DF Retro H2O! Water Rendering: Wave Race 64, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D + Many More!

DF Retro returns with a two-part showcase covering the history of water rendering in games, starting from the early 90s to and ending with the last-gen consoles! In this first part, we start with a look at 16-bit 2D raster tricks on Megadrive/Genesis, Super NES, NES and Game Boy before moving into the 3D era!
Note: One little error - N64 was 1996 in Japan, not 1995.
Subscribe for more DF Retro: bit.ly/DFSubscribe
Join the DF Patreon to support work like this and get pristine quality downloads too: www.digitalfoundry.net

[@dark1x]

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up - the follow-up episode will hit this coming weekend! I’m working on it now! Kicking off with Mario Sunshine and Blue Storm

[@radornkeldam]

I know I'm 4 years late (actually I already commented back then but it seems you didn't see it), but I'd like to submit a correction to something you said. In 13:23 you say that Wave Race 64's passing jetskis don't leave a wake ripple effect in the water. Well, actually, they do. I think the reason you may have missed it may be that the water mesh is relatively coarse and that kind of hides it if you don't pay close attention, particularly if the water isn't really still. If you want to see it you need to play championship and get to Drake Lake, complete the first lap so the mist goes away, and immediately turn around and look towards the incoming "traffic" waiting for the CPU racers to come towards you and you'll clearly see the wakes. You'll also notice that each racer leaves a differently intense wake, depending on their body weight, with Mariner being the heaviest and Stewart the lightest. The best place to camp in wait for them is just behind the finish line, looking back at the incoming racers clearing the pole maze at the end of the lap. Alternatively, you can just look at the captures made by a fellow forum member in a Spanish board back then, when we discussed this video: elotrolado (dot) net (slash) hilo_df-retro-evolucion-del-agua-en-los-videojuegos_2294688_s50

[@Rafayak]

What is the song at the start??? I need to know

[@r4k00n5]

Can't stop coming back to this, please make a part 3!

[@randytyson]

For preservation sake. there was a Wii u miiverse account where all of its posts was dedicated to complimenting the water in videogames. No one knows why the user did it, but was part of what made miiverse great From sonic boom to donkey kong, there was water effects to compliment.hope he finds this

[@James2t3]

RANDY TYSON I scrolled down to the comments to find this reference. Rip miiverse.

[@gundalfx]

Have you watched till the end? This reference is actually shown 😉

[@Silvergun_Raven]

Is it still available to see?

[@James2t3]

Ruben good to see the legend of mariowiiu lives on lol

[@jorgel1698]

In one of the switch posts there's a collection of games with amazing water

[@frosty6845]

Wave Race 64 still impresses me if only because the player interacts with the water beyond making ripples.

[@senorsnipey1595]

Id say its still top dog in watersports genre.

[@adroharv9213]

@@senorsnipey1595 yup easily

[@akaimizu1]

Definitely. unlike many others, the Water is in itself the track, and one that changes over time, requiring the player to adjust to the wake and tide level. It isn't, what many others do, a relatively static track, that just happens to look like water.

[@kaiserrino8774]

I remember playing MGS 2 for first time and being blown away by the that first stage. Like mentioned in the video, it still looks pretty good in 2018.

[@mtoad]

It looks excellent in 2018 displayed at the proper resolution on a CRT.

[@oaedeoi]

im about to play it, too bad there is no ps4 remaster

[@eponymous7910]

Yep. A shame the big shell was so bland in comparison

[@so-vp2qh]

@@mtoadeven on an LCD to this day it holds up

[@bananachild1936]

Wave Race 64's water physics was so much fun to play around with. I played it with my brother, we kept chasing down the dolphin and ignored the race, laughing around for no reason. Sometimes we'll challenge each other on who can jump the highest by riding the huge waves. The water physics felt so much better to mess around with rather than winning the race. Good times.

[@Rock_Lagoon]

Walther Penne You are kidding right?

[@GameslordXY]

I played with my mom.

[@philscomputerlab]

Absolutely brilliant. I can't imagine how much work it was to get all the captured footage. One game I remember for its impressive water is Far Cry from 2004.

[@retroboy-fh1ji]

PhilsComputerLab the Xbox version was mainly impressive. Fun fact: the games was going to be release on PS2, like The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, but was cancelled because the system can't handle those games, even with the "Emotion Engine CPU" and its VU0 and VU1.

[@SeriusSim]

I bet we're going to see some Farcry/Crysis in the next part :) I like that Giants Citizen Kabuto also has been included, it's one of my favorite game from the early 2000's era.

[@michaelaizen1137]

For me it would be Ecco the dolphin. We all have our first's.

[@winlover37]

Far Cry Instincts was such a beautiful game for the Xbox. Even friends of mine were quite impressed with how well it's aged.

[@gerboog]

@@retroboy-fh1ji how is this a fun fact? The hardware was about 6 years older then Far Cry.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

A game I should have mentioned to John on Twitter on Twitter but didn't think of until seeing this video: Turbo Prop Racing on the PS1, which does something similar to Wave Race 64's water mesh but runs at 60fps.

[@RandomlyDrumming]

One of the best things about DF RETRO series is how it shows the enormous talent of the developers behind games of the earlier eras. It goes on to show how incredibly skilled these people really were as they were completely limited by, from this point of view, very primitive technology. They had to work around hardware limitations and along the way invent new techniques and "hack" the hardware to pull off things it wasn't originally designed for. It's relatively easy to be "lazy" today with your code since hardware is so strong that it usually doesn't really matter whether you spend a few more CPU cycles to do something, or whether you spent few dozen megabytes of RAM more. But back in a day, when you were so very limited with CPU, memory (amount and bandwidth), data carriers speed and capacity (floppy, CD), you had to be *very* good at what you do to program and design games with all those things in mind. Lastly, the younger generations can learn to appreciate the roots of what they take for granted these days. :) cheers!

[@Daddy137]

Check out this channel called GameHut, he goes into depth on how he pulled off some clever tricks

[@RandomlyDrumming]

Already subbed to GameHut ;) Really nice insight into what it took to pull off many memorable tricks.

[@Fr0gg0]

We wouldn't have come this long with todays developers.

[@evilzinabyssranger5695]

Just to do a Propper AD: Back in the day, they couldnt do FIXES and PATCHES (sometimes PATCHES are diguised of FREE DLC to lure people). It has to be Very good and it has to be done in ONE shot.

[@RandomlyDrumming]

Yeah, not to mention that part... Once it's on a cartridge, or CD, for that matter, for consoles without HDD - it's done! :)

[@4468]

I remember when a games water effects was used to judge how good graphics were; every review would mention the water effects especially in the 32-Bit era

[@SteelSkin667]

During the PS2 days I was fascinated by how different games rendered water and fire differently.

[@TheTimgta]

Remember Morrowinds water

[@purplezebrahoover]

Props for using the TMNT NES water level music at the start. You have my support.

[@GamingPicks]

Excellent video, as always. I also like water effects, some are memorable (ICO's windmill, MGS2 opening...) It's nice to see games like Outcast featured, it also is one of my favorite games of the 90s. Thank you John.

[@Silvergun_Raven]

I've always been fascinated with water in video games. Some of my favorites are Super Mario 64, Wave Race 64, Ecco the Dolphin (entire series), Endless Ocean, and the water detail in Onimusha 2 (I still think about it to this day).

[@mikekarasi8045]

Wave Race 64.. I miss your euphoric hyper-reality of dolphins, lush waters, sunsets, umbrella straw margaritas, and amazing sounds in the game. When the lady pronounced the maps it felt like XTC.

[@MrSergiosampa]

Mike Karasi dolphin? Umbrella? This video in only about WATER...

[@byteblok]

Mike Karasi It was magical wasn’t it?...I still get the warm fuzzies when i play it every now and then.

[@shapeshifter-theamorphousg3264]

Welcome to Mariiine.. Fortress!

[@jonaskristiansen781]

I remember Super Mario Sunshine having some of the most impressive water graphics I had ever seen back when it came out. The water still holds up today in my opinion. Uncharted was the next game to really impress me with the water. What stood out to me especially was when the clothing got wet, only the portion of the clothing under water was affected, while the rest was still dry.

[@cbh148]

WaveRace 64 actually does generate some waves behind the jetskis. Go to 2 player mode, and go to Drake Lake, and pass by a player that's sitting still and you'll see the wake causes the jetski to bounce a bit.

[@radornkeldam]

Yes, it's subtle, but it's there. I guess they should have made that stand out a little bit more, but I can see problems trying to do it. I'm also surprised they didn't catch that given the relevance of WR64 and the attention to detail in these videos.

[@cbh148]

I agree. I hate to knock WR64 since it's such a great game, but I can remember even as a kid thinking they dropped the ball on the wake graphics since I couldn't see anything other than the small bit of spray that looked more like white smoke (to the point that I sorta thought it was supposed to be the 2 stroke engine exhaust). I can only assume they wanted to have at least a couple of yards of white textured wake trailing the jetskis (think Jak & Daxter water graphics), but must've been graphically at the limit with all the complex wave modeling.

[@dreammfyre]

"Why is that 8bit music playing?" *shows the TMNT water stage* "Ohhhhhh." Pretty, pretty, pretty good.

[@shiru8bit]

I wish you would someday do a DF Retro video on 60 fps in early 3D games, like PS1 and Saturn era - how it was achieved, what had to be sacrified etc. Blasto, Reboot, Motorhead, Tobal 1-2, Dead or Alive, Forsaken, Einhander, Kula World, Rascal, and so on, And how come that so old and limited hardware managed to pull more full frame rate games than most of following platforms.

[@3dmarth]

Yes, please!

[@grongy6122]

Какие люди. :)

[@3dmarth]

It would be interesting to collect a bunch of comments from devs on how they achieved 60fps (or why they didn't). From what I've seen, though, it typically boils down to: 30fps devs: You need to make a lot of sacrifices to achieve 60fps- too many sacrifices, when you could be using the extra rendering (and development) time to make the graphics so much better. 60fps devs: 60 is totally achievable, but you need to make it a priority, not tack it on at the end like just another feature. (Paraphrasing Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Retro, and I think one other studio.)

[@shiru8bit]

Sorry, your answer makes no sense. Hardware acceleration is not a magic wand, it just a term that means some of computation heavy tasks offloaded to dedicated hardware rather than done in software by the main CPU. This concept used since its inception, and it never was retired since then. GPU in any modern system is your HW accelerator, an insanely powerful one. Having HW acceleration does not guarantee any frame rate in 3D rendering, it only helps to speed up rendering, in trade to various limitations (such as affine mapping in early systems).

[@evergaolbird]

You left me thirsty for more water DF Retro. Looking forward for Part 2.

[@isturbo1984]

An amazing and comprehensive look at the technical aspect of a single property in all of video games: Water. this video was a real treat. You guys should do more. Many topics to explore in video game history. And the consistent water themes as bgm was a nice touch. Can't wait for part 2. Next... do Fire!

[@migs8171]

Waveraces water blew me back in the day

[@fryncyaryorvjink2140]

Miggy 1483 what?! It only gave me a handy!

[@spork8655]

It didn't drag its teeth, did it?

[@orjanbaglo]

blew you away or like behind the dumpster in high school?

[@zerounit87]

The music was awesome too.

[@migs8171]

Tickled the balls with plenty of eye contact. Glorious

[@MunkeyChips]

Anyone remember the highly detailed water in Ratchet & Clank Going Commando? It only exists as an easter egg demo in the game dev museum because it was too taxing to implement in the full game.

[@FromPlsNerf]

DF you guys are a national treasure

[@Poever]

FromPlsNerf even though they’re split across two continents

[@Edmundostudios]

I remember playing Halo 2 and the scene where you command the tank going over the bridge and the water effects blew me away.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

Hydro Thunder’s water is a really good effect, I would never have guessed the water was flat until you pointed it out, the texture of the waves varies in intensity based on the part of the track, and your boat shakes around and jumps like it’s being bounced around by the waves, so I genuinely thought there was some polygons involved too. I think my favourite part of Hydro Thunder’s water though is the reflections, usually the water surface is just semi-transparent showing the trackbed underneath the water, but there are sections in the track where the entire water surface becomes reflective and it just looks incredible, Hydro Thunder has better reflections than some modern games. It feels so different to the harsh waves of some sections, it’s peaceful and tranquil and beautiful. *EDIT:* I went back and replayed the game, the water is definitely a lot more than a flat surface, it’s especially visible in Software mode on the PC version, but on most tracks it’s clearly got some 3D waves even in Direct3D mode, the waves actually move your boat and it gets buffeted around by the water. On Ship Graveyard especially, it’s impossible to think there’s no waves there, there’s a section near the end with *really rough* waves, the strongest in the game, and your ship gets thrown about by them a bunch and they look amazing.

[@MushroomCloudGaming]

A very in DEPTH video :]

[@bdre5555]

DanMinigun 🥁

[@Googashlak]

I sea what you did there.

[@victormatheusbezerralima3056]

DanMinigun Good for those of us that are thirsty for knowledge

[@strangerdangrrr4052]

It was okay for the moist parts.

[@rumfordc]

wat er u capitalizing for

[@catbutler5282]

Great video, although I think Crash Bandicoot 2 and 3 could have done with a mention. If only because Naughty Dog implemented arbitrary software clipping planes to get around the lack of a depth buffer on the system. That allowed them to cut dynamic objects like Crash, enemies and boxes in half, rendering first the underwater part, then the water mesh and finally the upper part of the character.

[@VexAcer]

Cat Butler Yeah I'm kinda surprised the water effects from Crash 3 weren't mentioned. It essentially did the 3D water and interactive waves from Wave Race except this time at a stable 30fps instead of 20 and on much weaker hardware. Would've interesting to hear about it.

[@Alexander-ix2jp]

@@VexAcer The water effects in Crash 3 dont look as good as the effects seen in wr64. In fact, wv64 looks and behaves much better. +1 for the idea though; would love to see a direct side by side comparison of the two titles.

[@VexAcer]

@@Alexander-ix2jp I guess you could argue WRs water technically being more advanced and detailed. I think the water have more a natural effect in WR. I really do dig the way it looks in Crash 3. Still is impressive to see something similar on the system.

[@sebastianaliandkulche]

​​@@Alexander-ix2jpThats debatable though, as i think the lightning effects (especially in the sunset levels) were way better, plus the waves itself can affect the jetski jumps and sometimes change its speed. All of that in a game that is doing a lot of other impressive things as well, since the water levels are just a part of it. Plus we also have to mention the prehistoric levels which makes crash, enemies and other game objects having a reflection on top of being in a body of water. In Rubin words: its impossible with the zbuffer. Its beyond that.

[@Alexander-ix2jp]

@@sebastianaliandkulche The waves in wv64 were dynamic and did affect the jetski too. In wv64 everything is all about the water refraction and it looks beautiful even to this day, same goes for how things such as sunsets affect the water shading etc. I also don't think anything in Crash is impossible in zbuffer / on the 64. There are ppl here on KZbin improving things like Mario64 on real hardware to the point that it looks like a Dreamcast game (at 60fps even), or even porting Portal with all its pc based physics onto the 64, with the addition of other effects that the 64 can do for "free" in hardware due to its hardware accelerated vertex shaders etc. The 64 is on an entirely different lvl when compared to the PlayStation hardware. The 64 is much more advanced tbh.

[@TKsh1]

Holy shit, Wave Race 64, this game is an classic. Nice video.

[@cyrfung]

Never expected it to be featured on the thumbnail. It was my favorite back then. The wave physics was so much fun.

[@eponymous7910]

I remember owning jet rider/moto for the playstation not long after wave race was released. The water in that game did not compare favourably!

[@ghostghost8544]

Classic use to play that game for hours

[@BritonWells]

the music gets me right away

[@jackpepperpwb]

I'm so glad Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance got a mention, that games water blew my tiny mind as a kid. Hell, it still impresses me now.

[@enya64]

Jack Pepper Agreed. At the start of this video I was saying to myself "He better mention the Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance water on PS2." All time great water effects...

[@MrALenCar321]

Is it available on PC?

[@jackpepperpwb]

@@MrALenCar321 I think it was a PS2 exclusive unfortunately, you might be able to get it running on PCSX2 though. It's been recently updated and is more reliable than ever.

[@OMGLYKEWOW]

I played it for the first time just last year, and it caught my attention. I spent a few minutes running around the circular pool shown at 22:54 just to watch the waves

[@jackpepperpwb]

@@OMGLYKEWOW I did exactly the same thing, just watching the waves collide with each other.

[@TheBrownLamb]

Man would I love another Wave Race game on the Switch...

[@leegsy]

Half Life 2 did good water effects. Still looks okay even today.

[@seamless8505]

The first Far Cry game too, which was released that same year. It's also still a very good game, I hope John is gonna mention it in part 2. Heck, I think it would even deserve an entire episode; John you probably have a busy schedule but if you read this... :)

[@ThetaReactor]

The Lost Coast DLC was groundbreaking at the time.

[@MrShambles]

I think the water in HL2 improved over time with updates and Source Engine upgrades.

[@washaa]

The hl2 tech demo blew my mind. It left me thinking about the game for months. Must have rewatched it over forty times or so. The physics of the floating matrasses and wooden splinters together with that spectacular refraction were leagues ahead of other games. Has there been such an ambitious push in physics simulation in games since?

[@shapeshifter-theamorphousg3264]

HL2 was so ahead of it's time, on multiple levels.

[@Spielewelten]

Looking at the 16 Bit SNES Aera, you forgot Tales of Phantasia. In the first town the reflections on the water are gorgeous.

[@dajam9035]

Spielewelten It might be in part 2.

[@oaedeoi]

he goes chronically

[@Malus1531]

Mykel Hardin Nope, it's a chronic condition. He just always goes.

[@Elite-bh6pm]

This is a wonderful subject for a video.

[@jorge69696]

Seriously. People are even nice in the comments for a change. I think all DF Retro videos are like this.

[@BurningRangers]

I appreciate you including Saturn examples in your video. It amazes me how many people forget about Sega's fifth generation box because it was a commercial failure and geneally only think of the PSX and N64 when thinking back to the late 90s. Dreamcast was a sixth generation console even if it came out early and only lasted a few years before Sega bowed out of hardware.

[@Floatillyboats]

I remember seeing Waverace 64 for the first time when I got it. It was so amazing and still is for it's time. Another game that had good water a few years later was Starfox Adventures for the Gamecube! And a few years after that was a early game for the PS3 called Lair. It had amazing graphics for it's time!

[@3dmarth]

Starfox Adventures had amazing water for a 60fps game. Between that, the fuzzy fur, the crisp shadows, etc., Rare proved that good graphics don't need to be sacrificed to get smooth performance! Although the water did look pretty silly from certain camera angles, when you'd see a wavy, upside-down Fox in it, as it seemed to be copying its reflections right out of the main frame buffer- meaning it was basically taking a screenshot and flipping it upside-down to create the reflection effect.

[@M1XART]

Yeah, Starfox Adventures managed to better Wave Race 64's water effects. But to think how many years Wave Race 64 was ahead of time on this aspect is quite unique example on evolution of videogames.

[@MetalJesusRocks]

This video is making me THIRSTY!! LOL Fascinating video as always!!

[@evilkinggumby]

Considering most of the shots were water in the ocean, that might be a very 'Salty" comment..lolz

[@johneygd]

Yeah indeed, especially since it became just part - of it,DAMNIT!!!

[@cassiebelmont993]

MJR is a simple man you praise Splashdown for PS2 he watches and comments on video.

[@HX422]

MetalJesusRocks no, that’s no good. That’s why you can’t comment. This video is making ME thirsty!

[@anotheractionhero8250]

Thats funny, i startet the video and your Baldurs Gate Video came into my mind (and your excitement about the water). Then Baldurs Gate was mentioned in the video and you are in the comments :D By the way, I visit Seattle in September and I will also visit one ore both "pink gorilla" and tha is all your fault (the part with the gorilla).

[@RaymondMiah]

makes me miss waverace 😭😭

[@Toschez]

Donkey Kong Country 2 was a great evolution from 1 in that it allowed jumping in and out of water, and the representation of the surface was truly among the best of 16 bit era.

[@GreenLantern20X6]

Each episode of DF Retro gets better and better. The b-roll, transitions, and depth of content on this episode are particularly well done. Great job John!

[@jeremybowers3181]

Just want to say DF retro is my favorite segment on you guys's Channel good on ya John!

[@philipcooper8297]

When you have a 1070Ti and all you want to do is to play retro games, because DF told you how cool the water in them was.

[@Xx_m1k3_0X1onG_xX]

When DF makes you want to buy a beast of a pc but DF also makes you want to play retro games

[@bigboulder]

Hey @ least the card wont have problems running all the needed emulators ;-)

[@Holammer]

Try some Super Mario Sunshine with a 60fps hack at high resolution. That should quench your thirst.

[@sEaNoYeAh]

Ah, the joyful paradox of PC gaming. Since upgrading to a rig that can handle anything I want it to the "new" game I've been really into is 17 year old cult classic RPG Anachronox. In all seriousness I do think a lot of older games are simply more interesting, even ones I didn't play at the time. Games were less homogenous then, less risk averse and more freely creative. So many AAA games now share half the gameplay with one another.

[@Thebossstage1]

GhostSamurai You could argue that its the same with older games too. After all, atari flooded the market with mediocre copycat games in the early 80s

[@MykeBatez]

Really enjoy all the things you try (&succeed with) in DF Retro. Looking through a specific facet of real-time graphics as it’s evolved is so fascinating. Great job John!

[@zsciaeount]

GREAT idea for a video! DF Retro is one of the best series on KZbin today. Keep ‘em coming!

[@TAGMedia7]

I'm shocked you didn't mention Crash Bandicoot Warped and the water ski stages on PSone. naughty Dog created a Z-Buffer emulator to create the water and wave physics.

[@bpcgos]

What about water and underwater effect in the first MGS on OG Playstation, its trully convincing especially added with its cinematic nature.

[@mtoad]

The initial underwater personal sub scene looks incredible.

[@MrSEA-ok2ll]

My first memory of entering water was Pitfall 2 on the Atari 2600...the most impressive use of water was games like Flood on the Amiga, but the first Crash Bandicoot's stream sections simply looked amazing even to this day. I also remember the water fall on the original Unreal...I used an 16mb Nvidia TNT with my overclocked Celeron II 300 running at 450mhz...exciting times. The most impressive use of water appeared via DX9 with Half Life 2 on PC...it still holds up to this day.

[@SuperSonicish]

Made my Sunday to find on starting KZbin that there is a new DF Retro video! Could watch these all day.

[@NicolasSilvaVasault]

water in games have always been an addiction for me, so much that encourage me to develop water shader for my own games, uncharted 4 (ps4), mario sunshine (gamecube) and wakeboarding (ps3) are 3 of my favorites

[@supersmashmaster43]

Uncharted 4 has some amazing water effects. That part of the game where Nate is limping on the beach during the storm blew me away.

[@stijnkulche5932]

7.8 too much water ~ IGN

[@konradkirschbauer8494]

Stijn Kulche hauahuhuahauauhauahhauajua omfg

[@Poever]

Yeah, don’t show Kallie this video

[@MetalHeart210]

Stijn Kulche I was looking for this comment. I was not disappointed.

[@narata1541]

Stijn Kulche This joke is so overused, but now it made me laugh. :-D

[@JimGiant]

I knew someone would say it.

[@Sanjinator1]

Water in games has fascinated me since my childhood and has always been a great barometer to determine whether the quality of a video game will be good or bad from initial impressions. I know, not a great way to judge a game's overall quality but this approach is yet to let me down. First PS1's MediEvil, then Tomb Raider II, Crash Bandicoot 3 to PS2's Soul Reaver 2, PS3's Uncharted & especially TR Underworld's ocean simulation. These games WOWED me when I gazed upon their water works. Nowadays not so much, harder to impress; consequence of becoming an adult. This episode of DF Retro was beautiful, truly!

[@evo7836]

So glad you guys did a piece on this. Water rendering for me has always been intriguing in seeing the very many different forms, techniques, and implementations that developers have used over the tears.

[@luuketaylor]

Somebody alert Rob from PlayStation Access - he's gonna love this!

[@OwtDaftUK]

The video also has Metal Gear Solid in it to boot.

[@ICalverz]

No lets not. Playstation access is terrible.

[@TerasXertas]

Shit I was gonna make this same comment xD

[@plutterton]

What’s the joke?

[@bdre5555]

Luke Taylor haha yes he sure is! He practically drools over games that have good water effects in their videos

[@feyt8009]

Water and reflections is the thing that fascinates me the most in video games, thank you for this amazing video, i'm really hyped for the part 2!

[@davy_K]

Great to see Wetrix get a mention. Excellent game and a real tough challenge.

[@Soonjai]

I´m surprised that you didn´t even mention Archimedian Dynasty aka Schleichfahrt and it´s Sequels, the Aquanox games. Those have the most impressive underwater Simulation of their time I can think of, and Aquanox 2 even holds up pretty well to this day.

[@robertcop3736]

MARIO WiiU getting the shout out he deserves!

[@megamanx1291]

Who else remembers that user on miiverse that would compliment water in every game he came across?

[@SeeASquaRE]

Zeemanhuismerk I never used Miiverse but I am Indeed intrigued by your comment.

[@frosty6845]

Zeemanhuismerk he's probably blowing a load in his pants right now

[@leonro]

Do you mean Mario Wii U? Yeah, he was amazing.

[@BIaziken2]

watch until the end

[@megamanx1291]

「 OKAY 」 A person can comment before finishing the video. I was among the first.

[@JudoGuy]

I love that in 2018, there's a digital foundry video that starts with 'water is life'. You guys are great, you're easily my fav John. Thanks for all your hard work. Will be checking out your Patreon.

[@noname9935]

So glad you made this video. This brought back memories. I've been a big fan of the evolution of water in games. Ever since waverace 64, I look at the quality of water in games. We've come a long way..

[@AgsmaJustAgsma]

The perfect DF Retro video for the summer.

[@SShambler]

30min just flew by, enjoyed every min of it.

[@Noe2iq]

Excellent video, John, your research and technical analysis are amazing again! And thanks for the shoutout to Trespasser, I implemented the water ripples in that :)

[@JimLeonard]

Massive props for denoting which footage is emulation! Very important for historical accuracy and research.

[@Rolodzeo]

Amazing looking water for a DF Retro video

[@jelassiamine]

Interesting and informative, as expected of John and DF Retro! Hope it's not an excessive request, but do you think it would be possible to include the music selection in the description of future videos? It would be great! :)

[@billchen0014]

DF Retro is by far my favourite DF series! Absolutely love your work

[@Marc28031984]

Man. The music choice in the background is awesome! Great video.

[@guzz_lightyear]

love this types of videos!!!, could you please consider doing a video about fire rendering?

[@dreamcastfan]

Good call, I’d like to nominate the lanterns on the first level of Ninja Gaiden Black as a great example of fire done well. So many games tend to just use some blurry orange alpha transparencies for their explosions and they seldom look right.

[@DarkMProductions]

One game I think has truly remarkable water effects is Lair for the PS3. No, it's not a great game, but the technology behind it, while flawed in certain areas, is very impressive. Shame it was Factor 5's last game.

[@austinnafziger4159]

I love the use of "The Water Prision" as the background music at the end!

[@MichaelLargent]

Excellent work. I love these deep dives into tech over time.

[@5persondude]

*Me:* Oh boy, a new DF Retro episode! I wonder what John is gonna cover? *DF:* Water effects *Me:* ...Y E E T !

[@dreammfyre]

I'm missing Magic Carpet here. It predates Panzer Dragoon and had very similar looking water effects. One of those early 3D games I remember being blown away by. (And it's designed by everyone's favourite sweet talker, Peter Molyneux!)

[@kurisuchiinathecrocodile333]

I'm not as much fan of Peter specifically as of Bullfrog. Populus the Beginning is my fav game of all time, Dungeon Keeper is also neat.

[@PandorasTmrw]

Thank you for this video. I have always adored water graphics in video games! It’s amazing to see how all this stuff was done 🤯

[@PonchoRCG]

Thanks a lot John, I really liked this episode and cannot wait for part 2. Good job!!!

[@henshin587]

ghosthunter and onimusha 3 had some great looking water

[@sivberg]

oh super mario 64, such summer memories :)

[@MW_1535]

This was my favorite DF Retro so far. My teenage mind was blown away by Wave Race. Thanks for the memories!

[@Slappaccino]

I absolutely love watery worlds / settings in games. This video is such a nice trip back through some of my favorites.

[@ipivapan15]

Great topic! What about DF Retro for snow?

[@recht_voor_zijn_raap5506]

ipivapan And the evolution of weather effects.

[@sandman8993]

Snowboard kids will be number one

[@ZiggyStardust85]

What about DF Retro for fire?

[@oaedeoi]

interactive leaves and grass by stepping on it

[@Shezmen88]

New DF retro video uh? Instant like. ;)

[@nexter4202]

Man... your new Dork Souls animation is fucking amazing

[@Poever]

You a simple man too?

[@nexter4202]

obviously :)

[@yusofplayed]

Man I’m really getting into df retro and had no idea there were so many videos, and I’m even a long time DF fan! Looking forward to watching all of them and hoping there’s a part 3!!!

[@aharmlesspie]

Amazing showcase, and a wonderful nostalgia trip! I remember being blown away by these very same games in their day!

[@gorana.37]

What a fantastic subject for a DF video ! Total awesomeness. Grabbing a drink for this!

[@thegameroom7647]

Ah, you missed a good opportunity with Resident Evil: Code Veronica. It has a pretty nice water section in a boss fight with some good looking ripples caused by movement. Oh well.

[@gc3k]

That's what first came to mind since Dreamcast library didn't really have super impressive water effects

[@Magneira]

This is the best gaming channel, period. But you have mentioned the underwater section of Metal Gear Solid 2, the colours, movement and everything else really looks amazing.

[@andrerevolution455]

what a spetacular work, my god i love DF, its so good to see this type of content, and also more people who share this love for tech content, i've been always a lover of water in games ! and this is a ocean of joy xD CANNOT WAIT for part 2, thanks for this.

[@mrfarkyhars9192]

I long for a new Waverace or 1080 come to think.

[@zorro18759]

faxx

[@mickeman3967]

Aqua Moto Racing is pretty close

[@mrfarkyhars9192]

Micke Man nah

[@shapeshifter-theamorphousg3264]

1080 was for realistic snow what Waverace was for water..!

[@Fendera1]

*Hydrophobia* has hands down one of the best water physics ever made.

[@no1DdC]

Too bad the rest of the game is awful.

[@Atlessa]

Disagree. It was actually quite awful once you actually stopped to observe it for a second. Doesn't help that the game in and of itself was pretty darn 'meh' at best.

[@onerimeuse]

Fantastic video man,. Thank you for the trip down memory lane with new respect brought about by greater understanding.

[@Cae_the_Kitsune]

I love that you included that reference at the end to the water guy from Miiverse.

[@EvolutionPCGaming]

Hats off to you sir, this video is top notch! I’d love to jump into some game programming now! Very motivating. :)

[@3Angle_]

Wave Race one seems as really good practice assignment. Although I'm trying to figure out pattern for their white color vertexes. Seems kinda random ?

[@NaruCedSuke]

DF Retro one of the best things i can get in a bored Sunday, thank you John!.

[@The_RedVIII]

I'm so glad you mentioned Outcast. This game gets overlooked way too many times. It really was ahead of its time in many ways and I remember how amazed I was by the water effects in particular.

[@ShadyNorris]

Please make a video about trees. I love trees

[@jmbenetti]

Realität I always liked that Daytona USA trees that are just crossed planes with textures on them.

[@shapeshifter-theamorphousg3264]

Hippy!

[@arcticridge]

John is Life!

[@RetroGamesBoy78]

Another awesome video from DigitalFoundry Retro! They never disappoint. Cant wait for part 2!

[@culoecoco]

Another great video John! I appreciate all of your content. Cheers.