DF Retro: Star Wars Shadows of the Empire Revisited on N64 and PC!

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
  • Released at the tail-end of 1996 during Nintendo 64's launch window, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire gained massive attention owing to some phenomenal graphics - but there was a PC version too that was arguably even prettier... if you had the right hardware. Join John Linneman for a retrospective on Shadows of the Empire on N64, along with detailed analysis of the PC version, running on contemporary hardware!
    The action figure shots were provided by Kent Sorlie who has other cool photographs over at / kentendoworld
    Subscribe for more Digital Foundry and more DF Retro: bit.ly/DFSubscribe
    Join the DF Patreon, support the team - and work like this - more directly, and get pristine quality video downloads of everything we do: www.digitalfou...

ความคิดเห็น • 987

  • @RichMcLaughlin
    @RichMcLaughlin 4 ปีที่แล้ว +874

    The amount of effort that goes in to gathering all this footage with different hardware and options is nuts. Excellent work.

    • @mickael486
      @mickael486 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Obsessively nuts.

    • @turbochop3300
      @turbochop3300 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Why do you think he stopped making them for awhile?

    • @AB-cu8nw
      @AB-cu8nw 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      But where does he get the music from?

    • @mBrajan
      @mBrajan 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      agree, it crosses my mind every time

    • @Chillnote
      @Chillnote 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      The quality of the footage is also amazing

  • @kidi84
    @kidi84 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    Early 1995, Dark Forces.
    What I remember of this game : "Dad ! We need to add more RAM to the computer, the game is just so slooooooow."

  • @PoweredByFlow
    @PoweredByFlow 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    30:00 Yup, thats the kind of framerates i remember when playing games on my dads PC back in the day. lol

    • @PrimalShutter
      @PrimalShutter 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      it's how I remember finishing half-life on a pentium 100mhz without 3d card

  • @Pwnsweet
    @Pwnsweet 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    DF Retro is probably the best thing ever

  • @marvinnation
    @marvinnation 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    fantastic work, as always!! i remember playing this on the n64 with my nephews... brought back some memories. thanks for that.

  • @Hruiz8
    @Hruiz8 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    The Shadows of the Empire soundtrack by Joel McNeely is EXCELLENT. Highly recommended to any fans of the franchise. You can hear it in this video even, good stuff DF.

  • @yooamatwa
    @yooamatwa 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    What a great video ! Really took me back , I had worked in a little computer shop around this period and had a bunch of different graphics cards at the time, 3D pc gaming was such a crapshoot and to be honest was mostly rubbish till I picked up a 3dfx. Also shadows of the empire on the n64 looked amazing at the time I remember watching the n64 promo video , the hoth level footage blew my mind. Great times.

  • @bl4ckw1ngz64
    @bl4ckw1ngz64 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    15:43 - WampaStompa shows similarly to Jedi Knight, the on foot levels are split into various sectors

  • @dadovertime1217
    @dadovertime1217 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Funny how back in the day I thought graphics never would get any better then this!

  • @RobertHeadley
    @RobertHeadley 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I bought my first computer in 1998. It came with an ATI All in Wonder.

  • @bartz0rt928
    @bartz0rt928 ปีที่แล้ว

    I vaguely remember that time, when 3D graphics in games where still a novelty. Looking back, I think we can clearly see that a lot of franchises would've been much better served by sticking to 2D and pixel art. But seeing those blocky polygons blew my little 9 year old mind, and I suspect that was true for many people. Just having any 3D in a game was hot sh*t, even if it looked terrible.

  • @AB-cu8nw
    @AB-cu8nw 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    How do you not get copyright strikes from including the original music? Do you have licensing deals?

  • @aut0turret
    @aut0turret 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Actually just found and immediately purchased an advertised as 100% working Voodoo II PCI with cable and driver disc for $90+shipping on ebay. Everyone else selling for $250 and up. Now waiting to see if I've been ripped off, you know that saying "if it's too good to be true..." Hopefully soon I'll be running this on my Pentium Pro 180MHz.

    • @MicahtheDrumCorpsPseudoboomer
      @MicahtheDrumCorpsPseudoboomer 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Have you gotten the game running?

    • @aut0turret
      @aut0turret 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yes, finally able to run SOTE with the Voodoo II. Before, I had a Nvidia "Vanta LT" installed that it would not work with. Also I bought the GOG version of this game, running it on modern Win 10.

    • @MicahtheDrumCorpsPseudoboomer
      @MicahtheDrumCorpsPseudoboomer 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@aut0turret Cool!

  • @capuducul
    @capuducul 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    oh man the S3 virge... Had one pair with a celeron 400. I don't remember shadow of the empire running above 10fps (younger me didnt bother that much)

  • @bahnsteighallodri
    @bahnsteighallodri 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    🥺 OMG I'm looking for this for a long long time.

  • @eddrush209mph
    @eddrush209mph 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I heard this story was meant to bridge between 1 of the 3 episodes in the Original Trilogy.
    EDIT: Ah you do cover it @5:13 my bad.

  • @delaorden
    @delaorden 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I remember playing that game on a P1 166Mhz with a voodoo 1 monster 3D
    I really cant remember the resolution or the framerate but it ran ok

  • @iwanttocomplain
    @iwanttocomplain 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I had a Matrox card just before I got a Voodoo 2. It had 2d acceleration and much better colour and resolution support than the Voodoo 2. Windows didn't flicker like they did when I got the Voodoo 2. I actually really liked it. It had a potential higher colour depth and windows ran more smoothly. Still though, Voodoo 2. Aww yeah.

  • @phil1pd
    @phil1pd 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Time goes fast.

  • @mikeO31082
    @mikeO31082 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Wait shadows of the empire is on PC too?! I need to grab this. I enjoyed the N64 version.

  • @fatenabu1
    @fatenabu1 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    How is the GOG version?

    • @videolookertube
      @videolookertube 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Dustin Gibbons it runs great on my windows 10

  • @CinemaStix
    @CinemaStix 4 ปีที่แล้ว +82

    Ah, man. I wish they would do DF Retros just a bit more often.

    • @LavosYT
      @LavosYT 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      It's because people asked for them that John worked on this one! Hopefully it continues, it's an incredibly interesting series!

    • @justanotheryoutubechannel
      @justanotheryoutubechannel 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      It takes a lot of time to make them since they’re so incredible!

  • @ModernVintageGamer
    @ModernVintageGamer 4 ปีที่แล้ว +125

    so glad to see DF Retro back. brilliant stuff as always John

    • @orashiocampbell7422
      @orashiocampbell7422 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Ggggv

    • @CacheTaFace
      @CacheTaFace 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    • @colors6692
      @colors6692 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@CacheTaFace Sentences start with a capital letter!

    • @CacheTaFace
      @CacheTaFace 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@colors6692 no.

    • @trollzone1
      @trollzone1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      John was wrong about his pc gpu “facts”. Alex is the best.

  • @GamingMyWholeLife
    @GamingMyWholeLife 4 ปีที่แล้ว +179

    Worlds did feel massive on the N64 and there was this extra smoothness that really stood out. Nice to know countless years later I'd learn it's texture filtering and AA

    • @amerikaOnFire
      @amerikaOnFire 4 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      That and no texture warping like the PS1 had so they could use fewer polygons to make larger areas seem detailed. And devs using the n64 hardware took advantage of fog. Lots and lots of fog haha.

    • @BloodRedFox2008
      @BloodRedFox2008 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@amerikaOnFire Only N64 games I can recall not having too much fog are the first and second party developed games as now that I think about it I can't recall much fog in titles like Mario, Zelda, Banjo, and whatnot. Probably goes without saying of course Nintendo and Rare knew how to get the most out of the hardware since Nintendo made it and Rare was still working under them at the time, but I guess not many of the people from Nintendo or Rare gave tips to other devs on what techniques they used since third party games were almost always foggy to some degree.

    • @JeffYPbPr
      @JeffYPbPr 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I'm telling ya. The soundtrack to shadows is legendary. It is phenomenal. It was so god damn star wars. I think it was better than anything John William's put out for the prequel and sequel trilogies.

    • @GamingMyWholeLife
      @GamingMyWholeLife 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@amerikaOnFire Have to love fog. I feel most games on the N64 and PS1 would not have been able to exist without it 😁

    • @AuntieAliasing
      @AuntieAliasing 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@BloodRedFox2008 Mario 64 has fog! It's extremely subtle and doesn't show up on most emulators but you can see it on the mupen64plus-next retroarch core.

  • @Reluctant_Hero
    @Reluctant_Hero 4 ปีที่แล้ว +240

    Man, this really makes me want to see John produce an episode of DF Retro dedicated to Stars Wars Rogue Squadron!

    • @retro_boy_advance
      @retro_boy_advance 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Hear hear!

    • @DarkShroom
      @DarkShroom 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      haha that was basically 50% of this game done 100% better

  • @DesertRainReads
    @DesertRainReads 4 ปีที่แล้ว +62

    They never should've shut down LucasArts, they were an amazing developer and publisher. I miss them, EA never should've received the rights to the franchise. Huge mistake on Disney's behalf.

    • @apictureoffunction
      @apictureoffunction 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I mean, Jedi Fallen Order was good. But not worth losing LucasArts over, that's for sure

  • @arbiter-
    @arbiter- 4 ปีที่แล้ว +68

    DF Retro is my favorite series on this channel, however I also really like Alex's explanations of PC settings and the tech behind them. Looking forward to whatever you guys are cooking up next.

    • @PickeringSamuel
      @PickeringSamuel 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Alex's videos are my favourite!! Love this channel

    • @bergonath8851
      @bergonath8851 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Let's not forget Wichard's hand gestures.

  • @yourcrippledson7027
    @yourcrippledson7027 4 ปีที่แล้ว +90

    N64 always had an immense sens of SCALE, right from the get-go, with Mario 64 and Turok blowing my little mind, these games featured structures and environments larger than any I would be allowed to venture into on my own IRL for quite some years to come...
    Imagine being in Grade 1 and your entire IRL world is essentially your house, your school, and maybe a few other houses on the street. Okay now imagine being dropped into a world like Mario 64 or Banjo Kazooie with no prior gaming experience. I can't accurately describe the impact. The sense of freedom. Your life is altered....

    • @brandonginsburg3120
      @brandonginsburg3120 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      That cheesy VHS promo conveyed what you referred to in Shadows. It's odd how despite having seen polygon worlds (even Star Wars ones like Dark Forces) in computers games, that footage of Dash walking up a narrow canyon ledge blew my mind.

    • @leftyfourguns
      @leftyfourguns 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      People ignorantly shit on the N64's cartridges. The cartridges are one of the primary reasons why N64 games could be so big. I doubt games like Ocarina of Time, Shadows of the Empire, or Perfect Dark would've even worked on the PS1 with CD-ROMs. And if they did you would've had to load level sections every few minutes

    • @shaun8062
      @shaun8062 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@leftyfourguns Agreed. But, I don't know people who shit on the cartridges.. I tend to know people who quite like them, myself included. I guess if I search youtube reviews on N64 and listen to either Playstation fans or modern gamers I would maybe see more of the judgements, but they know not what they do. N64 forever!

  • @casedistorted
    @casedistorted 4 ปีที่แล้ว +160

    I remember when this game first came out on the N64 as a kid, it was a big deal. One of the best Star Wars games out there

    • @Zipzeolocke
      @Zipzeolocke 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Yeah when I was a kid I got this VHS tape from Nintendo powers with a bunch of demo footage on it introducing the launch titles for the N64 and Star Wars shadows of the Empire was one of the games showcased. I watched that short tape hundreds of times until I could finally play the game for myself I wanted it so badly!

    • @crookim
      @crookim 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Good old wompa stompa...... Brings back memories!

    • @huaweilayhill9182
      @huaweilayhill9182 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      "One of the best Star Wars games out there"

    • @Toschez
      @Toschez 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      One of the best “remembered” Star Wars games

    • @gilbertgotfried
      @gilbertgotfried 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I still remember inputting that insane cheat code and having to move the analog stick with my chin because all my fingers were holding down buttons.

  • @mozamboni
    @mozamboni 4 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    Joel McNeely's score is so damned good - I feel he will never get his due credit!

    • @brandonginsburg3120
      @brandonginsburg3120 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      He's like the male Shirley Walker, a composer of big property overshadowed by their predecessor (for Shirley it was Danny Elfman for McNeely it was John Williams).

    • @mozamboni
      @mozamboni 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@brandonginsburg3120 I was not aware of her! I will definitely do some research. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

  • @blurontree
    @blurontree 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    “With the DARTH of software available...” was intentional right?

  • @Veon1
    @Veon1 4 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    Great video! I hope you also get a chance to cover the Rogue Squadron games, they were also amazing tech show pieces for Nintendo hardware, and Factor 5 in general has a fascinating/bizarre history.

  • @DrowseProductions
    @DrowseProductions 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Shadows of the Empire is a weird game. That first Hoth level is amazing and then the rest of the game just doesn't live up to it. I have a weird experience related to the game. Was going to buy Perfect Dark but when I took the cart home I found out that it was SOTH with a PD label pasted on it. Pretty disappointed by that ngl.

  • @kaminobatto
    @kaminobatto 4 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    This used to be one of my favourite N64 games, it is actually the reason I bought the N64! Not Mario, not Turok, not Golden Eye! No sir, it was Shadows of the Empire! And There is one technical feat that you didn't mention John, it's the fact that the game allowed to you change between 3rd and 1st person modes in real time! So you could literally play the game twice from two completely different perspectives or do a custom mish mash playthrough should you want to do so! Now that was something back in the day!

    • @rayfran06
      @rayfran06 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Oh for sure a mix of the two! No way I could do jet pack in first person view. That beggars cannon mission was brutal to me. You just beat bobba then guess what?! Now fight slave one! Soo many seeker missiles used.

  • @MB20978
    @MB20978 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    When this first came out it blew my young mind flying around Hoth, taking down AT-AT’s in a snow speeder.
    It felt like truly next level s**t at the time.
    Thanks for the memories!

  • @ldisc66
    @ldisc66 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I worked at a computer shop when this game was released on PC and I was tasked to setup a demo PC to run this game. I don't remember the spec but I did install a 3dfx card in there with Microsoft's first foray into force feedback joysticks and it was a hit at the shop. We sold tons of those joysticks. 😂

  • @detonator620
    @detonator620 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    A proper DF Retro episode for a long time. You almost make me cry it's like a time machine. I'm from that time and everything YOU said about that game and technology of that era is just squeezing a drop from my eyes! Thank you John for your tremendous work!!!

  • @KryptKicker5
    @KryptKicker5 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    It was the third game I ever got for my N64, and I loved it! Especially messing with the Wompas! Let them out, fight one another and the survivor does my dirty work for me. Great times!

  • @NeoVejiita
    @NeoVejiita 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    When this game became a “players choice” title my grandpa bought it for me :) I had played it via rental but never got passed the train level, so being able to play as much as I wanted was amazing!

  • @matthewfamulski7705
    @matthewfamulski7705 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    I love this game, I wanna see it remade.

  • @wingman-1977
    @wingman-1977 4 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    I remember paying $100 for it (due to the game’s shortage at release).

    • @UttRConcrete
      @UttRConcrete 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Most of the n64 games were 79 dollars and up, I only owned like 7 games and rented most of the other ones.

    • @Oni64
      @Oni64 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@UttRConcrete Mortal Kombat Trilogy was like $80 when it came out.

    • @jokerzwild00
      @jokerzwild00 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@UttRConcrete ugh... I am ashamed to admit I paid 80 dollars for Cruisin' USA. What a garbage port. It was my birthday and by God I was gonna get a damn game. There weren't many options thanks to shortages and not many titles to begin with because the system was new. So Cruisin' it was. I hated that game and traded it for WCW vs NWO after a while.

    • @Dick_Valparaiso
      @Dick_Valparaiso 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@jokerzwild00 In the words of a certain NWO member WCW vs NWO was too sweeeet!

    • @ChieftainHawke
      @ChieftainHawke 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      cartridges were expensive as hell to produce especially the ones to hold the amount of data in n64

  • @DSDMovies
    @DSDMovies 4 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    The welcome return of DF Retro!
    It might just be nostalgia (it's highly likely) but I quite like how N64 games look, blur and all. There's a certain quality to it I find appealing. It still seems futuristic, in a retro kind of way. Fog, texture filtering, anti-aliasing, all very basic versions but still work. To me it felt the N64 was the first console to do 3D properly with rock solid geometry, and not fudged like on PSone and Saturn (I loved my Saturn btw).

  • @omarmmzn
    @omarmmzn 4 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    Me (refreshing my feed)
    DF Retro: hello there

    • @Kenjitsuka
      @Kenjitsuka 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      General Kenobi.

    • @mynthon0
      @mynthon0 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      "Everybody is good." "Section Ratio General!"

  • @DarkShade1337
    @DarkShade1337 4 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    Shadows of the Empire and Dark Forces 2 are hands down my favorite old school PC Star Wars games.

    • @edisleado
      @edisleado 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I miss the days of playing DF2 multiplayer on the MSN Gaming Zone. So many awesome mods/maps!

    • @hkoizumi3134
      @hkoizumi3134 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Omg yes. Those mods were called cog simply because it was .cog files. Good times.

    • @nerychristian
      @nerychristian 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@edisleado I miss Yahoo chat boards, where you could chat with random people from around the world.

    • @jbscotchman
      @jbscotchman 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@nerychristian Yeah and you could actually hook up with real girls!

  • @Dark.Shingo
    @Dark.Shingo 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Oh, I remember back in those days: you bought a video card and you ended up feeling you always chose the wrong one.

  • @TilSkywalker
    @TilSkywalker 4 ปีที่แล้ว +35

    23 years... this came out when I was born, it is quite impressive how awesome the game still is! Wish we would get a remake...

    • @markxv2267
      @markxv2267 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Ok kiddie

    • @dookie_12
      @dookie_12 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Disney killed Lucasarts and the Expanded Universe

    • @bauernkind8595
      @bauernkind8595 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      You were born and we were rocking the game. Seems fair.

    • @SireOblivion
      @SireOblivion 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      It actually has a modern port on Steam that you can buy for dirt cheap, however the controls haven't been updated and the third person parts when you're on foot are misery to control. The controls haven't been updated and they're a perfect example of terrible, early 3D movement.

    • @vivisect53
      @vivisect53 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Most of the expanded universe was terrible anyhow. 🤮

  • @dan_loup
    @dan_loup 4 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    The S3 virge taught me that 3D acceleration was about compromise.
    You lose resolution if compared to software mode rendering, but you get 16bit colors and bilinear filtering.
    Then i got a 3Dfx and this lesson was no longer valid.
    Also S3 virge was not THE worst card of that era, that's the Alliance AT3D, a card where they decided to use dither for *EVERYTHING*

    • @dark1x
      @dark1x 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Dr_Kachu san Oh my gosh. I need to get one of those! Forgot about that thing. Trying to build my old card database.

    • @dan_loup
      @dan_loup 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@dark1x Those AT3D chips are so broken that it's almost beautiful how badly they fail.
      Also as far i know, those voodoo rush cards do use the AT3D as the 2D video chip, which makes those very heretic cards.

    • @madmax2069
      @madmax2069 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      i know the pain all too well, use to have an S3 virge DX in a Pentium 120mhz system

    • @madmax2069
      @madmax2069 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      i know the pain all too well, use to have an S3 virge DX in a Pentium 120mhz system

    • @madmax2069
      @madmax2069 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      i know the pain all too well, use to have an S3 virge DX in a Pentium 120mhz system

  • @mrnicktoyou
    @mrnicktoyou 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    The 3dfx era of PC gaming was extremely exciting. 3D games made a huge graphical leap.

  • @mayen67
    @mayen67 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Excellent deep dive into a N64 classic, I remember being blown away at the time.

  • @zodiacthundaga7264
    @zodiacthundaga7264 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    As a filthy zoomer, I can say this one could certainly use the Nightfdive Treatment.

  • @RetroHamer
    @RetroHamer 4 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    One of the fecking best Star Wars games ever!!

    • @leegsy
      @leegsy 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      It was okay at the time but I wouldn't say it was one of the best SW games.

    • @RetroHamer
      @RetroHamer 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@leegsy How dare you not agree with me!! Do you know who I am???
      Only kidding bud, at least you enjoyed it but I really enjoyed it and ofc I've not played every SW game, this one is one I'm always giving it another go. Especially now I can play the game with little issue through GOG

    • @jl.7739
      @jl.7739 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      RetroHamer the first half was great, the second half though, I think they ran out of time developing the game.

    • @miltiadiskoutsokeras9189
      @miltiadiskoutsokeras9189 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Unfortunately no. The SNES games, the Knights of Old Republic and Χ-wing are far better.

    • @pferreira1983
      @pferreira1983 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Nah.

  • @SkySkywalker485
    @SkySkywalker485 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Man, you know it's the 90s when there's a list of like 6 GPUs you have to test.

  • @EchoDissolve
    @EchoDissolve 4 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    7:57 Not sure if mistake or a pun on “dearth”.

    • @ClellBiggs
      @ClellBiggs 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Hah! I missed that. Thanks for pointing it out. It was definitely intentional.

  • @tommybildstrom6768
    @tommybildstrom6768 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Really like df retro, just letting you know. I understand that you have many suggestions, but chronicles of Riddick should be really interesting to go back to.

  • @picolete
    @picolete 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    One of those games that desperally need a remake

  • @thiagovidal6137
    @thiagovidal6137 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This game was incredible at the time... I rented only and it blew me away. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. The scale was mind bending... and yes, the texture filter was a big deal. That was the first N64 game with a first person mode and walking to a wall and not seeing all the individual pixels I was seeing on Doom, Duke Nukem and Quake at the time was impressive. I remember calling my dad to see it. It was the future.
    Side note: Always surprises me when DF show me a game that was 100% perfectly playable back then and it was only running at 16fps... My memories tells me it was running at least at 30.. it was never an issue... 16 to 20fps was perfectly fine and today would be something we would consider unplayable.

  • @bluedragon219123
    @bluedragon219123 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    Growing up with Framerates like these, and games, are why I'm not sensitive to framerates drops, even 10fps(or lower!) is playable to me. :)

    • @Adam_Zielinski
      @Adam_Zielinski 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      10 fps is literally approaching power point levels Bruh

    • @SeanGatchell
      @SeanGatchell 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I'm the same.

    • @i3l4ckskillzz79
      @i3l4ckskillzz79 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      It is somehow playable.
      For me even 30 fps looks like a slideshow...

    • @i3l4ckskillzz79
      @i3l4ckskillzz79 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I hope you play some games with 30fps or more to have a reference for what is playable or not. If you say under 10fps is playable to you you don't understand what gaming is about 😂

  • @GHOSTPLANEtable
    @GHOSTPLANEtable ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Omg best debug ever I spent hundreds of hours playing with this and always credit it with my love for this channel.

  • @eiszapfenderwutendenwinde3233
    @eiszapfenderwutendenwinde3233 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Despite all the hate from ultra casuals, this is still a fun game. I bet many don't even know the true ending of the game and still believe Dash Rendar died. Fcking casuals!

    • @picolete
      @picolete 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Some of the levels where hard as fuck

  • @RVC1510
    @RVC1510 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This game is basically the reason why I’m a Star Wars fan today. Thank you DF for bringing it back :)

  • @MugenDad
    @MugenDad 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    DF Retro is my favorite series on TH-cam, the knowledge and passion that goes into them cannot be overstated, John. Thank you.

  • @xronosabre
    @xronosabre 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Another excellent episode of DFretro and of one of my favorite N64 games. You really hit the nostalgia nerve with this one as 1997 saw my first real experience as a PC gamer. Oh that voodoo 2...The complex ridiculousness of PC gaming in 97’ is what sparked and drove me to my career in computer animation and simulation. It also inspired me to learn about PC architecture, the need for the voodoo 2 at the time (I’ll never forget that price tag pitch to mom as a 12 yo) and to start “modifying” my family PC (harder pitch than the voodoo itself for reference) I’ve really enjoyed the multitude of DFretro’s that 2019 had to offer and I am very much looking forward to an awesome 2020. Furthermore, Thank you for the great effort, care and attention to detail that you always clearly put forth in your research and analysis. The content showcased on DF and specifically in this case DFretro is consistently exceptional as a result.

  • @kourt2469
    @kourt2469 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I remember as a kid playing the Hoth level over and over because it was so cool being able to fly around and use the cable to bring down the walkers

  • @Carrandas
    @Carrandas 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Ah, there was a demo of this game on the cd of my favorite PC games magazine back when I had my first PC in '97. But I couldn't play it because i didn't have a GPU...

  • @Oni64
    @Oni64 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    28:46 Nintendo DS version lol

    • @homiedclown
      @homiedclown 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Nice catch. That's exactly how I would expect the textures to appear on the DS

    • @jokerzwild00
      @jokerzwild00 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I still would have played the shit out of this game on DS, even looking like that.

    • @homiedclown
      @homiedclown 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@jokerzwild00 Oh hell yeah.

  • @andersdenkend
    @andersdenkend 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    That whole Shadows of the Empire thing was - in hindsight - quite well executed. The main story was rather interesting and truely in the style of Star Wars (unlike the new Episodes), that fake Soundtrack by Joel McNeely was incredible and even the game was awesome.
    Now I kind of wish this would have been the new movie trilogy.

  • @High.on.Life_DnB
    @High.on.Life_DnB 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
    Game: What are shadows?

  • @Starfals
    @Starfals 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Well done. Just as always, i appreciate the work you guys put into your videos.
    Also, thanks John!

  • @TAGMedia7
    @TAGMedia7 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I couldn't imagine Digital Foundry without DF Retro, it's a staple of this channel and the reason I subscribed in the first place.
    I sincerely hope I continue to see more content like this next year and in the years beyond.

  • @mitchjames9350
    @mitchjames9350 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    If only Nintendo used cd’s and increased the texture cache.

  • @stickboy8219
    @stickboy8219 4 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    I was just thinking about this game the other day 😍

    • @nitmare64
      @nitmare64 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Rikki Constable Like having sex with it and stuff? Weirdo. 😂

  • @nazaG_89
    @nazaG_89 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    i played the shit out of this, but my 7 years old smol brain only managed to reach a that part when you were traveling on the tracks and there was a boss... i called them terminators because they looked alike but don't remember honestly, what a nostalgia man!
    now if you excuse i would continue to watch the video xd

  • @HueyTheDoctor
    @HueyTheDoctor 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    You guys probably have no idea just how meaningful and impactful your videos can be in the lives of some of your viewers, but let me assure you that you guys have gotten me through some tough days with the content you've made available; it's an uncommon pleasure to listen to the passion and unabashed enthusiasm you have for the entire industry as a whole. That sort of authentic love is compelling, contagious and a third C word for alliteration. Anyway, thank you very much for all you do.

  • @lightmyfire88
    @lightmyfire88 4 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Thank you for bringing this series alive

  • @EposVox
    @EposVox 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Great episode as always!

  • @Cartoonman154
    @Cartoonman154 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I would love to see x-wing alliance remade in a modern engine.

    • @JeffYPbPr
      @JeffYPbPr 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Dude that game was so good. To me it's as nostalgic as shadows

    • @vivisect53
      @vivisect53 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The problem is it would get made as more arcade like console friendly multi platform game, not the flight simulator the original games were.

  • @rowanunderwood
    @rowanunderwood 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    7:56 "The Darth of Software"

    • @rare6499
      @rare6499 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Made me grin 👀

  • @adamdavis1737
    @adamdavis1737 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    So this is amazing to see.
    But I just want to remind you guys that the Xbox port of Doom 3 is still worth a look. ;)
    Maybe when eternal launches?

  • @BookerCan
    @BookerCan 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Go John! So stoked for this game to be revisited!

  • @PixelPipes
    @PixelPipes 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I LOVE the cross examination of 3D acceleration on the PC relative to the N64. The 64's prowess for its time is often lost on younger people who weren't around at the time.

  • @brandonginsburg3120
    @brandonginsburg3120 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Not that anyone gives a rat's behind 3y after the video...but, the debug menu is not available on early commercial N64 copies of the game. I know because I tried it with a NTSC copy purchased between Fall 1996 and Mar 1997. However, the debug menu is available on NTSC Player's Choice copies of the N64 game. Again, I know because I bought one and tried it.

  • @mspeter97
    @mspeter97 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    That good old S3 ViRGE, it never fails to disappoint.... it does fail to do what it's meant to but that"s why we love it...right?

    • @dan_loup
      @dan_loup 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      The 2D acceleration of the card on the other hand was espetacular.

    • @SianaGearz
      @SianaGearz 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@dan_loup It was fully featured and entirely adequate in GDI performance, however not particularly fast. Matrox, ATI, Tseng and NVidia were all faster at GDI acceleration than the Virge, but some of them barely and others by less than a factor of 2.
      As to 3D acceleration... well it's clearly designed for a compromise. Closer to 320x240 gaming than 640x480, which the former is anyway what software renderers of the time aimed for. Plus the early drivers were quite glitchy with blend modes.

  • @ManicMK
    @ManicMK 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My first and only game I had for the 64 for months. I love it. I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was and I would play the battle of hoth for hours

  • @XeCuTioNR
    @XeCuTioNR 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    WOMPA STOMPA

    • @dookie_12
      @dookie_12 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      lol I remember doing the cheats in this game on N64. I almost needed three hands to activate the cheats.

  • @Anita028
    @Anita028 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Now we need a Rogue Squadron DF Retro which is where the N64 and Factor 5 did a mind blowing work that stills holds today.

  • @johannesbergcrantz
    @johannesbergcrantz 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Loved this game on the N64 :)

  • @lukasjozef1774
    @lukasjozef1774 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I remember, my very first GPU was Voodoo2. I needed second 2d GPU for Windows and 3dfx was for gaming after voodoo2 I bought voodoo3 3000 AGP and later 3500 with TV tuner.
    Ohh the 90s were crazy for gaming, each couple of months we had new GPU. I never going to forget those marvelous days.

  • @nathanddrews
    @nathanddrews 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    That Hoth AT-AT attack was always the hallmark of any good Star Wars game.

  • @64-Bit-Gamer
    @64-Bit-Gamer 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I re-bought this game after watching this episode. Back in the 1990s, I played and finished Shadows and I wasn't that impressed. Today, I enjoyed it loads. Furthermore, has ever been another game to try so many different genres? The developers deserve credit for not playing safe. It's improved with age.

  • @MileyCyrusPartyUSA
    @MileyCyrusPartyUSA 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    This was my 1st N64 game. I played this game after playing the much hailed Tomb Raider on PS1. And oh boy, can't believe critics complained about the controls of Shadows of the Empire while also praising Tomb Raider. Jumping or just moving around in that game was a challenge in itself. Dodging the tigers in the 1st stage and then climbing a wall was such an unnecessary chore. Meanwhile, using Dash Rengar was a cakewalk by comparison.

    • @retrosoul8770
      @retrosoul8770 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yeah I miss the days when developers weren't afraid to make games that required a little practice, had a learning curve, games like Tomb Raider demanded some skill from the player and "dodging tigers" was & is mechanically rewarding to master. But nowadays if someone can't very easily get into it right away they complain and whine about controls, hurting innovation in action oriented games. Hence why we have more automated gameplay in Tomb Raider and Uncharted (even though they are still enjoyable)

    • @MileyCyrusPartyUSA
      @MileyCyrusPartyUSA 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Pfft! Learning curve? There was no freakin learning curve in Tomb Raider. The only thing you would learn by controlling Lara Croft in her first game was that she controlled like ASS. For crying out loud, Super Mario 64 was showing everyone at the time how an actual 'learning curve' is implemented. You start off by being told how to do Mario's movements before even entering the castle. While with Tomb Raider you're just thrown into the game and you're supposed to employ the most obtuse control ever designed for a 3d game. Shit, even Bubsy played better. So save me the "in the old days, games were hard" baloney. There were factually games that played better than Tomb Raider at the time. And Shadows of the Empire was one of them.

  • @abstraction6212
    @abstraction6212 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Im saddened that shadows of the empire never had any modding community? Cuz imagine all the missed potential there was because SOTE wasnt modded, i wouldve loved some jet pack obsticale courses, some custom storylines, space ship obsticale courses, extra run and gun missions customized level textures hell even recreating the battle of endor in space from return of the jedi.
    Im hoping Asypr makes a PC remaster for SOTE so we can mod the hell out of it.

  • @harveybrooks2597
    @harveybrooks2597 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Dash Rendar with a jet pack: "He can fly now?"

  • @DarkShroom
    @DarkShroom 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    this game may have cost 50+ dollars but they couldn't even be bothered to add the guns into the fps bits.... star wars just shits gold right
    the pc actually had standards for fps shooters at this point.... dark forces was far better than this, Dark Forces 2 was out by 1997 and i remeber it working okay on Power VR, great on that cheap Voodoo (banshee)
    i don't remember anyone playing this half assed console port on pc.... it's a warped perspective of time to represent what we had compared to the N64

  • @kevindesousa6277
    @kevindesousa6277 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    0:09 Aaaaand thats the end of shooting the monetization !!! Congrats !!!

  • @iPlaySEGA
    @iPlaySEGA 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    BUG!

  • @dang8016
    @dang8016 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    This is the only Star Wars game I like, amazing.

    • @neildrunkmaam7040
      @neildrunkmaam7040 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Wow. You have a big bad taste or is really missinformed.
      Not that this game is bad, I played a lot of it, but there is A LOT of amazing SW games out there.
      But whatever.🤷‍♀️

    • @fabio78
      @fabio78 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@neildrunkmaam7040 So true. Nostalgia is terrible for good judgement.

  • @martyfromnebraska1045
    @martyfromnebraska1045 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I remember playing a Star Wars game with that Hoth cable gameplay when I was a kid, but I never knew what game it was. I dont think I ever got past Hoth though.

  • @Overbound
    @Overbound 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Shadows of the Empire is almost a proto Uncharted.

  • @SianaGearz
    @SianaGearz 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    If memory serves, neither Permedia 2 nor Riva128 support table fog in hardware, but Riva128 offers table fog emulation where it converts it to vertex fog on the fly. Which BTW this is what they should have done in the game itself as a fallback.
    When you're playing on the famed Graphics Decelerator, you're playing on much better and newer drivers than we had access to at the time. At the time, alpha blending bugs were very common, but they were fixed around 1999, and the CPU overhead was tightened up too. Unfortunately the hardware is pretty slow, you're best off running any game in 320x240 or 512x384, a custom mode that you can make with with PowerStrip by EnTech Taiwan.
    Chances are, you have much better drivers than of the release time for the Matrox too. I wager a guess, in spite of visual detriments, it would have been declared "compatible" had it ran as well as demonstrated here.
    As to cracks on Riva128, these were a common sight for the time, but here's what David Kirk from NVidia wrote in comp...video newsgroup in Sep. 1997: "The rasterization
    algorithm that the NVidia RIVA 128 chip utilizes also guarantees zero cracks in the absence of T-joints. At this time, I know of no hardware bugs that result in gaps. We do have a clipping bug in our openGL MCD which generates T-joints (our fault), and we expect to distribute a fix soon - you should be able to get it from STB or Diamond soon after that. We also have some D3D triangle subdivision driver code that also generates T-joints (again, our fault), but this is fixed and will be distributed soon as well."

  • @HYDRAdude
    @HYDRAdude 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great video, Shadows is the game that got me to buy a N64, and what got me into gaming in general. I highly recommend looking at Rogue Squadron as that was another very successful N64 Starwars game that later got a PC port.