Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/457057
j a n u a r y . f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 5 c g w 2 3 uses 3ds Max and Photoshop. The artists also have been using World Machine So ware's World Machine for some land- scape erosions. "I love this little tool, and it works very well with UE," says Stulz. CRYENGINE Crytek has long been at the leading edge of game graphics and technology, with titles such as Homefront, Warface, and the Crysis series. Its CryEngine was fi rst used in the FPS FarCry. Then, at the 2009 Game Developers Conference, Crytek announced the availability of its proprietary engine, CryEngine, to third-party developers. At the Game Devel- opers Conference in 2014, the company, like Epic, made a bold move to launch CryEngine as a SaaS model for $9.90 a month, with no back-end royalty fee. The Memory of Eldurium Liminal Games, a small, inde- pendent studio in Logan, Utah, used CryEngine for The Memory of Eldurium, an open-world RPG, becoming the fi rst devel- oper to use the engine under Crytek's independent develop- ment license. Other games currently using CryEngine include Miscreat- ed and Ultraworld. And while Crytek remains committed to its engine development, there is obviously signifi cant competi- tion from Epic and Unreal. COCOS2D While there are a number of other game engines on the mar- ket, Cocos2D – an open-source engine used by a wide range of independent developers – has found a following particularly among the 2D sect. Built by Ricardo Quesada in Argentina and launched in 2008, Cocos2D was originally written in Python and then, later, in Objective C and C++. Cocos2D is now managed and supported by Chuckong Technologies, a Beijing-based company with offi ces in the US. The current version of Cocos2D supports 2D physics engines, such as Box2D (from Erin Catto) and Chipmunk (Howling Moon So ware), while the pro- gram lets developers animate particle eff ects and image fi ltering eff ects via shaders. There are a number of big- name publishers that have used the Cocos2D engine on titles including TinyCo's Tiny Village, Zynga's Matching with Friends, and Big Fish Games' Big Fish Casino. C H A N G I N G W O R L D S The landscape for game en- gines has evolved enormously. Gone are the days of the silo'd, walled-garden approach to tool development. We are no longer in a "one-off " development cycle, where tools get rebuilt from the ground up with every new title that ships. Even propri- etary engines are tweaked and revamped for the developer's next title. Indeed, the game engines of today are open, collabora- tive platforms that thrive and necessitate a large community that supports it. Engines and their tools are the building blocks that enable designers and developers to ex- plore, create, and communicate a story or visual dialog. They are the scaff olding that supports the creative process. While some still opt for a proprietary engine, many others see the value of not having to reinvent the wheel, especially when the commercial selec- tions are so robust. ¢ Wanda Meloni (wanda@m2research.com) works with game and technol- ogy companies on strategy, partnerships, and marketing initiatives. Based in Southern California, she is the VP of the Board of Directors for the Open Gaming Alliance, a non-profi t for bettering the gaming experience. CRYTEK'S CRYENGINE WAS USED BY LIMINAL GAMES FOR ITS NEW THE MEMORY OF ELDURIUM, AN OPEN-WORLD ROLE-PLAYING GAME. VIDEO: GO TO EXTRAS IN THE JANUARY.FEBRUARY 2015 ISSUE BOX C G W. C O M