3DO ZONE Forums

Has anyone here ever played the 1995 DOS game Bioforge? I owned it when it came out, it is a real shame that it is not more well known. It seems like the perfect game for 3DO. Here is a random gameplay video of Bioforge.

*not sure how to embed vids here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk9r3_qZ9UU


Now do you think the 3DO was capable of Bioforge? It had some steep requirements when it came out, but a 3DO version would have been awesome. Am I dreaming or could the lil ole 3DO pull it off?

Looks really nice. I'd play it. Character looks like a complex set of sprites rather than a full 3D model so it probably could have been done. I could be wrong though.

Looks doable...doesn't seem that much more intensive than alone in the dark really

Bioforge pioneered a new skeletal animation system. I am also fairly sure the characters are 3D models with texture mapping. I remember it murdering my 486 50MHz which is not good news for 3DO.

That's interesting. I think, without looking, Bioforge was on the list for 3DO. But like so many others, it didn't see the light of day.

swaaye wrote:Bioforge pioneered a new skeletal animation system. I am also fairly sure the characters are 3D models with texture mapping. I remember it murdering my 486 50MHz which is not good news for 3DO.

That's pretty cool. He looked like there was a lot of work going on but I thought maybe they could have just done some really major pre-rendered sprites.

3DO Experience wrote:That's pretty cool. He looked like there was a lot of work going on but I thought maybe they could have just done some really major pre-rendered sprites.

That early CPU rendered 3D does tend to look like sprites at times. But this is one of those bleeding edge Origin games and I am sure it had 3D characters the more I think about it and Google it. I remember a readme or interview that detailed why it is so demanding but I can't find that...

Yep, this game had polygonal texturized objects.
And, yep, a 486/50MHz didn't do it too smoothly already.
I remember playing it (GREAT game, heavily underrated, by the way) on
a 486/33MHz, which was already near to the no-fun-border.

But let's do the maths:
An Intel 486/33MHz CPU gives an output of 20 MIPS.
The ARM 60 CPU does 10 MIPS, plus some additional MIPS of the FPU.

BUT: The 486/33MHz has to do all the work itself, while the ARM 60 gets
some help in texturizing the 3D models (which is quite a major task
for the 486 CPU, I suppose) from the Cell engines.

I would say, yes, establishing a playable code on the 3DO is not that unrealistic.
Enthusiastic 3DO homebrew programmers: Go for it!!

There also seem to be other variables that can go along with this. Look at Ewhac and Gammadevs video on 'Let's play PO'd' and they talk about how on that game the 3do outperforms the PSX and why this is so in some cases. These things are fascinating.

Jones wrote:Yep, this game had polygonal texturized objects.
And, yep, a 486/50MHz didn't do it too smoothly already.
I remember playing it (GREAT game, heavily underrated, by the way) on
a 486/33MHz, which was already near to the no-fun-border.

But let's do the maths:
An Intel 486/33MHz CPU gives an output of 20 MIPS.
The ARM 60 CPU does 10 MIPS, plus some additional MIPS of the FPU.

BUT: The 486/33MHz has to do all the work itself, while the ARM 60 gets
some help in texturizing the 3D models (which is quite a major task
for the 486 CPU, I suppose) from the Cell engines.

I would say, yes, establishing a playable code on the 3DO is not that unrealistic.
Enthusiastic 3DO homebrew programmers: Go for it!!

Hmm, I seem to remember that this game was on a coming soon list we got when I worked at Game Dude back in the day. That as well as Fade to Black and that Clay Fighter that was supposed to release. Bummed me out when it didn't happen.

Could you be thinking of "BIOS Fear" from Panasonic?

I also recall seeing BioForge on a coming soon list for 3DO back in the day

Also PCs are not equal to dedicated game consoles in many ways. Even if the specs seem lower for a contemporary console versus the PC system of the time.

The game console usually has quite an edge in a lot of areas. Its almost like comparing apples and oranges and its nowhere near a straight correlation. Look at 3do games that appeared on the PC and compare the system requirements and you'll see a lot of what I'm saying.

Here is a relevant quote from a name we all know:

John Carmack via Twitter wrote:For the same given paper spec, a console will deliver twice the perf of a PC, and a PC will deliver twice the perf of a mobile part.