5 ms·

So a state-of-the-art graphics library, a critical component to your new, moderately successful video game, doesn't deserve 5% of the revenue?

SSLy 12y ago
Not to mention this is much more than a 3D rendering middleware.
cwyers 12y ago
Yeah, if you think you can write your own alternative to Unreal Engine for less than (revenue-$3000)*0.05 per quarter, then by all means, you should do that.
- Retric 12y ago
  Competion is a wonderful thing. I can't build a decent car for less than the cost of a low end BMW. But, there are plenty of other companies than can. So, the real question is what are the other options out there and I suspect there are few engines that can come close.
  - cwyers 12y ago
    iDTech is no longer licensed for third-party use; only Zenimax properties can use it. CryEngine is available -- they have a $10 a month subscription plan that is royaly-free, but you don't get source code access like you do with Unreal Engine here. (They offer seperate terms for source access.[1]) Unity exists, but I don't think it's in quite the same tier as Unreal (although for some projects that may not matter). [1] http://cryengine.com/get-cryengine http://cryengine.com/get-cryengine
Arelius 12y ago
Perhaps not, as a graphics programmer, rewriting the rendering system is comparatively simple, enjoyable, and perhaps not worth 5% of a moderately successful game. However, UE4 is much more than just a graphics library. I'd argue that it's editor alone is worth many times more than their rendering features. And IMO, it's trivially worth the 5% of revenue.
- daemin 12y ago
  Yeah, any reasonably skilled programmer can write a pretty graphics engine as a hobby project, since that is the fun part of making an engine. It's all of the other boring stuff that is worth (arguably) more than 5%. Writing the resource management system and the editors takes a long time and a lot more effort and is not as fun or glamorous as writing a rendering engine.
- darkmighty 12y ago
  Writing a rendering system or this rendering system? I think you're underestimating the tech here. Could you match their real time global illumination, radiosity, physically based rendering, etc with good performance? I get the impression you'd need to go over like 100 different papers to even get a baseline implementation, without any clever optimizations, for a modern engine like UE4.

SSLy 12y ago

Not to mention this is much more than a 3D rendering middleware.

cwyers 12y ago

Yeah, if you think you can write your own alternative to Unreal Engine for less than (revenue-$3000)*0.05 per quarter, then by all means, you should do that.

Retric 12y ago
Competion is a wonderful thing. I can't build a decent car for less than the cost of a low end BMW. But, there are plenty of other companies than can. So, the real question is what are the other options out there and I suspect there are few engines that can come close.
- cwyers 12y ago
  iDTech is no longer licensed for third-party use; only Zenimax properties can use it. CryEngine is available -- they have a $10 a month subscription plan that is royaly-free, but you don't get source code access like you do with Unreal Engine here. (They offer seperate terms for source access.[1]) Unity exists, but I don't think it's in quite the same tier as Unreal (although for some projects that may not matter). [1] http://cryengine.com/get-cryengine http://cryengine.com/get-cryengine

Arelius 12y ago

Perhaps not, as a graphics programmer, rewriting the rendering system is comparatively simple, enjoyable, and perhaps not worth 5% of a moderately successful game. However, UE4 is much more than just a graphics library. I'd argue that it's editor alone is worth many times more than their rendering features. And IMO, it's trivially worth the 5% of revenue.

daemin 12y ago
Yeah, any reasonably skilled programmer can write a pretty graphics engine as a hobby project, since that is the fun part of making an engine. It's all of the other boring stuff that is worth (arguably) more than 5%. Writing the resource management system and the editors takes a long time and a lot more effort and is not as fun or glamorous as writing a rendering engine.
darkmighty 12y ago
Writing a rendering system or this rendering system? I think you're underestimating the tech here. Could you match their real time global illumination, radiosity, physically based rendering, etc with good performance? I get the impression you'd need to go over like 100 different papers to even get a baseline implementation, without any clever optimizations, for a modern engine like UE4.