Dear god no. The latest Doom games are soulless snorefests, imo. Doom 3 was jump scare but it had character.
20 years since 2004. The greatest step forward in PC gaming?
- Thread starter Uriel
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Dear god no. The latest Doom games are soulless snorefests, imo. Doom 3 was jump scare but it had character.
VR. I may have cooled off on it and have not owned a headset for a couple of years now, but experiencing Oculus CV1 demos for the first time on my 1080ti - the one with a dinosaur, vertigo inducing rooftop and macro photo of a fly - was jaw dropping on a scale beyond whatever happened in mid-late 2000s.
Vampire the Masquerade! That brings back some great memories. I had completely forgot about that game. I spent to long trying to get into it, but had so many problems and gave up. Then the patch came out and I tried again, I was hooked! So many mods and weird online fun.
Three games from roughly that period I still play are Freespace 2 (1999), 2003's Far Cry, and Command & Conquer 3 from 2007.
Modern games are just based on higher and higher production values rather than actual good gameplay which takes second place. Have to say with Quest 3 has rekindled the joy of gaming for me. VR is the gigantic leap the OP was asking for it's a breath of fresh air.
For me gaming is much less enjoyable than it used to be. I think the biggest step forward in the last 20 years is the thing that started my downfall with games. Steam imo was/is the biggest/greatest step forward for PC gaming as it made getting games so much easy plus the sales. However, for me at least this was a double edge sword as the backlog of unplayed games shot up with the first steam sale. TBH, I can’t see myself every completing my backlog of games.
Currently, I only play games like FTL, binding of Isaac or neon abyss (pick up and play/roguelike games). I play my consoles almost exclusively as I love quick resume feature which very handy given the lack of time I have. Considering getting a steam deck as it has this feature and will help me clear some of my gaming backlog.
I think modern games are the same as older titles but I've played so many its hard to get a new/fresh experience as I have seen them all before.
Currently, I only play games like FTL, binding of Isaac or neon abyss (pick up and play/roguelike games). I play my consoles almost exclusively as I love quick resume feature which very handy given the lack of time I have. Considering getting a steam deck as it has this feature and will help me clear some of my gaming backlog.
I think modern games are the same as older titles but I've played so many its hard to get a new/fresh experience as I have seen them all before.
Soldato
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i know what you mean.... and i am often frozen by the paradox of choice when it comes to gaming as well.
I try to just accept that most of my steam library is just wasted money on fluff i will never play.... and console myself that most of the games were cheap so its not the end of the world.
i also go through ebbs and flows of gaming. actually right now is not a bad time for me. Lego Fortnite of all games has really grabbed me. there is just something satisfying about those clickety clackety sounds as you build.... and despite what others have said i dont find it a grind either.
i will likely be done with it soon(ish) but as something i started just to play with my lad, i have found it has really sucked me in and i play it a lot in my own world on my own........ my village just hit level 10 and i unlocked the smelter and last level on my crafting table so not *that* much to do now i guess.
(maybe another 20hrs or so to go look in the frost biome)
but in total i must have lost 50hrs in it so far, not bad for what is a free side addition on an also free game to play. i really should buy that actual paid expansion for it just as a tip of my cap to the devs. i have not paid a penny on fortnite yet and have likely over 100 hrs in it now.
its not all bad having a backlog however, it means i never need to buy a game day one. by the time i get to it, its cheaper, has more content and some of the bugs are fixed.
I try to just accept that most of my steam library is just wasted money on fluff i will never play.... and console myself that most of the games were cheap so its not the end of the world.
i also go through ebbs and flows of gaming. actually right now is not a bad time for me. Lego Fortnite of all games has really grabbed me. there is just something satisfying about those clickety clackety sounds as you build.... and despite what others have said i dont find it a grind either.
i will likely be done with it soon(ish) but as something i started just to play with my lad, i have found it has really sucked me in and i play it a lot in my own world on my own........ my village just hit level 10 and i unlocked the smelter and last level on my crafting table so not *that* much to do now i guess.
(maybe another 20hrs or so to go look in the frost biome)
but in total i must have lost 50hrs in it so far, not bad for what is a free side addition on an also free game to play. i really should buy that actual paid expansion for it just as a tip of my cap to the devs. i have not paid a penny on fortnite yet and have likely over 100 hrs in it now.
its not all bad having a backlog however, it means i never need to buy a game day one. by the time i get to it, its cheaper, has more content and some of the bugs are fixed.
I challenge my thinking in this. Sure I was enjoying games more then but I was much younger.
Did the games have fewer bugs etc or did I just not notice them as I wasn't spending much time on forums etc and seeing meltdowns on social media.
Not sure in all honesty.
Did the games have fewer bugs etc or did I just not notice them as I wasn't spending much time on forums etc and seeing meltdowns on social media.
Not sure in all honesty.
The late '90s were better as technology was moving at such a fast pace and the 3dfx Voodoo cards were such an amazing leap. However, in the slightly more modern era 2004 was a defining year and a large step forward in game graphics and physics. For me it started with Far Cry (that's when I really noticed a big difference, I loved that game) and continued with Doom 3 and the amazing Half Life 2.
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Soldato
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you may be surprised............. There are a few of us retro gamers knocking about who still enjoy older games today. Super side kicks, neo turmasters, shoot the bull, shuuz, world class bowels, hat trick and many many more get played in my place.
i recently completed a number of nes / snes games inc some of the dizzy egg games, zelda lttp and what not.
and back purely to PC games....... Steam have apparently even added a new game genre to its store (i haven't independently checked this but i am told its the case) "boomer games" which are either retro games, retrogames remade, or games made in the style of them.
mental note must get back to HL2 and complete in vr.
Saboteur 2 just yesterday showed up in my epic store front page as a game i may be interested in.......... which is a little bit creepy because i was only talking about that mid 1980s spectrum classic with a friend over the weeekend. i didnt even know it came out on pc, letalone was purchasable on epic store
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Soldato
Anyone suggesting graphics haven't improved that much since the games as noted in the OP is just lying to themselves honestly. And sound has certainly improved since then. The detail gone into recording the initial sounds, propagation of sound, resonance etc are all things that didn't even exist in those titles back then.
Does it make newer games better. No of course but ignoring that there is clearly huge leaps forward in games now compared to then in well three key areas they have actually improved in is such an oddity. The problem is constantly released games with half their content missing to sell DLCs and loot box gameplay elements on everything now. Nothing feels just like a game to play and enjoy because you need the 50 other things released later.
Look at games that release as a complete game such as Baldur's Gate 3 and there are games that are certainly massively improved as a complete package whilst having that classic 2000's qualities gameplay. Other games such as Alan Wake 2 was solid, Cyberpunk took a while to get there but is now solid, unfortunately does need the DLC for best of it. Breath of the Wild. The remake of Dead Space actually shows the improvement in sound, graphics and AI whilst holding onto the original gameplay to show exactly what would be amazing about games now if they came like that. RDR2 also very solid in terms of all the above you are claiming hasn't improved.
Rose tinted glasses don't help when trying to have a rational discussion. The difference with the OP side of things is those games are excellent and still play excellent but if any had a remake such as that of Dead Space with the same care and attention they would be significantly better. Actually should say the latest Doom games are excellent now and clearly step up from Doom 3, just do comparison of Doom 3 to Doom Eternal.
I think the best games of today are every bit as fun as the best games of the early 2000s, if not more so. We just got old.
The last game I played was The Last of Us, which I loved. I can't even image what 15 year old me would have thought of it, it would have blown my mind.
Soldato
That doesn't make an FPS complex by having a single player story and multiplayer. Take most modern FPS like Escape from Tarkov, they have by far greater detail in how they are calculating things such as bullet drop, general physics etc.
There are plenty of cash grab games, 100% but there are significantly more complex and detailed games out now also with much better physics, damage states etc also. The change is that it is easier than ever to get something basic working that took dozens of highly trained software devs to even get the basics working and can be achieved by a single person with such engines.
It is the same with say racing sims, weather, physics, tire physics, aerodynamics etc that are more detailed than ever as well. You are literally posting rubbish and insulting people, what is funny a lot of the devs that made those games in the 2000's have made games in the 2020's and yet you are saying they are not as talented as they used to be when they are improving on what they made initially.
Soldato
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no one is saying they havent improved... of course they have.............
but the title is about the greatest step forward in gaming.
so look at doom 3 released in 2004 and doom reboot released in 2016 so a 12 year gap
DOOM 3 vs. DOOM 2016 | COMPARISON | PC | ULTRA
I made this DOOM 3 vs. DOOM 2016 comparison to see the difference of 12 years!Please don't forget to SHARE this video if you liked it! Thanks! :)► Subscribe ...
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yes a definite improvement for sure in the eye candy
but if this thread is about the biggest step forward in pc gaming then i would say those 12 years are basically tiny changes relatively speaking. As a game i prefer doom 3 but technically 2016 is clearly superior - tho i can play doom 3 in vr so there is that!
compare that to elite, launched in 1984 vs Elite 2 frontier released NINE years later in 1993
elite 1984
elite 2 1993
not only did you have filled in 3d models with texture mapping, you could land on planets which was just not possible in the 1st game, and you had a far more scientifically accurate star chart and a pretty good attempt at neutonian flight (tho personally i prefer the 1st games simplistic flight model but thats just me)
I think that is what people mean by the fact that games now are just minor incremental improvements..... the fact is hardware wise the low hanging fruit is gone now, ray tracing was the last big thing in terms of eye candy that lots of folk were pining for... and we have it now.,
back in the day huge advances in hardware meant that stuff which was previously technically just not possible suddenly became available so we got actually new mechanics or in game features which we had never seen before (i remember when stairs and multi storey levels in an FPSer was a huge deal for instance.
for me the last big game changer in videogames was VR back in 2013/2014. i dont think we have seen anything close to as big as that in terms of being a game changer, i dont think there is anything else that big which could possibly come to be honest..... some sort of holodisplay? i dunno, that would just be VR but without glasses, AR? maybe but personally i prefer VR, tho AR is cool too.
and sound.... the jump from the 8bit spectrum era to the 16 bit amiga was pretty big, as was when i ditched my sound blaster 16 and got an AWE32.
now adays music in game is not really computer game so much any more its just music (higher bitrate samples maybe). You say rose tinted, but i dont think so
i miss the days of chris huelsbeck, Dave Lowe, Tim follin .. am sure i am missing plenty of others.
Turrican 2 is one of my favourite video game music pieces of all time, but so many other greats as well.
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Sound really hasn't improved. Hardware support for sound was pulled ages ago and it's mostly software driven now. Things like 3D positioning and some effects aren't as good. MS was about to add things like distance, echos and terrain effects (so objects would obscure sounds) to directsound but scrapped the idea. People stopped buying sound cards even though they make a big difference, so game support faded.
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Soldato
I agree with your points and general side of things but there are still huge improvements in tech etc. The scale of games to player count, ray tracing at real time even in its current limited form is huge for lighting and beyond any improvement we have had previous.no one is saying they havent improved... of course they have.............
but the title is about the greatest step forward in gaming.
so look at doom 3 released in 2004 and doom reboot released in 2016 so a 12 year gap
DOOM 3 vs. DOOM 2016 | COMPARISON | PC | ULTRA
I made this DOOM 3 vs. DOOM 2016 comparison to see the difference of 12 years!Please don't forget to SHARE this video if you liked it! Thanks! :)► Subscribe ...
yes a definite improvement for sure in the eye candy
but if this thread is about the biggest step forward in pc gaming then i would say those 12 years are basically tiny changes relatively speaking. As a game i prefer doom 3 but technically 2016 is clearly superior - tho i can play doom 3 in vr so there is that!
compare that to elite, launched in 1984 vs Elite 2 frontier released NINE years later in 1993
elite 1984
elite 2 1993
not only did you have filled in 3d models with texture mapping, you could land on planets which was just not possible in the 1st game, and you had a far more scientifically accurate star chart and a pretty good attempt at neutonian flight (tho personally i prefer the 1st games simplistic flight model but thats just me)
I think that is what people mean by the fact that games now are just minor incremental improvements..... the fact is hardware wise the low hanging fruit is gone now, ray tracing was the last big thing in terms of eye candy that lots of folk were pining for... and we have it now.,
back in the day huge advances in hardware meant that stuff which was previously technically just not possible suddenly became available so we got actually new mechanics or in game features which we had never seen before (i remember when stairs and multi storey levels in an FPSer was a huge deal for instance.
for me the last big game changer in videogames was VR back in 2013/2014. i dont think we have seen anything close to as big as that in terms of being a game changer, i dont think there is anything else that big which could possibly come to be honest..... some sort of holodisplay? i dunno, that would just be VR but without glasses, AR? maybe but personally i prefer VR, tho AR is cool too.
and sound.... the jump from the 8bit spectrum era to the 16 bit amiga was pretty big, as was when i ditched my sound blaster 16 and got an AWE32.
now adays music in game is not really computer game so much any more its just music (higher bitrate samples maybe). You say rose tinted, but i dont think so
i miss the days of chris huelsbeck, Dave Lowe, Tim follin .. am sure i am missing plenty of others.
Turrican 2 is one of my favourite video game music pieces of all time, but so many other greats as well.
But the post I responded too literally suggested regression for instance in sound and AI. That just isn't true in either case at all. It is foolish to think it has.
Soldato
Distance, echos and object obscurity to sound is literally in games now. I'm not sure it makes any difference if it hardware or software. Onboard sound now from a Mobo is better than those older sound cards from the early 2000s anyways.
3D positioning has been the best it has ever been with ability to create true 3D audio space through software in game engine as required. I have honestly no idea what you are on about and really just seem to want things to be as your rose tinted glasses push. It's honestly maddening.
Hunt:showdown and Hellblade are excellent with directional sound. DTS:X utilised in Witcher 3 again is really good if you have sound system/headphones for it.