The 90's was a great time for PC gaming, at least for me. Oh I got a bit of 90's nostalgia recently thanks to the LGR channel on YouTube, which I found from Jon. I recently found some videos there that I absolutely loved and I've decided to share them and write this post.
Before we got our first Windows PC in '95, my family had a Commodore 128D. I was 16 and so happy to get that Acer PC! I became a "download demon" downloading all kinds of shareware games that I could. At this time, I wasn't new to the BBS scene. Our PC had a much better modem, so I was able to see a BBS in all of it's glory. I even ran one of my own at night for a time. A friend and I used it to play Legend of the Red Dragon.
It was about this time that I was introduced to Dune 2, Command & Conquer, and Warcraft I &II, but those would be better suited for another post. At this time, I also was a subscriber to PC Gamer, the cool gaming magazine that sent not only a magazine every month, but also a CD-ROM which contained demos. I remember Final Fantasy VII being among them, though I never played it, I'm not sure why. I did later play it when I was at college years later.
It was around this time, too, that I was introduced to what I'm calling the "Doom family." I don't know which game I first started with, but by release chronologically Wolfenstein 3D was the predecessor of Doom. I recently watched the LGR review of Wolfenstein 3D (https://youtu.be/vy78U9pRLiE). It was great! It reminded me of the sounds and music I remembered from playing it. I also remember trying to play with a keyboard and mouse and getting motion sickness.
Then, came Doom and Doom II (https://youtu.be/pNtHwWVXbDI) along with their expansions. These two (perhaps more so the latter) were at the top of PC gaming. Everyone was playing them and talking about them. The sounds, music, and game play were awesome for the time. There was, of course, plenty of controversy over the game, but maybe that only helped it gain popularity.
Then there was Quake (https://youtu.be/m0XOKSat57Q). It was awesome! I remember one little bit about that was that the shareware version actually contained the entire game. Someone found a way to hack it and unlock it. I think this was fixed later on. The sounds, music, and game play were again awesome. The soundtrack was created in part by Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails. It was also cool to see that piles of ammo for the nail gun had the Nine Inch Nails logo on them. You could actually still play the game while listening to other music, I found out.
Quake II was next and I remember it, too. It was cool and more modern than Quake, although Quake eventually got an OpenGL version that made it much better looking. You can actually now get a copy of the RTX version of Quake II, but you'll need a compatible graphics card if you want to see some decent FPS. While you don't have to have an RTX card, you might not be able to play the game on highest settings and get 60 FPS. I tried it with my GTX 1660 Ti and with some modifications to the settings, I was able to get some decent FPS, maybe in the 40's. I think that's correct, it's been a while since I've tried.
Quake III Arena just didn't bother with a campaign mode, but it was still fun. You could play the game in single player mode against AI bots and still have fun. This, however, is where my memory of the "family" ends, except for 2016's Doom, which was awesome! I've seen a lot about Doom Eternal and I really want to get it. I'm not sure when I will though. Most of the games listed here also received bonus or extra content like expansions or mission packs. There were a lot of levels created by the community for Doom and Doom II. It is now interesting to remember how much modding was going on back in those days. I think perhaps we may take it for granted now.
Some day, maybe soon, I think I'm going to get those games on Steam and try to play them again. Anyway, check out the videos I've included links to here and let me know your thoughts in the comments section. Feel free to share your story and nostalgia with the "Doom family."
Before we got our first Windows PC in '95, my family had a Commodore 128D. I was 16 and so happy to get that Acer PC! I became a "download demon" downloading all kinds of shareware games that I could. At this time, I wasn't new to the BBS scene. Our PC had a much better modem, so I was able to see a BBS in all of it's glory. I even ran one of my own at night for a time. A friend and I used it to play Legend of the Red Dragon.
It was about this time that I was introduced to Dune 2, Command & Conquer, and Warcraft I &II, but those would be better suited for another post. At this time, I also was a subscriber to PC Gamer, the cool gaming magazine that sent not only a magazine every month, but also a CD-ROM which contained demos. I remember Final Fantasy VII being among them, though I never played it, I'm not sure why. I did later play it when I was at college years later.
It was around this time, too, that I was introduced to what I'm calling the "Doom family." I don't know which game I first started with, but by release chronologically Wolfenstein 3D was the predecessor of Doom. I recently watched the LGR review of Wolfenstein 3D (https://youtu.be/vy78U9pRLiE). It was great! It reminded me of the sounds and music I remembered from playing it. I also remember trying to play with a keyboard and mouse and getting motion sickness.
Then, came Doom and Doom II (https://youtu.be/pNtHwWVXbDI) along with their expansions. These two (perhaps more so the latter) were at the top of PC gaming. Everyone was playing them and talking about them. The sounds, music, and game play were awesome for the time. There was, of course, plenty of controversy over the game, but maybe that only helped it gain popularity.
Then there was Quake (https://youtu.be/m0XOKSat57Q). It was awesome! I remember one little bit about that was that the shareware version actually contained the entire game. Someone found a way to hack it and unlock it. I think this was fixed later on. The sounds, music, and game play were again awesome. The soundtrack was created in part by Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails. It was also cool to see that piles of ammo for the nail gun had the Nine Inch Nails logo on them. You could actually still play the game while listening to other music, I found out.
Quake II was next and I remember it, too. It was cool and more modern than Quake, although Quake eventually got an OpenGL version that made it much better looking. You can actually now get a copy of the RTX version of Quake II, but you'll need a compatible graphics card if you want to see some decent FPS. While you don't have to have an RTX card, you might not be able to play the game on highest settings and get 60 FPS. I tried it with my GTX 1660 Ti and with some modifications to the settings, I was able to get some decent FPS, maybe in the 40's. I think that's correct, it's been a while since I've tried.
Quake III Arena just didn't bother with a campaign mode, but it was still fun. You could play the game in single player mode against AI bots and still have fun. This, however, is where my memory of the "family" ends, except for 2016's Doom, which was awesome! I've seen a lot about Doom Eternal and I really want to get it. I'm not sure when I will though. Most of the games listed here also received bonus or extra content like expansions or mission packs. There were a lot of levels created by the community for Doom and Doom II. It is now interesting to remember how much modding was going on back in those days. I think perhaps we may take it for granted now.
Some day, maybe soon, I think I'm going to get those games on Steam and try to play them again. Anyway, check out the videos I've included links to here and let me know your thoughts in the comments section. Feel free to share your story and nostalgia with the "Doom family."
