Or the Dunia engine from Far Cry 2.

But anyways, I voted for Tech 5. For the sake of something new, if nothing else.

Amazing engine... wish it was being used.

So what's the final word? I gather that inefficient, sub-optimal graphics rendering is not due to the way in which the Gamebryo engine handles graphics? Is it Bethesda's fault, then? I'm not speaking purely from the standpoint of personal experience (Oblivion and Fallout 3 actually run quite well for me), but the general impression I get on these forums is that Oblivion and Fallout 3 could use a lot of improvement when it comes to rendering, loading and managing the games' graphics more efficiently.

So which is it? Gamebryo, Bethesda, a combination of the two, or none of the above?

That's one reason I'd like to see an engine switch, I have a suspicion that Gamebryo is at fault, and that a change of engine might yield more graphical bang for our buck.

Also, apparently Havok causes items to "float out of tables" or "mysteriously come loose and crash around shops"... is that just how Havok is? Is it fixable? Are there other options besides Havok?

I think it's Bethesda's "fault" in that they could devote more time and resources toward the engine, but instead they spend their time and resources on other things, such as story content, new locations, little things throughout the game world... more content, in other words.

Let's not forget that they made massive engine upgrades for Oblivion, but Fallout 3 is pretty much the same as Oblivion. In other words, they created Fallout 3 more quickly by focusing purely on content and not much on tech. What you wish they focused on is largely personal prefference I would bet (and also would possibly be rooted in console vs. PC).

I'm curious whether TES5 will be longer in development and more advanced than FO3 was over Oblivion, or if it will be another 2-3 year cycle with mostly new content.

The most recent game using Gamebryo is Divinity 2: Ego Draconis (currently out in Germany). The game looks stunning - gives me great hope for an eventual TES V.

Divine Divinity was an excellent game, and Ego Draconis looked pretty promising when I read about it a few months ago. Thanks for reminding me of it, since now there's a trailer out and a lot more information available. Supposedly it will be localized and released in the U.S. in two or three months, can't wait.

I'm not really bothered what they use as long as the content is up to scratch.

When you say that it's difficult for a consumer to differentiate between game engines, I feel that with today's physics in games, it possible to determine an engine if you've played another game that uses the same engine. Objects behave very different in Halo 3 compared to Half-Life. However, you can see the clear similarities between ragdoll behavior between Half Life and Counterstrike. From a pure visual standpoint, it's near impossible to differentiate between different engines, but you can tell the difference between the physics of one game compared to another...

Considering that they're under the same publisher now, and how I'm not that big of a fan of Gamebryo, I'm gonna have to go with Tech 5.