Friday, October 31, 2014
These days I find myself watching every Wolfenstein 3D video a particular YouTuber plays and uploads of.
My brother sometimes comes into the room and asks me why am I watching these silly videos? After all they come from a game in 1992 with horrible graphics, very ancient gameplay and overall feel, and why am I watching and not actually playing it?
The thing about watching Wolf3D videos is that this was my first ever game. Having acquainted myself with the wonder that is the computer in 1993, and that you could actually play an interactive game with storyline, realism, and colourful visuals was a mindblowingly novel concept to a 4-year old boy, especially when kids around you go "WOW YOU HAVE A COMPUTER!". A game like Wolf3D is really the icing on the cake. But beyond all that really, Wolf3D was indeed very well created, many older gamers today don't deny its lasting legacy as the grandfather of all modern shooter games. So to put it short, it was really a well crafted game.
My experience with Wolf3D was one of a multitude of feelings. It was bonding time with my uncle whom I spent most of my time with, it was working hand in hand with him to explore the unknown labyrinths and wide halls of the game, apprehensive about turning into the next corner or opening the next door. Who knows if the next room is full of tall, large blue soldiers who would fire at you guns blazing the moment the door opened? It became all the more exciting and nervous knowing that you were low on health and about to die. Wolf3D meant mapping out each level of the game by drawing on blank pieces of paper, identifying the colours and textures of the walls, the type of the enemy (blue soldier, brown soldier, white soldier, green soldier, dog), the treasures, the ammo, the health items, the secret walls. It was a game that transcended just playing it, and it seeped into the real world and taught me how to map out a floor plan.
Perhaps these are reasons why Wolf3D remains to me so endearing, that I almost-religiously watch YouTube videos of the game more than 20 years later. I cannot forget the different enemies in the game, the different coloured walls with their unique textures that invoke particular emotions when I see them, the props in the map: plants, chandeliers, skeleton cages, blood splatter, tables and chairs, warning signs, etc. So why do I not play the game? Nah, Wolf3D is better watched than played for me, because that was how I grew up: watching my uncle play the game, and almost never playing it. It is a whole package of emotions and impressions, and not just nostalgia, and I won't expect anyone to truly understand how much a simple and ancient game could mean to me. || posted by Kuan Hui
My brother sometimes comes into the room and asks me why am I watching these silly videos? After all they come from a game in 1992 with horrible graphics, very ancient gameplay and overall feel, and why am I watching and not actually playing it?
The thing about watching Wolf3D videos is that this was my first ever game. Having acquainted myself with the wonder that is the computer in 1993, and that you could actually play an interactive game with storyline, realism, and colourful visuals was a mindblowingly novel concept to a 4-year old boy, especially when kids around you go "WOW YOU HAVE A COMPUTER!". A game like Wolf3D is really the icing on the cake. But beyond all that really, Wolf3D was indeed very well created, many older gamers today don't deny its lasting legacy as the grandfather of all modern shooter games. So to put it short, it was really a well crafted game.
My experience with Wolf3D was one of a multitude of feelings. It was bonding time with my uncle whom I spent most of my time with, it was working hand in hand with him to explore the unknown labyrinths and wide halls of the game, apprehensive about turning into the next corner or opening the next door. Who knows if the next room is full of tall, large blue soldiers who would fire at you guns blazing the moment the door opened? It became all the more exciting and nervous knowing that you were low on health and about to die. Wolf3D meant mapping out each level of the game by drawing on blank pieces of paper, identifying the colours and textures of the walls, the type of the enemy (blue soldier, brown soldier, white soldier, green soldier, dog), the treasures, the ammo, the health items, the secret walls. It was a game that transcended just playing it, and it seeped into the real world and taught me how to map out a floor plan.
Perhaps these are reasons why Wolf3D remains to me so endearing, that I almost-religiously watch YouTube videos of the game more than 20 years later. I cannot forget the different enemies in the game, the different coloured walls with their unique textures that invoke particular emotions when I see them, the props in the map: plants, chandeliers, skeleton cages, blood splatter, tables and chairs, warning signs, etc. So why do I not play the game? Nah, Wolf3D is better watched than played for me, because that was how I grew up: watching my uncle play the game, and almost never playing it. It is a whole package of emotions and impressions, and not just nostalgia, and I won't expect anyone to truly understand how much a simple and ancient game could mean to me. || posted by Kuan Hui
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