1998 Prey Tech Demo

[bapenguin]

Would you like to know what the developers thought about Prey back in 1997? Then watch this video (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-867703169019352907&q=interview+prey).

Would you like to know what the game looked like in 1998? Then watch this video (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7844987544204140976&q=interview+prey).

Pretty crazy to think the game is that old. It's also interesting to see some of the concepts still stuck all the way through.

[Sl1pstream]

"We like to show our demos on something we think the player will actually have"


...by the time we release our game.


It did look pretty good, for a game that old, I still can't see why 3DR keeps delaying their games that long.

[TrackZero]

What's crazy is realizing that's in 1998. Those graphics are past anything that was out at that time. Fuck, why did this game never get released in the first place?

[Noiz]

And why did they go from what was clearly a custom built engine to the Doom3 engine?

[Mason]

Didn't dynamic portals fail to make it into the 2006 version? Along with environmental destruction and about eight orders of relevance.

3DR has too much money for its own good. If they were a bit more hungry, they'd get games done.

[Tia]

Wow, seeing this makes me even more dissapointed with Prey. It had such good potential back in 1998... I wonder what happened between then and now.

[Wyrm]

I loved the game. I thought it was solid all the way through.

[Mozgus]

That was running on a 266mhz with a voodoo2?! Most effecient engine ever.

[Qoz]

Prey failed due to poor management according to this link (http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/article.asp?CIID=22711). Don't all games? Too ambitious it seems.

I read an interview long ago by the 3rd Game Designer on Prey (Paul Schuytema) and he explained how the tech never really came together. They had huge problems getting the enginetech done. Apparently every room was an entity and connected through portals. This created problems with collision detection, sound, lighting - everything! And the other games were catching up visually.

Watching that demo from 1998 the tech seemed pretty ok, but it's hard to judge a demo offcourse.

[NightRain]

I actually have a alpha demo I downloaded off a BBC back in 97, earlier than the video shown. It had only 2 small maps, showing off textures and teleporters btu had no weapons or NPCs.

I rememeber comparing it to Quake 1 and it looked a lot better, if I remember correctly it required 3DFX to run.

[Sloth]

the graphics looked really good for something in 1998.

[FooManLinux]

Working or not, I think this is what Mark Rein was talking about a few weeks back when he torn into the current state of gaming. And the lack of innovation. What if this had come out in 99 or 00. I just watched the portals demo for hl2 and almost crapped my pants. If this kind of thing would have come out in 6, 7 years ago, OMG!! Before gfx took over as the only important thing in games we had great innovation. Massive gibs in rise of the triads, greatly and massively modable engine with duke nukem 3d. Creative gameplay and great story line with hl. Destructible environments with red faction (which was able to run on the ps2, which is a wonder in and of it self). Flying around multiplayer in tribes. Could have had portals and dynamic portals with prey. fps/rts with vehicles in battle zone (which may have been the most underrated game of all time). Team based and role choosing with team fortress (not a retail game but that’s not the point). What do we have now? The havok engine which is nice, but not much else. People need to realize that gfx are not the only thing, and in my mind are not even or shouldn’t be #1. It should have and should always be gameplay. Why are we really playing? If you want something to look at go watch pbs on an htdv. I for one want to have fun!!!!

[TrackZero]

And why did they go from what was clearly a custom built engine to the Doom3 engine?

Because of the 8 year spawn between them? ;) And it was a different team entirely.

[SexualChoc]

And yet Duke Nukem Forever gets more press than this, despite it being in development for more than 11 years. Dukes what, nine?

[BabyJesus]

And yet Duke Nukem Forever gets more press than this, despite it being in development for more than 11 years. Dukes what, nine?

Maybe the case, but Prey was thought to be cancelled many many years ago. It just recently got reannounced and released. It was a surprise to many, personally I just think someone wanted to use the IP to make some cash and they threw it together, if thats possible.

[Savok]

I don't think DNF has ever stopped being in development, what makes it unique. But yeah, had Prey come out in 98, we'd of had a very different history these past 8 years or so.

[FreshyK]

What I heard was that this Portal tech was a nightmare to work with and they never got it stable enough to ship anything. William Scarboro, the guy who wrote the original engine, wrote something about how an engine like that was a mistake and he would never do something like it again.

[Beelzebud]

Oh what 3dR could have been if all the really cool people hadn't left.

[Qoz]

I found where I read the info. Check here (http://www.apogeegames.com/prey/history.htm) for a report on the years that went by. Still a mystery why they suddenly scrapped the entire thing. Perhaps it became too complex and with the engine programmer gone everything went down.
Been there, done that. I coded what was going to be the Prey engine for the game Prey from 3D Realms; there was an exodus of people from the team, including myself, and the engine has since been scrapped. I'm really not a big fan of portal engines anymore, especially where all rooms are relative (which is what I had) in the manner you propose. There are many ugly problems in maintaining such an engine: two rooms linked by more than one portal (which results in rendering a room twice, basically, and even though they won't overlap, all the culling and transforms are duplicated), graph maintenance with spatial discontinuities, collision detection through portals, handling sound where one sound can seem to be coming from many different locations, rendering characters moving across portals that the z-buffer won't handle correctly, etc. It wasn't fun. The effects were really awesome, though.

[Bone]

They changed producers a number of times. I had been in contact with Paul Schuytema about getting a job there.... I didn't get it, and then he got fired shortly after. Corinne Yu I think took his place, and was also fired. To me it sounded like scope creep (DNF anyone?) that made the game unfinishable at the time.

[easi]

I would give a random limb to get my hands on one of those original P R E Y shirts.

[Paranoia]

Its just poor management.

[EGO]

Looks MUCH BETTER now and from what I've played of it, I'm not dissapointed.

People get too hung up on the backstory of things to actually enjoy them.

Do I care that it took 9 years to make? Not unless they pass the cost on to me.
Shit, Valve takes 7 years to make a game and they're praised! And that's SOLID development, unlike Prey which was being worked on, then picked up and made from scratch in a couple of years.

[Bone]

Why do we care? Because we're human, we love drama involving someone else. It makes us feel better ;)

Also because a lot of us have followed these games that are hyped as the next big thing... and it's funny sometimes when those games take a decade to come out. By then, we could procreate and raise a child old enough to play a game that started development before he was born :0

[randir14]

Too bad the KMFDM music from the original Prey wasn't used in the final game.

[KarmaGhost]

Didn't dynamic portals fail to make it into the 2006 version? Along with environmental destruction and about eight orders of relevance.Yup, but it's possible despite the fact that they didn't include it in retail. Check this (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6727494773800764468&q=prey) out.

[Odwalla]

Before gfx took over as the only important thing in games we had great innovation. Massive gibs in rise of the triads...

Gibs aren't innovation, they're graphics. Your comparison is invalid.

[Animated X]

Very interesting, I love to see old videos/screenshots of games that were cutting edge, just to see how far things have come since then.

[MoJoBehaumat]

I come with a word of caution :p
Do Not....I Repeat...Do Not try and play stoned...
You will only succeed in losing your temper and the fun factor will ooze out of your 360......
:D

[TrackZero]

I come with a word of caution :p
Do Not....I Repeat...Do Not try and play stoned...
You will only succeed in losing your temper and the fun factor will ooze out of your 360......
:D

Prey would be one of the last games I'd think of to play while high.

[rahvii]

Yup, but it's possible despite the fact that they didn't include it in retail. Check this (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6727494773800764468&q=prey) out.
Yeah but that map seems to be very small. They had it working on 1997 with top of the line graphics, so they can with today graphics. The problems seems to come when you take the tech into real full game maps.

[Sebultura]

I actually have a alpha demo I downloaded off a BBC back in 97, earlier than the video shown. It had only 2 small maps, showing off textures and teleporters btu had no weapons or NPCs.

I rememeber comparing it to Quake 1 and it looked a lot better, if I remember correctly it required 3DFX to run.

Do you know if we can find it these days, because I've made alot of searches but it seems that nothing can be found now :(

[Sebultura]

NightRain ? Anyone ??