“We want to be on the bleeding edge of technology and that means having to invent it” – Epic Games

Epic Games invent technology in order to maintain their place as one of the cutting edge names in game development.

That’s what Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein told Sports Interactive boss Miles Jacobson in a developer dialogues session at Develop Conference 2012.

[Morrigan-Aensland]

I want to play bleeding edge technologically advanced games next gen. Games where you'll know they are next gen as soon as you see them

[JBSleek]

We have those already as next gen is already here on the PC.
-Crysis 2
-Battlefield 3
-Witcher 2

And upcoming titles such as
-Metro
-Star Wars 1313
-Fortnight

Next generation is the here and now.

[Dms2012]

Uh, no. I have played the first 3 of those games on PC, and while they are great games, they never ellicited any kind of "wow" factor that you expect from truly next gen games.

[JBSleek]

@Dms2012

A truly next generation game? What does that even mean?

Let me guess those don't come till PS4 and Xbox 8? If playing these games on Ultra 1920x1200 doesn't give you a next generation wow factor then next generation console won't either.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

Planetside 2! 2000 players 64 sq Kilometers. There are no matches like Cod & BF3. The war is 24/7. So if you drop health somewhere tonight you might get xp when you wake up tomorrow.

Also epic talks to much.

[MurDocINC]

Yea does sound great but I hope it doesn't lag like the first game.

Somebody needs to push next gen Netcode and internet.

[mamotte]

Now you're starting to sound like Crytek.

BTW, "bleeding edge" technology is called PC. Now, you can have bleeding edge tech in a console, but at what cost? And yes, I'm refering at money.

[mysterym]

Who cares, it will i'd rather pay more for the best the console manufacturers can produce, i don't want to see out the next 7-8 years with just 3 or 4 times what we have now.

[mamotte]

it's funny that you make that point. It's a kind of eternal cicle of contradiction, used to look good when someone is cornered. It's something like:

>I'd pay more for more power
-then buy a PC
>But I love console games, even if graphics are not as good.
-Then, why do you want more power?.
>Because yes. It's cool, and make games better.
-Then buy a PC, if graphics make games better. Since PC has more power, games are better by definition.
>But console games are better even if graphics are not as good as PC. You can even say that graphics doesnt matter.
-But you just said...
>I WANT MOAR!!! MOAR!!!

[mysterym]

It was my first point i'd hardly call that cornered.

It was actually a comment from someone who isn't the concerned about the price of a console as the outlay is not a concern to me given my salary.

Its from someone who plays online a lot and actually sees the expense of buying a console as being cheap given how much enjoyment i get from them. I'd like the best experiance possible thanks.

Its from someone who has brought every console since the nes and remember's the feeling that a new console brings, the expectations of how great games will be. The feeling of re-living being blown away when first playing SM64, or even the original halo on xbox.

I want to be blown away again by this coming generation - i've waited long for it, and if its a choice between a 1TFLOP or a 2+TFLOP console i'll happily pay more thanks.

Oh and thanks I have a pc for gaming, my current pc is probably my 10th pc that i've built. The current one is an i7 with a 680.

I'm in my 30's, have been a computer programmer for the last 12 years and have actively played games all my life.

But clearly, thanks for your crappy sweaping generalisation as it clearly applies to me as indeed i'm cornered.

[mamotte]

The real problem is what people think about the "big power" will mean. As I stated before, and you can confirm it with your gaming PC: the "next gen" is here, and it's called PC. Now, as a PC gamer, do you really notice any difference between playing, let's say, COD in Mid and Extreme settings? Do you see developers pulling out games that blow you away, just because they run in a machine of a zillion teraflop? If they really wanted to, they'd just do it.

The games that blowed you away were made with a lot less tan we have now, and yet, they had some kind of magic, some kind of creativity. Was that magic made by power alone? Evidently not. In these days more polygons and particles are praised as the "magic" in games, and that's pretty sad.

And, most important, consoles are made to be -relatively- cheap. Proof of it is the slow start the PS3 had because of it's price. Not everyone is ready to pay a lot of money for a console. ANd those who can, buy a PC. It's like buying a next gen console, and a next next gen machine.

I hope you got my point about the power not being that important, I dont have a competent PC (a dual core and a 5670, that's all) but I'm pretty sure I can play with you some online game, and it'll be still fun, even if Im playing it a 1280x720 res. with no effects or AA at all.

Oh, and sorry about the word "cornered". I'll choose my words better from now on.

Have a nice gaming, you lucky man. I'll just go and hunt my lunch.

[mysterym]

Thanks for the nice response.

Yes I do agree that power is not quantifiable, and changing resolution makes zero difference in gameplay.

It's not what the graphics and CPU wil do on day one that interests me, it's the expectation of what will come in e future given a closed system that devs have to work on.

I understand that power doesn't equal playability, however in the right hands power can mean more advanced Ai, better sandboxes etc. Halo and uncharted both show that, and both would not have been possible on previous generations. I'd like to see new IP that again shows what the new consoles can give us again. Not just flashier graphics but a better all round experience, just imagine the possibilities offered in gameplay with real (as opposed to baked in) lighting, or the additions to gameplay a new generation of physics will bring (the rumours are of APU + discreate GPU) - the on chip gpu could be used for physics.

IMO the true power of Kepler DX11 cards hasn't been unleashed and it will take the next generation of game engines to show what they can actually do. The games we play are 2+ years behind due to development cycles.

That's the reason I want the best they can give me. I will always be a console gamer at heart, I've played a fair amount of pc games (my first pc was a 486 dx50) and know what they give, but I like the idea that everyone experiences exactly the same experience rather than the disparity of hardware specs).

Anyhow enough rambling, thank you for your reply, from one gamer to another.

[cleft5]

Bleeding edge technology also means absurdly higher developing cost. If video game companies keep playing the "lets have the best graphics" game then they are going to go out of business left and right. Just look at the number of developers who went out of business playing the bleeding edge technology game. Sadly, more and more developers will continue down this road to their utter dismay. Make no mistake folks, all Epic cares about is selling their graphics engine and if a company goes out of business because of development cost than to bad for them.

[JBSleek]

Does it really?

Bleeding edge technology is already here running on these games in a scaleable way and I don't think that impacts the cost.

It all depends on the engine they are running and from interviews from Tim and Cliffy UE4 will be able to do what takes developers 2 years in a fraction of that time(12 months).

Developers aren't failing only because of lack of graphics as many of the top titles arent graphical powerhouses whatsoever.

[cleft5]

The problem with this statement isn't that you are wrong, but it is the cost of the Unreal Engine. UE4 will be incredibly expensive and that along bars many developers from obtaining it. Yet they still try to compete with it by wasting a ton of time and resources in developing their own in-house engine with the hope that this engine will power numerous other games. Bleeding edge technology comes at bleeding edge prices. Buying UE4 is going to put many development houses at the point where there next game has to be a big success in order to cover the cost of UE4 and the cost of the game development itself.

Some companies will be fine with this, but many others will end up going under. In the end, Epic doesn't care about that because their job is to sell their Engine. Is it worth the money that Epic will ask for it? Almost certainly. Is it worth a company putting themselves in financial jeopardy to keep up with everyone else? No it isn't.

[lonesoul65]

Epic is about selling their engine for sure...but that actually drives cost of development down due to the fact they don't have to create an in-house graphics engine. Yes, this for sure means they have to spend more on asset creation but they have another company doing most of the optimization which is huge in its own rights.

[cleft5]

I don't question the benefit of Epic's new Engine. I have seen the demo of it and it is clear that this is a huge step and will greatly help game developers. The problem is that far to many game companies don't understand that while UE4 maybe amazing, if it sky rockets game production cost than it just isn't worth it.

[lonesoul65]

You make a good point and I agree with you. I do believe though with the popularity of smaller studios and kickstarter games that this will not effect the industry as much. Pre-built engines help development times shorten and most of the AAA studios already make textures and assets that cant run on current hardware then tone it down until it works. So I don't think it should drive costs up that much.

Not sure if you have ever done map making for any games but you build it the way you want it...then cut things out so it runs well. The cost is so much in the overall production of the game...not always the graphics. Audio and voice actors don't come cheap, script writers and mocap( facial too ) also take a good size budget. As long as we keep supporting them, they will keep making games.

[sriki007]

That's the spirit.

[TheLyonKing]

Well I am on the cutting edge of technology which is a fancy way of saying I like mugging people :P

Poor joke

[Dms2012]

Also, before you release any of these games please make them HEAVILY polished and optimized, or else we will have that "10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag" feel that many of the first wave of next gen titles had. I do not want to see decent frame rates sacrificed for uber lighting and texture, or vice versa. The idea is to have BOTH. Also how about decent animation? For the most part its still at a primitive level regardless of platform. One of the big things I read about UE4 is the ability to have a million particle effects, no thanks if it means taking a hit elsewhere, its not as important to me.

[kingPoS]

....so bleed'n edge that their still healing from augmentative surgery. That way their pros- (cough) proprietary engine gains even more allure towards prospective customers (YEAH) By that way, Epic can maintain the status quo & continue to pim- (cough) sell their eye candy code and still be in the "game"