Eeek, where have all the corners gone?

Image credit: SNEG

One of my favourite hobbies is digging up older pieces of gaming tech or software know-how and asking myself: "man, what would the world have been like, if every GPU were made out of Gorgonzola?" Or less silly words to that effect. Nostalgia aside, it's useful to revisit historical alternatives in the face of very rich people who would have us believe that only their trillion-dollar boondoggle is "the" future.

The code running 1994 horror game Ecstatica probably isn't going to topple Unreal Engine anytime soon, but look at this article's header image, and tell me you aren't fascinated. Why is everything so… pert? I will tell you why: Ecstatica's graphics make heavy use of ellipsoids. They're the basis for everything from werewolf buttocks to the grain of castle flagstones.…