Times of abundance for the gaming industry?

[Sprafa]

I am quite concerned on certain facts that are occuring in the industry.

We have at least 5 engines being produced/available :
Doom 3, X-ray, Cry-Tek, Source and the the new MOH: Pacific Assault engine.

All of which claim superiority over the others.


Now, even that they are superior to one another, wouldn't it be lots cheaper to license one off someone else and improve it? That's what was happening until recently, with the Unreal Engine 2.0 being licensed as default and improved for whatever whoever was aiming at.

In the past, that was exactly what I was used at. i.e. the licensing of the Unreal and the Q2 engine did had a little time of competition, but then the Q3 engine came and took over. I don't remember such a time of "indecision" on what engine should be used.

A - Is it just a response to that, a new cycle of engines so the developers won't have to feel so limited, with internal investments for engine development so they can have their own personal engine with their personal preferences?

B - Or just a time of abundance of resources, that the devs took as an opportunity to invest into new engines ?

C - or the 2 at the same time ?

 

[Dedalus]

i have no idea what you're asking

 

[Cybernoid]

Nothing has changed. Some people make engines, others license them.

 

[DarkStar]

i have no idea what you're asking

Yeah, this has got to be the most confusing poll of all time. Its so confusing I'm not going to vote in it because I would have no idea what I'm voting for.

 

[Foxtrot]

Apple....oh wait...orange....orange for sure.

 

[DarkStar]

Apple....oh wait...orange....orange for sure.

ROFL! Funny, funny.

 

[crabcakes66]

where is the "WTF!!!" option......


Im as lost as everyone else.....

 

[CrazyHarij]

erm... Pie

 

[Sprafa]

Am I confusing?

I've been charged twice of mass confusion, thou at least 10 ppl understood this poll.

 

[Sprafa]

Let me put it this way -

A - Ppl were tired of licensing and needed a new engine, so they made their own engines like they wanted to.


B- so much money getting into Valve, ID, EA, etc. that they decided to see it as an oppurtunity to invest into a new graphic platform (new engines for the future).

C - Both things at the same time

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

I think that its a combination. We are at a point now where engines, although time consuming to build, are still possible to do so in house while creating a game. The abundance of money is a factor for a few developers as well. However, as game engines become more complex, developers will need to have a lot of money to afford the time and work force that will be required to build both a game and engine at the same time.

 

[crabcakes66]

oops....i voted for b when i meant c....


I think its both..... They are tired of being limited by other engines....and they have the capital to do something about it.

 

[ray_MAN]

It's both. I understood the first post fine. Oh well, it's just a cycle starting all over again.
The most used engines will be Doom 3, Source, and X-Ray. Then, 2006 will come along and Unreal 3.0 and some other engine will take over. It's a cycle. This is the high-point.

 

[Razor]

The poster is asking if it is better to have numerous graphics engines from lots of different developers or whether one big one is better, why are there so many different engines now when, through the past 10 years, there have only been 2 or 3 big ones.