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114-982: MDK is a 1997 third-person shooter video game developed by Shiny Entertainment for Windows and subsequently ported to Mac OS by Shokwave, and to the PlayStation by Neversoft . The game was published on all systems by Playmates Interactive Entertainment (PIE) in North America, while Shiny handled the European release. The game tells the story of Kurt Hectic, a janitor who reluctantly attempts to save Earth from an alien invasion of gigantic strip mining city-sized vehicles named "Minecrawlers". The Minecrawlers are ruthlessly harvesting Earth's natural resources and crushing any people and cities that get in their way. Assisted by his somewhat eccentric boss, Dr. Fluke Hawkins, an inventive scientist, and an unusual robotic companion named Bones, Kurt embarks on

228-542: A Sound Blaster or equivalent sound card ; basic specs for the time. However, patches were later released that added support for then-popular 3D APIs . Playmates Interactive finalized the publishing deal for a Macintosh version of MDK in August 1997, but the conversion to the Macintosh OS had already been in development for some time before that. This version was bundled with the original iMac. In December 1996, it

342-476: A genetically engineered robotic dog, which he plans to call "Bones". After a year, Bones is fully operational, although both Bones and Kurt prefer the name Max. Despite having four arms and two legs, and being full of energy, Max proves more than a little reluctant to help Hawkins with the chores on the Dandy , proving more interested in tending to his vegetable garden . Another year passes without Hawkins making

456-425: A loading screen while the game loaded level information from storage. With more advanced computing hardware with faster input/output data transfer rates, such as optical drives, hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), and larger amounts of memory, game developers have been able to take advantage of continuously loading new level assets – models, textures, and audio – into

570-435: A video game . An individual involved with the development of game levels is a level designer or mapper. In some cases, the developer of a video game includes built-in level editing tools; for example, a track editor for a racing game. Other times they may release an official level editor for the game as a separate application. Sometimes players of the game develop fan-made level editors. Developing level editors will allow

684-518: A 3D third-person perspective include Nintendo 's Radar Scope (1979), Atari 's Tempest (1981), Nihon Bussan 's Tube Panic (1983), Sega 's Space Harrier (1985), Atari 's Xybots (1987), and Square 's 3-D WorldRunner (1987). and JJ (1987) Third-person shooters for home computers include Dan Gorlin's Airheart (1986) and Paul Norman's Beyond Forbidden Forest (1986). Konami 's run & gun shooter Contra (1987) featured several third-person shooter levels where

798-403: A 60 MHz Pentium, 16 MB of RAM , 17MB of hard drive storage, an SVGA-compatible video card , and a Sound Blaster or equivalent sound card . MDK received generally positive reviews , with critics praising the gameplay , the level design , the sardonic sense of humor, the game's technical accomplishments, and the use of sniper mode. The most often repeated criticisms included that

912-494: A breakthrough until he notices streams of energy moving through the Solar System towards Earth. He sends a warning down to Earth (along with some of Max's oranges ), but it is ignored. Upon reaching Earth, the streams disgorge gigantic "Minecrawlers", city-sized vehicles designed to strip mine the natural resources from a planet, crushing anything and everything in their path. The aliens, known as "Streamriders", and under

1026-400: A class by itself." GameSpot ' s Jeff Sengstack called it "a visually exciting, mentally challenging shooter with a humorous and twisted viewpoint." He praised the wide-open environments, variety of visual styles, gameplay innovations, sniper mode, humor, ingeniousness of the puzzle designs, and the originality of some of the weaponry and enemies, though he was critical of the controls and

1140-420: A control system inspired by Prince of Persia . Mega Man Legends (1997) by Capcom is another early 3D third person shooter which took a different approach to the genre, mixing this with a role-playing game influence. Around the same time, Deathtrap Dungeon (1998) by Eidos Interactive and MediEvil (1998) by SCE Studio Cambridge (then Millennium Interactive ) were some of the first 3D games in

1254-467: A creative break, and I felt the game suffered because of that." In any case, his new development studio, Planet Moon Studios , was already working on Giants: Citizen Kabuto . Bruty asked Interplay if they would consider waiting until he was finished on Giants before beginning on MDK2 , but they chose to press on with the game without him, handing development over to BioWare . An MDK animated TV series, set to be produced by Mainframe Entertainment ,

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1368-506: A design choice, or shadows , but it was a tricky balance." When the game debuted at the 1996 E3 event in April, producer David Perry emphasized that he felt Shiny's lack of experience on the PC was to their advantage; "instead of simply rewriting a game that's already been written and having to meet a set of expectations, we can shoot really high." MDK was designed at a time when 3D gaming

1482-415: A different environment. Level designers sometimes make hidden rooms and areas that usually require more effort for the player to reach or to notice. These usually give some additional rewards, such as ammo or powerups. They serve to induce players to explore. Sometimes, they serve as easter eggs , containing messages such as the level designers' names or pictures, or political or humorous messages. One of

1596-404: A different level each time, until he finally confronts Kong. 1983's Lode Runner was one of the first titles to ship with a level editor. Its designer, Doug Smith , reputedly paid neighborhood children to design levels for the game. The same year, the multiplayer dungeon crawl Dandy was released, and it also shipped with a level editor which was documented in the manual. ZZT (1991)

1710-412: A first-person viewpoint for challenges that require precise aiming, while others simply allow a player to freely switch between first and third-person perspectives at will. The first-person shooter Halo: Combat Evolved was actually designed as a third-person shooter, but added a first-person perspective to improve the interface for aiming and shooting. The game switches to a third-person viewpoint when

1824-505: A game than simply adding new levels, a software development kit (SDK) is sometimes needed. In the early years of video gaming, some games came with a utility called a "construction set". This was similar in many ways to a level editor. Some games used them to make extra levels, whereas others (like the Shoot-'Em-Up Construction Kit ) used them as a means to develop a game rather than be a game in itself. Maps' design can significantly impact

1938-505: A greater emphasis on two player cooperative play, as does Resident Evil 5 (2009). As of 2009, the third-person shooter genre has a large audience outside Japan, particularly in North America. Vanquish (2010) by PlatinumGames featured a gameplay style reminiscent of bullet hell shooters, with bullets and missiles coming from all directions. The third-person shooter genre is still quite popular in contemporary gaming circles. In 2012, Rockstar Games released Max Payne 3 , which

2052-400: A larger world, such as Green Hill Zone . Games may also feature interconnected levels, representing locations. Although the challenge in a game is often to defeat some sort of character, levels are sometimes designed with a movement challenge, such as a jumping puzzle, a form of obstacle course . Players must judge the distance between platforms or ledges and safely jump between them to reach

2166-467: A level has been completed, the Minecrawler disintegrates, and is sucked back into the energy stream from which it emerged, taking Kurt with it. Kurt then has a set period of time in the energy stream, during which he pursues a health power-up , which, if collected, grants 150% health for the start of the next level. If he touches the walls of the stream, he loses health and decelerates. At the end of

2280-407: A level. Sometimes, professional 3D editing software , such as 3D Studio Max , Blender , AutoCAD , Lightwave , Maya , Softimage XSI or Grome is used, usually customized with a special plugin developed for the specific game. A level editor (also known as a map , campaign or scenario editor ) is a game development tool used to design levels, maps, campaigns and virtual worlds for

2394-458: A lot more between the areas. And we're also compressing the data , which leads to a little bit of degradation on things like animations but it's hardly noticeable at all. It looks almost identical, in terms of the amount of animations and the amount of graphics in the game. But we have a lot more colors on screen. On the PC, they're limited to using one 256-color palette. We're not limited at all, we can use as many palettes as we like. Each texture in

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2508-416: A more collaboratively creative atmosphere than is usual, and facilitating the language to work specifically to accommodate the elements of the game which the designers and artists wished to achieve. Sniper mode was a major part of the game, with the ability to zoom up to 100x. The team decided not to employ any of the usual techniques to limit pop-up , such as clipping and fogging . A major technical issue

2622-414: A popular third person shooter which introduced the player being allowed to control aiming of their weapon themselves by means of two control sticks. In Tomb Raider and Syphon Filter , on the other hand, the protagonists automatically aimed at antagonists. Forcing or allowing the player to control aiming themselves, either using control sticks or a mouse, would go on to become commonplace in later games in

2736-456: A pre-rendered map of the level (or entire game world) for the player. Level design is necessary for two primary purposes: providing players with a goal and providing players with enjoyable play experience. Good level design strives to produce quality gameplay, provide an immersive experience, and sometimes, especially in story-based games, to advance the storyline. Levels are generally constructed with flow control in mind; that is, directing

2850-531: A quest to infiltrate each Minecrawler and eliminate its pilot. After accomplishing this dangerous task, he must return to Dr. Hawkins' in-orbit space station, the Jim Dandy. Conceived and co- designed by Nick Bruty , MDK was Shiny's first PC game, and was notable for using software rendering , requiring a Pentium or equivalent microprocessor , rather than necessitating any GPU enhancements, despite its large 3D levels and complex polygonal enemies. As

2964-470: A revolutionary discovery; an outer space phenomenon he calls "Flange Orbits". However, when he approaches the scientific community with his discovery, he is ridiculed. Determined to prove his colleagues wrong, Hawkins builds a space station , the Jim Dandy , and bribes aboard his laboratory janitor , Kurt Hectic, by means of Hungarian goulash . He then launches the station into orbit , projecting that

3078-456: A score of 76%, based on six reviews. Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, stating that " MDK is a game that no self-respective gamer will want to miss." GamePro gave it a perfect 5.0 out of 5 in all four categories (graphics, sound, control, and funfactor), saying it "easily lives up to all its rampant hype, delivering one of the year's most creative, engrossing, and just plain fun games." The reviewer particularly applauded

3192-446: A smart bomb feature, where he can call Max to fly a bomber over the battle area and drop bombs on the enemies. To call Max, Kurt must have collected an airstrike pickup within the game. He must enter sniper mode to select the area he wants Max to target. Additionally, the airstrike can only be used in exterior locations on the Minecrawler. Other weaponry in the game includes grenades , "The World's Most Interesting Bomb" (when Kurt throws

3306-540: A specific spot where they do not have to move to gain experience , because monsters are constantly spawned but can be easily and immediately killed. In multiplayer maps, a player may be able to reach areas of the map designed to be inaccessible; for example, reaching an advantageous rooftop position and camping other players. A player might be able to fall out-of-bounds of a map where other players cannot reach them. Invisible walls are cited to be level design bugs, and might be "left-over geometry" from an earlier version of

3420-448: A starting base, but will have resource distribution and terrain features designed to draw players out of their base and engage each other. Teamplay maps can provide noticeable advantages to one team over another, when designed poorly. Commonly on older hardware, most games would load a single level and all of its assets at one time, and when the player completed the level, the next level would be loaded. The player would be presented with

3534-480: A third game was planned, but it was never made. For the most part, MDK is a run-and-gun third-person shooter . It also features several minigames , and allows the player to enter first-person mode at any time they wish to use their sniper weapon . The basic design of the game involves distinct levels in which the player character , Kurt Hectic, must infiltrate a "Minecrawler", fight his way through an array of enemies, tackle some rudimentary puzzles , and reach

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3648-458: A total high data throughput can eliminate the need for any loading tunnels in a seamless world game. A level designer is a game designer who makes environments and scenarios using a level editor and other tools. Level designers will usually work on a level from pre-production to completion – working with both incomplete and complete versions of the game. Video game programmers usually produce level editors and design tools for

3762-407: A two-player competitive 3D third-person shooter vehicle combat game, Cyber Sled . A year later, Elite Systems Ltd. released Virtuoso on the 3DO . This was an early example of a home console third-person shooter which featured a human protagonist on-foot, as opposed to controlling a vehicle, and made use of polygonal 3D graphics along with sprites in a 3D environment. Fade to Black (1995)

3876-403: A vehicle. However, the third-person perspective can interfere with tasks that require fine aiming. Third-person shooters sometimes compensate for their distinct perspective by designing larger, more spacious environments than first-person shooters. The boundaries between third-person and first-person shooters are not always clear. For example, many third-person shooters allow the player to use

3990-558: Is a monochrome mix of a French music video ("Non Non Rien N'a Changé" by Billy Ze Kick ) and clips from the MDK promotional video. MDK ' s writer, co- designer and co- artist Nick Bruty has said the initial impetus for the game was his desire to move away from the type of game on which he had previously been working; family-friendly games such as Aladdin (1993), The Jungle Book (1993), Earthworm Jim (1994) and Earthworm Jim 2 (1995), all of which Bruty had worked on for

4104-503: Is a later game with user-accessible mapping and scripting. A game genre that required significant amounts of time to design areas were text-based games, such as MUDs . Often, promoted users were assigned to make new paths, new rooms, new equipment, and new actions, often using the game interface itself. 3D first-person shooters Doom (1993) and Doom II (1994) were two of the first games to attract focused game modding activity, and many WAD level files were made for them. One of

4218-478: Is commonly done using a level editor, a game development software designed for building levels; however, some games feature built-in level editing tools. In the early days of video games (1970s–2000s), a single programmer would develop the maps and layouts for a game, and a discipline or profession dedicated solely to level design did not exist. Early games often featured a level system of ascending difficulty as opposed to progression of storyline. An example of

4332-488: Is manned primarily by various types of soldiers named "Grunts." Some areas contain "Grunt generators" which create an infinite number of enemies until destroyed. Apart from Grunts, and each Minecrawler's unique pilot, Kurt also encounters various types of robots , tanks , automated and manned turrets , animals , small attack ships, troop transport ships , and sentry drones. The story of the game begins in 1996 when inventor / scientist Dr. Fluke Hawkins believes he has made

4446-538: The Jim Dandy space station , which is in orbit around Earth, to the Minecrawler on the planet's surface. As he descends, the Minecrawler activates its radar , which, if touched, triggers the launch of anti-air missiles , which must be dodged. Some levels feature Kurt taking over an enemy bombing ship and performing bombing runs, some feature a glider which Kurt must ride to a specific location. One level features several snowboarding sequences, where Kurt must navigate obstacles while destroying enemies. Additionally, once

4560-595: The README for the PC version of the game, it is stated "It stands for whatever we say it stands for on any given day; i.e., today it stands for Mother's Day Kisses..." In the European PC release, the background images during installation present many possible meanings for the letters; one of which is "Murder, Death, Kill". In the Japanese release, on the back cover it says in bold yellow letters: "My Dear Knight". During

4674-464: The Sega Genesis . According to Bruty, MDK was a reaction, or outburst, from having worked back-to-back on cartoon games such as Aladdin , Jungle Book and Earthworm Jim . Don't get me wrong, I loved working on those games and learning new styles; but my heart is in fantasy and science fiction . I knew straight away that this was what I wanted to do next. Bruty's first image for the game

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4788-573: The "floating third-person view", Kurt's arsenal of abilities, the effective realization of the setting, and the varied gameplay experiences. Game Revolution 's Johnny Lee called the game "Non-stop 3D shooting, killing, exploding, dodging, parachuting, running, ambushing, assassinating, jumping, mind blowing action!" He commented that it stands out from other games with its requisite parachuting skills, sniping mode, bombing minigame, and acerbic sense of humor. He concluded " MDK combines sweet graphics and 'revolutionary' gameplay and design concepts to put it in

4902-477: The "real-time, over-the-shoulder tracking shots of Gus Van Sant 's Elephant evoke third-person shooter games like Max Payne , a close cousin of the FPS". 2D third-person shooters have existed since the earliest days of video games, dating back to Spacewar! (1962); third-person perspective shooting is also featured in its clones , Galaxy Game (1971) and Computer Space (1971). Arcade shooters with

5016-468: The Doctor as an archetypal kooky inventor and Kurt as the straight man - the ordinary person navigating a bizarre world. The process of designing enemies involved sketching each type on paper before constructing a 3D wire-frame model , which was then integrated into the gaming environment. Subsequently, these models were transformed into texture-mapped polygons and animated using data gathered from

5130-735: The Minecrawlers from above, and destroying them from the inside-out, shooting his way through to the pilot, whom he then kills, before being extracted back to the Jim Dandy . Kurt fights his way through a number of Minecrawlers, destroying them one by one, until he reaches the Crawler piloted by Gunter Glut himself. Kurt destroys the final Minecrawler, but Glut captures Max, and escapes into an energy stream leading to his base ship. Kurt gives chase and frees Max, who tricks Glut into eating him. Max then kills Glut by exploding him from within. The two then escape and destroy Glut's ship. The ending sequence

5244-587: The PC version, and judged that the new content was not enough to merit a replay from those who had already played the PC version. They nonetheless gave the PlayStation version a perfect 5.0 out of 5 in all four categories (fun factor, graphics, sound, and control), remarking, " MDK is riveting, combining tensely paced run-n-gun gameplay with the stealthy, strategic stalking that the sniper helmet enables." EGM and GameSpot were not as convinced, citing polygon breakup, control issues, excessively low difficulty, and

5358-465: The TPS genre is distinguished by having the game presented with the player's avatar as a primary focus of the camera's view. A third-person shooter is a game structured around shooting, and in which the player can see the avatar on-screen in a third-person view . Third-person shooters are distinguished from other shooter games that may present the game from a third-person view such as shoot 'em ups , as

5472-450: The area surrounding the avatar more clearly. This viewpoint facilitates more interaction between the character and their surrounding environment, such as the use of a tactical system in Gears of War , or navigating tight quarters. As such, the third-person perspective is better for interacting with objects in the game world, such as jumping on platforms, engaging in close combat, or driving

5586-465: The atmospheric entry sections. Kurt's weapon is a chain gun , which is attached to his arm , and carries unlimited ammo. The other major weapon in the game is a sniper gun. This is created when Kurt detaches his chain gun from his arm and mounts it onto his helmet . The sniper weapon can zoom up to 100x, and has the capability of supporting five different types of ammunition, including homing missiles and mortar shells . Kurt does not actually see out of

5700-600: The avatar is piloting a vehicle, and this combination of first-person for aiming and third-person for driving has since been used in other games. Metroid Prime is another first-person shooter that switches to a third-person perspective when rolling around the environment using the morph ball. Many games in the genre such as the ARMA series and its descendants (including the popular battle-royale shooter PUBG ) allow players to freely transition between first and third-person perspectives at will. Alexander R. Galloway writes that

5814-494: The bomb, all enemies within the vicinity will approach it, at which point Kurt can detonate it), "The Very Large Hamster Hammer" (a giant hammer that causes the ground to vibrate violently, damaging any nearby enemies), and "The World's Smallest Nuclear Explosion " (used for opening locked doors). In addition to the run-and-gun/sniper modes, there are several additional gameplay modes in MDK . All levels start out with an " atmospheric entry " in which Kurt jumps from his base ship,

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5928-453: The brevity of the game. Crispin Boyer of EGM summarized, "This heavily hyped shooter/platform hybrid is intense, fun, funny, over the top - and over way too soon." GameSpot ' s Josh Smith wrote " MDK is something of a mixed bag. Amazing graphics style, but little graphical consistency. Awesome combat action, but little combat challenge. Great puzzles, but they're really pretty simple, and

6042-455: The command of Gunter Glut, easily demolish all of Earth's military forces, and so Hawkins decides to take action to save the planet. Hawkins reasons the only way to fight the aliens is with his newly invented "Coil Suit", but due to his advancing years and Max's extra pair of legs, Kurt is the only one who can wear it, and, thus, becomes the very reluctant hero. As such, Kurt is dispatched on "Mission: Deliver Kindness". This involves Kurt entering

6156-459: The computer hardware sufficient time to load the assets for the next area. The player's speed may be reduced, while story cues are presented to draw the player's attention. The player may be required to enter areas in which their view of the world is plausibly restricted, sometimes referred to as "loading tunnels". With newer consoles, such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S , special SSD arrays alongside software libraries that have

6270-428: The computer or console's memory as the player approaches the edge of one level and the start of a new one. This can effectively make the transition from one level to another level appear to be seamless and avoid the use of loading screens. This is known as level streaming or in-game streaming, and is often used for open world games to give the perception of a fully-interconnected space. There are often tricks used to give

6384-582: The control center, where he must then eliminate the pilot in a boss fight . Every level is completely different; enemies, level design , aesthetic, and control center layout, with a different strategy required to eliminate each pilot. During the run-and-gun gameplay , the player must frequently use Kurt's "ribbon chute", a parachute contained within his outfit that can be used indefinitely. The chute allows Kurt to make long jumps, survive long falls, and utilize updrafts . It deploys immediately and retracts automatically when not being used. Kurt also has access to

6498-458: The cover system as its core game mechanic, along with a blind fire mechanic. Gears of War (2006) employed tactical elements such as taking cover, influenced by Kill Switch , using off-center viewpoints inspired by Resident Evil 4 . The game also employed grittier themes than other titles and used a unique feature which rewarded the player for correctly reloading weapons. Gears of War , as well as games such as Army of Two (2008), place

6612-440: The designers to use. This eliminates the need for designers to access or modify game code . As opposed to the level editing tools sometimes available to the community, level designers often work with placeholders and prototypes aiming for level consistency and clear layout before required artwork is produced by game artists. Many level designers have skills as both a visual artist and game designer , although in recent years

6726-439: The developers were attempting very ambitious things, they wrote their own programming language . Additionally, when in sniper mode, the player has the ability to zoom up to 100x, but the developers chose not to employ any of the standard solutions to pop-up , such as clipping or fogging . They also worked to ensure the game ran at a minimum of 30 fps at all times on all machines. The game's original system requirements were

6840-427: The early stages of development, some of the team saw the 1993 Mike Leigh film, Naked , in which David Thewlis ' character says to a junkie , "What is it like in your head? Hectic?" Bruty and Williams loved the line, and decided Hectic should be the character's surname. When trying to think of his first name, they wanted to name him after someone who lived a notoriously hectic life, and settled on Kurt Cobain . At

6954-519: The first decisions the team made was not to develop the game for the system with which they had the most experience, the Sega Genesis, but instead to develop it for the PC , making it Shiny 's first PC game. Developing for the PC brought a number of advantages, not the least of which was it allowed the team to make the game using 3D computer graphics . As Bruty explains, "I wanted to work on PC because

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7068-483: The first games with a 3D engine to feature hidden features was Wolfenstein 3D , where certain walls could be pushed to reveal hidden passages. Sometimes, a whole level may be designed as a secret level. A bonus stage (also known as a bonus level or bonus round) is a special level within a video game designed to reward the player or players, and typically allows the player to collect extra points or power-ups . Bonus stage either have no enemies or hazards, or replace

7182-521: The first such weapons conceived was the "World's Smallest Nuclear Bomb ," as the team wanted to come up with the most over-the-top way imaginable to open a door. Each level in the game was crafted by a different designer, resulting in a diverse and distinct visual experience throughout. To achieve lifelike movements for Kurt and the enemies, the developers utilized motion capture , a groundbreaking technology in video game development at that time. Unlike previous motion capture implementations, they broke down

7296-491: The former approach is the arcade shoot 'em up game Space Invaders (1978), where each level looks the same, repeating endlessly until the player loses all their lives . An example of the latter approach is the arcade platform game Donkey Kong (1981), which uses multiple distinct levels to progress a storyline; as Mario (originally called Jumpman) tries to rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong , each level ends with Kong fleeing with Pauline and then Mario having to complete

7410-415: The game because of their limited replay value. A minigame (also spelled mini-game or mini game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short video game often contained within another video game, and sometimes in application software or on a display of any form of hardware. A minigame contains different gameplay elements than the main game, may be optional, and is often smaller or more simplistic than

7524-407: The game creator to use the same load- and rendering routines as the game itself, and may make it easier and more pleasant to create levels. Developers of FOSS -games may argue that a game is not complete until other users easily can add new levels. One of the first 3D games which became popular partially due to level editors and fan-made maps, other game addons, and other works related to the game,

7638-560: The game has its own palette, which means effectively we've got 32,000 colors on screen at once, which gives a lot more vibrancy to the look of the game. We're also using proper transparency. We're going to be doing some lighting effects that they don't have the power to do on the PC. Because the PC version was still months away from completion when work on the PlayStation port began, the Neversoft team had to continually adjust their work in response to updates they received from Shiny. While

7752-428: The game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game. Some minigames can also be bonus stages or secret levels. They are distinguishable from levels in that a level is an environment bound to a set of mechanics and rules that all defines all other normal levels in a game, whereas a minigame can use different rules and playstyles but may not necessarily be set in

7866-464: The game is presented with the player's avatar as a primary focus of the camera's view. Third-person shooters are analogous to first-person shooters in terms of immersion, but simply displace the camera from being at the eyes of the character to a point slightly above and behind them in most cases. It is a 3D genre that grew to prominence during the 2000s, especially on game consoles . It features shooter game elements, sometimes combining these with

7980-494: The game is usually designed to get players to explore the mechanics of the game, notably in World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. Cut scenes may be triggered by events in a level, but require distinctly different skills, and may be produced by a different person or team. The level design process may be iterated several times before achieving the desired outcome. Level designers and concept artists may also be required to provide

8094-528: The game multiple times. When the frame rate dropped below 30, they either removed something from that part of the game, rewrote the graphics code, or altered the artwork until they could get the frame rate back up to where they wanted without having to reduce resolution or increase pixel size. According to Bruty, "We had no idea how fast we could get the engine when we started. The game would run too slow if we textured everything, so some parts were just flat- shaded for speed. We did our best to make that look like

8208-438: The game to be gory, even going so far as to study tapes of people dying in gruesome manners to see the effects of violent deaths on the human body, this lack of censorship was ideal. Once the decision was made to develop for the PC, the team quickly decided they wanted to make a game that would push the boundaries of PC gaming beyond anything seen up to that point. The naming of Kurt Hectic was inspired by two disparate sources. In

8322-572: The game was 3D, which wasn't an option on consoles at that point." Tim Williams explains another advantage of working on PC was "it meant I wouldn't have to tone the game down to deal with the Sega and Nintendo 's ratings boards. I loved [the concept]. I could see the game immediately would have a unique look and plenty of design opportunities. We were all big fans of the Alien movies and H. R. Giger , so that probably had some influence." As Shiny intended

8436-464: The game was too short, and the story was weak. The game was a commercial success, and Interplay approached Bruty to work on a sequel immediately. However, he was already developing Giants: Citizen Kabuto , so BioWare was hired to develop the game. MDK2 was published for Windows and the Dreamcast in 2000, and for the PlayStation 2 (as MDK 2: Armageddon ) in 2001. In 2007, Interplay announced

8550-525: The game's theme, making Kurt's Coil Suit a self-contained and versatile offensive/defensive ensemble. When designing the suit, Bruty drew inspiration from elegant and ornate Spanish armor, seeking to bring more flair to the character's appearance. During atmospheric entry sequences, a 3D model of Kurt was employed, while pre-rendered sprites were predominantly used during gameplay for optimal performance. Zeschuk found inspiration for Max's character in figures like Chow Yun-fat , Snoopy and Gromit . He described

8664-597: The gameplay. For example, the gameplay may be shifted towards a platformer (by careful placement of platforms) or a puzzle game (by extensive use of buttons, keys, and doors). Some FPS maps may be designed to prevent sniping by not including any long hallways, while other maps may allow for a mix of sniping and closer combat. Gimmick maps are sometimes developed to explore selected features of gameplay, such as sniping or fist fighting. While they are briefly useful to level designers and interesting to experienced players, they are usually not included in final list of levels of

8778-474: The genre to include third person shooter influences in a fantasy setting, with fictional or alternative weapons achieving the same effect as a gun for the player. Die Hard Trilogy (1998) by Fox Interactive was met with critical acclaim at the time of its release, and the section of the game based around the first Die Hard film in the trilogy was another early take on a 3D third person shooter. Syphon Filter (1999) by Eidetic (now Bend Studio) combined

8892-542: The genre, such as Oni (2001), Max Payne (2001) and SOCOM (2002). Max Payne (2001) was acclaimed as a superlative third person shooter, inspired by Hong Kong action cinema . Several platform games with third-person shooter elements were also released during that time; examples included Ratchet & Clank and most of the games in the Jak and Daxter series, both of which were designed for younger audiences than most third-person shooters. Resident Evil 4 (2005)

9006-446: The genre, the player would often be required to stand still to use first-person view, but newer titles allow the player to play like a FPS. These games are closely related to first-person shooters , which also tie the perspective of the player to an avatar, distinguished only in a minor change of position of the player camera . While the first-person perspective allows players to aim and shoot without their avatar blocking their view,

9120-414: The helmet, rather, he sees out of a HUD , which he uses to aim. There are also three "Bullet Cams" that track each projectile and linger briefly after impact, showing any damage done. However, when Kurt is in sniper mode, he is unable to move, and can thus be easily targeted by enemies. The enemies in MDK are a collective of aliens called "Streamriders" under the command of Gunter Glut. Each Minecrawler

9234-513: The installation of MDK2 , various meanings are shown, again including "Murder, Death, Kill". The original meaning of "MDK" from the company's initial promo video was in fact "Murder Death Kill". In a 2009 interview with NowGamer , David Perry revealed that because the North American publisher PIE was supposed to make toys based on the game, they did not like the title, so the words were removed and simply replaced with "MDK". In 2011 on

9348-407: The jumping and climbing elements of puzzle-based games and brawlers . Third-person shooter games sometimes incorporate an aim-assist feature to compensate for the difficulty of aiming from a third-person camera. Many include some form of first-person view, which allows precise shooting and looking around at environment features that are otherwise hidden from the default camera. In early examples of

9462-491: The mission will last five days. However, after a week, Hawkins realizes Flange Orbits do not actually exist, but rather than return to Earth in shame, he decides to remain on the Dandy to try to discover something, anticipating another week in space. Kurt is extremely unhappy with this development, but once Hawkins shows him how to program the VCR , he calms down. A year later, having made no discoveries, Hawkins begins work building

9576-441: The motion capture system. The attention to detail extended to larger enemies, whose polygon structures allowed players to target specific body parts, such as legs, arms, and even the eyes of certain adversaries. MDK attempted things never before seen in a PC game , so the team decided to write their own programming language . Rather than having the programmers write the language, the designers and artists also worked on it, allowing

9690-465: The motion scripts for individual limbs, enabling them to mix and match animations, leading to a broader range of movements. Creating Kurt's character involved a critical consideration: ensuring a seamless transition between third-person and sniper modes. To tackle this challenge, the developers ingeniously designed Kurt's sniper rifle to be the same as his machine gun, allowing him to attach the gun to his helmet effortlessly. This decision aligned well with

9804-422: The next area. These puzzles can slow the momentum down for players of fast action games ; the first Half-Life 's penultimate chapter, "Interloper", featured multiple moving platforms high in the air with enemies firing at the player from all sides. Level design or environment design , is a discipline of game development involving the making of video game levels—locales, stages or missions. This

9918-534: The normal penalties for being struck by enemies or hazards with simply being thrown out of the bonus stage. Many bonus stages need to be activated or discovered in some manner, or certain conditions must be satisfied to access them. Otherwise, they appear after the player has completed a certain number of regular stages. There are many map bugs that level designers try to avoid, but sometimes go unnoticed for some time. A player might get stuck in map geometry with no way to escape or to die. A player might be able to find

10032-558: The official GOG.com forum for the game, Nick Bruty (creator of MDK) posted that the letters do indeed stand for "Murder Death Kill". MDK became available digitally for newer Windows releases on GOG.com in September 2008 among the service's first games. A macOS version was added on October 26, 2012. It received generally positive reviews on both PC and PlayStation. The Windows version holds an aggregate score of 89% on GameRankings , based on five reviews. The PlayStation version holds

10146-465: The perspective of Tomb Raider with action elements of games such as GoldenEye 007 (1997) and Metal Gear Solid (1998). Richard Rouse III wrote in Game Developer that the game was the most popular third person shooter for the PlayStation . The Nintendo 64 version of Army Men: Sarge's Heroes by The 3DO Company was released the same year as Syphon Filter, and is an early example of

10260-417: The placing of game specific entities (actors), usually with the aid of a level editor. A level editor may be distributed as a complete stand-alone package, at times, rivaling commercial 3D modelling software. There are various steps involved in laying out a map and these steps may vary dramatically across the many different game genres that exist as of the 2020s. General steps include: The first level of

10374-493: The player to see all the cool actions the main character would be performing, so third-person was the natural choice and challenge we went for." From the earliest stages of level design , it was decided each level would begin with a free-fall minigame , before the level proper begins. Initially, the plan was for Kurt to travel through each level on a futuristic motorcycle , which would morph around him to protect him and would be integrated into his Coil Suit. However, this idea

10488-418: The player towards the correct path. Similarly, clearly marked choke-points can be introduced. Another method is strategic placement of obstacles and aesthetic environment props that direct the player's attention to "clear" paths instead. This is often used in closed, "stuffed" environments. Levels may be designed to force the players to explore the map and advance. Most Real-Time Strategy maps give each player

10602-469: The player towards the goal of the level and preventing confusion and idling. This can be accomplished by various means. Often the level layouts feature power-ups and items positioned so that collecting them inevitably makes the player move in the correct direction. This is one of the basic player direction techniques and is most often seen in platformers. Lighting and illumination, as well as distinctly-coloured objects, are often used to unambiguously guide

10716-499: The player trudges through indoor enemy bases. Konami's Devastators (1988) is a third-person shooter where, rather than moving forward automatically, the player walks forward by holding the Up direction, as the background slowly scales toward the screen. Devastators also featured various obstacles that could be used to take cover from enemy fire, as well as two-player cooperative gameplay . A similar shooter released that same year

10830-459: The popularity of this genre". Other commentators have considered it influential on later third person shooters such as BloodRayne (2002), The Contra Adventure (1998), MDK (1997), Duke Nukem: Time To Kill (1998), Burning Rangers (1998), and Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2 (2000). The game eschewed the popular first person perspective of games such as Doom , instead making use of "third person" viewpoints, wide 3D environments and

10944-416: The precise meaning of the title's three-letter acronym is never revealed during the game, the gaming press and fans adopted "Murder, Death, Kill", which was coined in the 1993 film Demolition Man . Another possibility is documented in the game manual, where Kurt's mission is named "Mission: Deliver Kindness". It could also stand for the first initials of the game's characters; Max, Dr. Hawkins, and Kurt. In

11058-450: The reasons was a clear separation between the level files and game engine itself. Half-Life , Quake 3 , and many other games have notable mapping tools and communities focusing on user-generated content . Level design for each individual level in a modern game typically starts with concept art, sketches, renderings, and physical models. Once completed, these concepts transform into extensive documentation, environment modeling, and

11172-505: The responsibility for visual-, structural- and gameplay-related tasks has been increasingly divided among several specialists. A wide variety of tools may be used by someone designing and making a level. Although it is faster to design models and textures with general-purpose multimedia development tools, games usually require the data to be in a unique format suited for that game's engine . For this, specific compilers and converters of models, textures, and audio data may be required to lay out

11286-400: The set period, Max will enter the stream on a tether and pull Kurt back to the Jim Dandy . Kurt's main defense against his enemies is his "Coil Suit", a skin-tight armor made of a Kevlar -like material, and created on a "nuclear-blast proof sewing machine ". This suit serves as a bulletproof vest during the combat sections of the game, and also protects Kurt from friction and heat during

11400-477: The short length of the game. Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) and IGN both strongly approved of the quality of the PlayStation port, particularly citing the retention of all the content of the PC version and the addition of the new warp rooms. IGN ' s Jay Boor said it "has to be one of the most impressive PC to PlayStation ports I have ever seen." However, GamePro noted that the graphics, though outstanding by PlayStation standards, were downgraded from

11514-436: The third-person shooter shows the protagonist from an " over the shoulder shot " or "behind the back" perspective. Thus, the third-person perspective allows the game designer to create a more strongly characterized avatar and directs the player's attention as in watching a film. In contrast, a first-person perspective provides the player with greater immersion into the game universe. Third-person shooters allow players to see

11628-416: The time, the shooter game market was dominated by first-person shooters , most of which worked off the template set by Doom and Quake . However, the developers were never interested in making a first-person shooter. Bruty was particularly passionate about this aspect of the game, arguing "I feel the player is more involved in the world when they can see their own character." Williams agrees; "We wanted

11742-580: The whole game can be solved without using too many brain cells." Reviews widely praised the sniper mode, graphics, and overall unique gameplay and style. The game was both a critical and a commercial success, and Interplay decided to begin work on a sequel immediately. According to the publisher, global sales of MDK surpassed 400,000 copies by June 1998. Its sales had reached 500,000 copies by early 2000. Interplay approached Bruty for ideas, but he did not want to go straight into another MDK game; "I hadn't liked rushing from Earthworm Jim to its sequel without

11856-518: Was Cabal (1988), which inspired many of its own " Cabal clones," such as NAM-1975 (1990) and Wild Guns (1994). Kurt Kalata of Hardcore Gaming 101 cites Sega's Last Survivor (1988), released for arcades and then ported to the FM Towns and FM Towns Marty , featuring eight-player deathmatch. He notes that it has a perspective and split-screen similar to Xybots , but with entirely different gameplay and controls. In 1993, Namco released

11970-508: Was Doom . The development of various third-party editors led to the formation of an online community trading fan-made maps. A level editor is often limited to designing levels for only a certain game engine . Developing a level editor takes a lot of time; it is more time- and cost-efficient to release multiple games using the same engine instead of developing a new engine and level editor for each game. As level editors generally allow for limited game-development work, to make larger changes to

12084-479: Was a doodle of an armor suit with a self-contained machine gun , and a helmet that could be used as a sniper rifle . Once he had this concept in place, he wrote a rough draft of the story, and brought together a small team of people with whom he had worked before; programmer Andy Astor, designer Tim Williams, artist and designer Bob Stevenson, animator Shawn Nelson and, later, programmer Martin Brownlow. One of

12198-487: Was also a fully 3D third-person shooter released around this time, but as well as featuring an on-foot protagonist rather than a vehicle, utilised entirely polygonal 3D graphics. Tomb Raider (1996) by Eidos Interactive (now Square Enix Europe ) is claimed by some commentators as a third-person shooter, and Jonathan S. Harbour of the University of Advancing Technology argues that it's "largely responsible for

12312-407: Was announced for a 1998 release but was ultimately never aired. Third-person shooter Third-person shooter ( TPS ) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters , but with the player character visible on-screen during play. While 2D shoot 'em up games also employ a third-person perspective,

12426-515: Was becoming popular, but GPUs hadn't had much impact on game development, and as such, "graphics would be designed to operate in software ." Ultimately, the initial release of the game relied wholly on software rendering , without any additional GPU requirements. The game's original system requirements were a 60 MHz Pentium (although 90 MHz was recommended), 16 MB of RAM , 17MB of hard drive storage for basic installation (37MB for full installation), an SVGA compatible video card , and

12540-437: Was influential in helping to redefine the third-person shooter genre, with its use of "over the shoulder" offset camera angles, where the camera is placed directly over the right shoulder and therefore doesn't obscure the action. An important gameplay mechanic that helped revolutionize third-person shooters in the past decade was the cover system . Koei 's WinBack (1999) has a cover system. Kill Switch (2003) features

12654-795: Was praised for its refined gameplay. In 2015, Nintendo published multiplayer third-person shooter game Splatoon for the Wii U , which was followed by two sequels for Nintendo Switch in 2017 and 2022 respectively, with Splatoon 2 being one of the console's highest selling games and Splatoon 3 becoming one of the fastest selling Switch games. In the late 2010s, the third-person shooter battle royale game Fortnite Battle Royale saw huge popularity. The survival horror games Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis were remade in 2019 and 2020 respectively, featuring third-person shooter gameplay similar to Resident Evil 4 . Level design In games with linear progression, levels are areas of

12768-410: Was revealed the game was being ported to the PlayStation by Neversoft . The Neversoft team had an initial deadline of six months. According to developer Mick West , the sheer size of the PC version presented problems for the port, but in some respects, the PlayStation version would improve on the PC version; The PC version keeps a lot of data resident whilst you go between areas. We're going to spool

12882-421: Was the frame rate . Shiny felt most PC games maintained frame rate by using big pixels in low resolution, which works as long as the game is not running SVGA mode. Based on their experiences developing for consoles, they wanted to take a different approach; using small pixels in high resolution. They set a target of maintaining a constant frame rate of at least 30fps at all times on all machines, and play-tested

12996-418: Was ultimately scrapped in favor of a more straightforward 3D "run-and-gun" style gameplay . Another early concept that was scrapped was that sniper mode would only be available to the player during the boss fight at the end of each level. This was changed so the player could use sniper mode whenever they wished. An early concept which did make it into the final game was the notion of ridiculous weaponry. One of

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