Editing PC game (section)

=== Contemporary PC gaming ===
{{See also|Games for Windows}}
[[File:PC CD-ROM Software Logo.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|right|Logo used by majority of PC games sold in a [[CD]] format]]
[[File:PC DVD-ROM Software Logo.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|right|Logo used by majority of PC games sold in a [[DVD]] format]]
[[File:Pc game logo.png|thumb|upright=0.5|PC Game logo found on most contemporary box arts and trailers]]
By 1996, the growing popularity of [[Microsoft Windows]] simplified device driver and memory management. The success of 3D console titles such as ''[[Super Mario 64]]'' and ''[[Tomb Raider (1996 video game)|Tomb Raider]]'' increased interest in [[3D rendering|hardware accelerated 3D graphics]] on PCs, and soon resulted in attempts to produce affordable products with the [[ATI Rage]], [[Matrox Mystique]], [[S3 ViRGE]], and [[Rendition (company)|Rendition Vérité]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=PC Goes 3D|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |issue=26|publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|date=February 1997|pages=54–63}}</ref> As 3D graphics libraries such as [[DirectX]] and [[OpenGL]] matured and knocked proprietary interfaces out of the market, these platforms gained greater acceptance in the market, particularly with their demonstrated benefits in games such as ''[[Unreal (1998 video game)|Unreal]]''.<ref name="unreal">Shamma, Tahsin. [http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/unreal/review.html Review of Unreal], Gamespot.com, June 10, 1998.</ref> However, major changes to the [[Microsoft Windows]] operating system, by then the market leader, made many older DOS-based games unplayable on [[Windows NT]], and later, [[Windows XP]] (without using an [[emulator]], such as [[DOSBox]]).<ref name="dosincompatibility">{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/games/expert/durham_og.mspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070420123928/http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/games/expert/durham_og.mspx|archive-date=April 20, 2007 |title=Getting Older Games to Run on Windows XP |access-date=September 22, 2006 |last=Durham |first=Joel Jr. |website=[[Microsoft]]|date=May 14, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/appcompat.mspx|title=Run Older Programs on Windows XP|website=[[Microsoft]]}}</ref>

The faster graphics accelerators and improving [[Central processing unit|CPU]] technology resulted in increasing levels of realism in computer games. During this time, the improvements introduced with products such as ATI's [[Radeon R300]] and [[NVidia]]'s [[GeForce 6 series]] have allowed developers to increase the complexity of modern [[game engine]]s. PC gaming currently tends strongly toward improvements in 3D graphics.<ref name="graphicstrend">{{cite web |url=http://www.justadventure.com/articles/3D/3DGraphicsTrens.shtm |title=Brief Glimpse into the Future of 3D Game Graphics |access-date=September 23, 2006 |last=Necasek |first=Michal |date=October 30, 2006 |archive-date=October 11, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011001859/http://justadventure.com/articles/3D/3DGraphicsTrens.shtm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Unlike the generally accepted push for improved graphical performance, the use of [[physics engine]]s in computer games has become a matter of debate since announcement and 2005 release of the [[nVidia]] [[PhysX]] [[physics processing unit|PPU]], ostensibly competing with [[middleware]] such as the [[Havok (software)|Havok physics engine]]. Issues such as difficulty in ensuring consistent experiences for all players,<ref name="ppumultiplayer">{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/old/content/2006/05/6828.ars |title=Tim Sweeney ponders the future of physics cards |access-date=August 22, 2006 |last=Reimer |first=Jeremy |date=May 14, 2006}}</ref> and the uncertain benefit of first generation PhysX cards in games such as ''[[Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter]]'' and ''[[City of Villains]]'', prompted arguments over the value of such technology.<ref name="grawppubenchmark">{{cite web |url=http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=245 |title=AGEIA PhysX PPU Videos – Ghost Recon and Cell Factor |access-date=August 22, 2006 |last=Shrout |first=Ryan |date=May 2, 2006 |archive-date=September 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100929000622/http://pcper.com/article.php?aid=245 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="covppubenchmark">{{cite web|url=http://www.anandtech.com/show/2076 |title=PhysX Performance Update: City of Villains |access-date=September 13, 2006 |last=Smith |first=Ryan |date=September 7, 2006}}</ref>

Similarly, many game publishers began to experiment with new forms of marketing. Chief among these alternative strategies is [[episodic gaming]], an adaptation of the older concept of [[expansion pack]]s, in which game content is provided in smaller quantities but for a proportionally lower price. Titles such as ''[[Half-Life 2: Episode One]]'' took advantage of the idea, with mixed results rising from concerns for the amount of content provided for the price.<ref name="episodereactions">{{cite web|url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/halflife2aftermath/review.html|title=Half Life 2: Episode One for PC Review|access-date=September 2, 2006|date=June 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924003908/http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/halflife2aftermath/review.html|archive-date=September 24, 2009|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

<!--== Polish PC games ==
During the 1980s, the cheap and talented workforce of the [[Polish People's Republic]] began producing video games with Warsaw company Karen,&nbsp;founded by enterprising emigrant Lucjan Wencel, developing many hits that were released in the United States.<ref name=":18">{{Cite news|url=http://technopolis.polityka.pl/2014/25-lat-wolnosci-w-grach-wideo|title=25 lat wolności w grach wideo|work=Technopolis|access-date=January 10, 2018|language=pl-PL}}</ref> The 1991 strategy game "''[[Solidarność (video game)|Solidarność]]''" by Przemysław Rokita, where players led a trade union to political victory, was the symbolic beginning of a new trend where interactive works applied video game conventions to local Polish culture and history,<ref name=":18" /> and through a distorting mirror portrayed the [[Eastern Bloc]], local villages, and the mentality of citizens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.benchmark.pl/testy_i_recenzje/najlepsze-polskie-gry-2922/strona/9445.html|title=Najlepsze polskie gry. Podsumowanie|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107175012/http://www.benchmark.pl/testy_i_recenzje/najlepsze-polskie-gry-2922/strona/9445.html|archive-date=January 7, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=January 6, 2018}}</ref> Developers in this age struggled with minimal profits, working after hours, harsh working conditions, older computers, and an ignorance of foreign languages and sentiments.<ref name=":18" /> The&nbsp;country saw its own text based games – e.g. ''[[Mózgprocesor]]'' (1989),&nbsp;arcade games – e.g. ''[[Robbo (video game)|Robbo]]'' (1989), football manager – ''Polish League'' (1995), ''Doom''-clone – ''Cytadela'' (1995), and ''[[The Settlers (1993 video game)|The Settlers]]''-clone&nbsp;– ''[[Polanie (video game)|Polanie]]'' (1995), however the adventure game genre was the "most significant species in the 90s", a genre which was finally cracked with ''Tajemnica Statuetki.''<ref name=":18" />

''Tajemnica Statuetki'' was the first commercially released Polish adventure game,<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://www.miastogier.pl/publicystyka,401.html|title=RetroStrefa – Tajemnica Statuetki|last=Onysk|first=Wojciech "Raaistlin"|date=May 16, 2013|website=MiastoGier.pl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228232518/http://www.miastogier.pl/publicystyka,401.html|archive-date=December 28, 2017|url-status=live|access-date=December 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://gry.wp.pl/artykul/zapowiedz,a-quiet-weekend-in-capri,1168,1.html|title=A Quiet Weekend in Capri|last=Polska|first=Grupa Wirtualna|work=Gry.wp.pl|access-date=February 2, 2017}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> one of the first Polish and Polish-language video games ever,<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|url=http://xn--czytelniamagazynw-vyb.karpacz.pl/15.php |title=Tajemnica Statuetki (page 15)|last=Marciniak|first=Jacek "AloneMan"|date=2003 |website=SS-NG|language=pl|access-date=December 28, 2017}}</ref> and Chmielarz's first game that he had developed from start to finish<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UKYTAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Tajemnica+Statuetki%22|title=Przekrʹoj|date=2001|publisher=Czytelnik.|pages=50|language=pl|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229052316/https://books.google.com.au/books?id=UKYTAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Tajemnica+Statuetki%22&dq=%22Tajemnica+Statuetki%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiY_Oyi56zYAhVFUbwKHRkKDKgQ6AEILjAB|archive-date=December 29, 2017}}</ref> – the first officially sold program that he wrote.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/gambler_magazine-1998-11|title=Co ja robie tu?|last=Piekara|first=Jacek|publisher=Gambler Magazine|year=1998|pages=73}}</ref> It is sometimes erroneously considered the first Polish computer game, a distinction held by Witold Podgórski's 1961 [[Early mainframe games|mainframe game]] ''[[Marienbad (video game)|Marienbad]]'', inspired by a Chinese puzzle called "[[Nim]]", and released on the [[Odra (computer)|Odra 1003]].<ref name="auto3">{{Cite news|url=http://gry.onet.pl/artykuly/dawno-dawno-temu-zanim-powstal-wiedzmin/n2vn5|title=Dawno, dawno temu, zanim powstał "Wiedźmin"…|last=Quark|date=July 15, 2013|work=Onet|access-date=December 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228232222/http://gry.onet.pl/artykuly/dawno-dawno-temu-zanim-powstal-wiedzmin/n2vn5|archive-date=December 28, 2017|url-status=live|language=pl-PL}}</ref> (Meanwhile, ''Polygamia'' writes that 1986's text-based ''[[Puszka Pandory]]'' is the first game written by a Pole, sold in Poland, and reviewed in Polish press).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://polygamia.pl/opowie-ci-z-krypty-puszka-pandory|title=Opowieści z krypty: Puszka Pandory|last=Kluska|first=Bartłomiej|date=March 5, 2010|website=Polygamia|language=pl-PL|access-date=December 28, 2017}}</ref> Despite this, Onet wrote in 2013 about a [[List of common misconceptions|common misconception]] that the game marks the point where the history of digital entertainment in Poland begins.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://gry.onet.pl/wiadomosci/slyszeliscie-kiedys-o-marienbad-pierwszej-polskiej-grze-wideo-w-historii-nie-no-to/vwwqx|title=Słyszeliście kiedyś o "Marienbad", pierwszej polskiej grze wideo w historii? Nie? No to koniecznie musicie nadrobić zaległości!|date=March 18, 2013|work=Onet Gry|access-date=January 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107061117/http://gry.onet.pl/wiadomosci/slyszeliscie-kiedys-o-marienbad-pierwszej-polskiej-grze-wideo-w-historii-nie-no-to/vwwqx|archive-date=January 7, 2018|url-status=live|language=pl-PL}}</ref>

-->