X3F readers may recall that Silicon Knights recently started a legal tiff with Epic Games concerning the Unreal Engine 3, which runs Silicon Knights' latest project Too Human. Not long after Silicon Knights made their issues known, other developers spoke publicly about their relationships with Epic (both good and bad). Yes, things looked sour for the Unreal Engine 3, and along comes BioShock as a shining beacon of Unreal success. Epic's Mark Rein, speaking to Develop, has praised the game as an excellent example of the work that can be done with the Unreal Engine 3. Rein noted that Epic is always open to developer feedback and happy to help them "take the most advantage of our technology."
It will be interesting to see if the success of an Unreal-powered game like BioShock will have an effect on the battle between Silicon Knights and Epic.
[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-29-2007 @ 5:07PM
Knight Marquise said...
IMHO, Mark Rein is a dirt bag. SK's complaint was that Epic didn't provide the agreed updates to SK on the UE3 in the time agreed upon, which would let them do what they needed in a particular time frame. SK didn't state, out of hand, UE3 doesn't work. Personally, I've seen more devs make the slight complaints which seem to support SK.
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8-29-2007 @ 5:24PM
Stevonw said...
I think it is about time those DIRT BAGS stopped trying to scam EPIC (i refer to their modified engine based on the unreal engine....yet they want all their money for the engine back!?) and actually focused on developing the game.
I Can see this game being the next Duke Nukem Forever.
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8-29-2007 @ 5:56PM
Knight Marquise said...
Trust me, if SK were idiot enough to steal propriety property from Epic, they'll pay through the noses. As for Too Human becoming the next Duke Nukem (damn would like to actually get that game some decade), that wouldn't surprise me either. Nevertheless, neither of those two issues are what is at hand.
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8-29-2007 @ 6:05PM
DemonG said...
I think Mark Rein should just stop talking. He knows nothing.
Obviously.
He isn't an industry leader. He has Unreal Engine, thats it.
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8-29-2007 @ 7:11PM
UNSCleric said...
Mark Rein sucks.
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8-29-2007 @ 8:55PM
Etchasketchist said...
Bioshock looks great even on my Etchasketch.
http://etchasketchist.blogspot.com/2007/08/bioshock.html
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8-29-2007 @ 11:42PM
Dolla Dolla said...
I think Rein missed the part where Bioshock is running on a heavily modified Unreal Engine 2.5 variant, not Unreal Engine 3. Nice try though, Rein.
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8-30-2007 @ 6:21AM
huggy bear55 said...
@7
Engine
BioShock was initially developed using an enhanced version of the Vengeance engine, the highly modified version of Unreal Engine 2.5 technology used by previous Irrational titles Tribes: Vengeance, SWAT 4, and SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate. In an interview at E3 in May 2006, Levine announced a switch to a modified Unreal Engine 3.0. Levine emphasized the enhanced water effects, which he claimed would be very impressive: "We've hired a water programmer and water artist, just for this game, and they're kicking ass and you've never seen water like this."[18]
please research before you post
link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioshock
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8-30-2007 @ 6:39AM
Corey B. said...
Wow...seems like there is a Silicon Knights Defense Squad here; SK are suing Epic because they are saying that lack of support on key components of UE3's engine has led to SK having delays in Too Human since they have had to figure out solutions on their own, right? So...how is Rein a "dirt bag" by using the good press of Bioshock to say that developers have been able to release an amazing game in a reasonable timeframe using UE3?
Lawsuits are almost never cut & dry and I am more then sure that both parties (Epic & Silicon Knights) have made mistakes over the last year which led to their legal issues so to jump on one side as if this is some messageboard squabble is the height of immaturity.
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8-30-2007 @ 7:40AM
Boff said...
I just hope this doesn't have a massive effect on Mass Effect. (See what I did there?!!)
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8-30-2007 @ 7:42AM
Boff said...
Arrgh what a twat just ignore me.
I was up late playing COD4.
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8-30-2007 @ 8:33AM
thecmoneyshow said...
Hello Fellas-
I'm lovin Bioshock, however, I'm getting tons of freeze up or stuttering during gameplay. There is a bit of chatter on the web and the Bioshock support page actually addresses the situation suggesting to empty the 360 cache by holding in the RB and LB during start up. I've done this but it hasn't helped. I wouldn't imagine that it's my 360 (I'm on my 3rd but this one is only 2 months old). Has anyone had this problem or heard anything about it? I would rather wait if they're working on a patch then try slugging through.
Mucho Mas Thanks
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8-30-2007 @ 8:49AM
Tony said...
@9 - There were tons of points on the lawsuit and that was just a few of them. There were others stating specifically missed dates that were promised, amongst other issues.
It doesn't just come down to not getting proper instructions even.
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8-30-2007 @ 12:33PM
propanol said...
Unreal Engine 3 is still a piece of shit that doesn't even do anti-aliasing and crashes frequently. Sorry, but it's the one factor responsible for all of Bioshock's technical problems.
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8-30-2007 @ 4:06PM
xenocidic said...
@12 yes, I experienced this problem, I solved it by keeping only 1 or 2 save files around.
visit this thread for more discussion on the issue -
http://forums.xbox.com/14955171/ShowPost.aspx
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