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Comment by paradoxparalax | Hacker News Reader

When I remember those softwares from the 90s, I almost (but not) think that software has not improved as much since.

Hardware improves much faster. Actually Software could always and can always be done without computers, like the old punch holes in the cards and Ada Lovelace's writings.

Still today, of course, Anything that can get done with real physical logic gates can get done with paper and pencil. Just takes longer, Result is the same.

Examples of great software that dropped my jaw back in the 90's:

- Microsoft Flight Simulator (Instead of becoming better and more famous, is almost forgotten)

- Bryce 4 (mind-blowing back then, wonder if still alive)

- :at request - Simcity ( I had never play, but my sister was addicted)

-:at sister's request - Empire Earth ( not sure that old, it's like Age of Empires)

- Myth: The Fallen Lords (best video-game ever made, for me, it is the saddening story you can hear about software death)

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Age of Empires 2 was what made my little brother decide being a programmer. It's trigger system in the map editor is so primitive and lacking, you'd have to spend hours for some basic things that can be done in seconds via a loop. We (mostly I) developed a program that multiplied the triggers with special names by changing keywords (or key-numbers like 42^^) by modifying the save file. He loved the reverse-engineering and how easier things get using a proper programming language. On the other hand, I think if someone is creative and analytic that way to find themselves writing scripts-like stuff in a map editor, then they are already good candidates for being programmers.

What I wanted to say, then diverged and started telling a completely unnecessary story, is: AoE2 is a really timeless piece of software. Look at the still kicking community for this 20-year-old game!

The beauty of AOE2 was the perfectly calibrated units and civilizations such that nothing is truly superior or inferior. It depends on the player's skill and strategy what they want to prioritize. I have spent many weekends in the 2010s playing that game with 7 other friends. Nothing comes close for me to the fun I had playing that.

Microsoft Flight simulator is not almost forgotten. Even after getting discontinued for consumers, there is still a large active community on steam more than 10 years after launch and people still pay for the commercial p3d version of the engine.

I'm sad that Microsoft chose to discontinue Flight Simulator and Midtown madness, but I can hope for a return much like age of empires.

Here is the Steam community playing FSX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8DadVR-rl0 (sometimes has NSFW language)

Thanks for sharing, Zeusk.

Is too late too edit my comment now, but I stand corrected.

Microsoft Flight Simulator will never be forgotten.

Myth: T.F.L. the same. Not on Steam , tried to get killed by his own parents, but we never let it die, even going a little off. And some heroes reversed-engineered the server and there is a Multiplayer server still running today.(will never forget you guys from Project Magma)

and here I remember the eighties for Binary Systems Starflight, what they did on two 360k diskettes amazes me even to today. The Wizardry, Bards Tale, Ultima, and Kings Quest, series. Elite is around in new forms today but it is from the eighties. Then throw in all the C64 games namely from Microprose and such, Silent Service, Stealth Fighter, F-15, Gunship, and even Pirates.

Not only did they have the imagination but you needed to really concern yourself with the limitations of the systems. My first "flight simulator" experiences are all C64 base. Looking back we can see that titles that originated in the eighties and nineties are still with us in new forms.

: ) wow, hey, I know this one, Ultima is what is called U.O.L. right? my cousin is addicted, still today. Great game.

maybe like other things, for example, inks for painting and marble for sculpting were very expensive in times of Fidia , DaVinci, etc... so they didn't waste it, and made the best Art,

Ultima is an RPG series (probably the founder of the CRPG genre). It has 9 single-player games as well as Ultima Online.

Bryce is still around, although it's gone through a couple new versions and owners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryce_(software)

It's lost some ground to other software, though, I think, such as UE4 plugins for that ecosystem.

I went to the website[0] and under the "notes" section, it just says "No".

[0]: http://www.daz3d.com/bryce-7-pro

I'd add SimCity in there as well. Groundbreaking when it was made.

If you played SimCity to create the perfect city, there's still nothing with a similar engaging dynamic.

BUT, if you played it like a city-painter, I recommend Cities: Skylines as an evolution. You can also mod it and the language of choice is C#. Just look at the mods, the community is (was?) amazing.

C:S is great if you want to plan a city, but its simulation elements are sorely lacking. I'd love to see the original design doc for SC2013 (fully agent-based, with histories) get made; that'd probably be the best you can get for a simulation engine.

added : ) thanks for sharing.

Comanche in 1992 was jaw dropping. Seemed to be the first 32-bit game too, as it came with it’s own boot disk.

https://youtu.be/Uc3zGZnI6ak

> Seemed to be the first 32-bit game too

First 32-bit PC game, perhaps. Acorn users were playing 32 bit games well before 1992 (e.g, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarch in 1987)

Wasn't this also one of the first uses of voxels in a flight sim fighter?

What do you know of Myth’s demise?

It was one of my favorites too!

It is still "alive". Some people will never let it's tomb abandoned. It will probably never die completely. The community resides on Project Magma[1].

I think there is a need for more players; more then a need for more servers, hehe. I think(not sure) the only fully legal way to get the Game is buying the old original CD from eBay or taobao. I didn't say anything about downloads and I didn't say anything about other ways. Enjoy!

GLA!!! (good luck all! people used to shout it in the starting of the game by the chat tool, wishing luck for enemies and allies)

Ahhhh! How could I forget about Fallout 2 , the second best game ever made, after Myth, hehe.

1- http://projectmagma.net

An idea: Mario on 3 monitors..

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