James Teeple Art and Design: Game Engines

A game engine doesn't just determine how awesome a game will look, it is merely the canvas which everything else is applied to. A good game engine doesn't create a good game, but it gives developers the tools to construct masterpieces if used correctly.

Current game engines - (I've used)

Cry engine 3 - Technically Cry engine 3 is a next gen engine, It boasts some pretty crazy capability and if you took a look at "Crysis 3" on full graphics, like I did when the beta was released, you would have seen its pretty... well pretty. With the release of "Crysis 3" for PC, Crytek are following their footsteps back in 2007 when they released "Crysis" and inadvertently created a new benchmark for PC systems for many years. From my experience with using this engine, I can say it does feel much more user friendly when compared to UE3. I particularly like the real time lighting controls and the ability to edit everything on the fly. Although it seems pretty untrustworthy and the crashed make me want to pull my eyes out.
I'm feeling in a mood for tech demo's today, so lets go for it.

Unreal Engine 3 - I haven't ad a lot of experience using UDK yet, I really only touched it when doing out Blitz building project. It definitely wins one over cry engine with its non requirement to be connected to the internet...
I was a huge fan of Unreal 3's first console release "Gears of war" back in 2005. I remember that game feeling groundbreaking, and like nothing else I'd ever played. which was true, not much came before Gears that was quite like it.
Looking back at it, its still a gorgeous game.
I found a tech demo of Unreal Engine 3 from 2007, it actually surprised me what it could achieve even then! I don't believe Ive seen a single game actually make use of all its features fully. Realy echo'ing that quote above.

Since then, more games than I care to count have been created using its development kit, and I tried to count them... Anyway, this Demo from back in 2011 just goes to show what the Unreal Engine 3 was and is still capable of.

Since I've been thinking about what engine I would like to focus my time learning, I wanted to find a quality comparison of just what kinds of differences there are between what cry engine 3 can provide, compared to the and arguably more seasoned and explored Unreal engine 3
I found this good comparison video that demo's a an identical level in both engines.
It wont show here, so here is a link to it on youtube for those interested.

Next Gen Game Engines -

It seem that most class A game studios are upping their game and keeping up with the fast approaching super HD future that will be, gext generation console gaming, and improvements on the already industry leading standards set by PC gaming.

Fox Engine - I never played and of the metal gear games if I'm honest. But from looking at them, I can appreciate their caliber. With this new fox engine, I'm sure they amongst those who lead the way pushing graphical innovations.

Unreal Engine 4 - Ok, so this engine is made by Epic studios and no wonder... its freaking epic. I love the choice of theme for this tech demo, scream my kind of thing. I cant wait to see what games are made using this beast, and especially what kinds of RPG's will be able to come alive in this game engine. Also, Im really hoping that they will release the UDK 4 soon so us newbies can start paddling in its magical waters... Having said that, The UDK we have now for UE3 is "technically" next gen already. I read on the UDk forums and many agree that current gen consoles simply cannot run a top end UE3 game, because it harnesses displacement, subsurface scattering etc.

Luminous Engine - Square Inix next gen game engine called the Luminous engine, just looks incredible. Its really closing the divide between pre rendered cinematic visuals and in game graphics. I would say its on par with what I've seen so far from Unreal Engine 4, though I have a feeling Ill be playing a lot more games built on UE4.

Dream Engine - Created by a Bulgarian company called "Viya", haven't heard much about it but the video below showcases it and it does look stunning.

AnvilNEXT - The engine that powers the assassins creed franchise. It was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and now is bringing us a new game announced at E3 2012 "Watchdogs". Looks like we are to see a good showcase of this engines potential.

Frostbite 2 - Developed by DICE, the folks who brought us Battlefield 3 etc. Looks cool, though I can seem to find too much on it that interests me.

I only wish more developers would release there engine development kits for free non commercial use, like Epics games did and Crytek. However, im sure each engine is as different from eachother as Cry Engine 3 is from Unreal Engine 3, which might be a bit too much for us to handle. I for one strougle to find enough resources out there to tackle Cry Engine, mostly because its still quite new

Next gen Game engines compilation video