3d Game Question

saturnkk

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What was the first, non-vector, 3d arcade game. Earliest I can remember (that looked damn good at the time) was Zaxxon...?!? There had to be some before this though right?

And I have a hard time considering Pole Position to be 3d because there was some horizon perspective but that was about it.
 
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How bout' SEGA Turbo? 1981. Certainly is more 3d'ish than pole position.
 
Hmm, my tunnel hunt has the copyright for atari at '79 while kLOV lists the game at '82. I highly doubt that the game sat waiting for production for 3 years, especially with the low quality graphics.
 
Might be Turbo. Probably not though, if you include all genres. When was War of the Worlds released? How about Red Baron????????????
 
And I'd place Red Baron as "more 3d" than Zaxxon (I own a Zaxxon) - vector 3 D first person perspective would be more accurately 3D than Zaxxon, which is a 2D or 2.5D isometric raster game. Battlezone would trump Zaxxon too.
 
What was the first, non-vector, 3d arcade game?

And I'd place Red Baron as "more 3d" than Zaxxon (I own a Zaxxon) - vector 3 D first person perspective would be more accurately 3D than Zaxxon, which is a 2D or 2.5D isometric raster game. Battlezone would trump Zaxxon too.

Looking for non-vector 3d games.
 
BLAHST! I missed the non vector reference. Again my efforts at not being an asshat are thwarted.

Well, true 3D raster would probably be I Robot as already mentioned.
 
Depends on your definition of "3D". If you're looking for actual 3-D math, and polygons, then I, Robot is likely what you're looking for. If you're just looking for a 3D "effect"... then I guess it depends on how convincing of an effect you're looking for. Zaxxon, Tunnel Hunt, Crystal Castles, and Turbo are all efforts to create a 3D effect. However, so did Night Driver: http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8866 ...in 1976.
 
BLAHST! I missed the non vector reference. Again my efforts at not being an asshat are thwarted.

Well, true 3D raster would probably be I Robot as already mentioned.

This is why I love this forum over any of the others. Most members are willing to admit mistakes and take it in good stride. Well played Droler! :D
 
How we are defining "3D" here is kind of important. Also, 3D gameplay or 3D art assets?

I'm not sure that Zaxxon is 3D gameplay wise. The player has control of only 2 axis (up/down and left/right). IIRC, you don't control forward/backwards movement.

Art direction...Zaxxon and Crystal Castles are based off of a 2D isometric-like grid. They never really deviate from it. So...I mean...it's nitpicking at this point. :p

...puts pens back in pen protector.
 
You're all wrong. To quote the original poster: "first, non-vector, 3d arcade game". Arcade being the operative word and assuming 3D implies depth. Consider this, Arcades predate the video era games beginning in the mid 70s. Before that, you had Arcades full of Pinballs and EM gun games like those found at many amusements parks and what not. Either of which could qualify as 3-D games since pinballs roll across the 2D plain of the play field. However, I would say that the 3D effect on the EM gun games are much more effective(and novel) than the Pinball effect. So I would argue that some 3D e.m. shooting gallery with a cool black light and mirror to reflect the image up (much like SI and DOT) would be the "first, non-vector, 3d arcade game" where "non-vector" is a bit redundant.

That being said, if we replace arcade game with video game, then all the above comments would probably be true for the most part. But if we use the 3D implies depth, than Space Invaders could be the first. Although, there is probably some other similar game like Sea Wolf that I'm not thinking of that does about the same thing. The only thing I would add is that I' Robot was the first video game to use true Polygons which have become synonymous with 3D gaming. So that may ultimately be the right answer to the question the OP intended.
 
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