Anybody have any idea what was the first 3D game to use it's own 3D engine for lengthy cut scenes? A friend asked me this the other day and I had no idea. Thinking back, I remember Serious Sam using it's own engine for cut scenes, but that can't be the first. I'm not talking about short little blurbs that last a few seconds in between the action in an FPS. I'm talking about the 30+ second scenes between levels. Challenge: Who can come up with the oldest game that used real-time rendered cut scene? Provide a link that shows the launch date of the title, or at least some anecdotal evidence that showed approximately when it launched. The winner gets...well...nothing...other than bragging rights. ;-)

Omikron used it in 1999... definitely not the first, but earlier than Serious Sam.

BTW, there's no need to go hunting for release date info. Just check MobyGames.

The Tomb Raider 2 did, oddly it also seemed to increase the resolution a notch while playing the cut scenes, and even odder was that some cut scenes (mostly those between levels) were still FMV.

Wikipedia says it was released in November '97, however I'm sure there's earlier games that I can't think of right now.

Alone in the dark 1 had a long cut scene at the beginning of the game where the player character walked a long way from the entrance of the mansion to the starting position of the game.Does that count?
Alone In The Dark(1992)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_World_(video_game) ??

Quote: Original post by zonnet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_World_(video_game) ??

Another World was 2d, albeit drawn very convincingly 3d in the cut scenes.

Quote: Original post by Black Knight
Alone in the dark 1 had a long cut scene at the beginning of the game where the player character walked a long way from the entrance of the mansion to the starting position of the game.Does that count?
Alone In The Dark(1992)

I remember that one... It does count on my part, because it's using it's own internal 3D engine...