FPS history

The start of the FPS genre is often considered to be the games Maze War and Spasm. In Maze war, there are several players in a maze. The objective is to find and shoot the other player(s). If you shoot and hit you get one point and if you are hit you lose manett. You can move back and forth as well as turning 90 degrees.

There is uncertainty when Maze war was launched, but it is said to have happened in 1973. The game was first developed by Steve Colley and Greg Thompson at NASA. After completing an edition of Maze war, Greg Thompson took the game to MIT in 1974. There the game was further developed and given more possibilities. Previously, only two participants were possible per game. In addition, the game only supported local connection between two machines. After the upgrade at MIT, several players could play against each other via the ARPANET, the precursor to what we know today as the Internet. This made it possible to sit in Massachusetts and play against someone in Los Angeles.

Since then, the game has been developed and received new versions with new elements. Among the elements that the game introduced, one can mention the first-person perspective, avatars, maps showing the avatar's position, the possibility to cheat, the possibility to exclude cheating and games via various forms of networks.

Spasim was also a game based on network and first-person perspective, but Spasim took the form of a spaceship simulator with strategic elements. The game was developed by Jim Bowery for the PLATO computer network at the University of Illinois. The game inspired a series of simulators developed by the US Army towards the end of the 1970s. In 1980, a tank simulator from Atari was launched to the public. Battlezone was the name. Battlezone is based on vector graphics on a black background. The screen consists of mountains, tanks, UFOs and a radar map.

Battlezone was first released as an arcade machine before later being released on home consoles and computers such as the Atari 2600, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spektrum. Atari wrote Battlezone into gaming history as the world's first successful mass-release first-person game. It is also worth mentioning that early in its life Battlezone got its own version made for the US Army. Atari received some resistance from its employees because of this. They did not want to be associated with the military. Two prototypes of this version were made.

We fast forward to 1987 when MIDI maze was released for the Atari ST. This game also made use of network play. In this case, the ST's MIDI port was responsible for the network connection. The avatars in the game resembled Pac-Man, so the MIDI maze was often described as Pac-Man in 3D. MIDI maze was later made for the Game Boy under the name Faceball 2000. That's when the game's popularity increased.

But it was in the 1990s that the genre really exploded. In 1991, two games in the FPS genre came out from a small company. The games were Hovertank 3D and Catacomb 3-D, two games that laid a technological and graphical foundation for an upcoming game. After Catacomb 3-D received three sequels (Catacomb Armageddon, Apocalypse and Abyss), the company came out with the game that is considered the "grandfather of the FPS genre"; Wolfenstein 3D. The company behind the game was id Software, a small company with five members who, until the establishment of id Software, had worked together in the company Softdisk. After leaving Softdisk, id Software had greater freedom to experiment and develop games on their own terms. This is part of the reason for id Software's success.

Regardless of age or what genre you like, Wolfenstein 3D is one of the games you absolutely must know if you are interested in games. In this game, you control a character named William "B.J." Blazkowicz. The aim of the game is to escape from the Nazi castle Wolfenstein and take down the driver during the fruit attempt.

Id software had been inspired by the game Castle Wolfenstein, a strategic third-person game from Muse Software. It turned out that id Software had found the recipe for success when they changed the shape of Wolfenstein. The pace of Wolfenstein 3D was fast and the graphics were impressive by the standards of the time. But that wasn't the only reason the game was successful. Wolfenstein was published as shareware, a launch method that was relatively new and very helpful in introducing games to the public. The shareware model means that you can get a free version of a game and play it as much as you want. The limitation is that you don't get the whole game. One has to pay to get the full game.

Id software only produced one game in the series, but they sold licenses to other developers to create sequels. But it wasn't just the name that was sold under license. The game engine for Wolfenstein 3D was also sold under licenses to other companies. Companies that bought such licenses showed great creativity and resulted in many games. Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold from 1993 was one of the games based on Wolfenstein 3D's game engine. Blake Stone is a science fiction game that is technically very similar to Wolfenstein 3D, but with some relatively minor upgrades. The game got a sequel, Blake Stone: Planet Strike, but unfortunately lost sales due to id Software's next game.

A week after the first Blake Stone game was launched, id Software came out with the game Doom, a game where you fight an invasion of demons on a moon base. The popularity of both Doom and id Software exploded. EXPLODED! Again, this was partly due to the shareware model. In addition, id Software made a smart move: they launched the shareware version of Doom online. Before launch, the public was aware of id Software's upcoming game and where to find it online. Expectations were high. Shortly after launch, the server Doom was uploaded to crashed. Doom was spread to several servers and several of them crashed as well. The fact that in Doom you could play against each other via network did not make matters better for the network. The bandwidth was simply too small. For some universities and companies, things got so crazy that Doom was banned from the network.

After the success of Wolfenstein 3D, id Software wanted to create a game that was darker. It was John Carmack who then came up with the concept for Doom. The concept was to fight demons with the help of technology. In addition, Doom was to be inspired by the game Dungeons & Dragons and the films Evil Dead II and Aliens. The concept was well received, but eventually there were frictions between certain members of id Software. There were no problems with the game's concept, but there were disagreements about how the game should be built. Tom Hall was the one who had the strongest desire to go in a different direction than the rest of the team. Among other things, Tom Hall wanted a deep story for the game. It was at this time that John Carmack made the statement "Story in a game is like story in a porn movie; it's expected to be there, but it's not that important.". Eventually there were so many disagreements that Tom Hall was fired and moved to Apogee.

"Story in a game is like story in a porn movie; it's expected to be there, but it's not that important."

Doom had several new elements for games in the FPS genre. Examples include trenches with toxic waste, ceilings that lower and crush everything below, switches that open doors and new power-ups. Unlike Wolfenstein 3D, Doom was not limited by having rooms at the same height and level. There were thus options for stairs, working lifts and varying heights in the rooms in Doom. A funny detail in Doom occurs when a monster accidentally damages another monster. What then happens is that the monsters attack each other.

As mentioned, you can play Doom via network. You can play together in co-op throughout the game or against each other in teams in so-called "deathmatch". By the way, it was John Romero who launched the term deathmatch. Eventually you could play co-op or deathmatch via the internet as well.

As mentioned, Doom became a popular game. It is with Doom as with any other game. Interest declined over the years and new games became more interesting. But Doom has retained a large and strong following. As with Wolfenstein 3D, even more than 25 years after the launch of Doom, the most committed players were creating their own mods and quests. Id had arranged for this, both for Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. Doom has had several sequels, expansions and spin-offs over the years.

When Doom came out, the term first person shooter did not exist. Due to Doom's success, another term for games in the FPS genre arose: Doom clone. This term was used in the same way as we use the term FPS today. In forums for FPS enthusiasts, discussions about the terms and what is the correct use of them regularly appear. Certain games are largely based on the technology from other games (such as Blake Stone who used Wolfenstein 3D's game engine). These games can safely be called a clone.

The 1994 fantasy game Heretic used Doom's game engine and can thus be called a Doom clone. The same can be said with the role-playing game Strife and the children's game Chex Quest, both from 1996. Heretic, Strife and Chex quest stood out well. Heretic got the sequels Hexen: Beyond Heretic, Hexen II and Heretic II while Chex quest got the sequels Chex Quest 2: Flemoids Take Chextropolis and Chex Quest 3. Chex quest was originally launched on the American market as a "toy" in cereal boxes.

When we talk about clones, we can continue with Rise of the Triad, which was originally supposed to be a sequel to Wolfenstein 3D. The game was based on Wolfenstein 3D's game engine, but with major modifications. It was Apogee Software that developed Rise of the Triad. The project manager for the game, Scott Miller, was contacted by John Romero who wanted to cancel the project. Miller speculated whether id Software feared that Doom would lose media and potential player attention in favor of Wolfenstein's sequel. In order for the work on Rise of the Triad not to be wasted, Apogee changed the game's concept so that the game functioned as a standalone game. But hunting down Nazis was still an important factor in the game's plot.

Looking glass technologies had in 1993 launched the fantasy game Ultima underworld II: Labyrinth of worlds, another noteworthy game in the context of FPS games. The team behind the game had grown tired of fantasy during the production of Ultima underworld, so their next game ended up in the sci-fi genre. The result was the FPS game System shock. System shock came out in 1994 and distinguished itself with an impressive physics engine in addition to great freedom of movement. Although the reception was so-so, the game left its mark and inspired several game developers. System Shock got a sequel in 1999: System Shock 2.

For those who love the Amiga, I would like to throw in a small recommendation of an FPS game from 1995: Alien Breed 3D. This is the fourth game in the Alien Breed game series and the first in the series to be in the first person perspective. Alien breed 3D got a sequel in 1996, Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds. The Alien movies were a strong inspiration for the Alien Breed games. By the way, Alien got its own game for DOS and Windows in 1996: Alien trilogy. The Alien trilogy was based on the first three films.

1995 also saw Decent, a game where you control a spaceship in first person. What stood out best in this game was that you can control the spaceship in six ways; up / down, forward / backward, to two sides and rotation in three directions. The game became popular and received several sequels. Decent was also the source of inspiration for the game Forsaken.

In 1995 came an exciting game engine. The game engine was named Build and was created by Ken Silverman at Realms 3D, a division of Apogee. During 1995, two notable games based on this engine were released: William Shatner's TekWar and Witchaven. Witchaven is an FPS game that also has a good dose of role playing. Witchaven got the sequel Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance in 1996.

We'll get back to the Build engine, but first we need to address Quake, id Software's next big venture. The graphics were based on 3D (as opposed to Doom's 2.5 dimensions), the game engine was new and the action of the game was new. Otherwise, id Software based itself on the same recipe as with Doom. The possibilities for multiplayer were bigger and better. As with both Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, id Software opened the door for others – both companies and individuals – to create their own modifications and missions for the game.

During the 1990s, the development of computer technology had exploded. PCs generally became more powerful and faster. One of the most central improvements for gamers was 3D cards, or graphics cards. With the help of these cards, you got enormous graphic possibilities. In addition, several game manufacturers entered the market.

The competition between game producers became tougher and more was needed to create a game that stood out. This led to more work for game producers. Id Software was no exception. The pressure became too hard for some employees and disagreements during production arose. In the final phase of Quake, John Romero left id Software and created the company IoN storm. But Quake was still successful and the game received many sequels and add-on packs.

"I ain't afraid of no Quake" is a quote from one of the FPS world's most famous characters: Duke Nukem. The quote refers to Quake and is used in Duke Nukem 3D, one of 3D Realm's most popular games. Duke Nukem 3D is the sequel to Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II. Unlike the first two games in the series, Duke Nukem 3D is an FPS game and is often credited with popularizing the FPS genre along with Wolfenstein 3D and Doom.

But Duke Nukem 3D is something for itself. The game oozes action, humor, satire and pop culture references. And tits. Lots of tits. Duke Nukem 3D is inferior to Quake, the game that came out the same year (perhaps apart from Duke Nukem 3D's graphical clarity). But Duke Nukem 3D's environment is even more interactive than its counterpart. In the same way as Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, Duke Nukem 3D also received many additional packages and homemade missions.

The game series with Duke Nukem got a number of spin-off games, but didn't get a real sequel until 2011. But we'll get back to that.

Meanwhile, we move on to the game Blood from Monolith Productions. This is a dark and gloomy game which, in terms of genre, is at the crossroads between the occult, horror, fantasy and action. Violence was not spared in Blood. The public liked the game enough that it received both an expansion pack and a sequel, Blood II: The Chosen. Production of Blood started at 3D Realms, but the game rights were sold to Monolith Productions. Thus, Monolith Productions took over the production so that 3D Realms could focus on their next game, Shadow warrior.

Shadow warrior also marked itself out well, although the sales figures were not necessarily sky-high. Shadow warrior can be described as Duke Nukem 3D with an Asian character (Lo Wang) and Asian environment. Shadow warrior got two expansions: Twin dragon and Wanton Destruction in addition to a reboot in 2013. The reboot was named Shadow warrior and got a sequel in 2016: Shadow warrior 2.

Duke Nukem 3D, Blood and Shadow warrior (1997) are based on the Build engine and are defined as the big three Build games. The Build engine was also the basis for the games NAM and Redneck rampage. Of these, it was Redneck Rampage that had the greatest success. Redneck rampage is a game that plays on hillbilly culture and clichés.

From Build, blood and gore, we move on to Nintendo, the games console manufacturer that mostly wants to be child-friendly. In 1997, two FPS games were released for the Nintendo 64. One of them marked the start of the popularity that FPS games would gain on consoles and not just on PC. This game is GoldenEye 007 from Rare. GoldenEye is based on the James Bond film of the same name. The team that developed the game was inexperienced, but they set the bar high for what they wanted with the game. The development of the game took over two years, but it was worth it. Rare had obviously done everything right and GoldenEye was a success. Among other things, Rare had included elements that make players have to move their character with care. Another popular feature of the game is multiplayer / deathmatch. The screen is then divided into two or four and each player looks at their part of the screen when playing.

But absolutely most important for the game's popularity was how intuitive the controls were. Unfortunately, the controls were not as intuitive in the FPS game Turok: Dinosaur hunter that was released for the Nintendo 64 earlier this year. Nevertheless, Turok: Dinosaur hunter became popular and received several sequels.

Since we are mentioning dinosaurs, we move on to the dinosaur-oriented game Trespasser from 1998. The game was developed by Dreamworks Interactive for PC. The game was released as a sequel to the film The Lost World: Jurassic Park. One plays a female character, the sole survivor of a plane crash in InGen's "Site B". The game engine was powerful and provided many opportunities for the game developers and players. Unfortunately, it was not enough. The game received poor reviews and convoluted maneuvering were the biggest challenges for reviewers and players alike. Even the avatar's "health-bar", the symbol that shows the avatar's health, was not exciting enough. It was placed as a tattoo on the avatar's chest, because boobs.

The FPS game SiN was released the same year. This game also had a good foundation to do well. The game largely opened up for interaction with both the environment around the avatar and characters in the game. SiN's AI was also impressive for its time. But the loading times experienced in the game were too long. In the beginning, SiN sold well, but it quickly waned. Several other games also had poor sales figures and it seemed to some that the market for FPS games was saturated.

Half-Life (1998) from Valve still stood out well. Half-Life had a greater emphasis on puzzles than was common in FPS games. By the way, Valve had opened up the modification of the game in the same way that id Software and 3D Realms had done before. This remained a popular option with creative gaming enthusiasts. One of the modifications to Half-Life was very successful. The name was Counter-Strike.

Unreal also stood out well in 1998. Unreal was originally supposed to be a Quake clone, but that was changed during development. The developer, Epic MegaGames, created a separate game engine and a separate script for Unreal. This led to greater opportunities for Epic MegaGames to add new details and technical solutions that had not necessarily been seen before. Not least the graphics benefited from this. Unreal got several sequels. Some of them were based on multiplayer via the internet.

In 2001, Microsoft came out with the game console XBOX. Almost like a "killer app", the game Halo: Combat evolved was launched exclusively for XBOX. The development of Halo: Combat evolved was started by Bungie in 1997 before Microsoft bought Bungie and changed the whole game. Halo was a success and had many sequels. The same thing happened to the war game Battlfield 1942 from 2002. The war game Call of Duty did not want to be any worse. Far cry is a series of FPS games that take place in open worlds.

Since the start of the 2000s, we have had more game sequels than the horror films Halloween, Friday the 13th and A nightmare on Elm street combined. There is a long way between the gold nuggets in the genre. Those that do occur are often overrun by the attention the well-known game series receive.

But it was a sequel that had high expectations. Development started in 1997 and it wasn't until 2011 that the game came out. The game is Duke Nukem Forever. At the time of writing, the game holds the record for the game that has had the longest development period; 14 years and 44 days. Lack of resources was the primary reason for the long waiting time. Lawsuits ensued and Apogee / 3D Realms was disbanded. And the game itself? Duke Nukem Forever flopped. Outdated humor and the graphics did not go down well with most people.

Over the course of 40 years, we have seen an enormous development of both technology and games. Not least until the beginning of the 2000s, development has made strong leaps. Part of the driving force of the game producers was to use new technology, such as 3D cards and different forms of networks. Rethinking was no problem. Nor was controversy a problem.

The games industry has become a billion-dollar industry that has taken over part of the film industry's market. Game manufacturers spend many millions of dollars on the development of new games. Therefore, the producers want to bet on a game they know will be a success. Thus, it is easy to bet on games that are not too different from previous successes. New thinking has thus not been in focus within the FPS genre for a number of years. This killed part of the charm within the genre.

On the other hand, retrogaming has become more popular in recent years. The style and charm from the 1990s has gained a renaissance. Games such as Amid Evil, Dusk, Hedon, HROT, Ion Fury and Prodeus have left their mark. In addition, the horror genre has made a new foray into the first-person genre. It is worth mentioning games such as Agony, Amnesia, Judas, Layers of Fear, Outlast, Soma and Succubus. Charm and creativity are clearly on their way back.

So we have seen the FPS genre's rise and first dormancy. Let's hope that VR technology gives the FPS genre a new resurgence.

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