LogFAQs > #896178755

- The document was presented to higher ups. The response? Meh. Then Lion King happened. Finally some people started to ask for a solution. This doesn't mean they got permission though. You don't get permission in Microsoft. You do it anyway and hope it pays off so you don't get fired
- So work on the Manhattan Project properly started headed by St John. Without permission from the higher ups. They spent 1.2 million unauthorised money for contactors
- St John still had that Microsoft stigma so he changed the way they approached developers. They didn't want to appear as Microsoft. It was more like an edgy anti-marketing campaign that focused on kicking out Japanese consoles. St Johm angled himself as an enemy of Microsoft corporate management
- At this point DOS games were for hardcore gamers (because they took extra work to get running) and Windows games were for casual gamers. Video games in general still weren't very mainstream in the mid 90's however
- It was too late to include DirectX in windows 95. But they could slip in some hooks to add it in later. This was risky work and could have got them in huge trouble. It was all undocumented.
- The trick with DirectX was that it would basically shut off all of the Windows crap bogging them down. They're essentially turning off Windows to run the DirectX game. Nobody outside the DirectX team knew this.
- A lot of DirectX was designed to correct the mistakes made with the previous Doom port. Doom 95 (or Doom 2? The book calls it both) was the first true DirectX game
- The Manhattan Project was renamed to Windows 95 Game SDK
- St John 'tar babied' the SDK and went too the press with the exciting news. He used a nuclear symbol to represent the new SDK. The press went crazy with a bunch of nuclear bomb drop images that targeted Nintendo and Sony. Microsoft PR weren't happy.
- Because it wasn't an officially supported Microsoft initiative they had to get pledge support from developers and went to a theme park for the reveal instead of GDC. A lot of games weren't working yet and were shown on WinG instead. This event was called Ground Zero
- There was a Beavis and Butthead demo that unfortunately blue screen of deathed. The theatre roared with laughter and DOS chants. Some Microsoft employees put on lab coats and started pulling out cables and put on a show like it was planned
- At this point DOS games were 320x240. Windows games were 640x480 but were slow. DOS developers weren't convinced this would pay off and were there for free food
- The first demo was Super Bubsy. It was smooth. People were blown away. It ran 640x480 in 24 bit colour and 60fps. They turned off vertical blank sync and the game went blurry but started running 500fps. The audience went wild. Graphics this advanced were unseen before
- Following Super Bubsy was WinDOOM running in 640x480 at 60 fps with multi-channel stereo and even a force-feedback joystick. And synchronized sound.
- This was their Steve Jobs moment. Suddenly DOS seemed ancient and DirectX was where developers wanted to be. This advanced PC gaming significantly and you could easily argue that if this didn't happen there wouldn't be an Xbox. Microsoft were now serious about games
- The show ended with $5,000 fireworks
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Kind Regards,
Darmik