[ram]

I tried to put together a list of some milestones in the *PC* gaming world, mainly from a technical point of view, but also from a gaming point of view.

- Microsoft Flight Simulator (first 3d graphics?)
- SimCity (first classic economy simulation, high res EGA)
- Maniac Manson/Monkey Island/Indyana Jones (adventure classics)
- Commander Keen (jump&run standard)
- Wolfenstein3D (first FPS)
- Doom (first BSP fps)
- Comanche (voxel engine)
- Magic Carpet (graphics)
- Quake (first true 3D graphics)
- Wing Commander IV (interactive movie game)
- Half Life Counterstrike (tactical multiplayer fps)
- Unreal (graphics, high res textures)
- Quake III Arena (internet multiplayer fps)
- The need for speed (best graphics for arcade racing games)
- Max Payne (time as a new dimension to play with)

your additions?

[hughJ]

Wolf - FPS
Doom - "deathmatch"-multiplayer
Quake - complete 3D engine, first real game to have a full/active 'mod' community..

counterstrike doesn't really belong on any list, other than *perhaps* as being some sort of milestone based on its popularity despite being only a mod... but really that's only a direct result of the giant installed userbase that HL gave it..

the remote amount of tactics involved in CS aren't what define the game, nor what makes it popular.. the tactics and strategy in CS aren't much more deep or complicated than team DM.. team CTF.. teamfortress.. all having existed years upon years prior to CS..

Myst should probably be on the list based on its past popularity... at time it was synonymous with "PC Gaming", just as FPSs were/are in recent years..

[pascal]

Wolf-First FPS
Quake-First true 3D

[PiNkY]

the original Wing Commander. The first of the early VGA titles that blow me off the socks and killed my interest in amiga 500 gaming.

It was imho the first 1st person action game with a real cinematic presentation.

other favourite: the original mechwarrior (from Activision/Dynamix)

[deviantchild]

Elite: BBC - then ported to all other 8bit machines; then later, to 16 and 32bit machines

first 3d wire-frame space-sim + rpg

also has an early form of hidden surface removal which works on individual entities but [unfortunately] not globally, which means, you can't see the backside of a ship but you can still see a ship flying behind it through it - nice attempt though!

[V3]

What about Dune 2 being one of the early RTS ?

King's Quest, should also be there, I think.

[pcchen]

I suspect that Elite's HSR is just back face culling... since almost all objects in it are convex.

[Tahir2]

Sensible Soccer - beats ISS Pro and FIFA anyday (ok so it was for ST and Amiga)

F19 Stealth Fighter - Microprose (ran at about 8fps on my ST)

Grand Prix - Geoff Crammond (also ran at around 10fps but still...)

Civilisation - Sid Meier

Populous - Peter Molyneux

Sim City - er from the guys that make the Sim games

mmm.. can't think of anything else

[Tagrineth]

DOOM

[Dmitry]

NOLF

[BenM]

WarCraft II - Helped the RTS genre take off.

[Gollum]

my more gaming than technology oriented list, in no particular order:

Wolf 3D - because of the way it made you feel sick and puke if you turned too much
Duke 3D - hail to the king baby
Dune 2 - kick-off of to the RTS genre which C&C shortly after made hugely popular
Sim City - because you could raze the shabby houses in residentials and replace them with parks to make the neighbourhood more attractive
Civilization - greatest turn based empire building and strategy
Wing Commander - first game to really show off what PCs were capable off graphically and performance wise back then
Wing Commander III - as it was an interactive movie game even before WC IV
Elite, later Privateer - about time something new comes along in this genre
Unreal Tournament - for multiplayer fun, I still consider Q3A as more of a tech demo than an actual game
Ultima 7 - even today no RPG gives you a similar feeling of being in an actual living world with NPCs leading their own lives, story and freedom
rocked too, seamless streaming world long before Dungeon Siege
Ultima Underworld - very flexible 3d engine (better than anything in its timeframe I'm aware off, even Carmack's stuff) with an unfortunatelly too small viewport, incredible atmosphere
System Shock - FPS/RPG merger, showing first-person-3d doesn't have to exclude creative gameplay
Thief - first FPS type game to include stealth well, making lighting and sound actual gameplay issues and not just fancy decoration
Ultima Online - not first but still groundbreaking MMORPG
Master of Orion - perfection of the 4X genre
Quake - best game soundtrack ever, 3d engine was cute too
Indiana Jones 3 and 4, Monkey Island, Lucas Arts Adventures in general (plus a couple of Sierra games) - those were THE games to play, shame to see such a great genre die
...
TBC

[Lefungus]

Ultima saga!

Great RPGs, especially Ultima 7

[Captain Chickenpants]

Prince of Persia, was the first game to use Motion Capture for realistic character movement.
(I beleive).

[darkblu]

• 3d adventures:[list:33ef85f887]
• Alone In the Dark (by infogrames) - prerendered backgrounds and rigid bodies characters/objects, linear (non-perspective) texturing, palette-animated textures.
• Little Big Adventure (by adeline soft) high-resolutons, pre-rendered backgrounds and fluidly-skinned characters w/ specular shading.

[*] flight simulators:

• LHX Advanced Attack Chopper (by EA) - flat-(pre-)shaded polygonal models, cool particle fx, stippled alpha support.
• TFX - tactical fighter experiment (by did) - fully gouraud-shaded environment, i.e. both vehicles and terrain.
• A10 Tank Killer (by sierra/dynamix) - wingmen with intelligent AI, actually capable of carrying out tasks by themselves.

[*] ground sims

• Stellar 7 (by sierra/dynamix) - fully flat-shaded environment, both vehicles and terrain objects/formations.

[*] space sims

• x-wing (by lucas arts) - fully flat-shaded crafts, animated sprite explosion fx, great sense of distances due to presence of capital ships one could fly-by.
• privateer 2 (by sierra?) - nice textured crafts w/ specular highlights
• descent: freespace (by volition) - essentially set a standard for space sims ever since.

[*] FPS shooter

• descent (by parallax) - fully persp.correct textured environment, both vehicles and levels. fully 3d env. except for animated sprite pick-ups.

[/list:u:33ef85f887]

[John Reynolds]

Morrowind is certainly a milestone for RPGs.

[Silent_One]

Most everyone has said the main ones so far, however...
Tomb Raider - Surprised nobody said it yet 8)

[Tahir2]

Would have said Tomb Raider too.. but Mario64 beat it

Oh and as a sidenote Tomb Raider was produced in the same city as I live in!