The Unreal Engine?

[Kitmitsu]

The HD screenshot I posted came from a site which had an interview with Youichi Wada, the Square-Enix president. It mentioned the use of the Unreal engine but the translation was almost impossible to understand. Now RPGFan.com, what I see as one of the worst well known sources for any RPG information has posted an article about the interview claiming that they've dropped the White Engine for FFXIII and are now using the Unreal 3 engine.

http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2007/1063.html

It's apparently been dropped to save costs in development but I really can't believe anything that site says as they've been soo wrong in the past. Anyone else have any insight?

[Neal]

Why would they make a whole graphics engine then scrap it? That rumours been going round for a while now.

I read the translated article and didnt pick that up.

[Kitmitsu]

I couldn't see it being mentioned that it would be replacing the white engine either. One other thing is that now this information is out, every single Xbox fanboy will have an excuse to say it could easily be ported to the 360. I personally think the images we've seen from the White Engine look better than anything we've seen from the Unreal Engine. I still think the Unreal Engine is good but I don't think it suits FFXIII aswell as the White Engine does so far.

[Neal]

The FFXIII gameplay screenshots look better than Gears of War to me tbh. I guess its because of the atmosphere, but still...

[Xion]

hmm interesting..i do remeber reading them say that using the unreal engine, it will speed up FFXIII development, and i was puzzled by what they meant by that..i guess its possible they are scrapping the white and using the unreal...

"According to the Square Enix president, Final Fantasy XIII will also be powered by Epic Game's highly popular middleware"

if so, it will be interesting to see how it compares visually

on another note...wow the PS3 is THAT hard to program for?

[Kitmitsu]

A nice quote from Gamespot forums:

-White Engine is being developed with PS3's hardware in mind, so it can take fully advantage of its console. It will feature several features that are extremely important in games like the FF series, like the feature to show pre-rendered movies in real-time. Thus, the white engine only works for the PS3.
-Square wants to make games for other consoles too, like Xbox360. However, their white engine is not compatible with such consoles, and instead of re-creating another one, they decided to buy the license to use the Unreal 3 engine. This engine is one of the best out there, and can do everything they want for it to do, so they find it pointless to re-create another engine.

The whole "Square licensed the Unreal engine, therefore the white engine is being scrapped" information is nothing but poorly-translated trash.

I won't believe they would change their mind this far into development. Unless theres an official statement I'm not listening to anything RPGFan says.

[Xion]

its not very far in development..so i think its possible, but yeah, lets wait for an official announcement

[Tifa Lockhart]

This is very true. I guess none of you saw this news on ign.com?

Here is a link:

Unreal 3 Engine to be used by Square-Enix (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/758/758359p1.html)
Final Fantasy XIII: Fabula Nova Crystallis will be the last games made using the White Engine. I wonder if the graphics will improve even more using the Unreal Engine? I hope so. If the graphics get worse, I will be disappointed. I highly doubt they will get worse though. After all, Square-Enix wants to please their fans, not make them mad.

I think Square-Enix is switching over, because the Unreal Engine can be used to develop games for all the consoles and PC's, not just the PS3. Also, the Unreal Engine is probably easier to develop on too.

This is exciting news, because we can have Square-Enix games readily available for every system now, instead of most of them being exclusive to Sony. I am a huge SONY and NINTENDO fan. I don't game much on my Xbox unless it is for Halo or the very few good RPG's that are on the Xbox. I don't have Xbox 360 yet. I do have a PS3 and Wii though. I will eventually get an Xbox 360 when it is a little cheaper and has more games that I am more interested in.

The Unreal 3 Engine also means more MONEY for Square-Enix. Smart move eh?

:)

[Xion]

This is very true. I guess none of you saw this news on ign.com?

Here is a link:

Unreal 3 Engine to be used by Square-Enix (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/758/758359p1.html)

I think Square-Enix is switching over, because the Unreal Engine can be used to develope games for all the consoles, not just the PS3. Alos, the Unreal Engine is probably easier to develope on too.

:)

thats irrelevant..we allready know SE is using Unreal for "future" projects...what this discussion is about is wether or not they will use the engine for FF13 or not, since it was still planned to use the white engine.

[Neal]

IGN translated a Japanese article to type that one and no where does it mention that the White Engine would only be used by Fabula.

[Kitmitsu]

Yeah I have seen the article on IGN but if you look at it it says "Final Fantasy XIII, exclusive to PS3, is to be the last game to utilize Square's White Engine exclusively." - Everyone repeat that sentence! :P

No one has officially said that the White Engine has been scrapped but it does look like many future titles will use The Unreal Engine instead because like you said it can be used on multiple consoles. It hasn't been said anywhere but on RPGFan that they're changing the engine from the White Engine to the Unreal Engine for FFXIII and from the look of that its a mistranslation which they're famous for. The Unreal Engine does mean quicker games and more money for Square but if they scrap months of work to start over on another engine it's going to cost alot. :nod:

The White Engine was developed for PS3 titles only in mind so Square-Enix knew that they had to be faithful to just one console. Games like FFXIII which have the best graphics to date and are extremely long and won't fit on a DVD and also require higher or the max specifications the 360 can offer (note the development video and how big the city is and how graphiclly intesive it will be). The Unreal Engine doesn't have graphics as good as the White Engine (though still very good) so it would have to downgrade them slightly and either split the game onto multiple DVD's which is expensive or halve the size of it.

Anyway heres my conclusion - The White Engine has not been scrapped. If it has been moved to the Unreal Engine and released for other platforms then it's going to be at a major cost to the fans (graphics, length, maybe even price if it comes as multiple discs though the price will probably be absorbed by Square themselves). The Xbox 360 is all fine and good but it isn't really suitable for FFXIII without reducing the players experience.

[Xion]

IGN translated a Japanese article to type that one and no where does it mention that the White Engine would only be used by Fabula.
read...

"Final Fantasy XIII, exclusive to PS3, is to be the last game to utilize Square's White Engine exclusively"

also Kimitsu, i think ur underestimating the power of the unreal engine....yes FF 13 looks great, and i have taken a very good look at the trailer, and i mean every frame.. i wouldnt call it the best looking game to date..at its early stage, Lost Odyssey look pretty damn good to me, and Gears just looks unbeleivable..seeing that rain level in HD, or the nightfall with the krill fying overhead is visually unmatched to me ...

besides, the engine is only responsible for so much....using the unreal engine over White wont mean it will not look as good....

[Tifa Lockhart]

Thanks for pointing that out Kitmitsu. The article I posted DOES say that Final Fantasy XIII will be the last game exclusive to the White Engine.

I am excited for about the White Engine, but I just hope the Unreal Engine is up to par with the Square-Enix team. The best game developers EVER in my opinion. Square-Enix's games always look WAY better than other developer's game, in my opinion.

The Unreal Engine is supposedly easier to develop on. I just hope that doesn't mean the graphics will be worse.

[Kitmitsu]

Okay everyone, this closes the case on FFXIII being moved to the Unreal Engine. The Original interview found here (http://66.249.93.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://arena.nikkeibp.co.jp/tokushu/gen/20070207/120802/index5.shtml&prev=/search%3Fq%3DFF%2526KH%2BBlog%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26 client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3Dziy) has now been ammended because of the misunderstanding that the engine for FFXIII had been changed. Heres what they edited in (translated with Google).

(Editorial staff note: Because there was the expression which is not unable to cause misunderstanding to Bunchu, part we corrected contents. The apology is said to everyone of the people and the reader of the authorized personnel)

Any mention of FFXIII has been taken out of the article but the new HD image has been left in. Viva la White Engine!

[Neal]

read...

"Final Fantasy XIII, exclusive to PS3, is to be the last game to utilize Square's White Engine exclusively"

I can read.

read...

IGN Read an article about FFXIII which mentioned Unreal Engine. That article never mentioned the drop of the white engine. They said that in their post, which was NOT in the original article. They assumed.

[Xion]

I can read.

read...

IGN Read an article about FFXIII which mentioned Unreal Engine. That article never mentioned the drop of the white engine. They said that in their post, which was NOT in the original article. They assumed.


if you are trying to correct me u failed, because i never said it did fool :lol:

[Neal]

You quoted my post and pasted that thing as if to say i was wrong saying that no where was it mentioned that the white engine was being dropped. D:

[Xion]

You quoted my post and pasted that thing as if to say i was wrong saying that no where was it mentioned that the white engine was being dropped. D:


again...

"IGN translated a Japanese article to type that one and no where does it mention that the White Engine would only be used by Fabula."

seems to me like u are saying- nowhere in the article does it say they will stop using White engine after FF13..

so i responded by quoting..

"Final Fantasy XIII, exclusive to PS3, is to be the last game to utilize Square's White Engine exclusively"

Thank You..

[Neal]

UGH. I dont mean IGN's article, I know they said that. They falsely interpreted from the JAPANESE ARTICLE, which they sourced that info from, that the white engine will be used on FFXIII only.

Forget it. -__-

[Xion]

meh lets just leave it there^_^

[S-r-ex]

well, I like the game as it is with the White, I say again, the characters skin in GoW looks it's made of plastic! but wikipedia's article about FFXIII says that the game HAS bee moved on to Unreal 3, and the future of White is unkown. I' m not good at professianl editing, somebody fix that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXIII

[Kitmitsu]

Actually I got the guy to revert the article back to what it was earlier today :P He didn't realise the interview had been edited. I agree that some of the people in the Unreal Engine can look sort of plastic/shiny, similar to Doom 3 or Quake 4. The White Engine suits the look of FFXIII much more than the Unreal Engine.

[Neal]

Yeah i dont like the Shiny effect that DOOM uses.

[S-r-ex]

but I don't get it: gamerewievers up here in norway says like "GoW best ever graphics" or "never seen so good" almost like all the time, like if they haven't seen FFXIII (or the pre-renders in FFX :P). I just have to say, FFXIII looks waaaay better than GoW. actually, there has barely been any talk about it up here in norway...and still "Playstation 3, whens that coming?!" can be heard i you ask someone.

[Xion]

i have GOW, and the characters do not look shiny..shiny is the last word id use to describe it ok

[Misschoco]

aint the unreal engine gona be used for kh3?? <am i correct?

[Xion]

aint the unreal engine gona be used for kh3?? <am i correct?

if anything, Square's announcement that future next gen titles would use the unreal engine does suggest it, but considering KH's art style, i dont see a need..but who knows

[Neal]

KH3 hasnt even been officially announced yet, has it?

[Xion]

not yet

[Desi]

Lost Odyssey by mistwalker uses the Unreal 3 engine. And the pre-renders/CG for X doesn't count because it isn't running on the in-game engine.

[Kitmitsu]

Yeah the CG in X is all just video files. It's possible to rip them off the disc with a mix of different programs. Anyway for absolute confirmation on FFXIII not using the Unreal Engine RPGFan have now posted this article explaining the mistake:

http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2007/1068.html

[Tifa Lockhart]

Okay everyone, this closes the case on FFXIII being moved to the Unreal Engine. The Original interview found here (http://66.249.93.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://arena.nikkeibp.co.jp/tokushu/gen/20070207/120802/index5.shtml&prev=/search%3Fq%3DFF%2526KH%2BBlog%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26 client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3Dziy) has now been ammended because of the misunderstanding that the engine for FFXIII had been changed. Heres what they edited in (translated with Google).



Any mention of FFXIII has been taken out of the article but the new HD image has been left in. Viva la White Engine!

I already knew that Final Fantasy XIII is still using the White Engine. lol

:)

The IGN article I posted earlier said that. It said that after Final Fantasy XIII, they will start using the Unreal Engine. I think it is also after Versus XIII. So, no worries. The White Engine will be used until after Final Fantasy XIII.

Here is the excerpt from the IGN articles confirming that.

"Final Fantasy XIII, exclusive to PS3, is to be the last game to utilize Square's White Engine exclusively"

Well, I can't wait to see what Square-Enix does with the Unreal Engine. :D

[Lifrasthir]

Is there any other reason besides costs in development that would make them drop the White engine?

[Kitmitsu]

Time really. They're still perfecting the White Engine at the moment which they've been working on for years. If they had the engine to start with, development would have been much quicker. But White Engine > Unreal Engine imo :P

[Lifrasthir]

Lol. I had heard that they were making Kingdom Hearts 3 on the White Engine as well. So does that mean that they have switched that project over the the Unreal Engine as well?

[Kitmitsu]

Well they've not dropped the White Engine at all. They're using it to make alot of their PS3 exclusive titles. I have no idea if KH3 is a PS3 exclusive as we have almost no information on it except that it's gonna happen but it depends if Nomura likes using the White Engine with Versus.

[Lifrasthir]

I figured they wouldn't totally dispose of the White Engine. But why is it up to Nomura to decide whether or not they use the White Engine for Versus?

[Kitmitsu]

Well he is gonna use it for Versus :P he's confirmed that, it's up to Nomura whether he uses it for KH3 because he directs Kingdom Hearts and as he's directing Versus first, it should give him a good impression of whether or not to use it for KH3.

[Lifrasthir]

I didn't know Nomura was directing Versus. I thought he was just a character designer. But I knew Nomura was the director for the KH series.

[Flint]

I don't think Square Enix licencing the Unreal Engine is that big a deal, really. It just means in the future they'll have more choice in which technology to use for their games - some games may be more suited to Unreal and some to the White Engine.

A lot of other big companies are using Unreal aswell, recently Capcom announced they were licencing the engine, too.

It reminds me of the PS2 where pretty much every developer licenced Criterion's Renderware Middleware Engine.

[Tifa Lockhart]

I didn't know Nomura was directing Versus. I thought he was just a character designer. But I knew Nomura was the director for the KH series.

Tetsuya Nomura is a very busy man. On top of being character designer for all three installments in the Final Fantasy XIII: Fabula Nova Crystallis series, he is also the director for Final Fantasy Versus XIII. He is director of Advent Children too, and they are in the process of making ACC right now. He is also directing the Its a Wonderful Life game for the DS. Nomura is also character designer for Crisis Core. Nomura is supposedly supposed to announce another installment in the Compilation soon too. It is another game to be added into the Compilation. I wonder what it will be.^_^

Also, sometime in 2007. Tetsuya Nomura will be annoucing several projects for his Kingdom Hearts series.

He is a very busy man!

He is also my role model!! ^_^

[Lifrasthir]

Tetsuya Nomura is a very busy man. On top of being character designer for all three installments in the Final Fantasy XIII: Fabula Nova Crystallis series, he is also the director for Final Fantasy Versus XIII. He is director of Advent Children too, and they are in the process of making ACC right now. He is also directing the Its a Wonderful Life game for the DS. Nomura is also character designer for Crisis Core. Nomura is supposedly supposed to announce another installment in the Compilation soon too. It is another game to be added into the Compilation. I wonder what it will be.^_^

Also, sometime in 2007. Tetsuya Nomura will be annoucing several projects for his Kingdom Hearts series.

He is a very busy man!

He is also my role model!! ^_^

Well I knew that Tetsuya Nomura was the character designer for many Final Fantasy games and the director of the Kingdom Hearts series. I also knew he directed AC from an EGM article I read. However I never knew he directed Versus XIII. But now I do.

[Tifa Lockhart]

I believe Tetsuya Nomura will eventually become a director full time. Well, obviously from recent info, after Versus XIII, Tetsuya Nomura is not going to direct Final Fantasy games anymore. He is going to focus on his first series, Kingdom Hearts. So, he will be director of Kingdom Hearts full time.

[yukichi]

i think i like it better that way XD
because i like both KH and FF....but with him doing that much work, KH3 is going to take a while to be released or better, get started(i think) HAuHAuhaUu XD
but well...i cant complain dammit!! Versus is going to be a great game because of him and his wondeful companions!!! CHEERS!!
and HAuAhUAU he'll end up using his experience at FF games on KH(White Engine maybe) so MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[Lifrasthir]

I believe Tetsuya Nomura will eventually become a director full time. Well, obviously from recent info, after Versus XIII, Tetsuya Nomura is not going to direct Final Fantasy games anymore. He is going to focus on his first series, Kingdom Hearts. So, he will be director of Kingdom Hearts full time.

Yeah I can see that. Nomura needs to be recognized as more than just a character designer. My vote's still up on whether or not he should direct FF games though. Guess it just depends on how good Versus XIII is.