[This article originally appeared in Game Developer Magazine in the summer of 2008 and online at gamasutra.com in October 2008. To see the original, click here.]
Emergent
Tracing the history of its Gamebryo technology, U.S. outfit Emergent can claim to offer the longest-lived piece of game graphics middleware. Back in the 1990s, when the company was called NDL, it first released its NetImmerse engine before this was eventually rebranded in 2003 -- something that happened to NDL itself in 2005.
Of course, there's no lineage in terms of legacy code but NetImmerse's reputation as a flexible piece of technology that offered good integration with third-party tools continues with Gamebryo.
Interestingly, both have also proved to be popular clients for MMOG developers, with the likes of Mythic (now EA Mythic) and NCsoft as current licensees. This is perhaps due to the suite of other options that Emergent offers.
Another significant piece of technology is Floodgate, a multi-core streaming solution with particular focus for PlayStation 3 developers. As with other engine companies, Emergent has used its position in the industry to encourage smaller third parties to support Gamebryo by integrating their products into its Tech Connection Program.
Finally, features for the summer release include a re-architected geometry pipeline, a new terrain system, integrated GPU instancing and support for SoftImage XSI. The company has now also launched a lower-cost Gamebryo Casual option.
Gamebryo
Features: High-end renderer including customizable shaders and object culling; Floodgate stream engine; particle system; scene designer and terrain editor; animation tool; asset viewer
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
Integration with Other Technologies: AiLive, Anark, Bink Video, CRI, Kynapse, morpheme, Miles, PhysX, ProFX, Scaleform, Speedtree, Umbra and Wwise, plus plug-ins for 3ds Max and Maya
Cost: Options include per SKU, per platform or site license. There is no royalty option.
Released Games Include: Civilization IV (Firaxis), Dark Age of Camelot (EA Mythic), The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda), Fallout 3 (Bethesda), Warhammer Online (EA Mythic), Zoo Tycoon 2 (Blue Fang)
Games in Development Include: TBA (NCsoft), TBA (Rockstar), TBA (Shanda), TBA (Sony Online), TBA (The9)
www.emergent.net
Bethesda's The ElderScrolls IV: Oblivion