In game development, developers often have to rely on tricks and techniques when the hardware fails. If done skillfully, you won’t even notice it.
The limitations of video games have become significantly less over the years. Graphics have drastically changed in just a few decades, storage space on hard drives is nearly “unlimited”, and technology continues to advance. Developers are therefore less frequently constrained and can almost let their creativity run wild. But that hasn’t always been the case.
When the hardware was still poor, clever ideas had to be devised to push the limits—and ideally incorporate them as gameplay mechanics.
In the gaming subreddit, various players are now discussing technical limitations that were cleverly implemented as gameplay mechanics to disguise them or even define an important aspect of the game.
If things don’t go as planned, games also produce quirky bugs, like in WoW:
Silent Hill and the Sinister Fog
The first example mentioned by the post creator Double-decker_trams is the first Silent Hill from 1999. In the game, there is a “thick, supernatural fog” that envelops the town. The fog is almost always present and ensures that you can only see a few meters ahead.
However, this was not just gameplay but also a limitation of the hardware. At that time, it could not render items and objects that were in the distance, which is why the objects “disappeared in the fog” and were only properly loaded when you got closer.
Such fogs can still be found in many older games, especially on consoles, but also in expansive MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, which still have a “Draw Distance” setting that significantly increases the fog when turned down.
But only Silent Hill made this a part of the story and gameplay.
