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nalex66
nalex66
Honored Contributor
June 6, 2016
Question

It's my birthday!

Today I turn 44, and I can't help but reflect on how much things have changed in the last couple decades. When I was 22, I was at University, playing DOOM, and just getting involved in ray-traced rendering, using a text-based(!) modelling/rendering software called POV-ray.

Today, I'm playing DOOM 2016 with amazingly realistic real-time graphics, and messing around with VR! I can't imagine what technology will look like when I'm into my 60s.

Anyway, blast from the past--here's my first animation created in POV-ray, back when I was 26:


    19 replies

    mambo1888
    Inspiring
    June 6, 2016
    Happy birthday mate, all the best :smile: 

    It is really amazing when you look back at all the stages of technology when you think it cant get any better and yet it continually does. ZX Spectrum>NES>SNES/Mega Drive>Playstation/Xbox Generations>VR. Can only imagine what will be available in 20-30 years time??

    EDIT:

    Didn't realise that was a video, very nice
    DaftnDirect
    Honored Contributor
    June 6, 2016

    Happy Birthday @nalex66, that animation stands up pretty well today!

    it doesn't seem that long ago when every computer shop window seemed to have demos of ray-traced chrome spheres bouncing around a monitor screen to show off how good the graphics were

    13700K, RTX 4070 Ti, Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming, Corsair H150i Capellix, 64GB Corsair Vengence DDR5, Corsair 5000D Airflow, 4TB Samsung 870 , 2TB Samsung 990 Pro x 2, DK2, CV1, Rift-S, Quest, 2, 3, Pro, Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (10.0.26100)
    nalex66
    nalex66Author
    Honored Contributor
    June 6, 2016
    Yeah, back when "computer shops" were a thing!
    DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3. Try my game: Cyclops Island Demo
    TheReimi1986
    Participant
    June 6, 2016
    Happy BDay from me, too. :smiley:
    What will happen? Well.... I vote for these ones. And yes, I would not care to be lost in Aincrad at all!


    nalex66
    nalex66Author
    Honored Contributor
    June 6, 2016
    That reminds me of a movie I saw back in the 80's, Brainstorm. It starred Christopher Walken, and featured some people inventing a brainscan device that would allow experiences to be recorded and shared with others, sort of like direct-to-brain VR. Their first iteration was a huge helmet full of wires and gizmos, but their final version was a slim little headband. Kind of like the different iterations of the Rift!


    DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3. Try my game: Cyclops Island Demo
    TheReimi1986
    Participant
    June 6, 2016
    In that case it's from an Anime whose plot starts on 6. November 2022 called Sword Art Online.
    DaftnDirect
    Honored Contributor
    June 6, 2016
    I remember that film... some guy made a loop of the 'critical moment' of a VR sex scene that sent him crazy... why do I remember that scene more than the others?
    13700K, RTX 4070 Ti, Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming, Corsair H150i Capellix, 64GB Corsair Vengence DDR5, Corsair 5000D Airflow, 4TB Samsung 870 , 2TB Samsung 990 Pro x 2, DK2, CV1, Rift-S, Quest, 2, 3, Pro, Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (10.0.26100)
    nalex66
    nalex66Author
    Honored Contributor
    June 6, 2016
    While I'm feeling nostalgic, here's another old animation. There was a lot of math involved in coding all the motions--it would have been no sweat using a more modern design package with inverse kinematics, but this was back before I had access to 3dsMax.


    DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3. Try my game: Cyclops Island Demo
    Zenbane
    Zenbane
    Honored Contributor
    June 6, 2016
    @nalex66 - well played. You're guaranteed Post of the Week for sure this time! lol
    jademan
    Up and Coming
    June 6, 2016
    Happy birthday, nalex!  I just turned 45 last month myself, and reminisce about those old days too.  Playing the original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple //c until I had to get an hour of sleep before leaving for school again... those were the days!

    I never personally moved far beyond little turtle drawings in Pascal and some player-missile graphics on Ataris, but I must say your videos are very cool, even for today in my opinion!
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