Gaming History Quiz: What was the first expansion pack/free DLC/paid DLC ever released?

[commie]

2) Populous The Promised Lands 1989, Harpoon Battleset 1989 Their Finest Missions 1989

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't those mission packs that don't change anything in the original games?

Well they add missions for the original locations in the case of TFM, new pilots(horse armor) and new missions (akin to 'quests') and Harpoon got new weapons systems and a database update for the original game in addition to an entirely new area of battle(which would put it in several categories). Unkillable is mostly correct, but there were notable changes to platform performance in original scenarios as a result of updated statistics. Sure it would make it a glorified patch, but there it is. New scenarios were also with Populous, but the tilesets were also added to the original game free play mode so they count. Again this addon could be in several categories.


Oh and what do you count cover disks as? Populous the Final Frontier was an addon released with a magazine in 1989 and it could be counted as FREE dlc as a separate campaign as it offered a single new area with 500 levels. So it could be under (3). Depends on whether you count buying the magazine as paying for the addon, or whether the fact that any other thing could have been on the cover or nothing at all and the price would have been the same could technically make it 'FREE'.

 

[Infinitron]

2) Populous The Promised Lands 1989, Harpoon Battleset 1989 Their Finest Missions 1989

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't those mission packs that don't change anything in the original games?

Well they add missions for the original locations in the case of TFM, new pilots(horse armor) and new missions (akin to 'quests') and Harpoon got new weapons systems and a database update for the original game in addition to an entirely new area of battle(which would put it in several categories). Unkillable is mostly correct, but there were notable changes to platform performance in original scenarios as a result of updated statistics. Sure it would make it a glorified patch, but there it is. New scenarios were also with Populous, but the tilesets were also added to the original game free play mode so they count. Again this addon could be in several categories.

Ah I see, cool. Do you have any idea which of those three came first?

Oh and what do you count cover disks as? Populous the Final Frontier was an addon released with a magazine in 1989 and it could be counted as FREE dlc as a separate campaign as it offered a single new area with 500 levels. So it could be under (3). Depends on whether you count buying the magazine as paying for the addon, or whether the fact that any other thing could have been on the cover or nothing at all and the price would have been the same could technically make it 'FREE'.

Was that released only via magazine? Or was it also available in stores?

Regardless, I would consider it an expansion pack, not a DLC. Let's restrict the definition of DLC to something that you actually had to download, with no physical media.

 

[commie]

2) Populous The Promised Lands 1989, Harpoon Battleset 1989 Their Finest Missions 1989

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't those mission packs that don't change anything in the original games?

Well they add missions for the original locations in the case of TFM, new pilots(horse armor) and new missions (akin to 'quests') and Harpoon got new weapons systems and a database update for the original game in addition to an entirely new area of battle(which would put it in several categories). Unkillable is mostly correct, but there were notable changes to platform performance in original scenarios as a result of updated statistics. Sure it would make it a glorified patch, but there it is. New scenarios were also with Populous, but the tilesets were also added to the original game free play mode so they count. Again this addon could be in several categories.

Ah I see, cool. Do you have any idea which of those three came first?

Oh and what do you count cover disks as? Populous the Final Frontier was an addon released with a magazine in 1989 and it could be counted as FREE dlc as a separate campaign as it offered a single new area with 500 levels. So it could be under (3). Depends on whether you count buying the magazine as paying for the addon, or whether the fact that any other thing could have been on the cover or nothing at all and the price would have been the same could technically make it 'FREE'.

Was that released only via magazine? Or was it also available in stores?

Regardless, I would consider it an expansion pack, not a DLC. Let's restrict the definition of DLC to something that you actually had to download, with no physical media.

Well then count it under category 2 or even 1 then. It was not available as a retail addon, just one exclusively for the magazine. There were quite a few releases like that in those times and the Amiga led the way.

As for which of those original three I mentioned came first, well it's hazy. All were released pretty close to each other and certain regions got one before the other. In those times it was still quite amateurish on the whole. Hell, how else could the Lost Vale just get 'lost' when completed?

 

[Infinitron]

Well then count it under category 2 or even 1 then. It was not available as a retail addon, just one exclusively for the magazine. There were quite a few releases like that in those times and the Amiga led the way.

As for which of those original three I mentioned came first, well it's hazy. All were released pretty close to each other and certain regions got one before the other. In those times it was still quite amateurish on the whole. Hell, how else could the Lost Vale just get 'lost' when completed?

Indeed. I'll put those three in OP, then. I think we can assume that The Final Frontier came out AFTER The Promised Lands, though.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Their Finest Hour was released in October 1989. Since expansion packs tend NOT to be released before the main product, we'll assume that October is the release date of Their Finest Missions.

Populous was released on June 5th, 1989. No date found on the expansion pack so far.

Harpoon has a shaky date of Dec 17th, 1989.

If the above dates are correct, then Populous seems to be the first one out the door. But I'm digging through old gaming mags to see if I can't find anything that helps shed further light on this. Nothing so far, but I found something unrelated which I think should be brought to the attention of the Codex:

In a startling move that shocked the nation to its foundations, Interplay have split from their mother company Electronic Arts US to become a software company in their own right. The company, originally a programming team with all their work marketed by EA, have now deigned themselves worthy enough to their own slice of the market. Interplay, the team responsible for the Bard's Tale series, Wasteland and more recently Battlechess, will still continue to be distributed by EA over here [Europe]. Brian Fargo, producer, designer, and general man-at-the-top, slammed any rumours that the team were to be releasing a Wasteland 2 or Bard's Tale 4. "We are now in competition with EA. Wasteland and BT are EA products. If we were to bring out sequels, then we're just giving games to our rivals."

"However, we do have two new products coming out in early '89. One is being programmed by the same team that did BT, and the other is being done by the same team that did Wasteland. Titles are to be announced, and I'm not telling anything just yet, but they are looking quite good."

This is followed by a plug for a preview of Neuromancer.

 

[Infinitron]

I don't think EA was ever Interplay's "mother company". They published their games, that's all.

Their Finest Hour was released in October 1989. Since expansion packs tend NOT to be released before the main product, we'll assume that October is the release date of Their Finest Missions.

Populous was released on June 5th, 1989. No date found on the expansion pack so far.

Harpoon has a shaky date of Dec 17th, 1989.

If the above dates are correct, then Populous seems to be the first one out the door. But I'm digging through old gaming mags to see if I can't find anything that helps shed further light on this.

Great.

 

[Zarniwoop]

How about Counter-Strike as the first free DLC that was a separate campaign? (even though it wasn't really a campaign, being multiplayer and all). It started as a mod, sure, but Valve bought them in 2000 and released CS as an official "DLC" of sorts. Only much later did they begin charging for it and release it on a disc.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Aaannd... we have a problem. A fourth contender, which I should have thought of right away: Falcon.

The original was released in 1984 on the MSX, but our focus is on the 16-bit versions, which were released in late 1988 (Atari ST) and early 1989 (Amiga). Falcon had two mission packs released for it and the first one, Operation Counterstrike, was released in 1989. The MobyGames webpage mentions a review by The One in June of 1989, and even summarizes the new contents of the expansion pack:

NEW FEATURES:

• Twelve different missions (designed for successive play to accomplish one major campaign)
• Four moving enemy vehicles (tanks, trains, amphibious landing craft and trucks)
• Static targets (power station, oil refinery, factory and bridges)
• Secondary explosions
• Enemy MiG-29's
• New terrain

 

[Infinitron]

How about Counter-Strike as the first free DLC that was a separate campaign? (even though it wasn't really a campaign, being multiplayer and all). It started as a mod, sure, but Valve bought them in 2000 and released CS as an official "DLC" of sorts. Only much later did they begin charging for it and release it on a disc.

Wasn't it standalone when it was released by Valve?

Aaannd... we have a problem. A fourth contender, which I should have thought of right away: Falcon.

The original was released in 1984 on the MSX, but our focus is on the 16-bit versions, which were released in late 1988 (Atari ST) and early 1989 (Amiga). Falcon had two mission packs released for it and the first one, Operation Counterstrike, was released in 1989. The MobyGames webpage mentions a review by The One in June of 1989, and even summarizes the new contents of the expansion pack:

NEW FEATURES:

• Twelve different missions (designed for successive play to accomplish one major campaign)
• Four moving enemy vehicles (tanks, trains, amphibious landing craft and trucks)
• Static targets (power station, oil refinery, factory and bridges)
• Secondary explosions
• Enemy MiG-29's
• New terrain

I see. A problem with a lot of these old "mission pack"-type expansions is that's it not immediately clear if they were actually proper expansion packs or just standalone games using the same engine. Need to do some Googling to be absolutely sure.

Also, it's not clear from this whether it altered anything in the original game.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Wasn't it standalone when it was released by Valve?

Not always, as far as I remember. Just looking for some backup now. The closest I can find is this: http://internetgames.about.com/library/weekly/aa011303a.htm referring to a standalone version being "in the works". Mobygames gives the release date of the pack that included CS and Opposing Force as 9 November 2000, but by then it wouldn't have been free anymore.

Edit: Found this:

A few betas later, on the 12th of April, 2000, Valve announced that they would be teaming up directly with the Counter-Strike team, and that they would include the full 1.0 version of Counter-Strike as a part of Half-Life itself (at the time, Valve was as keen on creating post-release content updates for Half-Life as they are now with Team Fortress 2).

Later, on the 8th of November, Counter-Strike 1.0 was finally released as a full standalone retail game package: “Half-Life: Counter-Strike” (this package included other community Half-Life mods like Absolute Redemption; Wanted; and Firearms). However, it remained downloadable as a free mod for Half-Life – plans for its inclusion in Half-Life had apparently changed since April, although Counter-Strike would also appear in numerous Half-Life anthologies and game bundles released by Valve and Sierra Entertainment (Half-Life’s publisher) during that period.

Linky: http://lambdageneration.com/posts/a-history-of-counter-strike/

 

[Infinitron]

Wasn't it standalone when it was released by Valve?

Not always, as far as I remember. Just looking for some backup now. The closest I can find is this: http://internetgames.about.com/library/weekly/aa011303a.htm referring to a standalone version being "in the works". Mobygames gives the release date of the pack that included CS and Opposing Force as 9 November 2000, but by then it wouldn't have been free anymore.

Well, according to MobyGames:

Half-Life: Counter-Strike is a stand-alone package containing a collection of multiplayer Half-Life mods.

Things can get a bit murky here - did the original mod become official free DLC as soon as it was adopted by Valve? Or was only the version sold in the box official?

Honestly, since this is a pure multiplayer game I'd prefer to just ignore it. Not really what I had in mind.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Found that The One review of the Falcon mission pack. Everything smells of the new content being confined to the new campaign, so it adds nothing new to the original game.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Wasn't it standalone when it was released by Valve?

Not always, as far as I remember. Just looking for some backup now. The closest I can find is this: http://internetgames.about.com/library/weekly/aa011303a.htm referring to a standalone version being "in the works". Mobygames gives the release date of the pack that included CS and Opposing Force as 9 November 2000, but by then it wouldn't have been free anymore.

Well, according to MobyGames:

Half-Life: Counter-Strike is a stand-alone package containing a collection of multiplayer Half-Life mods.

Yes, that's specifically the boxed version that includes Opposing Force as well. See my edit above. Between April and November, Valve included CS into Half-Life. Mobygames seems to be lacking here, they don't even mention the Steam version which came out later and definitely doesn't include OpFor.

 

[Infinitron]

Zarniwoop
Yeah, I didn't see your edit. Again, kind of a quandary for me since a multiplayer mod isn't what I had in mind when I said "new campaign".

 

[Infinitron]

Wait a second - I think Team Fortress Classic is older than CS. That also started as a mod, didn't it?

 

[Zarniwoop]

Wait a second - I think Team Fortress Classic is older than CS. That also started as a mod.

Well yes, the first Team Fortress was a mod for Quake. But that's also multiplayer only.

 

[Infinitron]

Wait a second - I think Team Fortress Classic is older than CS. That also started as a mod.

Well yes, the first Team Fortress was for Quake. But that's also multiplayer only.

Nah, I mean TFC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Fortress_Classic

Team Fortress Classic was originally released for Windows on April 7, 1999 as a modification to Half-Life.[3] A standalone version was later released with Valve's Steam system in 2003.

The original Team Fortress was never made official by id or anybody AFAIK

 

[Zarniwoop]

Nah, I mean TFC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Fortress_Classic



The original Team Fortress was never made official by id or anybody AFAIK

I know what you meant. The first TF was a mod by 3rd parties for Quake, so a community mod not a DLC or expansion. Valve then made TFC as a first-party DLC for Half-life later, but again, it's multiplayer only just like CS.

 

[Infinitron]

TFC was an official Valve project from the beginning, even as a free mod.

I think I'll add official multiplayer mods as borderline category 3, same way I did for Wizardry II in category 1.

 

[commie]

For (3) DaveO should be credited with bringing up Wing Commander Secret ops. It was a free campaign for Wing Commander Prophecy and was a free download(also released in part on coverdisks and by the end as a full set). I clearly remember struggling to download each part on a 33.6k modem. It being called and 'expansion pack' on Wiki has no relevance as the terminology 'DLC' wasn't created back then to describe that it was effectively free 'downloadable content'. It clearly fits the category more than Team Fortress.

 

[Infinitron]

For (3) DaveO should be credited with bringing up Wing Commander Secret ops. It was a free campaign for Wing Commander Prophecy and was a free download(also released in part on coverdisks and by the end as a full set). I clearly remember struggling to download each part on a 33.6k modem. It being called and 'expansion pack' on Wiki has no relevance as the terminology 'DLC' wasn't created back then to describe that it was effectively free 'downloadable content'. It clearly fits the category more than Team Fortress.

But it was actually standalone - a free game, not an expansion pack OR a DLC.

 

[commie]

For (3) DaveO should be credited with bringing up Wing Commander Secret ops. It was a free campaign for Wing Commander Prophecy and was a free download(also released in part on coverdisks and by the end as a full set). I clearly remember struggling to download each part on a 33.6k modem. It being called and 'expansion pack' on Wiki has no relevance as the terminology 'DLC' wasn't created back then to describe that it was effectively free 'downloadable content'. It clearly fits the category more than Team Fortress.

But it was actually standalone - a free game, not an expansion pack OR a DLC.

Even if it was a standalone, it still was an 'expansion pack'(DLC?) as it eventually was released as part of Wing Commander Prophecy Gold. It continued the story of Wing commander Prophecy. Maybe it would fit better in category 1 then, but of course it would be far too 'young' to lead there. Half-Life Blue Shift is classified as an expansion pack yet doesn't require the original either.

You've only got yourself to blame bro with your confusing categories that often merge into each other.

 

[Zarniwoop]

You can go back in time as much as you want for historical and curiosity purposes, but it would be ridiculous to claim that, say, that Wiz 2 expansion is the grandfather of today's DLCs or anything remotely like that. Everyone knows what effectively started and inspired the current model: The Sims. It may even be the game that also started the casual trend.

True dat. At least as far as expansions go. Expansion packs have been around for ages as this thread shows, but The Sims (or was it 2), was the first one to leave out content on purpose, sell it as eleventy billion expansion packs, and make so much jewgoldz that it started a trend.

Casual games? Meh. They've been around for ever. People have been wasting hours on Solitaire and Minederper long before The Sims existed.

 

[Infinitron]

You can go back in time as much as you want for historical and curiosity purposes

Yeah, that's what this thread is about. I'm not pointing any fingers here.

 

[JudasIscariot]

edit: removed a very stupid question.