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Real world models are cool.


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Real world models are cool.

Posted 02-15-2017 at 02:32 AM by Lord Vhazen
Updated 02-15-2017 at 02:53 AM by Lord Vhazen
So I was getting back into playing the old Creatures games and I came across something very interesting by mistake when looking around for new mods. Someone made a level for the game based off of "Steve Grand's original prototype" called Ron's House ( http://creaturescaves.com/downloads....arooms&view=33 )
and after being confused as fuck, I looked it up and according to the fan wiki, this old game from 1996 actually had its world generated from REAL WORLD models made in full detail, which were then photographed and added to the game as the background. This supposedly cost around 15 thousand euro, without account for inflation.

Two thirds of this clay model were auctioned off to a couple of rich dudes, while the last piece currently resides on display at the Centre For Computing History in Cambridge, to honor the original game's dev who was brought up from that university.

All this gets me thinking... What do you think it would be like if more devs were crazy enough to do this? Of course it's impractical, especially by today's standards, but it's an impressive feat nonetheless and I think it really drives the point home that video games really are a work of art. Just imagine if Oddworld's world was generated by these means....

Source:

https://creatures.wiki/Background_model

For those wondering, Creatures was a virtual pet simulator in which you took care of little furry Norn creatures. It still has a cult following to this day, and though it's basically been dead for over 10 years (not counting the failed fourth game) it has a long legacy and an impressive impact in the history of video game development, much like how Oddworld was a feat of impressive visual effects for the late 90s. Creatures was visually stunning for its time, but what really made it groundbreaking was its advanced AI - even if it is extremely primitive by today's standards.
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Lord Vhazen's Avatar
http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/d...eatures-Model/

The historical display in reference. Apparently, this was done because the team was "having trouble creating 3D graphics and animations". Not sure how much of this involved skill, but it is probably true that back then the technology was much more expensive than it is now.

Honestly this website/museum is fascinating... Just take a look at their latest additions! This thing called the Megaproccessor is just amazing.
Posted 02-15-2017 at 02:47 AM by Lord Vhazen
Updated 02-15-2017 at 02:58 AM by Lord Vhazen

Gunnr's Avatar
That sound's interesting, I think want to check that out
Posted 02-15-2017 at 06:56 AM by Gunnr

Varrok's Avatar
Ekhm.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Neverhood
Posted 02-15-2017 at 07:20 AM by Varrok

Lord Vhazen's Avatar
^ This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life....
Posted 02-15-2017 at 02:23 PM by Lord Vhazen

Varrok's Avatar
Oh, come on :blushes: I'm not that awesome
Posted 02-16-2017 at 12:21 AM by Varrok

Gunnr's Avatar
Man I'm lovin these models and I must now own that game, thanks for both links guys. I wish I was talented enough and had plenty of extra time in my hands to make little things like that!
Posted 02-16-2017 at 03:31 PM by Gunnr

Lord Vhazen's Avatar
You can pick up the entire collection at Gog games for like 14 dollars now, like I did just recently. The best one imo was Creatures 3, which is now called Exodus. Exodus is a bundle of the third game and it's failed Docking Station platform which was originally intended to be a sort of social network where you can share your creatures with other people. Now, its servers are dead permanently, but a lot of people use the Docking Station as their main way of playing the game because of some differences in the game engine - there are more mods for it, and it can work with mods from the third game as it's possible to "dock" the ship with the one from the third game.

Some of the best mods are C12DS (Creatures 1 to DS) and C2DS which both do as the name implies - they basically port the entire first and second game to the Docking Station. Buuuut a lot of people have difficulty getting both of these working in the same installation. If you have a go at it, the general rule is that if you get it to work, install C2DS first, make a backup, and then apply C12DS and see if the game still works. Currently, I go to Creatures Caves for all my modding needs, but there are some good personal blogs some of their submissions lead to.
Posted 02-16-2017 at 03:47 PM by Lord Vhazen

 

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