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Doom was an important game, it defined the IBM-PC compatible as the new gaming computer. Amiga users became angry because they where used to the fact that Amiga generally had better games than the PC. In order to show the world that the Amiga could handle Doom they began working on lots of “Doom-clones” to prove stupid PC users that the Amiga was better than they thought it was.

Doom clones:

Alien Breed 3D 1995

Alien Breed 3D was the first successfully commercial “Doom-clone” on the Amiga. It was only compatible with the Amiga 1200 and the Amiga 4000 because it used some clever hardware tricks for the game engine only present in the AGA chips. Alien Breed 3D can run on a stock Amiga 1200 with 2 MB but shines on an Amiga upgraded with a 030 CPU. In the graphics department Alien Breed 3D has worse graphics than Doom and runs in a much smaller window. The actual game though is very good and fun to play.

Breathless 1995

Breathless was the first FPS on the Amiga with true 1×1 pixel graphics, but that also meant big hardware requirements like a 060 CPU and AGA. No worry though since you could run in blockier low resolution mode if you had a more basic CPU in your Amiga. As usual pretty graphics alone can not make a game great and Breathless suffers a little in the design department. But to be fair, in 1995 lots of games took place in boring shiny corridors with basic level design.

Citadel 1995

Citadel is a weird 3D game that is unique since it can run on the Amiga 500 (with a tiny, tiny screen), most FPS on the Amiga needed at least AGA and 2 MB.

Deathmask 1995

Deathmask was a game that tried to ride on the success of the “Doom-clone” games in the middle of the 90′ies. Deathmask can actually run on every Amiga, even an unexpanded Amiga 500 with 1 MB because the game does not use a true real-time 3D-engine. The engine used is a fake “Dungeon Master” like engine with real-time scrolling when you turn around. But the animation when you change direction is not very convincing and looks more 2D than 3D. There is only one floor with no variations in height and game takes place in boxy tunnels so Deathmask is a horrible attempt at a “Doom clone”.

Fears 1995

Fears is a true “Doom-clone” since it features full screen action stairways and lifts. But the graphics are very blocky and the game does not flow as well as Doom, game play is horrible to be honest with you. Fears were made by a demo group on the Amiga to prove that Amiga could have Doom style games.

Gloom 1995

Gloom was one of the first good “Doom-clones” on the Amiga and ran on the A1200 and the A4000. What made Gloom so fun was the heavy emphasis on action, very much like Doom. Graphics where blocky and levels where flat like Wolfenstein, but the engine was fast and there actually seemed like the developers had put in an effort to make a fun game and not only a demonstration of a 3D engine.

Gloom Deluxe 1996

Gloom Deluxe was an improved version of Gloom using a better 3D engine capable of higher resolution it could also run on any Amiga with at least a 020 CPU and 2 MB memory. Gloom Deluxe could also run on a graphics board and on the Workbench in a small window. Gloom Deluxe is one of the best “Doom clones” on the Amiga.

Alien Breed 3D II 1996

Alien Breed 3D was a big hit on the Amiga so Team 17 decided to release a sequel. This time the graphics engine was heavily upgraded with 3D-modeled weapons and better graphics. Alien Breed 3D II can run on a standard Amiga 1200 and Amiga 4000 but you will need a 030 CPU to begin to have fun with the game. But even a top of the line 060 CPU will not play this game smooth in some levels. The first game was almost as fun as Doom was but the sequel did not live up to the expectations, the levels where boring and confusing, enemies hard, choppy frame rates made the game even harder, some actually like Alien Breed 3D II but you should try it to make up your own mind. There is a patch AB3DII on AmiNET which makes it compatible with graphics boards.

Nemac IV 1996

Nemac IV was a good looking FPS on the Amiga, if you had an expanded machine. While the graphics where very nice in the ads for the game I found the game to be boring. But Nemac IV is liked by some and can be played on a variety of Amigas.

Trapped 1996

Trapped was a German RPG and also an FPS made by a demo group. It some 3D real-time polygonal enemies and ran on a hi-end Amiga with AGA or graphics board.

Testament 1997

Testament is more of a Wolfenstein clone than a true “Doom-clone”. Testament is probably most famous for getting a very good review in the magazine Amiga Format when it was released. If it really deserved that good review because the game was good or it got a good score because it was a 3D game on the Amiga is unknown but Testament is very polished in comparison with other Amiga games if a little bit boring after a while (just like Wolfenstein).

Trapped 2 1997

Trapped 2 was the follow up to Trapped released in 1996.

Genetic Species 1998

Wow! This was a rather big game in the Amiga world when it was released. Made by members of a demo group it had impressive graphics and was released at almost the same time as Quake. Genetic Species flies on a fast Amiga with a 060 CPU and graphics board but is also playable on a 030 CPU and AGA.

Ports:

Wolfenstein 3D

Wolfenstein 3D can be played on the Amiga thanks to Amiga fans who ported the game over to their favorite machine. It took quite a while before a solid Wolfenstein 3D port was released on the Amiga. Was the wait worth it? Hard to say since I never been that big fan of Wolfenstein.

Doom 1997

It was only a matter of time before a port of Doom was released for the Amiga when ID software released the source code of Doom as a tribute to the fans of the game. The first Doom port for the Amiga was ADoom which was developed until it was a perfect version of the game on the Amiga. The Amiga version of Doom is very interesting since many claimed Doom was impossible to run on the Amiga. Now that Doom was ported to Amiga it was obvious that even a 030 equipped Amiga could play Doom with adequate frame rates.

Heretic

Following the port of Doom to the Amiga soon Heretic was ported and it was widely regarded as a good game.

Hexen

Hexen was also ported to the Amiga. Hexen was a kind of follow up to Heretic but had tougher puzzles and less traditional FPS action.

Quake 1998

Quake on the Amiga began as an illegal port of the stolen source code of ID software’s Quake engine. The binaries where spread on Amiga bulletin board systems with a short text file explaining Quake was now on the Amiga and the Amiga community went wild with excitement. The hardware requirements for Amiga Quake were lots of RAM and at minimum a 020 CPU. In real life you needed an over clocked 060 CPU to get frame rates over 10 FPS. After the illegal release of the Quake port a commercial effort was made to officially release Quake for the Amiga. The official Quake port was more polished than the illegal port and a special 060 build of Quake was also released. But even with the 060 build frame rates where an issue since they rarely went over 15 FPS. A PPC port of Quake was released when the source code of Quake was released to the public by ID software. The PPC port was a lot faster than the 68k version and many wondered why Quake was never ported to the PPC in the first place when it was commercially available for the Amiga.

Descent 1998

The source code of the MS-DOS game Descent was released on the net and an Amiga port was shortly thereafter compiled and released for free by Amiga fans. You would need to have a powerful Amiga to be able to play Descent with good frame rates. The Amiga port of Descent might best be remembered to be the only (?) game with direct support of the 3D hardware of the CV64-3D Amiga graphics card.

Shogo 2001

Shogo was a PC game ported to the Amiga by the same guys who ported Descent to the Amiga. Shogo was a commercial release and needed a PPC accelerator and a fast graphics board.

Duke Nukem 3D 2003

There is a port of Duke Nukem 3D for the Amiga since the source code was released. Duke Nukem 3D has a more advanced game engine than Doom but the read me file tells that the game runs in 15 FPS more or less on a top of the line 060 CPU Amiga with a fast graphics card. Which are almost the same frame rates I got on my old 486 DX2 66 MHz.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 12:20 am and is filed under Amiga, Game. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.