Information Unigine CEO Offers Free Engine License for Wasteland 2

[DominikD]

I heard Unigine had selling difficulties... Is that true, and if yes, why ?

but functionality/documentation/support is the key.

Actually it's tools that matter most. Instant preview on every target platform supported, differential content builds and stuff like that make for a quicker iterations. This is the key for a good engine (this, and in case of AAA titles: ability to merge it with existing technology, other pieces of middleware, etc.). There's been a promise of a thorough editor rewrite that's ~6mo old which makes me think that tools are what made Unigine underperform on the market. This might have been remedied already, might have not. With major engine providers on the market (UE/CE) being pretty elastic when it comes to pricing, I wouldn't be surprised to see inXile decline the offer. But it's a pretty solid marketing move on Unigine's part.

 

[Brother None]

Of course it was going to be a 3D engine. Yeesh.

I don't like that approach, but that's the only way to even remotely attempt meeting the deadline.

Haha.

I really don't think Brian Fargo is closely acquainted with what it takes to implement RPG mechanics in a "generic" engine. I hope they have a strong gameplay programmer onboard.

Hahaha.

 

[The Vanished One]

But I think it's not nice to say this must be a publicity stunt. It may be a serious offer by a bro. Such programmer types are often really generous.

I didn't say it must be a publicity stunt, I said it wouldn't surprise me if it was. I've grown to be jaded and cynical enough to see this as a reasonable possible explanation for Unigine's offer. This doesn't mean that I think of Unigine as 100% greedy salesmen that would only offer a free license for some kind of long term return. I don't find it difficult to believe that, at least in part, Unigine are sincerely willing to support W2, even just as fans. And if their offer is accepted I do hope they will get good publicity in return.

 

[curry]

With a whopping $2.5M budget choosing the engine should be all about the quality. I'm seriously disappointed if they go for a crappy engine to save a $100K

 

[crojipjip]

Ah shit I might have to tap out. I am making strictly only a 2D engine. To port it to 3D just for Fargo is too much. Sorry guys looks like I lost this contest. I can't beat what uniengine can do.

 

[hiver]

That's true, but they are sort of in a corner with their release date. If I was cornered like this, I'd take my best shot with finding the most generic RPG libraries possible, things that let me have a basic inventory, basic RPG UI elements, and just go from there.

I don't like that approach, but that's the only way to even remotely attempt meeting the deadline.

HAHAHAHAHA!

I really don't think Brian Fargo is closely acquainted with what it takes to implement RPG mechanics in a "generic" engine. I hope they have a strong gameplay programmer onboard.

HAAA...HAHAHAHA!






ahhh... wipes a tear, thanks for that man.

 

[OSK]

But it's a pretty solid marketing move on Unigine's part.

I don't know about solid, but it's definitely ballsy. How bad would it look for them if Fargo would rather pay to use another engine than use theirs for free?

If you can't give it away for free, who's going to want to buy it?

 

[jewboy]

I'm not sure how many Unigine licenses W2's shitty graphics are going to sell. If it was a publicity stunt I think they miscalculated. If the graphics look any better than Age of Decadence I will be pleasantly surprised regardless of the engine. Somehow I think screenshots from W2 will be the last thing they're going to want to post on their website. I'd love to be wrong of course, but I don't think graphics are going to be a high priority for Wasteland 2. I guess it will get their name in the press though. That's something I guess. Not sure if it's worth $40,000, but it is worth something. They do say there's no such thing as bad publicity.

 

[The Village Loon]

Risky, but potentially high payback offer from Unigine. What do they gain by offering the license for free? Good PR and lots of visibility. Who wouldn't want Wasteland 2 as their showcase, showing their engine can also handle old school turn based RPGs? And I bet the offer includes a license for one game only. So if Wasteland 2 becomes a runaway hit, they have basically tied any Wasteland 3, or any expansion, to the engine, and are getting licensing fees from them then. And if the license is affordable, why wouldn't inXile use it for their other games as well if they get acquainted with and make tools for it? Also all modifications to the engine they make will most likely be freely usable by Unigine, so they can market and sell the engine as a capable RPG engine, with ready made tools by RPG veterans.

But it is risky. They are offering their engine for free, and if a fan funded, small budget (for a studio title with the resumes of people involved), old school RPG game turns them down, massive negative PR. "We'd rather spend 15% of our budget on licensing another engine than use yours for free. Thanks".

And did someone really think they would be going with a 2D engine? Really? Were you expecting sprites? :D

 

[villain of the story]

Unigine is a piece of shit they had been desperately trying to sell for years and there are many reasons nobody is buying. For one, it has an shitty unoptimised renderer. Even the tech demo they got at their website, a demo consisting of shaders and in an environment with low detail geometry, performs like shit on even only slightly old machines. Real time lighting is slow and ugly though unless you use whatsitsname filters which heavily bog down performance. But I'm sure the engine really shines when used with lightmaps -and which engine doesn't? This is not the first time they have offered their engine free to someone. They have offered it for free to noname nobodies as well. They are just that desperate. Fargo better stay the fuck away from it.

I hope Cradle suffers from none of those problems. I'm looking forward to the game.

For quick and multiplatform iteration, Unity might work faster, I think.

 

[Infinitron]

For quick and multiplatform iteration, Unity might work faster, I think.

Hey, I heard Wasteland 2 will use Unity if the Kickstarter reaches 2.1 million dollars.

 

[Shannow]

But it is risky. They are offering their engine for free, and if a fan funded, small budget (for a studio title with the resumes of people involved), old school RPG game turns them down, massive negative PR. "We'd rather spend 15% of our budget on licensing another engine than use yours for free. Thanks".

Not really. Unless Fargo goes:"It's pure shit. That's why we didn't take the offer."
But it's quite safe to bet that if inXile chooses the other engine in question, they'll "kindly" turn down Unigine, like:"It's a good engine but lacked some of the features we needed to make W2 the way we want/but *insert engine they actually take* is more geared toward the kind of game we want to make."

If VotS is right, Unigine deservedly doesn't have much success. But if 10 people know you exist, but only 1 considers using your engine, that's worse than 100 people knowing you and 10 considering your engine...

 

[Burning Bridges]

Yes, exactly. And if they were seriously expecting the deal to go through, they would have approached Brian in private, and not made it public.
The way it was done it sounds like a way to get publicity for the engine while supporting a good cause (WL2) at the same time. If Brian takes the offer it's great, but that's unlikely. I he doesn't nothing bad will happen, but more people will have heard about Unigine. That way they can't lose.
Expect more offers of free stuff in the next weeks.

 

[Brother None]

If Brian takes the offer it's great, but that's unlikely.

Actually, it's pretty likely.

And to explain a little something about this "free" stuff, what the Unigine CEO offered for free was an engine license. Not usage of the source code, not support, just the engine license. Maybe if inXile was just looking for a bargain they'd jump on that, but with the game they want to make the free offer is not enough, so they're currently talking about how much it would cost to get source code access and support throughout the project. Which will not be free.

 

[DominikD]

I don't know about solid, but it's definitely ballsy. How bad would it look for them if Fargo would rather pay to use another engine than use theirs for free?

They are adults. Brian is not going to smear Unigine and if/when he decides to go for a different solution, he'll explain why. You don't burn bridges like that and can't make Unigine guys suffer for their proposal. Unigine's offer wasn't offensive in any way, why would Fargo make fool of them? Unigine may be suboptimal for this project, but might be a great engine for some other endeavor in the future - that's something Brian has to keep in mind. If I were him and came to the conclusion that, say, UE is a better match for the project (which is ultimately what skipping on the Unigine offer means) I'd explain why I went for whatever else is out there. Shake hands, move on. inXile's previous project was on the UE and I'm sure Unigine guys are aware of that. There's definitely some valuable UE-specific expertise internally that Brian has to take into account (new engine == new challenges) but it all boils down to trade-offs. Always. Perhaps dealing with new code is a better way to spend resources than, say, buying a license? That's up to inXile to decide. Also please note that inXile is going to incorporate part of the Obsidian's pipeline in their game. With that in mind going for Unigine and getting their support may be faster and cheaper than going for UE. It's a complex business as well as technical decision, we'll see.

If you can't give it away for free, who's going to want to buy it?

That's a logical fallacy I'm not even going to tackle. But nice try.

 

[potatojohn]

Fuck commercial engines. They should develop their own 2D engine so they can open source it eventually like JA2.

 

[Country_Gravy]

So does this mean they aren't using the Infinity Engine?

 

[hiver]

So...does this mean they wont be drawing the game on a piece of newspaper or used napkin using only severed rats legs?

 

[gromit]

Armchair speculation is always scaled to your level. I liked the part where that one guy attempted to write off a major perceptual factor in a relatively visible arena because it's logically false.

 

[Black]

Okay, we know it's business, not a charity, so they're offering the engine for a reason.
What could it be? Advertisement? Good PR?

 

[jewboy]

EA owns the rights to the Infinity Engine. I'm wondering if the other engine they're considering might be Gamebryo. Does Unity support Linux? The Wikipedia page doesn't mention it. Unity did this and this and this. So it does seem pretty capable. In fact, it's a shame that Vince didn't use it for AoD. Still probably a step down from Unigine if you intend to push the envelope.

 

[asper]

At first I thought the FIFE engine would be a serious option... But with so much money and support they are aiming for more it seems.

 

[Roderick]

At first I thought the FIFE engine would be a serious option... But with so much money and support they are aiming for more it seems.

that does look really cool. probably would be nice if they used that. or the Temple Of Elemental Evil engine
was hoping for them to make a 2d game but that seems very unlikely

 

[OSK]

If you can't give it away for free, who's going to want to buy it?

That's a logical fallacy I'm not even going to tackle. But nice try.

Logic holds little power in the realms of marketing and PR.

In the US there's a big hubbub around a meat filler that's been labeled "pink slime." There's been public outcry, corporations have publicly announced that they'll stop using the stuff, and as a result factories that produce it have had to shut down. I think this pink slime stuff is pretty gross, but let's be honest here: Is it any worse that the shit Americans are already shoveling into their bodies? Probably not. We still eat plenty of hot dogs.

If Fargo chooses to pay for a different engine over using Unigine for free, it doesn't necessarily mean that Unigine is a poor product. But people are going to perceive it that way. Even if Fargo goes out of his way to say that Unigine is quality software, people are still going to know it as that game engine Wasteland 2 wouldn't use for free.

 

[villain of the story]

Unigine's offer wasn't offensive in any way, why would Fargo make fool of them?

No one with any decency would make fool of them but likewise, no one with ethics would make such a one-way public offer. It was rude and imposing. You just don't declare something like that in public, regardless of your intentions. It can also put Fargo in a bad light. There are a lot of people who would bemoan a decision to reject it, no matter how kindly or well explained, because they are so disconnected from any aspect of game development, the only thing they would see is this: "This man asked us for our money because he couldn't do it with publishers so we gave it to him. Now he's turning down stuff that he could get for free and save more money for the game itself. WATS RONG WITHHIM", regardless of any reasoning Fargo might provide.