Hello. I'd like to mark this moment, my 1,773rd post, with my thoughts and opinions on how Unreal's gone and how it will go.
Unreal has been seen, in my eyes, as the second-generation id - the Bad boys who came up and overturned the establishment as id had done five years before. One looks back now, seven years later, and arguably these guys have done far better then id has. Consider these 5 points:
1) Their next engine is going to be the next big leap in graphical tech. It's already said to support things like Dual core CPUs and separate Physics processors. This is the next big leap in Technology - it's like in 1993 when people were envious of a DX33 with 8 MB of RAM, or 1998 if you had a Voodoo.
2) Their engines have been lisenced far more then id's has. Needless to say, like them or hate them, MS buying your technology is something id can never claim. Unreal Engine is quite flexible, to the point you could make anything out of it (Even Puzzle games - anyone else here remember UTetris?) Flexibility means the Engine isn't seen as just a FPS engine - it can be Anything, given time and work.
3) Their games have won the "wars" with id: Every FPS gamer who's been around long enough damn well remembers the infamous "UT vs. Q3" war (Which ended with UT gaining a slight advantage.) Quake 3 offered the better graphics, with things like shaders and the like - stuff UT wouldn't see until the 200x Generation - but it lost in the Gameplay department. Now, I'm not knocking Q3 at all - I like them both, but I play UT more then I ever played Q3. This means Graphics does not necessarily make a good game, and that UT, which emphasized play over power, won out.
4) They support their community. Even on these very forums, Epic employees look at the community posts and no doubt we've influenced some decisions somewhere. A company that keeps its fans listens to them. Epic has done a good job of listening - proof of this is how UT2004 included a mode people missed, balanced stuff better, and took out a rather unliked theme of "Sports-Entertainment".
5) The MSU Contest. id has done nothing similar, and this makes lots of very good mods pop out. Look at Red Orchestra, 2004's MSU winner. A high-caliber mod, a breathtaking simulation, an absolute piece of art. These guys deserved the Engine lisence they got, and with that lisence, they became a full-fledged game developer - What was, for all intents and purposes, a bunch of average Joe and Jane Sixchips, are now working in the industry they love so dearly, and it's these guys who will be next Generation's CliffyB and John Romero (And yes, there will even be an Inoxx, somewhere.
CliffyB said the same thing in a pre-ECE interview that was showing off some of the mods included on the ECE. "Today's Mod developer is Tomorrow's game developer."
In a sense, then, Epic has become the "New" id - and they're continuing to set trends to break. Will they be toppled? Perhaps eventually. But it will take an amazingly talented team with a blockbuster hit or two to do it and win the "Competitive Multiplayer FPS" war.
Oh yeah, before CS Fanboys counter that it stomps UT in playercount and popularity: Let's not forget CS was a mod, not a retail product until much, much later. I don't count it.
Unreal has been seen, in my eyes, as the second-generation id - the Bad boys who came up and overturned the establishment as id had done five years before. One looks back now, seven years later, and arguably these guys have done far better then id has. Consider these 5 points:
1) Their next engine is going to be the next big leap in graphical tech. It's already said to support things like Dual core CPUs and separate Physics processors. This is the next big leap in Technology - it's like in 1993 when people were envious of a DX33 with 8 MB of RAM, or 1998 if you had a Voodoo.
2) Their engines have been lisenced far more then id's has. Needless to say, like them or hate them, MS buying your technology is something id can never claim. Unreal Engine is quite flexible, to the point you could make anything out of it (Even Puzzle games - anyone else here remember UTetris?) Flexibility means the Engine isn't seen as just a FPS engine - it can be Anything, given time and work.
3) Their games have won the "wars" with id: Every FPS gamer who's been around long enough damn well remembers the infamous "UT vs. Q3" war (Which ended with UT gaining a slight advantage.) Quake 3 offered the better graphics, with things like shaders and the like - stuff UT wouldn't see until the 200x Generation - but it lost in the Gameplay department. Now, I'm not knocking Q3 at all - I like them both, but I play UT more then I ever played Q3. This means Graphics does not necessarily make a good game, and that UT, which emphasized play over power, won out.
4) They support their community. Even on these very forums, Epic employees look at the community posts and no doubt we've influenced some decisions somewhere. A company that keeps its fans listens to them. Epic has done a good job of listening - proof of this is how UT2004 included a mode people missed, balanced stuff better, and took out a rather unliked theme of "Sports-Entertainment".
5) The MSU Contest. id has done nothing similar, and this makes lots of very good mods pop out. Look at Red Orchestra, 2004's MSU winner. A high-caliber mod, a breathtaking simulation, an absolute piece of art. These guys deserved the Engine lisence they got, and with that lisence, they became a full-fledged game developer - What was, for all intents and purposes, a bunch of average Joe and Jane Sixchips, are now working in the industry they love so dearly, and it's these guys who will be next Generation's CliffyB and John Romero (And yes, there will even be an Inoxx, somewhere.
CliffyB said the same thing in a pre-ECE interview that was showing off some of the mods included on the ECE. "Today's Mod developer is Tomorrow's game developer."In a sense, then, Epic has become the "New" id - and they're continuing to set trends to break. Will they be toppled? Perhaps eventually. But it will take an amazingly talented team with a blockbuster hit or two to do it and win the "Competitive Multiplayer FPS" war.
Oh yeah, before CS Fanboys counter that it stomps UT in playercount and popularity: Let's not forget CS was a mod, not a retail product until much, much later. I don't count it.
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