Computer games and video games in general have been continuously evolving throughout the history of their existence. And it’s all thanks to technology. Whether it’s the processing power of PCs and consoles, a new programming language, or a game engine, it all influences the way we see computer games today.
The development of video games, in turn, attracts more and more users. Due to this, experienced esports experts can provide more accurate CSGO betting tips. Players enjoy colorful graphics, a pleasant and atmospheric soundtrack, and a wide variety of genres in computer games. But all this would not be without new technologies that appear once, or even several times, per generation.
In this article, you will learn about how the development of programming and game engines influenced the complexity and diversity of video games, what path game graphics have traveled, and how the emergence of multiplayer gaming has affected the computer games industry. We’ll also talk about the potential contribution of artificial International intelligence to the video game industry.
Foundations of Gameplay: From Code to Pixels
The first games were quite different from what we can see now on the pages of Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo shops. Back then, they were much simpler and cheaper to produce. The first wave of video games were casual projects with pixel graphics and text quests.
So one of the first video games is considered to be Pong, released by Atari in 1972. Pong was an arcade tennis game where two players’ rackets and a pixel ball were drawn from pixels. The game was developed by a few people, while nowadays AAA blockbusters can be developed by teams of hundreds or even thousands of specialists.
It all started with the development of computer games in common programming languages like BASIC, but over time specialized game engines – sets of tools for easier and more convenient development – began to appear. Depending on these tools, these or those engines are better suited for different game genres. Now the most popular are Unity and Unreal Engine. Also, developers often use their own developments, but it is much more expensive to create a game engine for yourself than to use a ready-made solution.
Along with the development of approaches to programming video games, new genres, and game mechanics began to appear. The path from corridor games with first-person views to gigantic and elaborate open worlds with third-person control was the result of a long development of game technologies.
Graphical Advancements and Realism
Graphically, computer games have also made huge leaps in quality. It started with text quests and 2D platformers with pixel graphics. The peculiarity of that period was the black-and-white color scheme, colored graphics appeared a little later. The transition from 2D to 3D took place in the 90s of the last century. As often happens, the first 3D looked extremely dubious, and many people favored high-quality 2D graphics.
As graphics in video games evolved, so did the performance and technology of video cards. Progress allowed for more and more advanced and detailed textures, models and effects to be added to the game. The latest breakthrough innovation was the addition of real-time ray tracing technology. NVIDIA pioneered this technology with their RTX video maps. This technology enables realistic lighting in games, which significantly improves the overall in-game visuals.
Online Connectivity and Multiplayer Dynamics
The emergence of multiplayer in video games was a revolutionary step in the development of the gaming industry. At first, it was just a local network game, where several computers were connected to each other. However, the spread of the Internet led to the popularization of multiplayer and the emergence of entire genres that are based on online play.
You don’t have to go far for example. MMORPG, battle royal, session shooters, and a number of other genres exist only because of multiplayer. And if MMORPGs assume a huge number of players on one map, then in the battle royal this number is limited, usually no more than 100 users. Session shooters take two teams with a certain number of participants and pit them against each other.
Multiplayer attracts players with its ability to socialize through interaction with other players. You can use text and voice chat, join clans or teams, and more.
Artificial Intelligence and Dynamic Narratives
Artificial Intelligence, better known as AI, has become extremely popular this year. Different variations of AI have become great assistants to people in their routine tasks and professional activities. And gaming has become no exception.
In computer games, AI is used to program the behavior of bots and NPCs. They can be given different patterns of behavior and complexity. Now more and more enthusiasts are testing the possibility of using AI for arbitrary dialogue with NPCs. If they succeed, it will revolutionize storytelling, because you will not only be able to choose the right answer options in the dialogue but literally talk to NPCs using chat or microphone. This could potentially be a revolution in the gaming industry.
Conclusion
The close synergy of code and controllers has allowed video games to become what they are today, namely a mainstream industry that regularly overshadows cinema in terms of revenue generated and budgets. As time went on, the development became more complex, and the graphics of higher quality.
Along with this, new genres and game mechanics appeared. The emergence of multiplayer gaming was revolutionary, as it spawned a whole category of gamers who were only into online games.
In the future, PC gaming may evolve towards better effects, as it became with ray tracing and deeper implementation of AI.