The Timeless Beauty of Pre Rendered Graphics
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- Опубликовано: 28 май 2024
- Some PC games in the late 90s and early 2000s had a particular look that I think stands the test of time. Join me as I investigate why that is and take a look at it's legacy.
RUclips footage referenced:
• Robin Hood The Legend ...
• The Computer Chronicle...
• The Computer Chronicle...
• The Making of Age of E...
• The Making Of Stronghold
• Pillars of Eternity Up...
• The Computer Chronicle...
• Nvidia E3 2004 Demo
• Stronghold: Definitive...
• MetaHuman Creator: Hig...
Music in order of appearance:
Sim City 4 OST - By The Bay
Sim City 4 OST - Epicenter
June - Bobby Richards
Fingerprint - Mini Vandals
Swimming Lessons - Bail Bonds
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:15 Timeless Beauty
01:05 The Golden Age
02:33 The Rise of Real-time 3D
03:29 The Comeback
04:32 Closing Thoughts & Recommendations 
Игры
List recommended by GameTalesHQ at the end of the video:
Desperados: Wanted dead or alive (2001)
Commandos: Behind enemy lines (1998)
Commandos: Men of courage (2001)
Beach life (2002)
Stronghold (2001)
Stronghold: Crusader (2002)
The sims (2000)
Sim city 4 (2003)
The settlers 4 (2001)
Anno 1602 (1998)
Robin Hood: The legend of Sherwood (2002)
Gangsters: Organized crime (1998)
Diablo 2 (2000)
Sudden strike (2001)
America: No peace beyond the line (2001)
Age of empires (1997)
Age of empires: Age of kings (1999)
American conquest: Fight back (2003)
Rollercoaster tycoon 2 (2002)
Zoo tycoon (2001)
Sanitarium (1998)
Baldur's gate 2 (2000)
Planetscape: Torment (1999)
Fallout 2 (1998)
Legend.
Out of those games (as far as I know) the following have some sort of remaster that make them even prettier and/or update them to be played on newer systems/resolutions:
Stronghold - Definitive Edition
Settlers IV - Gold Edition/History Edition
Diablo 2 - Ressurected
Age of Empires I - Definitive Edition (II has Definitive Edition too)
Baldur's Gate 2 - Enhanced Edition (Baldur's Gate 1 has EE too)
Planescape: Torment - Enhanced Edition
Sudden Strike - no official remaster, but mods to make it HD exist
Fallout 2 (and 1) - no official remaster, but plenty of mods to make it prettier
Also, there's another Black Isle game series missing from the list, which is Icewind Dale (considered by many to be as good/legendary as Baldur's Gate and Fallout), which also has an Enhanced Edition. IWD 2 does not have an official Enhanced Edition, but does have a fan-made Enhanced Edition (game was pretty much remade from 0 by modders), which is pretty close to what an Enhanced Edition for Infinity Engine games (BG, IWD, Planescape) usually is.
Where's the Heroes III
I just cant get The first Stronghold to work on modern pc's.
Only stronghold crusader.
Heroes III, Арканум забыли
Hardware limitations made video games better.
Music too
Not better but creative
Unironically, it did in most cases
There are always hardware limitations, always will be.
@sleepless2685 creativity is better. Limitations always result in design ideas that you would never think of id you had limitless resources. Watch the making of any classic movie or game and some of the best parts are the result of creatively navigating limitations.
That opening montage was sick!
Thanks man! Had a lot of fun working on it. It was actually quite a bit longer at first but i decided to cut it down to get to the point 😆
SC3000 ... Or 4, maybe (?) music?
I heard that somewhere..
@@sirsancti5504 'Sim City 4 OST - Epicenter' is what you are looking for.
Nostalgia just hit me.
like a time machine
Something I always loved about the prerendered isometrics style, especially for RPGs, is that it felt like you were playing a tabletop game on the most AMAZING terrain ever. The late 90's prerendered stuff absolutely DID age better than older polygon stuff, it's not even close.
I think 3d gaming tech is best employed on this kind of perspective. Game medium to lower intensity would let us appreciate the beauty of the graphics
Well done pre-rendering does wonders. Even stuff like mirrors edge with all pre-rendered light holds up much better than many from its time.
I fell in love with PC gaming as a kid in the mid-late 90s, so these pre-rendered graphics give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I wish they could have a rebirth like the 90s retro FPS are experiencing.
check out Project Zomboid. a zombie survival rogue-like sandbox that uses iso perspective. its like sims 1 if it was a zombie apocalypse. there's a metric crap tonne of mods, just for pre render tile packs to expand upon the build your own home/base aspect of the game has a huge player base right now. and its very addicting.
Late 90s and early 2000s will forever be my favorite era of gaming
1998 is literal the best year in video games.
OoT, MGS, half life, RE2, tekken 3, list goes on. Check the wiki page, just god tier games released that year.
Its the year where devs showed they got used to 3d games and specifically OoT, which is rated as the best game ever made, perfected camera controls. So influential you can see its influence in games to this day.
@@StinkyremyAlso Unreal and Thief The Dark Project.
Those are still in the wild west era of innovation and weird stuff. For better or for worse there was a lot of new stuff around every corner and you are right, I couldn't get enough of it. It will remain my favorite era as well. Not to mention my favorite handhelds were still kicking during that era.
@@Stinkyremyseeing as I was born that year playing games that old just feels so weird and unenjoyable. Its so hard to explain but for me playing older games even ones I played as a kid just suck to me now. I just leave them in my rose colored memory.
@@Stinkyremy Oh yeah so much good memory from that era of my adolescence. 1997/98 : Starcraft, Age of Empire, Total Anihilation, Fallout 1&2, Theme Hospital, GTA, Dungeon Keeper, Blood, Starsiege:Tribes, GoldenEye, StarFox 64, SW RogueSquadron, FFVII, Suikoden, Gran Tourismo, NFS3 Hot Pursuit, Oddworld, Soul Blade, || 1999: Counter-strike, Q3 arena, Unreal Tournament, Kingpin, Rayman 2, Homeworld, GTA2, AoE2, SC:Broodwar, DK2, Motocross/Midtown Madness, Baldur'sGate, Planescape: Torment, Swat3, Rainbox6: RogueSpear, SW Ep1 Racer, Driver, Legend of Mana, Silent Hilll, Parasite Eve 2, DinoCrisis, NomadSoul, Legacy of Kain:Soul Reaver, HouseoftheDead 2, SegaRally 2, TonyHawkProSkater, Shenmue, SF3 3rd Strike, and so much more big hits 😅
The big advantage and why this type of graphic is so nice is that everything you see, every sprite was carefully made, balanced with color/contrast/hue. In real real 3d since there you dont know from which angle will they looking the action, its much more hard.
True! That's where that level of cohesion comes from.
The main issue with the technique is lighting. For much of the period where this was in use, that wasn't an issue as people didn't expect fancy colored lighting effects. But, when you had games like Diablo where there was a light source at the player, it could look kind of janky. There were also some challenges handling transparency if you wanted to walk behind things.
That being said, one of the other cool things about the technology was that if they kept the files, they could always rerender them for higher resolutions, which wasn't really an option for other types of graphics.
@@SmallSpoonBrigade yeah, back then there was no graphic card to handle proper lightning anyway, so real 3d didnt had that big of an advantage in lighting neither. Yes it could have directional shadow. But it had to be very low poly. Even early 3d games like Warcraft3 or BFME, or Age of Mythology didnt really do much with lighting, maybe some shadow here and there.
I think directional lightning and even some Pseudo Global Illumination is possible with normal maps and Shader wizardry. But the Industry mostly went the other way.
The other big advantage of 3d is that if you change something its not a big deal. When you have to re render a bunch of sprites is a little more timeconsuming. Adaptive animations also almost impossible.
composition. The appeal of paintings and still images, the meditative space. The comfort knowing you cant choose a better angle. It creates a stillness and focus of mind.
@@mf-h3659 A beautiful way of expressing it. You can also pet your pet while staring at a scene.
Pre-rendered graphics made games look like you was living in that world and made the games look modern as if they were made in 2015 back in 1996-2005.
I had nomidea what that was all about so this was interesting. These grahpics seemed to punch above their weight class.
FF7 vs FF7 Remake encapsulates the difference perfectly. The background images look gorgeous in the original, and capture the steampunk atmosphere in a way that the Remake doesn't come close to reproducing. It's like watching a movie, with highly intentional camera angles, compared to viewing a scene with a free camera. If you want a sandboxing experience, free camera can be more suitable for the purpose, but if you want to convey a specific type of atmosphere, fixed angles are more optimal in my opinion.
In 2005 the Xbox 360 was out lol
Oh my goddd when this video began and you started the clip montage, I was thinking "man so this is why Anno 1602 always looked so good to me." AND THEN YOU SHOWED IT! I love you
I just love how it looks and the atmosphere these types of graphics create. No ammount of advanced 3D graphics on isometric games or attempts at emulating it did it for me.
There's something special about them right? Glad we're on the same page 👊😎
@@GameTalesHQ Age of Mythology is another game with similar graphics and great atmosphere 👌🏼🏛🏝
@@Helios_17_ I haven't played it sadly, heard good things about it though! It was fully 3D right?
@@GameTalesHQ I’m not 100% sure, i know it came out in 2002. The graphics are similar to Age of Empires 2 but have a very unique aesthetic to them. You should definitely check it out sometime, i couldn’t say enough good things about it 👍🏼
i wondered how tarkov will look like with this
There is something magical about these older games.
A 100%!
nostalgia
@@wololo10Some of them, yes. But games like Starcraft, Heroes 3, Diablo 2, Baldur’s Gate 2/Icewind Dale, Pharaoh/Caesar/Emperor are just as deep, playable (without some quality of life stuff) and relevant as their modern successors.
Edit: Forgot AOE 2, on Steam the player count almost rivals AOE4
it's not magic but hard labor
some of this games are objectively better than modern games.
Tropico 1 (2001) is also a beautiful example of pre rendered graphics video game ❤ good memories
Isometric RPGs are gorgeous.
They look like moving book illustration, like concept art brought to life.
Also - They age like a fine wine!
True but I was really shocked when I recently saw the real graphics of Diablo 2. In my memory it looked like Diablo 2 remastered, at least !
Nice to see Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood on the list. One of my childhood favorites, for sure.
just a few levels but every one of them looked so different each time you played it. One of my favourites too, I'm surprise that it wasn't that popular, or at least i didn't know anybody who played it
It was a really fun game, and one of those that has aged the best visually, even when compared to other pre-rendered games.
Memory unlocked! I completely forgot about that game. It was awesome!
I have never heard about this game before. I will check it out though.
@@bodycounter9386 Steam version doesn't work with nowadays computers, unless you get the patch yourself, otherwise get the GoG version which has the patch applied by default and it's only £0.59
I agree with this being an underrated artstyle; it offers a certain clarity and style, and has a sort of diorama-like quality to it that you don't get with other types of graphical methods. I'm actually developing an RTS that uses this method, as well as some modern techniques that weren't possible with that era of late 90s/early 00s isometric, like using normal and specularity sprites to allow for fully 3D lighting and shadow-casting on otherwise completely 2D sprites.
Your game has an awesome aesthetic! Good luck with it 😁
Respect, not a game dev myself, but I studied comp sci in college and projections, orthography, etc, etc was the bane of my existence. I also hear pathfinding is tricky for isometric games 🫡
I can't wait for your game to come out!
Hey nice to see you here! I'm eager to try a demo or early access version of DORF
Its the diorama effect indeed, every map is art in itself basically, most notable was Commandos 2. You could do away with a grid pattern and do more natural stuff. Slowly the rts/building genre is catching up but its a long ways to go. Manor lords made me feel very nostalgic when i tested the 3rdperson mode and walked through low branches onto a narrower footpath that led to some woodchoppers hut. And everything was in smooth realistic transition with curves an no grid.
Man, I wish your video would be longer, appreciate what you did here. It's like going back to the 2000s and enjoying video games for no reason but fun.
Dude... Commando 2 is the game ive been trying to search for so long. I played it once back then and forgot the title and have been thinking searching and finding out the title for so long. None of my friends tried it and thought i was imagining that game. Finally found it. OMG. Thank you.
Glad you found it, one of the best games ever made in my opinion! Word of warning though! The remaster on steam is quite buggy and has missing sounds, so if you can get the original to work with a patch that might be the better approach. (Can''t guarantee it works on modern machine's though)
I loved how expressed your point in just about 5 minutes even after briefly going through the history of the technology and why it was necessary. Often, other RUclipsrs will go into a long, convoluted monologue about the history of something before getting to the actual point, when they could've expressed their opinion in a couple of minutes. Love the editing and list of your favourite games without wasting too much time. Solid video!
Thank you!
Agreed 100x. I was astonished when it ended after the list, having made the point as thoroughly as anyone could need... you are a class act.
That SimCity 4 OST music in the beginning GOES HARD!! Jesus, the nostalgia is real!
The thing that make me reaaally appreciate the beauty of those older pre rendered graphics game is : my brain instantly process to understand everything that is shown on screen. While in modern games, even if the graphics are impressively good, my brain doesn't process instantly to understand everything on the screen, I have to stop for a minute and analyse everything in details to really '' see '' everything because the image and graphics are too cluttered by many many things.. while in older games there is just what it's needed where it's needed, it's not over encumbered. To me it is the big difference between them.
I realized that when I was playing BG3. It's like, yes the game is beautiful but I was having so much more trouble to have a global vision of everything that is shown on screen compared to BG 1/2 because of how much stuff there is at the same time on the screen. It's not necessarily a problem tho, it's just, sometimes for some scenes, an inconvenience.
AHH the Sim City 4 OST.
This was a great video, you should make an entire series on these beautiful games!
I'll definitely cover many of them on the channel in the future!
SC4 and SC3000... the best soundtracks ever recorded.
That OST still gives me goosebumps every time...
Part of the reason I really love Factorio - this art style just looks great.
Starcraft 1 has these graphics and has a very gritty realistic style, Starcraft 2 in 3d looks a bit goofy and cartoony in comparison
Yes, it is waste of computer power to use 3d on games like factoria as using pictures give the same and better graphics and there is no need for 3d... I also like the graphics in Factorio...
Factorio is gorgeous.
same with c&c games
C&C actually used real world physics due to voxel rendering for a brief time.
Factorio still does it for the same reason the old games do it, allowing the game to run properly (when you have a giant continent spanning mega factory)
I love pre-rendered graphics! Grew up playing JRPGs and PC strategy games, like FF7 and Age of Empires. This style allowed games to feel so real and detailed compared to anything at the time. Also, the zoomed out view gives the game perspective, making everything feel smaller, yet somehow larger, and totally epic. It was a real world. I would LOVE to see this style come back even moreso, especially in the JRPG genre, as all we ever see is pixel-based 16-bit style or hyper-realistic 3D anymore.
youve really opened my eyes to the beauty of this art style. Great vid!
Heroes of might and magick 3 got one of the most magical map ever
It feels so alive despite being mostly static.
Heroes 4 was the true height of series in my opinion.
Spend countless hours in the map editor crafting experiences for me and my siblings to enjoy.
YES this was the perfect example. That game was beautiful
@@xergiok2322 Really... I played Heroes 4 way before I discovered the internet so I don't really know the common opinions, but my family and I liked it most.
@levoGAMES I also love Heroes 4! It's actually not so uncommon an opinion. I watch a heroes 4 youtuber, noverlord. Though he hasnt uploaded in a while.
Commandos 2 was a tour de force, for me - the graphical jump from the first game to the second, the dynamic use of lighting and the smooth animations are still stuck in my brain to this day. So glad you've shone a light on these games!
Love commandos!! Spent so many hours getting absolutely destroyed lol.
I played that game hard, but damn it was hard. I stealthed every mission (save scumming) but i could not stealth either the last or the 1 before last mission.
I played it on PS2 too lol
The voice of a german soldier saying "Nein! Nein!" reverberates thru my soul to this day lol
C2 is my all time favourite 😍
The instantaneously reacting guards ruined the whole game for me. There was no "investigating" mode.
These sorts of graphics genuinely never look bad.
Short video but very informative and entertaining to watch. So much nostalgia watching those old games. Thank you
I remember seeing that immense Buddha sculpture in Commandos 2. At the time I was a kid and I thought graphics would never get any better.
In a sense, they never did
Very cool video. But i REALLY appreciate that you were respectful on my time. Too many youtubers nowadays feel it is their sacred duty to turn every video idea into a 28 minute essay nowadays. I don't have the time, lads ... no one does anymore.
Cheers from france
Glad you enjoyed, greetings from the Netherlands
i was sad to see how short it was... i enjoy the longer videos... IF they are well done... this one was... easily could be 4x the length
@@narmale brainwashed
Quelle tristesse et quelle arrogance. Plus personne n'a le temps, alors rushons encore et toujours plus. Transformons toutes les vidéos en reels, et tous les reels en tiktoks. Pour qui les gens se prennent ils ? Des ministres ? Jsuis prêt à parier que tout ces gens qui n'ont pas le temps passent 1h sur insta, et 1h sur tiktok à mater de la daube. Faut arrêter de se voiler la face
@@choupi4719 rentre chez toi, choupi. On s'en branle. Va regarder des vidéos d'une heure.
In case you don't know about it, there's this game called "Tzar: The Burden of the Crown" that also uses pre-rendered graphics. It was a bit known in Europe but I'm not sure if it even came to the US.
Also "Port Royale". It uses that tech quite a bit too but they do use 3D as well.
Tzar, Desperados, Port Royale and specially the Commandos saga are some of the games I spent most time playing on my early childhood. Along with PS1 euro demos and NES games emulated on my father's PC.
This answers why I could only run StarCraft 2 in my high end PC, while I could run the original Brood War even in my dad's oldest laptop. The graphical difference between these two games is insane, and it tells me how clever game developer was back in the day. Their work is not only limited by creativity, but also actual computer hardware limitations. The ways they have to gone through to twist their minds to serve us 3D graphics in its earliest times and in limited hardware capability will forever have my respect. They're the foundation of the modern gaming industry.
I've been playing Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge since it came to steam a few week back with CnC Net updates that make it possible to play on bigger resolutions and got remembered how much I like that game's art style - way better than newer 3D entries in the C&C / Red Alert franchise. This kinds of art style truly is ageless.
Scrolled way too far to see CnC mentioned!
@@michaels7168for real
RA2 only used sprites for infantry. The rest are voxels. Much more sophisticated than earlier 2D games.
The live action cut scenes were so funny too.
Heh, I've always said that the reason Age of Empires II outlasted all the following chapters is because of the 2D nature of the game that made it age incredibly well.
Came here to say this!
This video really hit the spot. Thanks for making this and conjuring up sweet memories of this era in gaming, when I was between ages 11-14. The games you’ve mentioned are a real treasure.
Only just discovered your channel and looking forward to watching more of you.
I'm glad you enjoyed and thanks!
super beautiful and concise video man. I love how amazing this video is and that it isn't 20 minutes long for no reason. Great work
Yeah, this video hit the right spot. It was a short and sweet video, and that opening montage was FIRE!!!
Thank you
Grim Fandango remains my favorite game of all time and its partially because of the prerendered graphics, maybe because the prerendered screens create such mystery and make you imagine what could be around the corner.
I Ctrl+F'd grim fandango as soon as i opened the video
Grim Fandango is interesting because it's right at the intersection of 3D models atop prerendered fixed-field backgrounds. That was a style that didn't last very long at all and had very few exemplars on PC. A lot of games on the original Playstation employed it because at the time everyone was trying to find uses for the massive storage capacity of a CD. Final Fantasy games through the original Playstation era (7-9) used it extensively, as well as some tank-control horror games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil. The Nintendo 64 never had large enough storage to make that format work, and so its games leaned entirely on 3D models. By the time the Dreamcast and PS2 rolled around they had the power to render convincing backgrounds.
I feel the 3D-on-prerender aesthetic has aged better than very early 3D like Tomb Raider, yet not quite as well as the games described in the video. Partially this is because the low-poly 3D models, textures, and animations themselves haven't aged well. But for these games specifically I think it's because the rendered backgrounds only really work on a full screen, and are comparatively low-res on modern displays. But isolinear strategy/RPG games like Planescape Torment have large scrolling backgrounds and sprites that look smaller but beautifully crisp at 1080p 1:1 scale, and still very good with bilinear upscaling at 4K.
@@jeffhiner This was very informative, thanks.
This was a thoughtful, concise video. Well done.
It is good to see this style making something of a comeback in recent years with games like the gorgeous Shadowrun series.
Also, I should like to recommend Gorky 17, Arcanum and the Icewind Dale series for more pre-rendered goodness.
I wanted to point out that the golden age of final fantasy 7-9 also used pre rendered backgrounds, as well as resident evil. The beautiful artistic environments were present, whilst not limiting themselves to the isometric perspective. Bold artistic style.
StarCraft should get an honorable mention too. The prerendered assets were beautiful for its time, but they opted to make their environments modular for creative reasons.
One of the reasons these old 2D games tend to look so good even today, is because in the process of production of 2D sprites or backgrounds, devs would start on a powerful "graphics station" (so called back in the day, just a reaaaly powerful PC with specialized 3D software) and make very detailed 3D models, compute detailed shadows for everything, would set up light sources actually lighting surroundings realistically, add some approximate reflections on things like armor etc. and then- just bake them as 2D pictures which display on your slow end-user's pc or console with all those "effects" baked in them without actually having the target hardware computing them, and these were (some still are) VERY demanding effects to run real time, not practical at the time at all. If your character was walking, you'd see a 2D series of "snapshots" of a 3D model in different poses, lit up, self-shadowed and... displayed as a series of sprites-pictures.
Remember in the early days of 3D you didn't really have stuff like real shadows except maybe for a round blob directly beneath a character, no things like real 3D grass, no shadows being cast by trees etc. First trees in 3D were basically 2D sprites, and there was a running joke that they were always "facing you with their 3D side". Certainly you DIDN'T get detailed 3D trees with leaves casting shadows on grass beneath... But when making a 2D game- such things are not a problem, just... they wont be 3D. So you had very basic 3D, versus very detailed 2D. Yet if you "were there" at the time, even that simple 3D was still mindblowing! But it took 3D a long time to be able to compete with detailed 2D backgrounds prerendered on powerful PCs.
For sure! I feel like it took until ~2006 for 3d graphics to catch up somewhat. Even longer for rts games with many units on screen!
Yes, to this day I think the cities I created in Sim City 4 beat everything in any modern 3D city builder in terms of aesthetics and realism. When we realize that real time rendering isn't always the best, perhaps we'll enter a post-modern era in PC gaming.
I remember not understanding the 3d hype. The first 3d RTS games clearly looked worse than their earlier, 2d versions.
So... it's should be called post-rendered graphics instead.😅
Nice rundown but the 2d and 3d are now and always have been marketing terms. Everything graphics is 4d matrix operations regardless of what projection system you use and everything on a computer is rendered in 2d because your monitor is a flat square.
You actually live in 4d, if you lived in 3d you wouldn't have depth perception. It's the greatest crime display and video game marketing departments ever committed was convincing everyone they live in 3d when they know damn well a computer needs x,y,z, AND W to calculate and project any object.
One thing I could not help but notice playing Cossacks and Blitzkrieg, is how everything not only looks lively and colorful, but also how easy it is to see what happens on screen. Most modern RTS's use ton of HUD elements to highlight units and objects, because color-wise they're either brown-on-brown "realistic" mess or have more flashy colors and lights than a rave party.
Nice to see somebody else also mentioned Cossacks. I remember them saying that they aren't hopping on this 3D trend and sticking to sprites. And that for the big ships they go to 128 sprites per ship, so you can see it from many different angles (very unlike Warcraft 2 had, every 45 degrees, aka only 8 sprites)
I guess I have to check Blitzkrieg now, lol
So much this... the design aspect has gone down the crapper imo-often favoring realism over mechanically engaging design and gameplay. Everything's too busy, and while the defenders will say it's closer to reality, it's not, because the the input information/senses are so much more limited than real life.
@@johnbigelson7471 Yeah, the busyness of modern textures and models is annoying most of the time. Is as if the people working on that cannot simply have something smooth and more empty, which makes it more recognizable, fearing that the management will think they lazy-ed out or something.
Warcraft 3 and reforged are perfect examples of that. And I fear that the industry hasn't learned this lesson yet.
reminds me of how creative movies were before CGI. Like matte paintings.
now it’s too easy.
Oh wow, never thought I will see The Settlers IV ever mentioned again. Nox made by Westwood Studios before they got bought by EA was also a beautiful pre-rendered game.
Old pre rendered backgrounds are still unrivaled to this day.
I wanted to leave but I stayed for the montage.
Good job dude, not only a video on a topic but a recommendation list too, very nice
True... so true. Another great thing was that many of these games were so complex, yet very easy to pick up. ANNO, for example. It was very linear, very easy to understand, but being able to balance and manage all the islands was not that easy.
Many of my friends sometimes see me play and ask what the game is, that is looks great and if it was made like in 2010. And I always laugh and say that it's 10-20 years older than that.
I would add Knights of Honor into the list, but it is not really of the same type as you mentioned. But it still has the isometric and old-school feeling.
As someone born in the 90s this was super nostalgic to see. Crazy to realize these games are over 20 years old and still look so good! Sad to see there are not many games with a similar style these days. I would say something like BG3's graphics style would be like an evolution of this era's style. By using the same angle but with 3D models and animations.
You really outdid yourself with this one! Great video and keep up the good work 👏🏻
No 3D-game from that era can match the level of detail and aesthetics of these pre-rendered games. And you're right! The spirit of these games lives on in games like: BG3, XCOM, League of Legends etc. Thanks for the comment :)
What are you talking about? There are hundreds of games with 3D models and animations that are isometric (and camera free). Like Path of Exile, Torchlight 1 and 2, Divinity 1 and 2, and so many more.
Sure PS1 and N64 games looked very blocky, but the jerky animations pre-rendered 2D characters had also looked bad and was esp unimmersive when mixed with polygon backgrounds (Mario Kart 64, Bungies Myth fex). AVGN has himself recorded as a kid in his Genesis vs SNES video talking about the "smooth" animation, and thats why i think most were more impressed by the blocky polygon graphics back then at least when like PS2 came around.
Gorky 17 (1999) was one of those early games with 3d characters over pre-rendered isometric backgrounds. I remember thinking how this approach could potentially be great for RPGs since it could combine all the beautiful background detail with characters being able to change their appearance depending on what exactly they wear and what weapons they wield.
To a large extent yes, although the switch to LCD screens makes them look a lot worse than they should.
This look was what made those PS1 Final Fantasy games so iconic too. FF7 and 9 had such beautiful atmospheric designs that really felt like another world.
Heeeey;
FF8 was very pretty as well ☺
@@Dubious_Dubs
Yes, FF8 was my first ever game that had detailed pre-rendered backgrounds, and these environments were a huge jump from anything that came before for me, so it left a strong impression.
Balamb Garden, Deling City, Esthar, ruins/tomb, Fisherman's Horizon, and Ultimecia Castle amazed me, and this is just a shortlist of what comes to mind 20+ years later.
FFX, despite being mostly 3D rendered (with low textures even in the remaster), actually had some pre-rendered backgrounds too, and those places seemed to have the most intricate detail (inside of some shops, the airship, the dreaming fayth area, etc). The interactivity within pre-rendered FMVs on PS2 was also better than the jumping around that seemed to happen in the PS1 games. (FF8 Irvine lining up his sniper shot at the end of disc 1 conveyed his nervousness, I guess...)
@@Dubious_Dubs Final Fantasy 8 is easily the worst game in the series but fuck is it a visual masterpiece for when it came out.
@@fearedjames I completely disagree, love the story of 8, the magic system was fucking ass though, "hey use your best magic to power your GFs but in doing so every use will make you weaker until you draw some more", I hardly ever used Magic in it just because I hated the draw mechanic, But the story, the music, the characters, loved it!
@@fearedjames FF8 was the worst before FF13. But I still very much enjoyed FF8. For the record, I started with the OG final fantasy back on Nintendo. I am an FF6, Tactics, and FF7 purist though. Thats the trinity in my eyes. The rest are all great but they do have some flaws.
Resident evil 1 remake has the most gorgeous renders. There’s something so nicely done about those in RE1 I find beautiful to look at.
The montage represented some of my happiest memories 🥹 thank you
Also great list to search & replay old games 🤓
Commandos was so awesome!
Subbed! This channel seems to be criminally underrated so far. 🤯 The algorithm will pick you up soon enough!
Thank you! Commandos will always have a special place in my heart. And welcome aboard the channel :)
I can’t believe commandos came out in 1998, it still holds up
@@GameTalesHQ Just realised that Hooligans: Storm over Europe didn't make the cut 🤣
@@iainwalker5150 Amazing stuff huh! Did you play the remastered versions as well?
@@dreejz lmao! Never heard of it before but it looks super interesting. I'll definitely look into it haha
I have such fond memories playing an RPG back in the day called Sacred. Goddamn those pre-rendered towns were so pretty, I would kinda role play in my head which town I wanted to be my home.
When you are limited by something you'll get really creative, and that's the best part. Awesome video
The problem with this style was always the inability to scale the graphics in different resolutions. Not exclusive to this style, but more difficult to alter.
Good video.
im really surprised not too many games try to replicate the pre-rendered look in real time
I think it's probably much harder to do than it may appear. With 3D, it's relatively easy to notice flaws because it's trying to emulate environments the way we perceive them in real life, but 2D forces our brains to accept more abstraction, so even the uncanny can be aesthetically pleasing. Kind of like a painting really.
Just a quick correction on Supergiant Games, Hades (I didn't watch the dev vids for the other three), doesn't use hand drawn sprites but pre-rendered characters, they just use a toon shader instead of a realistic one. They documented their process in Inside Hades - 3D Modeling & Rigging on their youtube channel.
Ah, thanks for the correction!
Totally unrelated to the comment, but I can’t f-ing wait for the sequel!!!!
i use a evolution of this in my projects. I make 2 3D models, one detailed with photorealistic materials and one low poly and simple, then i bake the details of the high poly one into the UV of the low poly one. with that i can make my games looks very realistic and modern and have only a fraction of polygons
This is perfect for games with graphics in PS2 style, and work so great with game with fixed cameras like old resident evil's games cause you can make a entire and complex background in only one polygon or not even that, just one 2D sprite behind the scenario.
when i mix this art style with others types of optimization, like occlusion culling, frustum culling, tessellation, GPU instancing and so, i can make my games so damn smooth even in those all-in-board micro-pcs like raspberry pi or similar.
This make a big difference because with a optimized game you can grow your project for the infinity. just imagine a PC who run GTA V on ultra can run 10, 20, 50 GTA V if they are made with PS2 Graphics and Nintendo 64 optimization.
A map 50 times big, 50 times NPCs in the streets just because don't have a lot of unused poligon been rendered for nothing like someone really will see those bridge struts or trash in the streets.
But i get it, is a modern style, nobody wanna pay full price in a game who look like a 20 years old game.
Incredible content, thanks for the research and quality of the editing.
Thank you :)
This is why I always loved the first Stronghold (1 & Crusader) over all its proper 3D sequels. The pre-rendered sprites were gorgeous and immersive.
Same here! They never re-captured the magic of those first two games.
Your comment reminded me that Crusader (not Stronghold, the No Remorse/Regret games) should also be mentioned here.
Little Big Adventure had pre rendered backgrounds and 3d characters on top. One of my most favourite games ever. It looked fantastic.
yeah its love for life!
Playing the demo of little bit adventure is one of my favourite childhood memories! It gave me that feeling of being so clever
I loved these games. Pretty sure there are "remakes" of them now.
That is what I have been wondering - where is Twinsen on the list?
One of the limitations of this technique is it only works with a fixed perspective - which is also one of the benefits. It's also wonderful that it doesn't try to simulate what a _camera_ would see - it tries to simulate a human picture instead. "Real" 3D tends to suffer from this a lot - proper perspective has its place, certainly... but your brain tries quite hard to trick you into seeing the world differently. A well-made ortographic projection works a lot better than perspective projection when you don't have to deal with a free camera.
Reproducing how a _camera_ sees something is surely also closely tied to games becoming more movie-like, taking away from the interactive experiences and gameplay much of the time. And don't even get me started on how awfully most "real" 3D games deal with FOV even today :/ I remember my first widescreen display, and immediately thinking "wow, now all those games show a lot less stuff than they used to". My good old "narrowscreen" CRT served me very well for a long time after that for games...
Consistent lighting also comes very easily in this style. Hand-drawn art often had wonky lighting, as did (and still do) "real" 3D real-time games. Again, scenes with consistent lighting, especially in more abstract games like RTSs, trumps high-fidelity dynamic lighting a lot of the time. Duke Nukem 3D still looks great, and a big part of that is how much of the hard work to make things look good was on the level designers, rather than trying to build an engine that makes it "just work". And sure, sprites are very obviously sprites and not "real" 3D models... but your brain gets used to that very quickly. Consistency is the most important thing for brain-reality :D
Well put!
Omg just in time. I started making retro game collection on my old laptop.
My favorite NES, ps1, ps2 and retro pc games.
Grabbed a few, thanks alot :D
That montage was incredible , earned yourself a subscriber right there. I’m glad to hear someone else give Sim City 4 the flowers it deserves, such a beautiful game so clearly made with attention to details, stronghold games as well is a great example😊
Thank you! Had a lot of fun putting it together.
I used to get so immersed in Desperados as a kid. The beautiful art style with that realistic look, combined with the music and voice acting got me so addicted to it.
Doc McCoy was my favourite in the gang, his knock-out gas was so OP.
"Yip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", "Not a problem", "This should end in tears", "A new game a new chance", all those voice lines are burned into my mind as well. Still up there as one of my favorite games period.
@@GameTalesHQ That game was gooood, Beat it multiple times over the years. setting up a snake on top of the ladder while shooting enemys climbing up was OP as well :)
I grew up on the Caesar 3 and Pharoah games, never been able to find something that scratches the itch quite like them! Great work on the video and a few more titles to check out!
Nice point to talk about, and good examples and info. Nice job here, thanks.
Pre-rendered games have stood the test of time so well, many of them still look incredible. Thanks for the video!
And that is why Heroes of Might and Magic III is still the most beautiful game on earth. Period.
Sorry, but that game is fugly. Charming with personality, but fugly. I personally think that Age of Wonders Shadow Magic looks way better, but I might be biased here as I've played that game a lot more.
HoMM II and III have beautiful artstyles in my opinion. Impossible not to be mesmerized by the art on those games. Music is top notch too.
@@Matheusss89 there are orchestra concerts of homm3 music in Poland. (The game is really popular here).
I second what @krux02 said, charming but ugly. Definitively not the most beautiful game.
Ah Heroes of Might and Magic - the only setting where Monday is the best day of the week 😀
Man you brought me back, for a moment, to happier times. Thanks
This is why old games feels much more good because developers of those times put their souls and devotion to their masterpieces, but today, they usualy use assets and other simple ways to produce a game. Short of the long word: If you dont put your soul to your work, its feels empty or something missing in it. Man i love prerendered game scenes :)
heavy dutch accent alert status: RED
Schuldig! 🙋🏼♂️
It's like looking at a painting coming to life. Also Crusader No Remorse/Regret
they still hold up as unlike 3d, you dont need a crap ton of calculations running simultaneously. it is as simple as drawing an image in a certain manner
Awesome video. Game-makers these days are trying too hard to make games as photorealistic as possible, but I miss the old-school charm of the games released in between late 90s & mid-noughties like Road Rash, GTA Vice City, IGI, Battlefield 1942, Battlefield: Vietnam, CS 1.6, NFS 2, MK 4, Iron Grip: Warlord, they were all so much fun.
P.S. I consider myself a very casual gamer, not an aficionado.
Great video as usual. Desperados and Commandos bring back sweet memories. Thank you also for the list!
No problem and thanks for watching! Those two games are definitely my favorite on the list!
Man that commandos footage brought back sweet sweet memories :) Superb video!
I still remember the trailer.
THANK YOU for this excellent video
The Blade Runner Pc game is one of the best at this artstyle bot just because of the insane detail and composition, but also because the characters are voxel based so they blend in perfectly
What I also love about that era were the cutscenes. Star Craft and Diablo II immediately come to mind.
I want to recommend more games that i enjoyed... Sacred Gold (2004) and the Shadowrun trilogy (2013-2015)
A short video packed with great content, no nonsense and nostalgia?
You got me following you mate.
Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed 🙌🏼
Stronghold crusader and blitzkreig were my favourite games when I was a kid. I played it for about 2 years before realising you can press a button to rotate the maps.
Just the video I needed, I always thought about this, remember playing Robinhood and commandos and just being blown away by the world. Always hope for a new top down game with this art style. Great video.
The first cartoons i watched as a kid was black and white Disney ones.
You could always see under which stone the character was hiding behind, because that stone was drawn differently, it was much sharper and clear, while the background was "low-res" and had a "cheap" look.
That background was then re-used in other cartoons with something new moving.
I guess that was the first use of "Pre Rendered Graphics" 😀
Love to see longer video about this topic : )
I will probably cover most of these games on the channel in the future!
The original Fallout has caught my attention recently. I love the retro feel to it and everything that was possible to do at the time. Most modern games just seem to be lacking
If you don’t mind losing out on some 2024 quality of life features, dealing with a few archaic systems and the initial learning curve, Fallout 1 & 2 are definitely some of the best RPG’s you’ll ever play. I recommend you read some tips on character creation, it will save a lot of frustration
@@peterk2735 I have all the games downloaded but it's been so long since I've tried having a go at them. The games I grew up with in the early 2000s and 2010s were all quite streamlined and simple mostly.
The older I get the less such games appeal to me, and the games from before my generation look to have what I'm looking for. Imagination and feel is important, and because these games have more in common with real tabletop they embody those things better
@@peterk2735 Came back to say that I just finished the 1st one last night. Was excellent.
I searched around online for more fallout and came across Resurrection 1.5, which is a mod for 2 set between it and 1. I love the feel that it's an animated tabletop. We certainly need more of these lol
Something got lost when the majority of games went to 3d. The artwork and detail in these games is something i remember fondly from childhood - almost like a book come to life.
I still love pre-rendered stuff so much. I grew up with that and I still miss it so much.
No need to thank me for watching your video.
I'm the one grateful for you sharing such a well put together video with much passion as you did.
Pillars of Eternity gave me exactly the same feelings as these retro graphics. Great game
YES! 100%
I think that was my first real taste of this art style, sadly I didn't like the game much and left off playing it, but the visuals combined with the RPG elements really drew me in.
@@nullifye7816 Oh I feel you, it's not an easy game to stay with. I think after 80 hours or so there came something up in RL so I had to drop it for a couple of weeks... That was 2 years ago... It is quite hard to get into again
These games always makes me feel like i'm 10 again, playing with my action figures (or military mini figures) on an epic diorama, i love it.
Another great example of this is "Anito: Defend a land enraged". Such a good game made by almost one developer, had unique graphics.
The first two songs used in this video gives me back to my childhood where I listened to SC4's soundtrack religiously.
I grew up in the 90s in France and I remember exactly our first family computer, a Packard Bell. I had a friend whose father was American who worked at Microsoft near me, he had an entire room dedicated to LAN (and Xbox fan of course) and I discovered the best titles on PC like Red Alert II, Age of Empire I and II, Commando.. My father brought games from his work library: Cossacks, Stronghold, Pharaoh, Sudden Strike, Blitzkieg, American Conquest... (obviously we burned everything with CloneCD hehe) I got Zoo Tycoon for my 11th birthday. What an era, these games haven't aged a bit if we upscale them today with HD textures.
Sounds a lot like my childhood! Great selection of games!
this is so high quality for someone with only ~2K subs, hope you blow up man
Very happy to see that people are still into nostalgic prerendered graphic styled games. Stronghold series and Robin Hood: The legend of Sherwood were amongst my favourite games during childhood that aren't FPS also I would love for you to check out Twinsen's Little Big Adventure 1 & 2.
Thank you for taking the time and collecting all these games for us in a video Eric.
A couple of people pointed me to the Little Big Adventure games, they look awesome! And thank you for taking the time to comment :)
You just said what inside my head all of this time! I love these kind of graphic ever since I play Age of Empires and Red Alert 2. Maybe this is why I feel all 3D games lack aesthetic style.
this really helped with starcraft 1 as well when there were a billion units on the screen
Probably less with the max pop limit of 200 per player though :D In fact less as many units would use more than 1 pop limit, unlike for Warcraft 2 where you'd be really entitled to up to 200 units per player with a proper farmland supply.:)
@@nihilex5838 Well, with zerg you can technically have more than 200 units, as zerlings, scourges and overlords use less than 1 food each. In practice it's extremely unlikely.
@@Winnetou17 indeed, also true.
Prerendered background was the reason I fell in love with the original Resident Evil trilogy. So much storytelling in one background - it felt much more movie like!