Relic Entertainment renews the Essence engine for the next Age of Empires installment
The studio Relic Entertainment, in conjunction with World's Edge, is immersed in an ambitious project: creating a new generation of its well-known Essence Engine. This technical effort is directly linked to the next major title in the iconic strategy saga, Age of Empires. 🎮
Main objectives of the new graphics engine
The fundamental goal is to scale the gaming experience to levels never seen in the franchise. To achieve this, the engine must manage a much higher number of simultaneous units on screen than in previous games. At the same time, the physics systems that simulate how structures are destroyed are sought to be more complex and offer visually credible and spectacular results.
Visual advances and scale:
- Dynamic zoom: The player will be able to zoom the camera from a general strategic view to focus on individual soldiers, observing combat animations with a high level of detail.
- Massive battles: Developers are experimenting with scenarios that include thousands of entities on screen, promising conflicts on a colossal scale.
- Established art pipeline: To create these assets, the studio employs its usual workflow, modeling with 3ds Max and texturing with the Substance 3D suite.
The new Essence Engine not only increases the numbers, it redefines how large-scale battles are perceived and played in Age of Empires.
Tools and development organization
Managing a project of this magnitude requires an ecosystem of specialized tools that maintain order and efficiency. The studio has implemented a solid structure to coordinate the work of its teams. 🔧
Technical workflow:- Version control: They use Perforce to manage all project assets and source code, ensuring data integrity.
- Continuous integration: The Jenkins platform is used to automate build processes and integrate the work of different departments continuously.
- Development stability: This system seeks to optimize game creation and keep the build stable as it evolves and new features are added.
The future of epic strategy
With this technical renewal, Relic Entertainment and World's Edge are not only preparing the ground for the next Age of Empires, but are laying the foundations for a new era in real-time strategy games. The combination of monumental scale, fine visual detail, and efficient production promises to deliver an experience that will meet the high expectations of the community. The evolution of the Essence Engine is, without a doubt, the heart of this transformation. ⚙️