REDengine
REDengine is a game engine developed independently by CD Projekt RED.[1] It was designed exclusively for nonlinear role playing video games.[1]
Platforms
REDengine is portable across 32- and 64-bit software platforms and currently runs under Microsoft Windows, although the most recent update — referred to as "REDengine 3" — was designed exclusively for a 64-bit software platform.
Advantages
REDengine improves significantly upon prior RPG game engines.[1] REDengine allows video game developers to create a complex nonlinear story line that previous game engines could not create except by sacrificing visual detail.[1] Prior to the creation of REDengine, RPG developers relied upon game engines which force trade-offs during development.[1] On one hand, developers could create a vast, graphically detailed visual environment at the expense of telling a simplified linear story or, on the other hand, developers could create a complex nonlinear story at the expense of creating a limited visual environment.[1]
REDengine was first used in The Witcher 2.
REDengine 3 update
Recently CD Projekt RED improved upon the original version of REDengine, appropriately named "REDengine 3." Designed to run exclusively on a 64-bit software platform, CD Projekt RED created REDengine 3 for the purpose of developing open world video game environments, which it has planed for The Witcher 3 (2014 release) and Cyberpunk 2077 (2015 release). REDengine 3 is a new technology, utilizing the 64-bit precision of modern personal computing.[1]
Impact on computer animation
REDengine 3 produces better quality computer graphics via high dynamic range rendering with the 64-bit precision.[1] REDengine 3 creates more life-like visuals — better graphics, better lighting effects, better in-depth views.[1] REDengine 3 introduces new improvements to facial as well as other computer animation. Lighting effects no longer suffer from reduced contrast ratio.[1]
REDengine 3 has a flexible renderer prepared for deferred or forward+ rendering pipelines.[1] The result is a wide array of cinematic effects, including bokeh depth-of-view, color grading and flares associated with multiple lighting.[1]
The terrain system in REDengine 3 uses tessellation and layers varying material which can then be easily blended.[1]
References