Thread:Vorknkx/@comment-1915529-20120523190003/@comment-1496755-20120710123931

Heh heh, I just went to Death's wall in Unreal wiki and saw that half a smilie. It looks like this:

)

Anyway... you know, one of the things that always amazed me about some old classics is the way they feel alive despite their primitive graphics and sound. The artwork and the design were done in a such a way that you can see yourself becoming a part of that world - a world that breathes and is always in motion. Your perception is not confined to what you see on the screen - you can feel that the world goes on beyond the level you are in, and it is full of new things to discover.

This is the imagination factor - the lower resolutions and missing details allow the player's own mind to step in and complete the picture, making a more personalised experience (and thus a more enjoyable game). Modern games, on the other hand, just spoon-feed everything to you, and do not allow the player's mind to bring the world to life.

I have a feeling that in the 1990's the designers tried very hard to make their games look as best as they could, despite all the technological restrictions. They used their resources to the limit and turned simple engines into great works of art. And today, designers have superb technologies at their disposal but don't use their full potential... they just make sure it's "good enough" and the job is done.