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Really impressive. I sometimes wonder if in 30 years from now it would be still possible to write a 3D engine from scratch and having the same graphical level o

Really impressive. I sometimes wonder if in 30 years from now it would be still possible to write a 3D engine from scratch and having the same graphical level of that time.

pkAbstract 5y ago
It probably will be, just extremely computationally expensive. But 30 years is also further out than when most experts predict the singularity will arrive; after which all bets are off.
seoaeu 5y ago
For a single person, it is unclear if that's really even possible now. The only way I see that changing is if hardware advances to the point where the trivial rendering approach can actually run in real time. But even then, so much of impressive visuals from 3D engines are actually the assets / procedural effects you feed into them, so large teams might have the upper hand indefinitely.
Cloudef 5y ago
Its possible. General purpose game engines still can be many times slower than custom one. The main reason general purpose engines are used is because they allow faster development and have standardized workflow which is very important for game studios that have large amount of people working together. Here for example is impressive GI implementation from single Path of Exile dev https://youtu.be/OPFvcsQAKjc https://youtu.be/OPFvcsQAKjc
- okamiueru 5y ago
  Impressive as it is, and also not trying to take away from your main point, but I thought I'd mention that that particular demo is using a screenspace method, which doesn't need to deal with the main challenge of full global illumination.
badsectoracula 5y ago
I do not see why not, people were thinking like that 20 years ago, it isn't like your 3D engine will have to implement all techniques from the last 50-60 years (no need for wolf3d raycasting, for example and a lot of the shading and lighting code will become simplified once everything is capable of raytracing). Also AFAIK UE5 contains something like 5 render paths for different rendering approaches for all the different hardware and game types they need to cater to, but a specialized engine wont need to be that generic.
taneq 5y ago
I don't think it's been possible for years. A person can write a cutting edge tech demo but it's not really usable as a general 3D engine. A small team might be able to write a limited 3D engine that would be state of the art in some circumstances.

Really impressive. I sometimes wonder if in 30 years from now it would be still possible to write a 3D engine from scratch and having the same graphical level of that time.

pkAbstract 5y ago

It probably will be, just extremely computationally expensive. But 30 years is also further out than when most experts predict the singularity will arrive; after which all bets are off.

seoaeu 5y ago

For a single person, it is unclear if that's really even possible now. The only way I see that changing is if hardware advances to the point where the trivial rendering approach can actually run in real time. But even then, so much of impressive visuals from 3D engines are actually the assets / procedural effects you feed into them, so large teams might have the upper hand indefinitely.

Cloudef 5y ago

Its possible. General purpose game engines still can be many times slower than custom one. The main reason general purpose engines are used is because they allow faster development and have standardized workflow which is very important for game studios that have large amount of people working together. Here for example is impressive GI implementation from single Path of Exile dev https://youtu.be/OPFvcsQAKjc https://youtu.be/OPFvcsQAKjc

okamiueru 5y ago
Impressive as it is, and also not trying to take away from your main point, but I thought I'd mention that that particular demo is using a screenspace method, which doesn't need to deal with the main challenge of full global illumination.

badsectoracula 5y ago

I do not see why not, people were thinking like that 20 years ago, it isn't like your 3D engine will have to implement all techniques from the last 50-60 years (no need for wolf3d raycasting, for example and a lot of the shading and lighting code will become simplified once everything is capable of raytracing). Also AFAIK UE5 contains something like 5 render paths for different rendering approaches for all the different hardware and game types they need to cater to, but a specialized engine wont need to be that generic.

taneq 5y ago

I don't think it's been possible for years. A person can write a cutting edge tech demo but it's not really usable as a general 3D engine. A small team might be able to write a limited 3D engine that would be state of the art in some circumstances.