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EA: Frostbite 2 Is A “Scaleable” Engine For The Next Generation

Those of you who are looking forward to the next generation should realize something: In one way, you've already sampled the future.

Much has been made of EA's vaunted Frostbite 2 engine; it powered Battlefield 3 and Need for Speed: The Run (but made its biggest impact with the great-looking BF3). Now, EA is saying that the engine has a long way to go and in fact, it was initially designed with the next generation of hardware in mind.

Speaking to Gamasutra , EA Games label boss and former DICE CEO Patrick Soderlund said they needed to "build something that can scale." Hence, this is only the beginning:

"I'll be honest with you, Frostbite 2 was built for the next generation. That's how we started it. We had that in mind and we said, 'We're going to have to build something that can scale.' It doesn't mean that what you see in Battlefield 3 is the end state. That's the beginning; that's where we start and then we go forward. But we have a tech base that makes me feel really confident in how we're positioned for what's going to come in the future."

Frostbite 2 will make another appearance in the upcoming Medal of Honor: Warfighter , and Soderlund says developer Danger Close is working on stuff "you couldn't see in Battlefield ;" i.e., taking things a step further. That's the key- Pushing the engine each time it's used so as to take advantage of the aforementioned "scaling." New engines allow interactive experiences to progress…right, Activision?

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frylock25
frylock25
12 years ago

that is actually a really smart business move on their part.

Temjin001
Temjin001
12 years ago

It's a common practice. I'm pretty sure Splinter Cell Chaos THeory touted the same sort of thing last gen. I think what this really means is it's transitional engine that we'll see for games ending the current gen and then for the games beginning the next. Where the real impressive and more optimized engines don't come around until some time after, once devs are ready to leave the old tech behind.

Beamboom
Beamboom
12 years ago

Also keep in mind that writing scaleable code is pretty much standard practise in the PC world.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
12 years ago

You have to admit though after an engine has been built upon and added to for many years like Source it tends to get Frankenstein-y.

homura
homura
12 years ago

Speaking of game engine, i am very impressed of Luminous Engine by Square Enix.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
12 years ago

It's what they are going to do with it that worries me.

frylock25
frylock25
12 years ago

what is the luminous engine used in?

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
12 years ago

So far just that one trailer SE showed at E3.

Lord carlos
Lord carlos
12 years ago

Hey EA
Use that fancy engine to make dungeon keeper 3!

"Your creatures are getting angry because they have no room to play marbles"

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
12 years ago

I expect a full AAA Frostbite 2 enhanced Mirror's Edge 2 endeavor.

On another note I sure hope that Unreal 4 is easier for devs to tap than Unreal 3. U3 was capable of amazing things (Batman) but it also gave birth to some really buggy stuff.

SixSpeedKing
SixSpeedKing
12 years ago

I hope with all my heart that you are right! I really hope they do create something that is even better than Mirror's Edge was with Frostbite 2.0.
Oh damn now I'm drooling.


Last edited by SixSpeedKing on 6/19/2012 6:43:25 PM

Temjin001
Temjin001
12 years ago

If I remember right, World, one of the objectives of the UE4 is to streamline the development pipeline of projects. It's aim is not only to increase what's possible in games but to make it easier than ever before, hopefully dampening inflating dev costs.

Really, when looking at the gulf of difference between AAA devs and the average stuff perhaps we'll see that gap brought together a bit more as resources become more tangible (though, I think the better devs will always shore up better products) with engines like UE4. Where the technical aspects of harnessing power is made more accessible to the majority.

This way "tapping out" a system's resources isn't left to like 1 percent of a console's annual product offerings as we are observing things now. Relying basically only on a handful of Sony's best studios to show us what can be done with their eccentric hardware.

I know this sounds like moving away from more specific hardware onto more generalized, but I'd imagine for the sake of cost efficiency and the ease of development going forward, perhaps that is the best option, especially when graphics appear to be reaching an apex from a production vs profitability perspective

Alienange
Alienange
12 years ago

Meh, graphics aren't everything. The gameplay in BF3 is identical to everything they put out, so who really cares if they can add a sprite here or a texture there?

homura
homura
12 years ago

@ frylock
It is the new engine currently in development for the next gen games of Square Enix. Check out th Agni's Philosophy tech demo.

homura
homura
12 years ago

@ world

you worry to much. 🙂 they are still my favorite developer and yes they can make games that will dissapoint hardcore ff fans but still they are capable of making great rpgs and the one behind FFVII, one of the greatest, still works there. I'm still happy that they're not afraid to innovate.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
12 years ago

If they are capable of making great RPGs they have yet to show it this generation. FFXIII was a high quality game but I wouldn't call it an RPG.

___________
___________
12 years ago

sure.
just like BF3 was made primarilty on PC than ported to consoles.
than after release they confessed it was not.
in other words you can trust what EA says just as much as you can trust what a politician says!
about 0.000000000000000001%
scaling always has problems too, look at the mega texture system built into the id tech 5 engine.
its suppose to scale the texture resolution dependant on your cards memory banks, but it does not work properly so even those who can handle the higher res textures get stuck on lower ones!
nothing beats a fresh new engine tailored to certain configurations!

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