Is This Really Possible? : V - Skyrim

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:19 pm

When "update" is big enough and parts are re written completely it is technically a new engine. I'm not saying that a lot of work was not put in to it, but it has to may similar visual features not to be heavily based on Oblivion's programming.

Bethesda has made it pretty clear that this engine is from scratch. This isn't Gamebryo.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 10:18 pm

So they built a brand new engine and a massive new entry in the elder scrolls since oblivion and they also developed fallout 3? How is that even possible. That's a massive undertaking. Creating a new elder scrolls is a big enough project but simultaneously developing a new engine and then having to create a massive game like elder scrolls as your very first game on that engine!?!? How? How could they even begin to develop the game when they couldn't be exactly sure what the new engine would be capable of? Not to mention they developed fallout 3 all the while!

The development teams that built the game engine and the team that developed Fallout 3 aren't the same team. A team of mostly artists developed Fo3 while a team composed mostly of programmers developed an engine. When the engine was finished, the artists took over. In fact it's entirely possible that this engine has been in development since Oblivion was released, if not before.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:54 pm

Bethesda has made it pretty clear that this engine is from scratch. This isn't Gamebryo.

Just because it's not Gamebryo doesn't automatically mean it built from scratch. Do you even know what middleware is? Bethesda didn't design their AI, or their Phsyics or their weather effects. They licensed someone else's components and assembled them into an engine. And just to be clear, they have done this before because Gamebryo is not an engine it's a kit, a collection of middleware that must be assembled into an engine.

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 3:28 am

I really like how people can guess a game engine from screenshots.

http://i52.tinypic.com/33kau0i.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f386/vtastek/morrowind/Morrowind2009/sc04/Morrowind-MGE-Crysis.jpg

http://level-design.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/level_haze2.jpg

http://level-design.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/level_deathrow2.jpg

http://level-design.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/level_dmworm2.jpg

You can recognize them from assets. Which shows a particular art design/style. But you can be mistaken because assets can be loaded with different engines or same artist may work on various engines. It is better to recognize them from engine capabilities but in this era, all engines have very similar capabilities and they can all fake a moment in a screenshot in one way or another. There are really few games which can do others cannot and that's always changing.

PS.

Spoiler

All engine names are lies.

Spoiler

Morrowind
Morrowind
Unreal
Source
Unreal

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:05 pm

If you consider developing skyrim nothing then yes.

I think you misunderstood my context. From our point of view they were doing nothing. They spoke nothing of their games to be announced so it appeared as if they did nothing.

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 3:48 am

With id on the payroll, I wouldn't call any kind of massive technological advancements miraculous, more like par for the course.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:42 pm

I don't know.. Bioware is mkaing, Mass effect 3, Dragon age 2 AND the most expensive game of all, at the same time.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:09 pm

Well heres this

A) The team has expanded to over 100+ which is a lot of time
B) It went into production after FO3 which was a couple years back
C) The engine is built specifically to what they want when its brand new. Just like for Halo Reach they scrapped it and built from the ground up to what they wanted. So its them what limits what the engine can do
D) Skyrim according to Todd has been undergoing since Oblivion