I Want Every Game To Be Made In The Sui Generis Engine
I'm not sure how that will work for driving games or football managers, but people can work around it. I was being very impressed by the lovely-looking Miasmata earlier, there with an engine written by just one guy. And the same is true for Sui Generis. But this engine looks like it might be the sort of thing licensed by anyone wanting to make an RPG in the near future. Using technological magics, Madoc Evans has created a physical system that allows 3D objects to automatically behave according to their shape - complex objects can be entangled with each other seemingly without clipping, or revealing invisible limits. Then with dynamic lighting, on-the-fly terrain modelling and procedural generation, there's a combat system of the likes I've never seen.
Of course, I'm no pioneer. Adam mentioned this one in last weekend's Katchup, but you try finally getting around to watching the video, having a website, and not posting about it. You can see the Kickstarter here.
There are five people in the team - Bare Mettle Entertainment - with a big project in front of them. And their Kickstarter certainly isn't racing toward its big goal of £150,000. After over a week they've etched out nearly £20k, and it will take a significant amount more attention for this to get funded in time. However, as I watch this I do wonder if they might not find themselves making some money either way. What's not adequately shown in the video is the game they want to make. We can see how they want to make it, and it's damned, damned impressive. But it's unclear what vision and passion for an RPG tale they have. That might not be helping them here. But if this technology is easily used by someone else, then surely - SURELY - a big name RPG maker is going to want this tech?
However, they clearly do have a game in mind, and that's been appearing in their updates. Although it doesn't sound, perhaps, all too original. You're some ordinary joe, exiled from your village into the mysterious world, where you find you're not so ordinary after all. There's a big bad evil escalating, and you're the only one with the power to stop it. So it's an RPG then. They promise the story will be dynamic, with multiple outcomes, and... well, yeah. That's of concern, I think - that in response to requests for details, we have instead had the most generic outline for all RPGs that have ever existed. It doesn't mean they don't have a brilliant story to tell, of course. But that they've not been able to articulate it at this point isn't a strong point.
There's some "pre-alpha" footage to be seen here, but again it only shows the tech looking amazing, rather than anything that you could identify as of their game.
But dammit, I want to play a game in this technology. Whether it's theirs, or whether an Obsidian or a CD Projekt comes along and says, "Here, have all our money," I'm not too fussed at this point. I just want to throw tables at benches, and have sword fights with that skellington.