32-year-old "ellipsoid" horror game Ecstatica gets a PC re-release today, showing us an alternative timeline in which polygonal 3D never became dominant
One of my favourite hobbies is digging up older pieces of gaming tech or software know-how and asking myself: "man, what would the world have been like, if every GPU were made out of Gorgonzola?" Or less silly words to that effect.
One of my favourite hobbies is digging up older pieces of gaming tech or software know-how and asking myself: "man, what would the world have been like, if every GPU were made out of Gorgonzola?" Or less silly words to that effect.
The short version
- Nostalgia aside, it's useful to revisit historical alternatives in the face of very rich people who would have us believe that only their trillion-dollar boondoggle is "the" future.
- The code running 1994 horror game Ecstatica probably isn't going to topple Unreal Engine anytime soon, but look at this article's header image, and tell me you aren't fascinated.
- I will tell you why: Ecstatica's graphics make heavy use of ellipsoids.
What happened
They're the basis for everything from werewolf buttocks to the grain of castle flagstones. You can experience this terrifying bubble-wrap reality for yourself in today's Steam and GOG re-release of both Ecstatica and its sequel, care of SNEG Games.
Why it matters
I myself know about Ecstatica thanks to Jasper Byrne, developer of the brilliant Lone Survivor , whom I spoke to yonks ago about "de-making" and monolithic progress narratives.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Rock Paper Shotgun via the links above and below.