Hi there all,
BEFORE WE START:
On a few occassions, i have made remarks about Seed. This was an to be released platformer/first person shooter that would do for FPS what Mario 64 did for platforming in a 3D world. The most eye-catching thing was its visual fidelity. Seed managed to push Doom 3 style stencil shadows and dynamic colored lighting and have your body physically appear in the game world, but instead of relying on shaders, Seed could run this stuff on software or bock standard hardware of the time (Voodoo 2, Matrox G400, and so on). It was developed from 1998-2000.
An example: (There is a video that illustrates it better but i have to adhere to the MEDIA limit here for videos)
Sadly, The game never got past the release stage and only a demo exists. For years i thought that this was the only game pushing this kind of visuals years before shaders became apparent, but last week i discovered Severance: Blade of Darkness/Blade: Edge of Darkness.
SCREENS:
(There are better pics but they are from sites that go against the TOS so i don't link them here.)
INFORMATION:
Developed by Rebel Act Studios, Severance ended up doing most of what Seed was trying to do, and more. Released in early 2001, but developed from 1996-2000, Severance preceded most modern gaming visuals by multiple years. Severance delivered Doom 3 style stencil shadows, marred with an at times amazing lightmap system, and it also had realistic particles and reflective water. It did all this on DX7 hardware and lower, like Seed. Anyone running a Voodoo or even a Nvidia TNT2 could have this kind of visual fidelity, which would only catch on when shaders became apparent.
What the Blade Engine is capable of: (They were really underselling these features as noted)
But on top of that, it had an amazing physics system, and one that actually worked, unlike Trespasser: (Notice how the thrown object casts its own dynamic shadow as it falls down and comes close to a light source)
And it had a specific dismemberment system where injuries would cause puddles of blood to drop on the floor and your body visually would look damaged. This was all done in 2001, years before any of the tech featured here would catch on. You needed quite some ram (128 MB) back then to get it up to speed, but the game only needed a Pentium 2. Even the game development was rather ambitious - In the links you will find a interview describing how the game was runnable in 3D view mode during development and they could edit things as they went. WYSIWYG style development back in the early 00s. Apparently, its also playable in first person, found below. This piece of footage demonstrates perfectly the water reflections, dynamic lighting, and stencil shadows present in the game.
The game is also reported as incredibly rough for the average player. You will face multiple bosses throughout the game, with the title being labeled as a proto-Dark Souls.
Now here's the thing: This game does need quite some work to be playable on modern systems. I tried getting it to work on Windows 7 and despite every trick available online (including enabling the special patches/using dgvoodoo or even a OpenGL wrapper) the game simply refuses to start beyond the initial loading screen. Thus, it sucks i can't see these glorious visuals on my device. But perhaps you can?
Severance is a very underrated game, but it became a cult hit in Spain. You do notice that Starbreeze's Enclave, released the year after, has a very similar vibe going on, and was also a visual showcase back in the day. The only thing that Severance really hampers is the low resolution textures. Every other game in that time frame did 1024x1024 or higher, its why Enclave stood the test of time so well. Severance, on the other hand, only does 256x256. Sadly, the game never was a huge success, and a potential Xbox port, known as Ultimate Blade of Darkness was cancelled.
This was a game ahead of his time visually, and i feel an ERA thread would serve to honor this game for its visual prowess and to acknowledge the amazing work of Rebel Act. If you know of any other title that pushed the limits far beyond these years, let me know!
LINKS: (Seriously, read these. They contain so much detail on the development of this game)
http://blade-of-darkness.bigtruck-canada.ca/
http://blade-of-darkness.bigtruck-canada.ca/rebel_act_developpers/rebel_act_developpers.htm
https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Blade:_The_Edge_of_Darkness (To get it working on modern systems)
https://www.unseen64.net/2008/04/15/ultimate-blade-of-darkness-xbox-cancelled/ (Info on the cancelled Xbox port)
BEFORE WE START:
On a few occassions, i have made remarks about Seed. This was an to be released platformer/first person shooter that would do for FPS what Mario 64 did for platforming in a 3D world. The most eye-catching thing was its visual fidelity. Seed managed to push Doom 3 style stencil shadows and dynamic colored lighting and have your body physically appear in the game world, but instead of relying on shaders, Seed could run this stuff on software or bock standard hardware of the time (Voodoo 2, Matrox G400, and so on). It was developed from 1998-2000.
An example: (There is a video that illustrates it better but i have to adhere to the MEDIA limit here for videos)
Sadly, The game never got past the release stage and only a demo exists. For years i thought that this was the only game pushing this kind of visuals years before shaders became apparent, but last week i discovered Severance: Blade of Darkness/Blade: Edge of Darkness.
SCREENS:
(There are better pics but they are from sites that go against the TOS so i don't link them here.)
INFORMATION:
Developed by Rebel Act Studios, Severance ended up doing most of what Seed was trying to do, and more. Released in early 2001, but developed from 1996-2000, Severance preceded most modern gaming visuals by multiple years. Severance delivered Doom 3 style stencil shadows, marred with an at times amazing lightmap system, and it also had realistic particles and reflective water. It did all this on DX7 hardware and lower, like Seed. Anyone running a Voodoo or even a Nvidia TNT2 could have this kind of visual fidelity, which would only catch on when shaders became apparent.
What the Blade Engine is capable of: (They were really underselling these features as noted)
- New portal engine allows real time lighting, volumetric lights and shadows.
- Real time physic and fluid system.
- Volumetric fog.
- More than 16 different realistic outdoor/indoor environments: frozen landscape, desert, Arabic Palaces, Hindu Temples, volcanos, Lost Island, mines,.....
- Four characters to choose from, each one with specific skills.
- Playing Character progression depending on your abilities.
- Up to 100 different weapons: sword, axes, spears, bows, shields, magic weapons,.....
- Up to 25 different races of enemies: orks, trolls, golems, demons, skeletons,.....
- Up to 100 puzzles and traps combining physics, hydraulic systems, arrows, fire, stone balls,....
- Up to 100 different types of objects you can take, burn, break, throw and use as a weapon (tables, glasses, stools, bones,...)
- Powerful combat system:
- Facing (locking) enemies. Dodging.
- Amazing combos:
- More than 1700 animations based on Motion Capture System. Up to 20 differents attacks per PC.
- Shield blocking. Mutilations and wounds. Real time blood. Magic attacks. Destructor attacks.
- Advanced AI System:
- Different defensive tactics for enemies depending on their intelligence level (stupid and agressive ork, organized and efficient Dark Knights).
- Frenetic multiplayer arena mode:
- TCP/IP, LAN, IPX.
- 4 Characters with a total of 12 different skins, Parental lock for gore (disable mutilations and blood). Training level. Original Motion Track.
But on top of that, it had an amazing physics system, and one that actually worked, unlike Trespasser: (Notice how the thrown object casts its own dynamic shadow as it falls down and comes close to a light source)
And it had a specific dismemberment system where injuries would cause puddles of blood to drop on the floor and your body visually would look damaged. This was all done in 2001, years before any of the tech featured here would catch on. You needed quite some ram (128 MB) back then to get it up to speed, but the game only needed a Pentium 2. Even the game development was rather ambitious - In the links you will find a interview describing how the game was runnable in 3D view mode during development and they could edit things as they went. WYSIWYG style development back in the early 00s. Apparently, its also playable in first person, found below. This piece of footage demonstrates perfectly the water reflections, dynamic lighting, and stencil shadows present in the game.
The game is also reported as incredibly rough for the average player. You will face multiple bosses throughout the game, with the title being labeled as a proto-Dark Souls.
Now here's the thing: This game does need quite some work to be playable on modern systems. I tried getting it to work on Windows 7 and despite every trick available online (including enabling the special patches/using dgvoodoo or even a OpenGL wrapper) the game simply refuses to start beyond the initial loading screen. Thus, it sucks i can't see these glorious visuals on my device. But perhaps you can?
Severance is a very underrated game, but it became a cult hit in Spain. You do notice that Starbreeze's Enclave, released the year after, has a very similar vibe going on, and was also a visual showcase back in the day. The only thing that Severance really hampers is the low resolution textures. Every other game in that time frame did 1024x1024 or higher, its why Enclave stood the test of time so well. Severance, on the other hand, only does 256x256. Sadly, the game never was a huge success, and a potential Xbox port, known as Ultimate Blade of Darkness was cancelled.
This was a game ahead of his time visually, and i feel an ERA thread would serve to honor this game for its visual prowess and to acknowledge the amazing work of Rebel Act. If you know of any other title that pushed the limits far beyond these years, let me know!
LINKS: (Seriously, read these. They contain so much detail on the development of this game)
http://blade-of-darkness.bigtruck-canada.ca/
http://blade-of-darkness.bigtruck-canada.ca/rebel_act_developpers/rebel_act_developpers.htm
https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Blade:_The_Edge_of_Darkness (To get it working on modern systems)
https://www.unseen64.net/2008/04/15/ultimate-blade-of-darkness-xbox-cancelled/ (Info on the cancelled Xbox port)
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