Unreal Engine 1 Explained

Unreal Engine 1
Released:Unreal build 100 / May 1998
Latest Release Version:Unreal Tournament build 436
Latest Release Date:November 2000
Programming Language:C++, UnrealScript, Assembly[1]
Platform:Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS and OS X, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2
License:Proprietary

Unreal Engine 1 (UE1) is the first version of the Unreal Engine game engine. It was initially developed in 1995 by Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney for Unreal. Epic later began to license the Engine to other game studios. It was succeeded by Unreal Engine 2.

History

The first-generation of Unreal Engine was developed by Tim Sweeney, the founder of Epic Games.[2] Having created editing tools for his shareware games ZZT (1991) and Jill of the Jungle (1992),[3] Sweeney began writing the engine in 1995 for the production of a game that would later become a first-person shooter known as Unreal.[4] [5] [6] After years in development, it debuted with the game's release in 1998,[7] although MicroProse and Legend Entertainment had access to the technology much earlier, licensing it in 1996.[8] According to an interview, Sweeney wrote 90 percent of the code in the engine, including the graphics, tools, and networking system.[9]

Licensing

Sweeney initially did not plan to license his Engine, but when other studios offered to license it from Epic, he agreed.[10]

Sweeney attributed part of Epic's success in licensing Unreal Engine to their customer support. By late 1999, The New York Times indicated that there had been sixteen external projects using Epic's technology, including Deus Ex, The Wheel of Time, and Duke Nukem Forever, the latter of which was originally based on the Quake II engine.[11] Unlike id Software, whose engine business only offered the source code, Epic provided support for licensees and would get together with their leads to discuss improvements to its game development system, internally dubbed the Unreal Tech Advisory Group.[8] [12] While it cost around $3 million to produce and licenses for up to $350,000, Epic gave players the ability to modify its games with the incorporation of UnrealEd and a scripting language called UnrealScript, sparking a community of enthusiasts around a game engine built to be extensible over multiple generations of games.[13] [14] [15]

Features

Rendering

At first, the engine relied completely on software rendering, meaning the graphics calculations were handled by the central processing unit (CPU).[2] However, over time, it was able to take advantage of the capabilities provided by dedicated graphics cards, focusing on the Glide API, specially designed for 3dfx accelerators.[16] While OpenGL and Direct3D were supported, they reported a slower performance compared to Glide due to their deficiency in texture management at the time.[17] [18] Sweeney particularly criticized the quality of OpenGL drivers for consumer hardware, describing them as "extremely problematic, buggy, and untested", and labeled the code in the implementation as "scary" as opposed to the simpler and cleaner support for Direct3D.[17] With regard to audio, Epic employed the Galaxy Sound System, a software created in assembly language that integrated both EAX and Aureal technologies, and allowed the use of tracker music, which gave level designers flexibility in how a game soundtrack was played at a specific point in maps.[19] [20] [21] Steve Polge, the author of the Reaper Bots plugin for Quake, programmed the artificial intelligence system, based on knowledge he had gained at his previous employer IBM designing router protocols.[22]

According to Sweeney, the hardest part of the engine to program was the renderer; he had to rewrite its core algorithm several times during development. He found the infrastructure connecting all the subsystems less "glamorous".[23] [16] Despite requiring a significant personal effort, he said the engine was his favorite project at Epic, adding: "Writing the first Unreal Engine was a 3.5-year, breadth-first tour of hundreds of unique topics in software and was incredibly enlightening."[24]

Other features

Among its features were collision detection, colored lighting, and a limited form of texture filtering.[25] It also integrated a level editor, UnrealEd,[26] that had support for real-time constructive solid geometry operations as early as 1996, allowing mappers to change the level layout on the fly.[27] [16] Even though Unreal was designed to compete with id Software (developer of Doom and Quake), co-founder John Carmack complimented the game for the use of 16-bit color and remarked its implementation of visual effects such as volumetric fog. "I doubt any important game will be designed with 8-bit color in mind from now on. Unreal has done an important thing in pushing toward direct color, and this gives the artists a lot more freedom," he said in an article written by Geoff Keighley for GameSpot.[6] "Light blooms [the spheres of light], fog volumes, and composite skies were steps I was planning on taking, but Epic got there first with Unreal," he said, adding: "The Unreal engine has raised the bar on what action gamers expect from future products. The visual effects first seen in the game will become expected from future games."[6]

Unreal was noted for its graphical innovations, but Sweeney acknowledged in a 1999 interview with Eurogamer that many aspects of the game were unpolished, citing complaints from gamers about its high system requirements and online gameplay issues.[28] Epic addressed these points during the development of Unreal Tournament by incorporating several enhancements in the engine intended to optimize performance on low-end machines and improve the networking code, while also refining the artificial intelligence for bots to display coordination in team-based gamemodes such as Capture the Flag.[29] Originally planned as an expansion pack for Unreal,[30] the game also came with increased image quality with the support for the S3TC compression algorithm, allowing for 24-bit high resolution textures without compromising performance.[31]

In addition to being available on Windows, Linux, Mac and Unix,[32] the engine was ported through Unreal Tournament to the PlayStation 2 and, with the help of Secret Level, Inc., to the Dreamcast.[33] [34]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: From The Past To The Future: Tim Sweeney Talks. Gamasutra. UBM plc. 25 May 2009. 8 February 2015. Benj. Edwards.
  2. Web site: GPU Gems 2 – Foreword . Sweeney . Tim . 2005 . . October 3, 2017 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171003225316/https://developer.nvidia.com/gpugems/GPUGems2/gpugems2_frontmatter.html . October 3, 2017 . mdy-all .
  3. Web site: From The Past To The Future: Tim Sweeney Talks. Gamasutra. May 25, 2009. November 18, 2018. Benj. Edwards. https://web.archive.org/web/20170809214002/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4035/from_the_past_to_the_future_tim_.php. August 9, 2017. mdy-all.
  4. Web site: Plante . Chris . October 1, 2012 . Better with age: A history of Epic Games . August 19, 2020 . . October 4, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171004035609/https://www.polygon.com/2012/10/1/3438196/better-with-age-a-history-of-epic-games . live .
  5. Web site: Epic's Tim Sweeney lays out the case for Unreal Engine 4 . Nutt . Christian . March 21, 2014 . Game Developer . February 22, 2022 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171003225230/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/213647/Epics_Tim_Sweeney_lays_out_the_case_for_Unreal_Engine_4.php . October 3, 2017 . mdy-all .
  6. Web site: Keighley . Geoffrey . Blinded By Reality: The True Story Behind the Creation of Unreal . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20010519154729/http://www.gamespot.com/features/makeunreal/ . May 19, 2001 . October 3, 2017 . GameSpot.
  7. The Imagination Engine: Why Next-Gen Videogames Will Rock Your World. Wired. Condé Nast. May 17, 2012. February 22, 2022. Stu. Horvath. 20. 6. https://web.archive.org/web/20150530075446/http://www.wired.com/2012/05/ff_unreal4/all/. May 30, 2015. live.
  8. Web site: Classic Tools Retrospective: Tim Sweeney on the first version of the Unreal Editor . Lightbown . David . January 9, 2018 . Game Developer . February 22, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180823012812/https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DavidLightbown/20180109/309414/Classic_Tools_Retrospective_Tim_Sweeney_on_the_first_version_of_the_Unreal_Editor.php . August 23, 2018 . dead .
  9. Web site: An Epic Interview With Tim Sweeney . Brightman . James . March 13, 2012 . . July 9, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190709094857/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-03-13-an-epic-interview-with-tim-sweeney . July 9, 2019 . live .
  10. Web site: Lightbown . David . Classic Tools Retrospective: Tim Sweeney on the first version of the Unreal Editor . www.gamedeveloper.com . en . January 8, 2018.
  11. Learn to Let Go: How Success Killed Duke Nukem . Thompson . Clive . December 21, 2009 . . 18 . 1 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200502124232/https://www.wired.com/2009/12/fail-duke-nukem/ . May 2, 2020 . May 2, 2020.
  12. Web site: Lightbown . David . October 23, 2018 . Classic Tools Retrospective: The tools that built Deus Ex, with Chris Norden . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190629134018/https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DavidLightbown/20181023/328687/Classic_Tools_Retrospective_The_tools_that_built_Deus_Ex_with_Chris_Norden.php . June 29, 2019 . February 22, 2022 . Game Developer.
  13. Web site: Postmortem: Epic Games' Unreal Tournament . Reinhart . Brandon . Game Developer . June 9, 2000 . February 22, 2022 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170729182148/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131569/postmortem_epic_games_unreal_.php?print=1 . July 29, 2017 . mdy-all .
  14. Web site: May 31, 2005 . History of Unreal - Part 1 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110707231206/http://www.beyondunreal.com/articles/history-of-unreal-part-1/?page=2 . July 7, 2011 . July 5, 2009 . Beyond Unreal . Probably the biggest draw to Unreal was the ability to mod it. Tim Sweeney (Founder of Epic) wrote a simple scripting engine into the game called UnrealScript..
  15. Book: Introduction to Unreal Technology . July 21, 2009 . . February 22, 2022 . Busby . Jason . Parrish . Zak . Wilson . Jeff . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120930102826/http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1377834 . September 30, 2012 .
  16. Web site: History of the Unreal Engine . Thomsen . Mike . February 23, 2010 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20170712132329/http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/02/23/history-of-the-unreal-engine . July 12, 2017 . dead . August 13, 2017.
  17. Web site: Talkin' nasty with Epic's code-p1mp, Tim Sweeney . Wilson . Billy . October 23, 1998 . Voodoo Extreme . https://web.archive.org/web/19990501170629/http://www.voodooextreme.com/articles/interview_ts.html . May 1, 1999. dead . July 20, 2019.
  18. Web site: Ask Sweeney, part 2 . O'Brien . Chris . Wilson . Billy . March 28, 2000 . Voodoo Extreme . https://web.archive.org/web/20000815211043/http://www.voodooextreme.com/games/interviews/tims4.html . August 15, 2000 . dead . July 20, 2019.
  19. Book: Brandon, Alexander . Audio for Games: Planning, Process, and Production . 2004 . . 9780735714137 . 70 . Alexander Brandon.
  20. Web site: Interview - Carlo Vogelsang on Lightning Quick 3D Audio with OpenAL. June 30, 2003 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20030810051215/http://developer.creative.com/articles/article.asp?cat=1&sbcat=31&top=38&aid=95 . August 10, 2003 . July 8, 2019.
  21. Web site: Interactive Music: Merging Quality with Effectiveness . Brandon . Alexander . Alexander Brandon . March 27, 1998 . Game Developer . February 22, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200220215719/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131670/interactive_music_merging_quality_.php . February 20, 2020 . live .
  22. Web site: Sweeney . Tim . Tim Sweeney (game developer) . Licensing FAQ . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/19991006231409/http://unreal.epicgames.com/UnrealTechFaq.htm . October 6, 1999 . September 9, 2021 . Epic MegaGames.
  23. Web site: Next gen engines . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20011121083307/http://www.tolstiy.ag.ru/what/sweeney.htm . November 21, 2001 . August 7, 2020 . Tolstiy's Place.
  24. Web site: Edwards . Benj . February 19, 2021 . Before Fortnite, There Was ZZT: Meet Epic's First Game . March 23, 2021 . How-To Geek . December 28, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211228051831/https://www.howtogeek.com/713532/before-fortnite-there-was-zzt-meet-epics-first-game/ . live .
  25. Web site: Doom to Dunia: A Visual History of 3D Game Engines . Hand. Randall. July 21, 2009 . VizWorld . February 22, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090724065520/http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/3d_game_engines?page=0%2C3 . July 24, 2009 .
  26. Web site: Unreal: Epic's would-be Doom... er... Quake killer . Smith . Tom . July 16, 2013 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20170812222508/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/16/antique_code_show_unreal/ . August 12, 2017 . live . August 13, 2017.
  27. Web site: Talkin' nasty with Epic's Tim Sweeney . Wilson . Billy . O'Brien . Chris . May 25, 2000 . Voodoo Extreme . https://web.archive.org/web/20000620093601/http://www.voodooextreme.com/games/interviews/timsweeney.html . June 20, 2000 . dead . August 13, 2017 . Heir . Manveer . Howarth . Robert . mdy-all .
  28. Web site: Gestalt . October 28, 1999 . Tim Sweeney of Epic Games . April 16, 2020 . . August 9, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200809065857/https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/sweeney . live .
  29. Web site: Beyond Unreal . Kosak . Dave . . https://web.archive.org/web/20010621202712/http://www.gamespy.com/legacy/interviews/sweeney_a.shtm . June 21, 2001 . April 16, 2020.
  30. Web site: Postmortem: Epic Games' Unreal Tournament . Reinhart . Brandon . June 9, 2000 . . . https://web.archive.org/web/20161017014133/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131569/postmortem_epic_games_unreal_.php?print=1 . October 17, 2016 . dead . October 8, 2016.
  31. Web site: April 16, 1999 . This Is Unreal Tournament . https://web.archive.org/web/19991112173407/http://www.next-generation.com/jsmid/news/6387.html . November 12, 1999 . January 24, 2021 . Next Generation.
  32. Web site: GAME THEORY; For Game Maker, There's Gold in the Code . Herz . J.C. . December 2, 1999 . . September 24, 2017 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170919141813/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/02/technology/game-theory-for-game-maker-there-s-gold-in-the-code.html . September 19, 2017 . mdy-all .
  33. Web site: October 9, 2000 . Unreal Tournament . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160717214724/http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/10/10/unreal-tournament-3 . July 17, 2016 . August 10, 2017 . IGN.
  34. Web site: December 8, 2000 . Interview With Dreamcast Unreal Tournament Team . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20191009101410/https://uk.ign.com/articles/2000/12/09/interview-with-dreamcast-unreal-tournament-team . October 9, 2019 . February 22, 2022 . IGN.

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