Meridian 59 was a 1996 video game developed by Archetype Interactive and published by The 3DO Company. It was the first 3D graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and one of the longest running original online role-playing games. The development team included John Hanke, who later founded Niantic, Inc. and codeveloped Google Earth and Pokémon Go.
In video games, artificial intelligence (AI) is used to generate responsive, adaptive or intelligent behaviors primarily in non-player characters (NPCs) similar to human-like intelligence. Artificial intelligence has been an integral part of video games since their inception in the 1950s. AI in video games is a distinct subfield and differs from academic AI. It serves to improve the game-player experience rather than machine learning or decision making. During the golden age of arcade video games the idea of AI opponents was largely popularized in the form of graduated difficulty levels, distinct movement patterns, and in-game events dependent on the player's input. Modern games often implement existing techniques such as pathfinding and decision trees to guide the actions of NPCs. AI is often used in mechanisms which are not immediately visible to the user, such as data mining and procedural-content generation.
Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing and published in 1996 by the 3DO Company. The game is the second installment of the Heroes of Might and Magic series and is typically credited as the breakout game for the series. Heroes II was voted the sixth-best PC game of all time by PC Gamer in May 1997.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert is a real-time strategy video game of the Command & Conquer franchise, produced by Westwood Studios and released by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in 1996. The second game to bear the Command & Conquer title, Red Alert is the prequel to the original Command & Conquer of 1995, and takes place in the alternate early history of Command & Conquer when Allied Forces battle an aggressive Soviet Union for control over the European mainland.
Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares is a 4X turn-based strategy game set in space, designed by Steve Barcia and Ken Burd, and developed by Simtex, who developed its predecessor Master of Orion and Master of Magic. The PC version was published by MicroProse in 1996, and the Macintosh version a year later by MacSoft, in partnership with MicroProse. The game has retained a large fan base, and is still played online.
Rama is a first-person adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line in 1996. The game is based on Arthur C. Clarke's books Rendezvous with Rama (1973) and Rama II (1989) and supports both MS-DOS and Windows. In 1998, a PlayStation version was released in Japan.
AH-64D Longbow is a realistic combat flight simulator of the AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter. Released on May 31, 1996 for the PC, this simulation was developed at Origin Systems. AH-64D Longbow was the second simulator released under the Jane's Combat Simulators line from Electronic Arts.
Battleground 4: Shiloh is a turn-based computer wargame developed by TalonSoft in 1996 and the fourth issue in the Battleground series.
Fantasy General is a fantasy computer wargame published by Strategic Simulations in 1996. Its structure was taken from the game Panzer General with some modifications to the base system. It was the third in the Five Star General series. It allows gaming against other human players by email. It was published on GOG.com in May 2015 with support for Windows, macOS, and Linux after GOG Ltd acquired the copyright to the title.
Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far, or Close Combat II, is a World War II real-time computer wargame, developed by Atomic Games, and released on October 13, 1997. The second installment of the Close Combat series, the game is played on a two-dimensional map, between two players.
MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries is a video game released in September 1996 as a stand-alone expansion to MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat and the last BattleTech game made by Activision. In this game, the player takes control of an Inner Sphere mercenary squad, with control over finances and free choice of missions.
Logical Journey of the Zoombinis is an educational puzzle video game developed and published by Broderbund for the original and The Learning Company for the remake. It is the first game in the Zoombinis video game series.
Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers is a video game based on the popular collectible card game of the same name, published by Wizards of the Coast. It was released on June 17, 2009.
Dynamic game difficulty balancing (DGDB), also known as dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA) or dynamic game balancing (DGB), is the process of automatically changing parameters, scenarios, and behaviors in a video game in real-time, based on the player's ability, in order to avoid making the player bored or frustrated. The goal of dynamic difficulty balancing is to keep the user interested from the beginning to the end, providing a good level of challenge.
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness is a fantasy real-time strategy computer game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and released for DOS in 1995 and Mac OS in 1996 by Blizzard's parent, Davidson & Associates. A sequel to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, the game was met with positive reviews and won most of the major PC gaming awards in 1996. In 1996, Blizzard released an expansion pack, Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, for DOS and Mac OS, and a compilation, Warcraft II: The Dark Saga, for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The Battle.net edition, released in 1999, included Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, provided Blizzard's online gaming service, and replaced the MS-DOS version with a Windows one.
You Don't Know Jack is a video game released in 1995, and the first release in the You Don't Know Jack video game series.
Links LS 1997 is a golf video game released in 1996. It is part of the Links video game series.
Jane's ATF: Advanced Tactical Fighters is a 1996 combat flight simulator developed and published by Electronic Arts for DOS. It is part of the Jane's Combat Simulations franchise. An expansion pack, NATO Fighters, was released in 1996. A compilation package, Advanced Tactical Fighters Gold, was released in 1997 for Microsoft Windows.
Mighty Math is a collection of six educational video games for the Windows and Macintosh platforms, developed and published by Edmark software. As the title indicates, the games are heavily oriented on mathematics. Two of each games cater for different age groups with fitting content. Carnival Countdown and Zoo Zillions are suited for Kindergarten and 2nd graders and teaches beginner topics. Number Heroes and Calculating Crew cater for 3rd till 6th graders and teaches intermediate topics. Astro Algebra and Cosmic Geometry are designed for 5th till 9th graders and teaches advanced topics. The games were all developed under Harcourt's strategy. In response to the series growing popularity, Edmark launched a website called the "Mighty Math Club" in November.
Smart Games Challenge is a video game series developed by American companies KnowWare and Smart Games. Three games were released between 1996-8.
