An article on PREY (from www.3drealms.com)
Mike
Pulled of the web, can be found somwhere at www.3drealms.com
** note some stuff might have gotten deleted **
Article:
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3D Realms Gets Closer to God
Ever since the days of id Software's Wolfenstein 3D, gamers have been in
awe of three-dimensional gaming. It is now one of the most popular forms of
PC entertainment, as games such as Dark Forces, Hexen and Descent constantly
grace the top slots of retail sales charts. People have spent countless
hours deep within these worlds, and devote time, energy and cash into
furthering their digital adventures. These also catch the attention of
developers, who jump on the bandwagon and attempt to stake their claim in
this flourishing market.
One of the newer developers to do this is3D Realms. A subsidiary of the
mega-successful shareware company, Apogee,
3D Realms dedicates their projects to, of course, creating three-dimensional
worlds. Their debut effort, Terminal Velocity (a high-action flight sim),
scored big points with fans, and even Microsoft, who had their own spin-off,
Fury3, created for the MS Home series. Continuing on this road of fame was
Rise of the Triad, which was a technological 1-up for 3D games. Now, after
months of sweaty anticipation, 3D Realms has released Duke Nukem 3D to the
general public. Based on Apogee's critically acclaimed Duke Nukem series,
this game is way ahead of the pack when it comes to the engine that drives
it. The attention to detail in every category is what makes this game so
enlightening, and is also the reason that the shareware version is one of the
most frequently downloaded games on the Net. Well now 3D Realms wants
to beat their high score... again. In February of 96, 3DR released news on
a brand new game. It is to be such a technological marvel that the designers
are already calling it a quot;virtual movement that will take over the
world quot;.Judging from some of the features, as well as 3D Realms flawless
track record, it isvery likely that this prophetic statement will come true.
Prepare to enter a world like no other. An alien realm filled with magic
and might. Where the strong survive and the weak are hunted. Keep runnin,
fat boy. You've just become PREY. quot;YOU ARE AND YOU'D BETTER!quot;
The above statement is the sub-title to this new 3D world that is the next
level in first-person gaming. The story is rather dark and foreboding. You,
the player, are abducted from Earth by a strange and powerful alien race.
quot;Bestowed quot; with a bionic skin graft, your new job on their planet
is not an easy one. As prey, you must survive. See, these aliens are
studying a special form of combat which is based upon six different
disciplines of fighting which make up a system called the Warrior Wheel.
But before they go trouncing around conquering worlds, they need to
practice. Guess who the punching bag is? Throughout the game, you will be
placed within these alien environments and pretty much be told to defend
yourself until all your opponents- or you- are dead. But you will also have
some help. Not only does the mechanical enhancement you have assist you in
combat, but you will eventually pick up on the six disciplines, allowing
to effectively battle your hunters and come out victorious.
It is up to you to show these aliens that humans aren't just meat, and have
some experience in fighting malicious aliens. It may sound rather simple,
but remember that this isn't your average city or Martian moon base. In
Prey, you are within an alien world. Therefore, it is up to you to learn
how the environment works, how weapons function, and how to defeat the
superior foes you are up against. Things are different here, and your
survival depends on how well you adapt.
The engine has six degrees of freedom- which means you can look in any
direction and move in any direction. It's going to be straight action, but
the theme of the game provides a much richer texture than other games in
this genre, everything will fit together well, all thematic
to each of the disciplines. For instance, there is a Temple of Might, and
the inhabitants will be solely concerned with using force to wage war.
The environment will [consist of] heavy, oppressive architecture... to
withstand the amazing battles that take place within it. The full,
unrestrictive 3D engine allows the level designers to create any desired
architecture. Rooms over rooms, bridges over bridges, arched ceilings,
dynamic lighting effects, and any surface can be sloped. There are no
restrictions whatsoever on architecture, since the engine is true 3D, said
William Scarboro, a Prey programmer. Prey will take full advantage of thiswith
impressive and very alien levels for the player to explore. Prey also
has environmental interaction, such as ropes you can grab ahold of and swing.
Be forewarned, though. You're not the only one who will be able to take
advantage of these features.
The game's AI is a breakthrough in itself. Enemies will be far beyond
intelligent. They will make use of every available resource in order to
destroy their targets. After all, this is their world, and they should know
how everything works. The player won't be so lucky to start.
If [the player] gets tired of playing the hero of the game, they can choose
to play as a monster. You can also choose to have robot players cooperatively
play alongside the user, or they can play against you for a deathmatch
without a network. To help make the enemies more realistic, 3D Realms is
aiming for a very intelligent approach for the evil baddies within Prey.
In order to overcome a warrior of a particular discipline, you must defend
with it's opposite. Occasionally, said Hall, [enemies] will do things so
intelligently, you'll swear you're playing against a human.
These aren't the only unique features available in the game. 3D Realms is
designing the game with open source code. In effect, users will be able to
alter Prey in any form they wish. You could even write a word processor in
it, if you really wanted to. said Hall. This may not be a common occurrence
with the Prey engine, but 3D Realms is betting that users will be doing all
sorts of wacky things with the built-in compiler, including making their own
levels or designing a completely new world in Prey!
The spectacular architecture within Prey is just one of the many visual
delights users will see. Ray traced lighting will create the most realistic
shadows and atmosphere ever seen in a real-time computer game. This will
play an important part in the game, as you can judge the location of your
foes by the shadows they cast. According to the designers, one enemy will
have a light on his gun, and players will actually see it searching them
out in dark rooms. These effects will not be limited to standard
illuminescence. Lights can take on any color, such as red for a lava-filled
room. The lighting effects in Prey are some of the most outstanding visuals.
You'll be able to scope out the new world in any angle, even looking up or
down at enemies. The using of fully texture-mapped, polygon graphics will
make everything flow in a morerealistic manner, right down to the sly
enemies which stalk the player. By using this method, Prey will be able to
support several resolutions in both VGA and SVGA. Best of all, by the time
Prey hits the shelves, most users will have the type of system needed to run
the game fluidly.
Prey will also include a rather warped soundtrack. The awe-inspiring world
must be accompanied by equally moving audio effects. quot;The music will be
more of a threatening alien atmosphere, quot; said Hall, quot; sort of an
ambient malevolence. That and the sound effects are being composed by our
resident musician, Lee Jackson (Rise of the Triad, Duke Nukem 3D). We've got
a few sound effects in now, and Prey is going to sound awesome.
One of the highlights of gaming these days is multiplayer support. Without
it, many wouldn't get the same enjoyment from their games simply because
they can only play solo. Recently, games such as Doom (id Software) have
made the inclusion of modem play almost mandatory. Prey will be no exception,
as 3D Realms is placing strong emphasis on the modem/network capabilities
of this game. Prey levels will be immense and ominous. Playable via modem,
LAN or the Internet, Prey will have virtually no limit as to how many
players can join a multiplayer game. Gamely would only regress if the
server was being trodden, or bandwidth was limited. The game server will
handle all game control for the clients, so in a way the server defines
what occurs during a game. Since even the multiplayer code is to be wide
open, it would be possible for users to customize the multiplayer
environment, with only the host needing the altered files, which will
eliminate those annoying synch errors. Prey will also have the capability
to have its network games spanned over multiple machines. So while one
system hosts the players, the other renders the levels. Says Mark Dochterman,
the third Prey programmer, quot; Prey will be a great multiplayer game.
Multplay will have our full attention, not just be a tacked-on afterthought.
Prey servers will be popping up all over the Internet. Hopping from server
to server [to find new opponents] will be as easy as running around the
world wide web is now. quot;
It would be apparent to some that Prey is a copycat of id Software's
much-anticipated game, Quake. This game has been in development longer, and
many of the Prey production staff previously worked with id Software. One
would reason that this was an intentional move. But 3D Realms would have ussee
differently. They share some obvious similarities, but according to 3D
Realms, that's just unavoidable when two companies strive to make a next
generation game. quot; If Quake didn't exist, we'd still be making this
game. quot; said Hall. quot;We set out to make a scary, intense sci-fi
game with unparalleled action. The Prey engine and the Quake engine are the
logical next step in making 3D games: computed lighting with polygon-based
characters. quot; According to 3D Realms, the Prey design team is hoping for
a Christmas release. Still, they claim that the more realistic unveiling will
take place in 1Q of 1997. It may seem like a long wait, but Prey is going to
be something to look forward to. It blends incredible worlds with a rich
soundtrack. Combined with a great story, and more features than you can
imagine, this game will truly be a mind-boggling experience. Lovers of 3D
games will have a big treat this coming winter. Until the release of Prey,
you can go ahead and sulk in a corner, or perhaps try out some of 3D Realms
other upcoming games. In either case, you're still in for a great time.
3D Realms is known for producing cutting-edge three-dimensional games with
sensational effects. Why should Prey be any different?
estimated msrp: $49.95 format: WIN95 CD-ROM - DOS CD-ROM - MAC CD-ROM
estimated system requirements: Pentium 90mhz - 8MB RAM - 45MB drive space,
2x CD-ROM drive - 2MB SVGA graphics card - Sound Card
final note: It was inevitable that technology would carry over to this
spectacular level. Prey is going to revolutionize the way people play three
dimensional games. Despite that it will have to contend with the sure
popularity of Quake, it is no doubt that Prey will rise to a level of
acceptance all its own.
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Article ends
This article is probably copyrited by somebody.
go to www.3drealms.com to see some nifty pics and development info.
looks cool, don't it!
Mike. (who happens to like Duke and quake)