Piggybacking

[KBAegis]

So I've been wondering why no one has done this:

1) Develop a successful game engine (example: homeworld 2)

Sell the game, turn a profit.

 

THEN, instead of making a sequel or an expansion pack with the same engine,

2) Develop an integratable flightsim engine (example: freespace 2)

Sell the expansion, turn a profit.

 

3) Then release additional content for the two, or even eventually make a first person shooter engine to incorperate into the engine. (example: unreal tournament 2004)

 

 

So far I've only seen this done one way: badly. The very few companies I've seen attempt something like this always fail because they either A) try to release all three engines at the same time, doing all three poorly, or B) develop the engine without making any content, and not ending up selling the engines.

 

I've always thought it would be awesome actually being able to select your loadout manually and actually jump into your ****pit before launching and dogfighting. Or better yet, be able to fight off some enemies with guns outside the command deck, and then turn back around and focus on directing your ships/troops on a holographic interface.

 

WHY HAS THIS NOT BEEN DONE!?

 

I was actually more curious as to what the developers here t obsidian had to say regarding this.

 

Oh yeah, and just out of curiosity, you guys are amazing. Why the hell haven't you started your own franchises? I mean, KotOR II? NWN 2? I'm not criticizing the way you do business or anything, but I am curious.

[KOTORFans]

Games that require another to work? I think another reason for its success is the price. I see it doubtful that someone will pay the full price for 3 games at the same time, because the target audience will be kids still at school, and without the extra

[metadigital]

VALVe is doing something similar presently, with Half-Life 2. They have made no secret of their plans to sit back and make some content to stretch the engine's ranges. (And the HAVOK physics engine is an example of another component that has been interfaced into their FPS engine.)

 

You might see the VALVe team add a tactical engine, or a flight sim (doubtful, but possible), after all Heroes of Might & Magic is an RPG using VALVe.

[BattleCookiee]

Lol.

 

That would be called Source engine

 

And it is done already... RPG's, FPS', RTS' etc. are all being made with UE3 engine. Ofcourse it is not done by Epic themselves, but they made THE engine almost half the game creators use to make games at the moment (including OE).

 

And also remember it is alot easier to buy and alter an engine than to write one from scratch...

[KBAegis]

Gah! I refuse to play any game associated with Steam. The idea of a producer being able to invalidate your purchased copy of a game, or the idea of disabling the single player campaign if you don't have internet access is the worst idea ever, and the gamers endorsing that market are morons. Mabye it's time for me to switch to Linux.

 

Anywho, yes I've seen a few of these engines streched to their limits. Warcraft 3 had a few mods that led to the development of WoW, and Unreal 2004 had flyable vehicles you could consider 'fightsimesque' if you have no tastes, but I'm not talking about engines that can be broken and used as half-assed versions and variants. I'm talking about dedicated engines. I'm also, more importantly, talking about genre integration. If you could have a game that connected the plots from homeworld 2, freespace 2, and Half-Life to build a coherent universe, would you buy it in three or four separate installments?

 

Also, it's kind of missing my point by focusing on the price. The installments would each have their own gameplay and consequently their own risk-factors and revenues. Then you release another game that uses the engines from each of these games to build a coherent world instead of just a gameplay experience.

[BattleCookiee]

So you actually ask a GTA type of solution. 3 storylines with the same engine who all weave into each other and make you feel part of one long campaign?

[metadigital]

Gah!  I refuse to play any game associated with Steam.  The idea of a producer being able to invalidate your purchased copy of a game, or the idea of disabling the single player campaign if you don't have internet access is the worst idea ever, and the gamers endorsing that market are morons.  Mabye it's time for me to switch to Linux. 

 

Anywho, yes I've seen a few of these engines streched to their limits.  Warcraft 3 had a few mods that led to the development of WoW, and Unreal 2004 had flyable vehicles you could consider 'fightsimesque' if you have no tastes, but I'm not talking about engines that can be broken and used as half-assed versions and variants.  I'm talking about dedicated engines.  I'm also, more importantly, talking about genre integration.  If you could have a game that connected the plots from homeworld 2, freespace 2, and Half-Life to build a coherent universe, would you buy it in three or four separate installments? 

 

Also, it's kind of missing my point by focusing on the price.  The installments would each have their own gameplay and consequently their own risk-factors and revenues.  Then you release another game that uses the engines from each of these games to build a coherent world instead of just a gameplay experience.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And good luck with that!

[KBAegis]

So you actually ask a GTA type of solution. 3 storylines with the same engine who all weave into each other and make you feel part of one long campaign?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

no. same engine? What?

[BattleCookiee]

What?

 

I can ask the same question to you...

[Weiser_Cain]

What game is Obsidian using the unreal 3 engine for?

[BattleCookiee]

What game is Obsidian using the unreal 3 engine for?

 

PNJ

[KBAegis]

What?

 

I can ask the same question to you...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I was under the impression that a 'dedicated engine' for each game would mean something other than a single engine running all three genres. I don't mean to be rude, but did you read what I typed?

[BattleCookiee]

I was under the impression that a 'dedicated engine' for each game would mean something other than a single engine running all three genres.  I don't mean to be rude, but did you read what I typed?

 

Yes. But I still have NO idea where you are heading too. That is also the reason for the "?" in the end...

 

And 1 engine running 3 genres. Ever heard of Unreal Engine 3 (RTS, FPS, RPG and more...)?