Rockstar Advanced Game Engine
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![]() The city of Los Santos, as seen in Grand Theft Auto V: The game makes use of RAGE's many graphical features, such as depth of field, high draw distance and detailed weather effects. | |
Developer(s) | RAGE Technology Group (Rockstar San Diego) |
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Initial release | May 23, 2006 |
Platform | macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii |
Type | Game engine |
License | Proprietary |
The Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) is a proprietary game engine developed by RAGE Technology Group, a division of Rockstar Games' Rockstar San Diego studio. Since its first game, Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis in 2006, the engine has been used by Rockstar Games' internal studios to develop games for macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, including Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3, Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption 2.
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/RAGE_Technology_Group_Logo.svg/150px-RAGE_Technology_Group_Logo.svg.png)
Prior to developing the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE), Rockstar Games, and primarily its Rockstar North studio, mostly used Criterion Games' RenderWare engine to develop games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, such as the early 3D installments in the Grand Theft Auto franchise.[1] In 2004, Criterion Games was acquired by Electronic Arts, which led Rockstar Games to defer from RenderWare, and open RAGE Technology Group as a division of Rockstar San Diego.[2] RAGE Technology Group started developing what would later become RAGE, based on Rockstar San Diego's previous Angel Game Engine (AGE).[3] The first game to use the engine was Rockstar San Diego's Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis, first released for Xbox 360 on May 23, 2006.[4] Since 2007, RAGE integrates the third-party middleware components Euphoria[5] and Bullet, as character animation engine and physics engine, respectively.[6][7]
On seventh generation of video game consoles, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, RAGE often saw a disparity in the optimization on the hardware: major titles on PlayStation 3 usually had lower resolution and minor graphic effects, as in Grand Theft Auto IV (720p vs. 640p),[8][9] in Midnight Club: Los Angeles (1280x720p vs. 960x720p)[10] and in Red Dead Redemption (720p vs. 640p).[11] Despite its problems in optimization equality, in July 2009, Chris Stead of IGN voted RAGE as one of the "10 Best Game Engines of [the 7th] Generation", saying: "RAGE's strengths are many. Its ability to handle large streaming worlds, complex A.I. arrangements, weather effects, fast network code and a multitude of gameplay styles will be obvious to anyone who has played GTA IV."[12]
Since the release of Max Payne 3, the engine supports DirectX 11 and stereoscopic 3D rendering for personal computers.[13] Max Payne 3 also marked the first time in which RAGE was capable of rendering the same 720p resolution on a game, both on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[8] This benefit has been achieved also in Grand Theft Auto V, which render at a 720p resolution on both consoles.[14]
For the remastered versions of Grand Theft Auto V, RAGE was reworked for the eighth generation of video game consoles, with 1080p resolution support for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[15] The PC version of the game, released in 2015, showed RAGE supporting 4K resolution and frame rates at 60 frames per second, as well as more powerful draw distances, texture filtering, and improved shadow mapping and tessellation quality.[16]
Games using RAGE
Year | Title | Platform(s) | Developer(s) |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis[17] | Xbox 360, Wii | Rockstar San Diego |
2008 | Grand Theft Auto IV[18] | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Rockstar North |
Midnight Club: Los Angeles[19] | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Rockstar San Diego | |
2009 | Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Rockstar North |
Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony | |||
2010 | Red Dead Redemption[20] | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Rockstar San Diego |
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare | |||
2012 | Max Payne 3[21] | macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Rockstar Studios |
2013 | Grand Theft Auto V[22] | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Rockstar North |
2018 | Red Dead Redemption 2[23] | PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Rockstar Studios |
References
- ^ 1UP Staff (September 12, 2005). ""This is the game that will put PSP over the top."". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Mittler, Patrick (December 26, 2013). "Seite 2: Die wichtigsten Spiele-Engines – Hinter den Hits" [Page 2: The Most Important Game Engines – Behind the Hits]. GameStar (in German). Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ 1UP Staff (April 23, 2008). "Rockstar explains the tech behind GTA4, with new screens". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Klepek, Patrick (January 4, 2016). "That Time Rockstar Made A Table Tennis Game". Kotaku. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ McKeand, Kirk (February 12, 2017). "Nine years later, one feature in GTA4 has never been bettered – here's its story". Retrieved March 13, 2018.
- ^ Arendt, Susan (February 28, 2007). "Rockstar Fills its Games With Euphoria". Wired. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Hardwidge, Ben (February 17, 2011). "AMD Talks GPU Gaming Physics: Bullet Physics – The Future of GPU-Accelerated Physics?". Bit-Tech. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ a b Morgan, Thomas (May 22, 2012). "Face-Off: Max Payne 3". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Leadbetter, Richard (May 5, 2008). "Grand Theft Auto IV: PS3 vs. Xbox 360 Special • Page 3". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Leadbetter, Richard (November 4, 2008). "Xbox 360 vs. PS3 Face-Off: Round 15 • Page 3". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Peckham, Matt (May 19, 2010). "Analysis: Red Dead Redemption on PS3 vs. Xbox 360". PC World. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Stead, Chris (July 15, 2009). "The 10 Best Game Engines of This Generation". IGN. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Dutton, Fred (March 22, 2012). "Max Payne 3 PC supports DirectX 11, 3D". Eurogamer. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
- ^ Morgan, Thomas (September 17, 2013). "Face-Off: Grand Theft Auto 5". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ "GTAV: IGN Delivers New Details – First Person Experience Revealed". Rockstar Games. November 4, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Morgan, Thomas (April 21, 2015). "Face-Off: Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Totilo, Stephen (May 4, 2006). "The First Rule Of Ping-Pong Club: Talk About Rockstar's Table Tennis Game". MTV. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
- ^ Thorsen, Tor (June 15, 2006). "Grand Theft Auto IV powered by Table Tennis engine?". GameSpot. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Roper, Chris (August 23, 2007). "Midnight Club: Los Angeles Preview". IGN. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Bramwell, Tom (February 4, 2009). "Rockstar unveils Red Dead Redemption". Eurogamer. Retrieved February 4, 2009.
- ^ Bramwell, Tom (June 10, 2009). "Balding Max Payne 3 sighted". Eurogamer. Retrieved June 10, 2009.
- ^ "Rockstar Game Tips: Learn from the Max Payne 3 Leaderboard Legends". Rockstar Games. October 10, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
- ^ Linneman, John (October 3, 2017). "Red Dead Redemption 2's state-of-the-art technology analysed". Retrieved February 15, 2018.