX-Fighter (1995) is a prime example of gorgeous CD music on an early PC 3D beat em up game. The game it self was awesome too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_NyLPGvsLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv7D54zbkFc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d9t5upuYcQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfuWSZSlZoE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIMlll1gOWQ


Also:

Screamer 1
Screamer 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So8wOm-QU9A

I sorta remember Descent but not really.

Here is Descent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtgepMDikeU
There is a 3Dfx patch that greatly enhances the graphics by the way.

Doesn't sound familiar. I'll check out the link later.

This was actually created by Blizzard so you can expect to see many War-Craft elements right in there. There was also a SNES version which was greatly censored, an over exaggerated SEGA 32X version with funny looking pre-rendered sprites like Rare's Primal Rage & Donkey Kong Country & 2 extra stages and a horrible GBA version with very low resolution.
But the PC version is the best.

Xwing remains my near number 1 all time pc game ever. Always loved it. I even had it before I got my first sound card - an 8bit mono soundblaster isa card. I played it without sound and I still loved it! - I'm nearly certain it didn't have pc speaker sound.

My friend who also loved this game, would tell me very vivid stories of him playing it and his epic battles against the fleet of the Galactic Empire!

I too had played various PC games with out a sound card, primarily at another friend's 286 16MHZ PC! Star Control & Monkey Island 1 come to mind. Fortunately I later completed these on my AMIGA so I enjoyed them with full music, something the AMIGA was awesome at. When I got my 1st PC an AMD 486DX-2 100MHZ in 1995, I also did not have a sound card until I could collected some money, so I was forced to play the 1st Episode of Doom using the PC case speaker bleeper!

By the way retroborg - are you in your 30's by any chance? It seems like we are on a similar generational frame of reference here

Indeed I am!!

My favorite gaming era is from 1987 to 2004, Arcades, Consoles, PC & AMIGA and my favorite type of games are 2D games, especially 2D Shoot Em Ups like R-Type, Gradius, Raiden, etc... but my tastes change from time to time...

I also love the C&C series including part 4!


I recently completed Rage on the PC, but I found it too short and rushed.

Only 3 modern games I'm anticipating to play, Doom 4, Half Life 3 (or what ever it'll be called) and the Black Mesa Half Life 1 remake (If it is ever released)

I'm currently playing this on the PC:
Reflex:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAPE5z2Zkkc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXUU5_PvJLc

And this I completed last week, awesome PC shooter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhwSWRNRBO4

[yoda313]

Thanks for confirming your age range there. Im mid 30s fyi.

Ive basically loved each era of gaming. I have really enjoyed the current games almost as much as the nes and snes era games.

I just finished tales of vesperia and loved it. But i also love titles likeuncharted and halo and assassins creed.

Looking forward to assassins creed 3 and halo 4 thus fall.

I have a ps3 and a xbox 360 obviously.

I have gravitated to console gamingas the upgrade cycle for pc gaming is too quick and more expensive then console gaming.at leastin termsof top notch graphics for pcgaming. Thatswhy i like console gaming, the graphics work without upgrading until the next console cycle starts.

Fortunately thee are so many biggames i still haveto play that i can delay the next gen a little. Thankfully microsoft and sony areholding back fornow so i dont feel left out.

Though i di trade in my wii awhile ago since i couldnt devot time to 3 consoles. Now i am enjoying finishing games on my two systems.

I would have to start anew thread rtodetail the games ive finished on both the ps3 and xbox360.