Lets talk or play... Breathless

[runequester]

In one of the AGA threads, a few people jumped in and mentioned they really enjoyed Breathless. So do I, and I am playing through it currently, so I thought it'd be nice to have a chat about it.

The ground rules:

Any comparison to Doom is forbidden. Thank you. That is all

So to kick things off, it ran okay but pretty sluggish on my old accelerator (030/25, 8 megs RAM). With my new ACA1230/56, it runs really well. Max screen size is still too slow but you can get a good size one or two steps below, and 1x1 pixels and still play at a good pace.

[motorollin]

Yep, I loved Breathless too. I'm going to flaut your rules about comparing with Doom though. Yes Breathless was a very different game: techno-action rather than horror, so had a totally different atmosphere. But I never thought it would run on my 040 A1200 after trying Doom and finding it unplayable and ugly.

Nonetheless I took a chance and bought the floppy version of Breathless in a sale, and I was totally blown away. Great graphics, amazing huge levels, smooth movement in full screen, and proper 3D with looking!!! Breathless was one of the few games I played all the way through as I was totally gripped by it.

As I mentioned in the AGA thread, the only think that disappointed me about Breathless was that all the enemies were robots. Robots destroying other robots doesn't quite have the same atmosphere as humans killing aliens/demons/other humans I wonder if anybody could mod Breathless to change the enemy graphics?

Sorry for the Doom comparison, but I think it was necessary in demonstrating the technical achievement of Breathless.

--
moto

[runequester]

Yep, I loved Breathless too. I'm going to flaut your rules about comparing with Doom though. Yes Breathless was a very different game: techno-action rather than horror, so had a totally different atmosphere. But I never thought it would run on my 040 A1200 after trying Doom and finding it unplayable and ugly.

Nonetheless I took a chance and bought the floppy version of Breathless in a sale, and I was totally blown away. Great graphics, amazing huge levels, smooth movement in full screen, and proper 3D with looking!!! Breathless was one of the few games I played all the way through as I was totally gripped by it.

As I mentioned in the AGA thread, the only think that disappointed me about Breathless was that all the enemies were robots. Robots destroying other robots doesn't quite have the same atmosphere as humans killing aliens/demons/other humans I wonder if anybody could mod Breathless to change the enemy graphics?

Sorry for the Doom comparison, but I think it was necessary in demonstrating the technical achievement of Breathless.

--
moto

well, okay I wanted to avoid the "wah wah doom killed the amiga" garbage. So you are okay mate.

And I agree, the graphics are gorgeous. Very crisp and sharp, which is an area where AB3D and Gloom definately had room to improve, great as those are.

The music is amazing too. The game really reminds of the Terminator movies.

[motorollin]

well, okay I wanted to avoid the "wah wah doom killed the amiga" garbage. So you are okay mate.

I think that Breathless quite clearly proved that the Amiga was capable of its own Doom. So I don't think Doom killed the Amiga at all.

And I agree, the graphics are gorgeous. Very crisp and sharp, which is an area where AB3D and Gloom definately had room to improve, great as those are.

I completely agree, the graphics in Gloom are terrible. Though it was fairly fun to play for a little while, due to its speed. Breathless wasn't as fast IIRC, but it didn't need to be; I remember it being more a creeping around game rather than a running-around-making-crowds-of-skinheads-explode game

The music is amazing too. The game really reminds of the Terminator movies.

IIRC I played without music. I'll have to dig out my copy of Breathless and reinstall it on my A1200

--
moto

[runequester]

I think that Breathless quite clearly proved that the Amiga was capable of its own Doom. So I don't think Doom killed the Amiga at all.




I completely agree, the graphics in Gloom are terrible. Though it was fairly fun to play for a little while, due to its speed. Breathless wasn't as fast IIRC, but it didn't need to be; I remember it being more a creeping around game rather than a running-around-making-crowds-of-skinheads-explode game


IIRC I played without music. I'll have to dig out my copy of Breathless and reinstall it on my A1200

--
moto

The thing with Gloom is.. its basically a 2D shooter like Chaos Engine, but in 3D. Its fun, but its a straight up blaster (with lots of guts).

And yeah, you're right. You can dash in Breathless but you really need to take it slow, get the drop on the enemies a few at a time, and avoid getting cornered.
I love that they'll come after you too, if you bail. No mercy from the robot overlords

[motorollin]

The thing with Gloom is.. its basically a 2D shooter like Chaos Engine, but in 3D. Its fun, but its a straight up blaster (with lots of guts).

Agreed. It's basically a different type of game, and the resemblance in 3D effect is purely cosmetic

And yeah, you're right. You can dash in Breathless but you really need to take it slow, get the drop on the enemies a few at a time, and avoid getting cornered.
I love that they'll come after you too, if you bail. No mercy from the robot overlords

Yeah! Robots have no fear of death

[whabang]

We could use a few SA-style Let's play-threads. I was thinking about making one about Genetic Species.

[runequester]

We could use a few SA-style Let's play-threads. I was thinking about making one about Genetic Species.

I would LOVE that. I need to reinstall that game, and see if I can get AHI to work this time around.

[motorollin]

We could use a few SA-style Let's play-threads. I was thinking about making one about Genetic Species.

Unfortunately I never got Genetic Species to run at a reasonable speed/quality, even on an 060+RTG, which was a shame as I'd read amazing things about the graphics in that game.

--
moto

[runequester]

Unfortunately I never got Genetic Species to run at a reasonable speed/quality, even on an 060+RTG, which was a shame as I'd read amazing things about the graphics in that game.

--
moto

When I had it installed on my old system, it didn't run too bad. Was playable in any event, but since I couldn't get sound to work, I ended up deleting it.

[whabang]

Unfortunately I never got Genetic Species to run at a reasonable speed/quality, even on an 060+RTG, which was a shame as I'd read amazing things about the graphics in that game.

--
moto

It runs like a charm under UAE. :p

[motorollin]

When I had it installed on my old system, it didn't run too bad. Was playable in any event, but since I couldn't get sound to work, I ended up deleting it.

Ahh well, I'll have enough to keep me entertained with Breathless today

[motorollin]

It runs like a charm under UAE. :p

Blasphemy!!! :lol:

[whabang]

Well, if I'm to do a Let's play-thread, I want video clips and screenshots!

[Karlos]

The thing which bothered me most about breathless was the "by blocks" level design. It was, essentially, Wolfenstein 3D extended vertically. However, I recognise that this simplicity was in no small part responsible for it's speed.

Breathless was the first AGA FPS (you thought I was going to say game-that-shall-not-be-mentioned clone, didn't you?) that really demonstrated that with appropriate conversion you could have a scalable 1x1 pixelmode engine. On my 040, it was playable at a reasonable size in 1x1.

From a technical achievement perspective though, no amiga-bred FPS game comes close to the AlienBreed 3D game for me though. Pity that TKG was so rushed, it could have been so much more.