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I am shocked at this news that the "next-gen" engine at work in Call of Duty: Ghosts is just another incremental update to the Quake III engine base that the series has used for the past eight years now.
So, despite their claims of Ghosts running on a "new next-gen engine" (as actually said during the Xbox One reveal event) it seems as though it's not all that new after all. Here is Infinity Ward's Animation Lead, Zach Volker, fielding a few questions from OPM.
Shocked, I tell you!
So, despite their claims of Ghosts running on a "new next-gen engine" (as actually said during the Xbox One reveal event) it seems as though it's not all that new after all. Here is Infinity Ward's Animation Lead, Zach Volker, fielding a few questions from OPM.
Can you say what tech the new engine’s built on?
Zach Volker The original engine years ago was built on Quake engine. We’ve done so many new engines and overhauls on top of that I’m not sure any of it still exists.
Is it still built from the original tech or is it built on something new?
Zach Volker When we’re talking about a new engine we’re talking about upgrading significant systems within in that engine. We’re not talking about throwing it all away and saying we’re starting from the ground up. It comes down to the systems we’re augmenting and upgrading, and trying to decide what is the significance of this upgrade. So there is certainly going to be remnants here and there of our pieces of our last engine, where it was appropriate when, you know what, this doesn’t need any changing. It’s good the way it is. Because at Infinity Ward we make a really clear point to make sure we only upgrade the things that are necessary for driving the things and the gameplay experience we want to push for that project. So just because we could do some cool 3D smoke, that if you walk through it, it ‘poofs’ and moves to the side, if that doesn’t aid in the gameplay experience we’re trying to push then we’re not going to pursue that technology even though we would have the capabilities for it. We make sure the engine is built the way we want it to be built so that it handles as efficiently as possible the things we want to show on the screen.
Zach Volker The original engine years ago was built on Quake engine. We’ve done so many new engines and overhauls on top of that I’m not sure any of it still exists.
Is it still built from the original tech or is it built on something new?
Zach Volker When we’re talking about a new engine we’re talking about upgrading significant systems within in that engine. We’re not talking about throwing it all away and saying we’re starting from the ground up. It comes down to the systems we’re augmenting and upgrading, and trying to decide what is the significance of this upgrade. So there is certainly going to be remnants here and there of our pieces of our last engine, where it was appropriate when, you know what, this doesn’t need any changing. It’s good the way it is. Because at Infinity Ward we make a really clear point to make sure we only upgrade the things that are necessary for driving the things and the gameplay experience we want to push for that project. So just because we could do some cool 3D smoke, that if you walk through it, it ‘poofs’ and moves to the side, if that doesn’t aid in the gameplay experience we’re trying to push then we’re not going to pursue that technology even though we would have the capabilities for it. We make sure the engine is built the way we want it to be built so that it handles as efficiently as possible the things we want to show on the screen.
Shocked, I tell you!
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