Trespasser. Most underrated, groundbreaking games of the 90s

Spielberg's studio, DreamWorks Interactive, mentioned in The Neverhood, wanted to shine at all costs with an unusual, ambitious project (which, unfortunately, resulted in the imminent acquisition by Electronic Arts). Trespasser can be safely called the No Man's Sky of its era. The game rolled one of the biggest hype trains of the 90s. It was supposed to ride the wave of Jurassic Park's popularity and tell a separate story that takes place after the events from the movies. It was supposed to offer a great gameplay freedom and complete immersion in the world of dinosaurs in "Doom" FPP mode. This games was heralded as revolution in PC gaming that would forever change the approach to the way games were made.

When the game finally launched, after a year's worth of delay, with a huge budget overrun, all the hopes evaporated like water in vacuum. The game was full of bugs, object physics was limping, and the worst part was that even the most expensive hardware on the market could not ensure smooth animation. And in general, all the accusations about the condition of the Trespasser were right – the ordinary player got a really frustrating, almost unplayable product (another tradition that still finds many followers!), but there is a silver lining to the story.

It's worth recalling how ambitious the project was at the time. Its engine was one of the first to generate large open spaces filled with hundreds of trees – all, of course, in 3D and with textures. It was the first game to simulate physics based on the principles of classical mechanics and the first to introduce the ragdoll. Artificial intelligence completely managed the behavior and animation of the dinosaurs – nothing was predefined, every move was a consequence of the chosen behavior. Of course, in its first version, it caused some hilarious bugs. The big disadvantage was replacing 3D objects with two-dimensional sprites at larger distance, which caused constant pop-ups, especially of trees. Trespasser was killed by rushed release and a bit too ambitious assumptions given the capabilities of PC in 1998.

But it was thanks to this game that many of subsequent timeless classics were created. Setting the action in a large, open environment inspired the level designers of Halo and the creators of Far Cry. The same narrative tools were later used by Carmack in Doom 3. And physics-based mechanics of objects rustled the imagination of Gabe Newell, who quotes Trespasser as a direct inspiration to create advanced physics for Half-Lifie 2. Thanks to such bold projects as Trespasser, games can evolve and move forward, breaking down barriers. The unusual game about dinosaurs may have been a commercial failure, it definitely contributed to the development of the industry, and over time gained groups of devoted fans who continue to work and repair many elements of this production, with access to the source code.

1. Trespasser in our encyclopedia