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Mirror's Edge reflects on Unreal Engine 3
click to embiggen Although they have an in-house engine for the Battlefield series (Frostbite), EA DICE has gone with Epic's mega-popular Unreal Engine 3 for the Parkour-inspired Mirror's Edge. According to the development team (via Electronic Arts PR), the reason was that the Mirror's Edge project began early on in Frostbite's development, so they decided to use the more-developed Unreal technology instead.DICE is also developing "a new lighting solution that truly makes Mirror's Edge stand-out visually." If you haven't had a chance to check out the trailer, do so now. Full statement after the break.%Gallery-17126%
UT3 on Xbox 360 adds five 'exclusive' maps
There's still no release date for Unreal Tournament 3 on Xbox 360, but there are some details now on what makes the 360's iteration different from PC and PS3. IGN reports that the Xbox 360 version of UT3 will have five new "exclusive" maps, two new characters and includes two-player splitscreen. It will also contain the free maps available as DLC for the PS3 and PC versions of the game.Jeff Morris, senior producer at Epic, tells the site he believes UT3 will be a reprieve for those with "tactical shooter fatigue." He stands by the game being an "unabashedly twitch" title. We're expecting more details (maybe even a release date) on the Xbox 360 version of UT3 sometime tomorrow.
Unreal Tournament III gets price drop: to be $40 everywhere
For one reason or another, Epic's PS3-early Unreal Tournament III never found the success of its previous titles, like Gears of War. Midway is giving the multiplayer FPS another chance at retail, with a rather significant price drop. Originally $60, the game is now a mere $40 new at game retailers, such as amazon.com and GameStop.With a recently released free map pack and a growing collection of user-generated mods, there's never been a better time to jump into the UT community. Hopefully, this price drop will give the game the attention it never received at launch.[Via GT Forums]
Bluehole joins vast ranks of Unreal-using devs
A new Korean development studio called Bluehole announced this week that it has licensed Epic's Unreal Engine 3 for its "flagship" MMO project, which is codenamed Project S1. The studio just started up last year, and is composed of "key members from some of the leading development and management teams in Korea." Specific, that!Project S1 is being developed for the PC, and according to a statement by Epic's Jay Wilbur, its team has "plans to reinvent MMO design and battle system mechanics." Sounds promising, but it's awfully soon to tell. We're looking forward to hearing more about this project in the months to come.Bluehole joins fellow Koreans NCsoft and Webzen, along with seemingly countless other studios like Cheyenne Mountain and 38 Studios in using the prolific and popular Unreal engine.
NCSoft licenses Unreal Engine 3 for two MMOs
Mo' MMO news now, with Guild Wars publisher NCSoft announcing its licensing of Epic's Unreal Engine 3 for use in two upcoming, still unannounced massively multiplayer titles. The company previously incorporated Unreal technology into Lineage II and giant-mech shooter, Exteel. Much like the rest of us, it seems the folks at NCSoft simply can't resist a well structured rendering pipeline. "Unreal Engine 3 has a well structured rendering pipeline, and its graphical quality is superb thanks to advanced lighting and shadowing systems," said Young-muk Choi, lead programmer for NCsoft's Development Unit. "Tools within the Unreal Editor empower us to instantly produce and optimize our outputs, and we especially love how the engine enables designers to easily prototype concepts without the need for programming." Jay Wilbur, VP of Epic Games, returned the press release back patting by saying, "We expect to be completely wowed by what they do with our latest technology." So do we, Mr. Wilbur. In fact, it'll take a lot to wow the millions who've already been thoroughly WoW'ed.
Master Chief, Locust and Marcus ... meet UT3
The Unreal Tournament 3 character modding community is alive, kicking and has a bad case of Xbox 360 envy. So much envy that UT3 community modeler Organ decided to create Master Chief, Locust Horde and Marcus Fenix character mods. And did we mention all the models are teh hawtness? Just take a look at Master Chief above and try to convince us that he wouldn't be your character of choice. Oddly enough, if Epic were to include these models in the "maybe some day" release of UT3 on the 360 we may totally forget about playing custom maps and be happy with these models. Click towards the break to watch a video of the Master Chief model and head towards the jump to check out Mr. Fenix and a Locust Drone. Commence salivating.[Via PS3 Fanboy, Thanks Chris]
Bourne Conspiracy devs lament PS3's Unreal Engine problems
High Moon, the developers behind the upcoming book-gone-movie-gone-game title, The Bourne Conspiracy, is on the ever-growing list of teams struggling with the Unreal Engine and PS3. Their VP, Paul O'Connor, spoke to Gamasutra about PS3 and how the Unreal Engine was working out for them on the platform. He admitted: "We needed a lot of support on Unreal to make it run on the PlayStation 3. We got caught in the same crunch as everybody else when [Epic] finalized Gears Of War, so that definitely slowed down the PS3 support at the time."It's not all bad news, as he goes on to praise what the team has managed to do with the PS3 and says the game is about ready to go through the pipeline. High Moon had to use a lot of their own toolset, though, saying while the Unreal Engine 3 is a great toolset, for the PS3, they needed to bring out their own stuff as well. This problem has been plaguing many Unreal developers, and is at the root of a lawsuit brought on by Too Human developer, Silicon Knights.
Huxley breaks radio silence
As we noted when we named PlanetSide our #3 Sci-Fi MMO to date, it's good to see the "MMO" try on some new (i.e., non-RPG) clothes now and again. That's why we've been keeping a close eye on Webzen's MMOFPS Huxley. Updates on Huxley have been coming in a trickle in recent months. Videos have been released now and again, and we knew it was in closed beta, but Webzen hasn't said much to the public lately. Good news: the silence was broken by an article at IGN the other day!The basic info is all there: two persistent cities supporting up to 5,000 players in a post-apocalyptic Earth setting, instanced battles with hundreds of players, and differences between the PC and XBox 360 versions of the game. There are also several new screenshots and videos. The game looks a lot like Unreal Tournament 3. Not a surprise, since it's a first-person-shooter running on Unreal Engine 3.According to the article, the PC version of Huxley will launch States-side before year's end, with the 360 version following about six months later.[Via XBox 360 Fanboy]
Schilling's 38 Studios chooses Unreal
Add yet another developer to the Unreal roster. Curt Schilling's 38 Studios has announced (via GameDaily) that it has licensed Epic's Unreal Engine 3 for its MMO project Copernicus. The studio also recently licensed BigWorld's MMO dev tools. Of course, given the tentative 2010 release, we don't expect to see any thing from the game for a at least another year. For now, all we've really got to think about is how the Mova facial technology would beautify the legendary baseball pitcher's avatar.
Unreal Tournament III gets PS3 user-created LEGO mod
Love playing Unreal Tournament 3? Love LEGOs? Then you're going to be thrilled by this bit of news. A talented gamer has created a LEGO-inspired UT3 mod for the PS3 version of the multi-platform shooter.The coolest part of this mod has got to be watching the LEGO blocks break apart when you fire at them. It would've been equally fun to have the ability to build stuff back up, but that would probably distract players from killing each other like they're suppose to.Hit the jump for another video clip or, if you're already planning on getting this mod for yourself, you can download it here. Make sure you thank the creator, too!
A post about Gears of War 2 box art
Since Gears of War 2's brief GDC teaser offered very little in the way of new information (you know, aside from the confirmed return of chainsaws and vast amounts of testosterone), we now have to resort to box art analysis. Though the art from Microsoft's press site is labeled as "temporary," it should be more than adequate to fuel your imaginary trip to the store to pick it up.You'll also have to imagine yourself mulling over paying $60 or $70 -- as you'll see in the gallery, the Limited Edition seems very much inevitable.%Gallery-16567%
GDC08: GoW2's water is going to be freakin' hot! [update]
Update: Thanks to zizzy, we've posted a better, lengthier video showcasing Epic's entire presentation. And not only does the water look hotter than ever, but the Unreal Engine's new destructible environments, beefed up lighting, high density crowds and cube of meat are equally as hot. Man, will GoW2 benefit from destructible enivornments ... simply amazing!Today, Epic Games showed off the latest build of their hella popular Unreal Engine 3, showcasing the engine's latest additions and enhancements. Their tech demo video complete tech demo video (embedded above) is a real-time, in engine demo of the Unreal Engine's latest feature, Dynamic Fluid Surfaces. And we'll be the first to jump on the Dynamic Fluid Surfaces bandwagon, because this water is HOT! Hot in an "omg that's amazingly hot" kind of way. Even better is the fact that Mr. Marcus Fenix is used to demo the new water effect which pretty much means that A) we're looking at Gears of War 2's engine in the flesh and B) GoW2's water is going to be freakin' hot! Just look at that water ... so delicious.[Via Joystiq]
Epic's Mark Rein responds to Microsoft buyout rumor
Did you hear the one about Microsoft buying Unreal Engine developer Epic Games for one billion dollars? The rumor stems from the latest issue of GamePro magazine, and while not flat-out denying the rumor, Epic VP Mark Rein did has some choice words.In an email to Develop, Rein said, "I have not seen the actual GamePro article but if they're going to make predictions about us selling Epic we would prefer if they started at $2 billion, because we don't want anyone thinking that we're cheap," followed by a smile-inducing emoticon. A more tangible bit of Epic Games speculation is that Gears of War 2 will be unveiled at GDC this week.[Via X3F]
2K jumps on Unreal Engine 3 train for unnamed titles
Today Epic announced that Take Two Interactive's publishing label 2K Games will be using Unreal Engine 3 to power upcoming and unannounced titles currently in development. Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games, told Gamesindustry.biz, "We are excited about continuing our relationship with 2K based on our past success with the company." Rein, who was referring to the success of the Unreal powered BioShock, wasn't the only happy camper in this tale of adoption. "2K had a very positive experience working with Epic's Unreal Engine 3 since it enables games to perform exceptionally well on both console and the PC," said 2K president Christoph Hartmann. Look at that, Unreal adopted by another company. Love the engine, but at this rate General Electric is going to buy a license to start making home appliances. Unreal is taking over the world and when used properly the results are outstanding.
Subpoenas place other UE3 licensees in midst of Epic, Silicon Knights lawsuit
Subpoenas have been issued to multiple licensees of Unreal Engine 3 to testify in the ongoing litigation between UE3 maker Epic Games and Too Human developer Silicon Knights, according to Shacknews. Though no licensees are specified, developers who use the engine include Electronic Arts, 2K Boston/Australia, SOE, Square Enix, Ubisoft and the U.S. Army.Said Rein to Shacknews, "I'm leaving the litigation to the lawyers but, if this is the case, I'd like to apologize to any of our licensees who Silicon Knights have inconvenienced." Should license contracts be submitted as unsealed court evidence, there is a chance the licensing fees and other trade secrets could become public record, though Epic's lawyers can move to seal court documents.In late July, Silicon Knights filed a lawsuit against Epic Games over what it felt was inadequate support for its Unreal Engine 3 that harmed development of Too Human. Epic responded and filed a countersuit. In November, Epic's motion for dismissal was denied.
Watch this space, Epic Games plans to double in size
Having tired of rubbing actual elbows with fellow teammates, Epic Games' always verbose VP Mark Rein has confessed that he and his squad of developers have "pretty much run out of space" in the company's North Carolina base of operations, and that plans are well underway for an expansion to "at least" double the facility's current size. According to a report by North Carolina's News Observer, the devs coughed up a cool $1.57 million for the new office space, which will be positioned on a five-acre lot adjacent to Epic's current 31,000-square foot HQ.Headcount at Epic currently stands at 94, with current growth of around one new employee a month expected to continue for the next couple of years. So with all of this added space, will the developers get to spread out, and maybe quit knocking over each others' Mt. Dew as they reach for their mouse? Unlikely, as the report notes that the new facility will instead be largely used to house the numerous play testers that visit Epic, rather than have to rent out space down the street. We understand the need completely, though until the devs get additional space of their own we'd suggest judicious application of lids.
Red Mile licenses Unreal Engine 3 for Sin City game
Red Mile Entertainment's game to kill for, Sin City, is set to be powered by the increasingly pervasive Unreal Engine 3. The developer announced today that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Gears of War monger Epic Games, with president and COO Glenn Wong describing the technology as a "perfect fit for our Sin City video games." Said games are to be based upon Frank Miller's popular series of Sin City graphic novels, which recently served as basis for a successful 2005 film (confusingly titled "Sin City").Not much is known about the initial game at this stage, save for the fact that it'll be overseen by Escape from Butcher Bay writer, Flint Dille. Oh, and that it'll be powered by Unreal Engine 3. We should probably write a news post about that.
Mark Rein excited about UT3 mods on PS3
The always talkative Epic Games VP Mark Rein is exuberant about the open system for downloading Unreal Tournament 3 mods for the PlayStation 3. "It's fantastic! I can't understand why people are so nervous about what Sony... no, Sony's wonderful," said Rein in a lengthy interview with Gamasutra. Rein also noted how this advantage is why the game landed on the PS3 first, before they resume Xbox 360 development next year.Rein also lauded the freedom in having an open system for mod downloads and stated that they will encourage modding through sponsored contests much like they have in the past (note: ironic to this situation, Rein's last name means "to restrain or control"). He did add, however, that they have an ability to "blacklist mods that do bad things." The two interviewers seemed befuddled by the freedom of the system, giving Rein more of a chance to assert his gospel. The next challenge for Epic is to try an accomplish that same openness on Microsoft's closed system Xbox Live. "They may or may not embrace it. We don't know," he said "That's why we've made the game for the PlayStation 3 first, because we knew exactly what the boundaries were going to be." Unreal Tournament 3 is due out December 10.
Unreal Tournament PS3 shipping in 'limited quantities' Dec. 10
Despite initial doubts, Midway has confirmed that the PlayStation 3 version of first-person twitchfest, Unreal Tournament III, will begin shipping to North American stores on December 10th, with "limited quantities" leaping onto shelves the following day. Initial supply has no doubt been hampered due to Epic's last-minute (some say miraculous) completion of the game, not to mention the fact that Bob the disc burner wanted to go on vacation like yesterday.In case you missed it during the Thanksgiving avalanche, Unreal Tournament III is already available for the "personal computer."
Unreal Engine 3 being adapted for Wii
Yup, Unreal Engine 3 is headed to the Wii, but Epic won't be handling it. No, instead the engine will be adapted for use on the Wii by an unnamed licensee. Mark Rein, who you all know full well, commented as such during a recent interview with Kikizo."It's their own port, in the same way Ubisoft brought Unreal Engine 2 to the Wii [for Red Steel]," he said. Of course, he couldn't help but toss in his own pessimistic view regarding the whole idea, adding "I just don't see a big market there to bring this big hulking memory intensive engine over to a much smaller system."And now, we're left wondering what the engine is being adapted for. Anyone care to speculate?[Via Joystiq]
