I was wondering if anyone knew what engine is Obsidian using for this game? Is it something they are developing from zero or is it something that's already out there? An answer would be much appreciated. Peace!

From the ground up, unless something changed.

From the ground up, unless something changed.

 

I thought i heard that they were using the Unreal 3 engine. Which i say thank god to...i'm tired of seeing companies wasting time re-inventing the wheel when it comes to the basics.

Ohh, well theres my excuse to buy a new comp.

Ohh, well theres my excuse to buy a new comp.

 

I hear you! Same here.

 

UE3 would be a great choice but maybe some deveopers can give us a hint?!

Edited November 17, 200718 yr by fastpunk

UE3 is used on obz mysterious other project. For Aliens it's their own

They should have bought CryEngine 2.

 

Oh, and they should have bought the Predator license too, while they were at it.

 

Imagine the combination of the Predator license, CryEngine 2 and talented developers..!

I'm interested in Obsidian's In house engine. It'll show their true technical ability in developing game engines unlike KOTOR2 and NWN2 which is more or less based on modified Aurora.

Which would be great if it wasn't their weakest point so far.

I think we've collectively learned a lot from the mistakes we made in developing modifying Aurora into Electron.

I think we've collectively learned a lot from the mistakes we made in developing modifying Aurora into Electron.

 

I know those are game engines, but it's a lot more cool if you pretend you're talking about a female superhero.

This is not be necessarily related with the game engine but, oddly, somehow, Doom3 demo reminds me of Alien movies most likely because of its lighting effects and suffocating corridors in maze-like dark Sci-Fi architecture. However, of course, Doom 3 is infamous of its conflict between gameplay and lighting effects. Among its contemporary games, I think Riddick is much better combination of the gameplay and atmosphere. I hope the designers would somehow manage to combine a good game play with an atmosphere created by Ridley Scott and H.R.Giger.

I think we've collectively learned a lot from the mistakes we made in developing modifying Aurora into Electron.

 

But is that technology that will provide the type of game-play experience that fans are looking for? I think you guys did a remarkable job in how you've built on previous technologies for NWN2 and KOTOR2, but neither of those games really captured the "in the moment" game-play that you've mentioned as being something you're shooting for.

 

Do you think Obsidian's best choice for technologies is to develop in-house or to take a proven technology (UR3 for example) and build on it?

Unreal Tech is used in Project Georgia, as far as I know.

 

Every good company needs a rocket-solid in-house tech/toolset. Obsidian got enough time from SEGA after all to build a new one. No Aurora clunkiness anymore.

Unreal Tech is used in Project Georgia, as far as I know.

 

Every good company needs a rocket-solid in-house tech/toolset. Obsidian got enough time from SEGA after all to build a new one. No Aurora clunkiness anymore.

i don't believe that, really. Building an in-house engine is, for the most part, a waste of dev time unless you're planning on being a tech showpiece instead of a great game (i'm looking at you Doom3!). Better to let a company who is entirely focused on making a solid engine with stable interconnectivity between various subsystems like PhysX or Havok do the heavy lifting in that dept. while you focus on art assets and game mechanics.

Unreal Tech is used in Project Georgia, as far as I know.

 

Every good company needs a rocket-solid in-house tech/toolset. Obsidian got enough time from SEGA after all to build a new one. No Aurora clunkiness anymore.

i don't believe that, really. Building an in-house engine is, for the most part, a waste of dev time unless you're planning on being a tech showpiece instead of a great game (i'm looking at you Doom3!). Better to let a company who is entirely focused on making a solid engine with stable interconnectivity between various subsystems like PhysX or Havok do the heavy lifting in that dept. while you focus on art assets and game mechanics.

But that doesn't always work so easy in practice. Modifying elements of a third party tech often makes some serious changes necessary, abolishing the advantage of having licensed the code. The only real advantage is the content tools you get in advance...still, in a good business, you should never rely 100% on third party tech only. Often it's advantageous to build your own from scratch, especially if you want to carry many iterations into the future. Also, don't forget a licensed engine like Unreal costs ~ 500k or more.

Edited November 20, 200718 yr by Morgoth

I think you haven't seen what the advantages really are. Having a core technology that is built to be user friendly and marketable is a huge thing, having a built-in knowledge bases that has already encountered and dealt with the issue you'll likely face, devoting dev time on tweaking and modifying for core features instead of basic subsystem integration, working with a known quantity as a starting point...all of these things are pretty big.

 

Plus, in house devs are looking to create a tool that works to spec, not generally one that's artist or designer friendly. Thats generally considered a luxury that the devs skip and you end up losing productivity time because it's just not easy for your design or art team to use on a daily basis, even if it does perform the tasks you need it to do.

 

still, these are just my opinions. But i fail to see the advantage of doing the in-house dev work unless you're specifically trying to A) create a tech showpiece that pushes the hardware boundaries or B) Creating a game that is so different, so unique, that nothing would fit without massive modification.

But is that technology that will provide the type of game-play experience that fans are looking for?

Yep, I'm confident of that.

They should have bought CryEngine 2.

 

Oh, and they should have bought the Predator license too, while they were at it.

 

Imagine the combination of the Predator license, CryEngine 2 and talented developers..!

 

*goes into shock*

 

Actually, isn't Cryengine 2 mostly a physics engine? Combine Unreal engine 3 shyniness and the Cryengine physics and you have infinite power.

Actually, isn't Cryengine 2 mostly a physics engine? Combine Unreal engine 3 shyniness and the Cryengine physics and you have infinite power.

Stolen from Cryteks official site:

 

CryENGINE

Source: http://www.crytek.com/technology/cryengine...ifications.html (you need to verify your age to enter)

 

CryENGINE 2 is all-included. I'm guessing it's a pretty expensive system..

Well, there was no Paypal button on their website, so it is most likely a significant amount of money. A very nice featurelist, even if a bit brief, especially regarding "rules/game mechanices". Could it handle Fantasy/Medieval settings?

 

*dreaming of a CryENGINE 2 Planescape game...*

 

Just daydreaming a bit.

I think you have to write the actual game engine yourself, based on which genres/specifications you have to work with. CryENGINE 2 is sort of a skeleton that provides a renderer, a physics engine, some pretty powerful tools and even a sound system.. but you have to write the code for your D&D rules yourself.

 

Not completely sure about how that works though.

I doubt we'll be disapointed... even if they have to write it on their own.

Edited November 29, 200718 yr by WILL THE ALMIGHTY