Game Engine: Difference between revisions

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== Things That Are Commonly Called Engines But Aren't ==

* [http://www.havok.com/ The Havok "Engine"]. This is not an engine; [[Wreaking Havok|it is a physics library.]]

* RenderWare, developed by Criterion Games and bought out by [[Electronic Arts]] (notable for making [[PlayStation 2]] development a lot easier). This is not in the most technical sense an engine, because it does not provide a means for using it without modifying the source code. It is a codebase, a large code library that serves as a useful starting point for making games (specifically the renderer hence the name), but it has no ''inherent'' extensibility built into it besides writing code. Games made using this codebase include ''[[Burnout]]'' (Criterion's flagship series), ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' (''[[Grand Theft Auto III|III]]'', ''[[Grand Theft Auto Vice City|Vice City]]'', and ''[[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas|San Andreas]]''; the ''Stories'' games run off what is unofficially known as the ~~[https://gtamods.com/wiki/Leeds_Engine~~ Leeds Engine] which is very loosely based on RenderWare), ''[[Sonic Heroes]]'' and ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants (video game)|SpongeBob SquarePants]]: Battle for Bikini Bottom''.

* RenderWare, developed by Criterion Games and bought out by [[Electronic Arts]] (notable for making [[PlayStation 2]] development a lot easier). This is not in the most technical sense an engine, because it does not provide a means for using it without modifying the source code. It is a codebase, a large code library that serves as a useful starting point for making games (specifically the renderer hence the name), but it has no ''inherent'' extensibility built into it besides writing code. Games made using this codebase include ''[[Burnout]]'' (Criterion's flagship series), ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' (''[[Grand Theft Auto III|III]]'', ''[[Grand Theft Auto Vice City|Vice City]]'', and ''[[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas|San Andreas]]''; the ''Stories'' games run off what is unofficially known as the Leeds Engine which is very loosely based on RenderWare), ''[[Sonic Heroes]]'' and ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants (video game)|SpongeBob SquarePants]]: Battle for Bikini Bottom''.

** Visceral Engine: Developed by Visceral Games (formerly known as EA Redwood Shores) initially for ''[[The Godfather]]'' and its sequel. The original incarnation of the engine was directly based off RenderWare, but subsequent versions such as those used in ''Dead Space'' were heavily modified and are no longer directly derived from it.

** Leeds Engine: Unofficial name for the [https://gtamods.com/wiki/Leeds_Engine RenderWare-based engine] used by Rockstar Leeds for the ''Grand Theft Auto Stories'' games on the PSP and PS2. Presumably developed as a stopgap solution in response to EA's acquisition of Criterion before they came up with RAGE for ''Grand Theft Auto IV''.