1997 Half-Life Alpha Tech Demo

Very cool. I'm assuming this would have been running on 3dfx hardware? Maybe they got the Voodoo2 early?
 
aldamon said:
Very cool. I'm assuming this would have been running on 3dfx hardware? Maybe they got the Voodoo2 early?
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Probably. I can't remember for sure, but I think I was running a TNT/TNT2 when HL came out. This was obviously a little earlier than the final product though.
 
aldamon said:
Very cool. I'm assuming this would have been running on 3dfx hardware? Maybe they got the Voodoo2 early?
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There was the first Voodoo 3Dfx, I owned one in '97, Orchid Righteous was the brand and model, weird how that impact is lost these days, going from 2D graphics to full on 3D I mean, now it's the norm and lost it's wow factor.
 
"skeletal animation"

aka

"Do you like my drawrings?" :D

Even so, it was awesome back in the day. :)
 
OMFG!!! FLOCKING?!?!

I know what engine I'm using for my next bird simulator!!!
 
Amazing what they were able to accomplish tweeking the Quake engine.
 
Back in the day, those features were amazing and mind blowing. It was so amazing.

These days, kids look at that and say meh. I'm glad I've lived through those old times to see how far we really have come. Some very amazing technology.
 
I love the crazy eyes on every character model. Should have kept those in.
 
I remember being amazed at HL single player and gfx and ai.
Can't beleive it's been that long since release, I am getting old :(
 
Back then it was Nevah been done befohah!

I remember having my mind blown with that game. Interactive NPCs? guns that weren't just floating in air waiting for you to grab them? Enemy that would outflank you and throw grenades when you tried to hide? a plot?!?!

It was also my favorite multiplayer game for a long time and that modified engine gave us Counter Strike and Team Fortress Classic.
 
The original Unreal opening loop was Imo the best tech demo I remember from my childhood.
 
Agreed. Loved the original Unreal, but between that and the Half-Life universe, I had a lot of fond gaming memories.
 
With how great games look today (those that aren't tainted by outdated consoles, or have lens flare spammed everywhere like BF3). The facial details haven't really improved all that much over the years..
 
Yeah that is pretty much what I remember a software rendered 3d engine looking like in 1997. Which is why 3dfx was the king back then....it just kicked graphics like this right in the jimmy.

I miss 3dfx. But they only had themselves (their management) to blame.
 
The GoldSrc engine [half-life 1's engine] was built off Quake 2, This looks like when HL was just a Q2 mod.

The final version was it's own engine basically, Interesting to watch, Some of the textures made it into final, Character design seems mostly intact. GoldSrc engine was born from the graphical/sound/gameplay redux.
 
Looks like all the MPs were on meth: look at their eyes.
 
Monkey34 said:
Glad I played it after it was modded for HL2.
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Glad I can still install my CD copy of Half Life 1 from 1998 and play in 640x480 glorious Software rendering. You're missing out if you only experienced Half Life through Black Mesa Source.

Right around the end of 1999 was the pinnacle for gaming. You had Starcraft, Quake 2, Half Life, Unreal Tournament. Then you had the killer console games like Goldeneye/Perfect Dark, Starfox 64, Turok, Final Fantasy VII, just everything was so good back then. Man, I fucking miss those days.
 
What drives me nuts is those kids nowadays bitch about new games and use "looks like graphics from the 90's" as a critique. No new games, not even those considered the worst of the worst have graphics that bad.
 
If anyone has the binaries for this I'd love to get my hands on them.

Stuff like this belongs in a museum. Setup an exhibit with a PC using hardware of the era running this tech demo alongside a PC running the full version based on hardware of that era.
 
Lorien said:
If anyone has the binaries for this I'd love to get my hands on them.

Stuff like this belongs in a museum. Setup an exhibit with a PC using hardware of the era running this tech demo alongside a PC running the full version based on hardware of that era.
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That would be pretty awesome. The "VG Hall of Fame" or something. Would be really awesome if they could somehow have a LAN center set up for old fashioned DM fragfests. I miss those old twitch shooters like Quake and Unreal Tournament.

DaRkL3AD3R said:
Glad I can still install my CD copy of Half Life 1 from 1998 and play in 640x480 glorious Software rendering. You're missing out if you only experienced Half Life through Black Mesa Source.

Right around the end of 1999 was the pinnacle for gaming. You had Starcraft, Quake 2, Half Life, Unreal Tournament. Then you had the killer console games like Goldeneye/Perfect Dark, Starfox 64, Turok, Final Fantasy VII, just everything was so good back then. Man, I fucking miss those days.
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Yep, still have my retail copy too. I remember having to play in software mode because my machine wasn't beastly enough to run it in hardware rendered mode.

Honestly, some of those games didn't age well at all though. The primary enjoyment I ended up getting from Goldeneye was in the form of glitches and using a Gameshark to modify it. My favorite glitch was in the bunker levels where if you threw too many remote mines on the hanging monitors, then detonated them, the physics would break and nothing was affected by gravity or physics. So, I'd end up spamming rockets just hovering midair (which could then be shot and blown up!) and tossing mines that would just hover there where they were thrown. It was a disgustingly broken game at times where some of the glitches weren't quite so entertaining. Plus, Oddjob. Everyone wanted to be him.

And, I liked FFVIII over VII honestly.
 
Always interesting to look at how things were when we were kids..This got me to go back and look at some of the "games" I played on my trash 80 growing up....wonder how many will remember that particular reference.
 
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