Circa 1996.

                1996 would not see the exponential speed of 90's tech slow down. If anything it somehow again took tremendous leaps. This is the year that many of the real time rendering breakthroughs and computing level so f interactivity would make possible the modern designs that we play today. The early 90's certainly where the start of it all but the canvas was narrow and limited. 1996 would see that canvas suddenly become wide and big, clear and orders of magnitude beyond what could have been imagined before.
                 Home computing was changing drastically in its reach. PDAs, computer powered phones, early LCDs all changed how easily it was to have compute and how portable it was. This market expansion of high end tech on every level to everyone came out in all the tech industry branches. Video games would see 3D gaming come into the forefront with companies like Nintendo and Sony having 3D capable boxes. Suddenly millions of gamers would have 3D gaming capable devices. PC would see the full extent of the philosophy. With early predecessors to graphics processing units like the Voodoo 1. Which of was a fantastic 3d accelerator for the year but lacked 2D functionality so users could often have two video related expansion cards in a single system. APIs like DirectX6 would help. Intel would continue to make tremendous p

rogress in CPUs and so would a new competitor AMD. Its impossible to understate the jump in hardware and software seen in 1996. I don't think many of us in the modern day remember or can realize how much happened. It'll take ten years to see the jump 1996 did in 12 months.
                                    1996 is fun where as the earlier years in this blog covered some of my earliest and youngest memories, 1996 has clear memories and nostalgia. Very much a child and not even a video gamer yet. I remember my parents and other adults talking about Dolly the Sheep for instance. I remember one of my first car rides home from school asking my mother who the President was and her saying Bill Clinton. It would only be a few more years until I got my first computer and all this would really start. Enough about my 28 year old self and time to revist some mile markers 1996 would have.
-MSNBC was launched
-Rupert Murdoch launched Fox News.
-The cost of a 30-second Super Bowl ad was $1,085,000
-Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. voted to end their ban of hard liquor ads on television and radio
- Soda (Coca-Cola): 99 cents for six 12-ounce cans
-On July 7, Nelson Mandela stepped down as President of South Africa
-General Motors was America’s biggest company, followed by Ford Motor and Exxon Mobil.

     

The Long Halloween

               

  Raven Software took the formula established by DOOM and created a beautiful gothic twist on it that while looking and playing fantastically would do important things like seed the idea of item management in the FPS genre. By the end of October 1995 Raven Software would take all these concepts from a checkers  mentality to that of Chess. Hexen: Beyond Heretic is one of the most complex shooters of the 90's with a thickly woven weapons system around different classes, ammo, and mana. It would  also primitively set the stage for open levels that effect other levels and portal together connecting everything. Raven Software really tried to think outside the box. Hexen is a classic because of the studio mentality.
                   I really was surprised by Heretic but honestly even with that in mind I wasn't ready for Hexen. No really I wasn't ready for what a commitment this game is. While I haven't played every game in this blog start to finish I try to spend a good deal of time with them at the minimum. Hexen is a intricately woven game of player classes, weapons, quick use items, and big levels that react from objectives in other big levels. I can't say I have more than initial impressions of the game as such a deep and complex game wasn't in the span of my current..well attention span. However these are many of the reasons I think the game is brilliant and have to share what thoughts I do have from my experience.
                      I really bragged on Raven Software's last game because of its well done art and atmosphere. It really did things with idTech we hadn't seen before. Hexen however is probably the most beautiful shooter of its day and on the engine. It's obviously pushed way beyond what we saw in Heretic or DOOM II. The sprite work is some of the best I've seen from a game in this era.

The way spells and effects animate and also look the part is something to see. The game has such a strong visual identity with its gothic elements tied to a gore filled mature id legacy. The soundtrack while not on the level of Dark Forces is pretty great at matching the visual themes of the game. Hexen also features way more complex levels and detail. I'm surprised its still idTech. Multi sided pillars and  stone fortifications are plenty along with animated sprites and textures that give a very alive feel. Hexen looks and sounds beautiful and pushes the engine to new limits.
                            Hexen would have been a great joy to me in 1996 context. I love deep, rich games with multiple systems at play while still having plenty of violent constant combat. The sense of levels relieying on each other or being connected in any way even if by loading screen was a big thing back in 1996. Games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R or the more recent Wolfenstien games  have a modern take on this same concept. One reason I love this blog is just being astounded by getting a hands on with the progression of the genre. Inventory management, emergency items, classes all these things would come to shooters much, much later than Hexen. In an age where pen and paper RPGs still flourished and games like The Elder Scrolls owned fantasty, Hexen took and made its own violent FPS niche. As I mentioned earlier sadly as time of writing my experience with the game is fairly limited. Gman Lives is a Youtube personality whom I enjoy listening too and he was a big inspiration to follow my nostalgia. Gman Lives is also a big Hexen fan and knows the game very well for decades now. I recommend giving his video a watch if interested in this often forgotten but ever important game. I have such a new found love for Ravens Soft. This blog continues to deliver me unexpected bits of gratitude for a hobby and genre I love.