So, to continue a topic from the PC issues forum about the use of the Gamebryo engine, a desire from one user to switch to the Unreal engine and the subsequent discussion of the firing of over half of Emergent's staff last year, I just got this post under my nose:

http://beautifulpixels.blogspot.com/2010/11/gamebryo-emergent-ip-and-assets-at.html

In other words: bye bye Gamebryo.

Of course, this does not mean that any next title in the Fallout series produced by Bethesda/Obsidian will not use Gamebryo. They already have an investment in this engine's technology, the developers know the codebase and moving to another engine could cost quite a bit to switch, not only in developer uptake, but also licenses.
On the other hand, a new engine is actively maintained and regular code drops are available. Not to mention, fully updated for current day tech.

All in all, it's interesting times...

I hope its a new engine.

Actually, during the QuakeCon a Bethesda person said they've been using the last two years improving the Gamebryo engine for their next project (strongly suspected to be TESV). So no, Gamebryo isn't going anywhere

If Gamebryo does die it will be interesting to see what happens when Bethesda is done with the engine they currently have in developement.

Funny, I was just talking about this in another thread. It's not a matter of "x-engine looks great, let's use that instead". It has a lot to do with whether it is suitable for the type of game they're designing. Not to mention trying to switch an entire dev team that has spent the last 10 (?) years working with NetImmerse/Gamebryo over to a completely different architecture would be a large and messy endeavour. Speaking from personal experience, sometimes a company can get married to the software they use if they've invested that much in it and it is what you've got a team of dozens/hundreds specializing in.

Yep, that first bit is just what http://pc.ign.com/articles/111/1112464p1.html:


As you say familiarity is also important, and in Bethesda's case I'd say so is adaptability. Gamebryo is specifically designed to be changed and expanded upon; the older versions were basically graphics engines with the rest kept as fundamental as possible so developers wouldn't have to change much existing code to get the engine to do what they wanted. This is great for Bethesda since they have very specific needs: large open world, tons of NPCs, lots of clutter.

I thought Bethesda said they were working on a new engine for TES V?

ALL I want, desperately, desperately want, is an engine that can render more than roughly 10 npcs at a time without horrific lag. Having a wasteland that's actually populated closer to what it should be would make the games so much better for me.

I am hoping that Bestheda would enter into an alliance with Bohemia Interactive Software in order to be able to use the Real Virtuality engine. V1 of that engine was used in Operation Flashpoint to achieve huge maps, usable vehicles, and quite a few AI troopers - and BIS has been improving and expanding the engine over the last decade. However, they specialize in military simulation, and thus possess a small niche market. Being able to have The Elder Scrolls or Fallout 4 to use their engine would do a lot to put a spotlight on their engine, which should lead to more games using their engine, I feel. A win-win for both parties.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFtjnIhoegU

Strange, by the way, because the current graqevine says that Bethesda's engine is id Tech though. But that would imply a continuation of 4 if they deem 5 unworthy.

Basically it boils down to a few (big) players for a viable engine:

Valve with Source
EA/DICE with Frostbite
id with id Tech
Epic with Unreal
Crytek with CryEngine
Unity Technologies with Unity

They do have access to ID tech because Zenimax owns ID. They actually have access to any technology that's under the Zenimax umbrella. You can be sure that the next title (if not multiple titles) will be using Gamebryo though, Todd Howard has already given indication they're trying to improve on that technology. I doubt they will look at a serious engine move on this generation of consoles, in which case the list of above will probably be outdated.

Let's not forget, that even if Gamebryo goes under (assuming Zenimax doesn't buy them out because they are buying everything) they still have access to the engine. They won't be forced to move any time soon.

They are working on a new engine but it's widely believed to use a new version of Gamebryo. I don't think that's been confirmed but if they aren't using id tech 5 then gamebryo seems likely.


A lot of people assumed that Bethesda would be using id tech 5 after id joined Zenimax but that was never stated or even implied.

Also I found this information http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Ausir/Gamebryo_creators_to_liquidate_assets

It will require some massive overhauls of the code base though, not to mention optimization overhauls. Gamebryo in the way they used it is last generation's tech. They need to catch up to now and possibly expand to next.



True. I wonder if the engine they're using for Rage might not be applicable for a new Fallout as well, since it would be better suited for large outdoor environments.

They should get the engine Risen is done on, or the Dunia engine (Farcry 2 ) if idTech5 doesn't support their design well enough.