** Havok interview is on p 57. **
Havok's place in the games industry is almost unrivaled and no doubt enviable. With its Physics code widely used around the world, a second Animation product out and its Behaviour AI software currently in beta, it's the perfect example of the world of Middleware 2.0. Michael French catches up with CEO Dave O'Meara...
A few months back we wrote about the world of Middleware 2.0, with developers favouring modular technology solutions. As one of the middleware market leaders, how do you think the market and model for that has developed?
With the new generation of consoles – and particularly on the PS3 – things have really taken off because it's a difficult and complex architecture, but a brilliant one to have at your disposal and get a game right for. So the number of PS3 titles we are on is growing very quickly. In terms of physics, studios definitely want that approach to the business so they don't have to rely on such technology to be made in-house. What studios want is risk minimization and to be confident that there is help if they need it. This hasn't happened overnight, though. It wasn't until 2003, particularly with the release of things like Half-Life 2, that it really made itself work. Also, I think it's a great model for new middleware companies to break into because the customer wants to know that technology is financially viable and stable and that you won't run off or be signed up to just one publisher. There are a lot of things to do with resiliance and reliability, which means new companies can step in to offer that.
Virtuos is currently working on a multiplatform Unreal Engine 5 remake, which is rumored to be The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
I thought they’d go for Morrowind first to be honest but this is a welcoming surprise to tide us over before ES6
Unreal Engine isn't efficient for open world games, so I question the reliability of this story.
Yeah, 1st thing that came to my mind too, although i CAN see it being likely for ease if use, but it's not going to run very well if so
I'd wonder if it would just be exploiting Unreal for graphics but the underlying engine/logic is still the original framework.
Like how we had the graphical remakes of Halo Anniversary, Tomb Raider I-III, and Demon's Souls.
Could also end up a disaster like the GTA Trilogy
"remake will run both an Unreal Engine 5 project and the old Oblivion project. For instance, new graphics are rendered in the Unreal Engine 5 project, but most of the gameplay and physics are still done on the original Oblivion engine"
So with this logic it'll run just fine using UE5 tool sets on top of Gamebryo's engine or maybe even Creation Engine, who knows.
Hopefully modders can fix the aged combart in this game if this is true. Enemies leveling up with you broke and defeated the whole purpose of leveling up.
Yeah it could use some tuning for sure hence the need for a Remake not a Remaster. I'm surprised it's even a conversation within them group which makes me skeptical it's Oblivion. I wouldn't say they shouldn't level up at all though maybe just a leave them a couple levels behind to appease the masses.
The PlayStation 3 may not have been the strongest generation for Sony, but there were still some diamonds in the rough that deserve a revisit as PS5 remasters.
Even if they could just remaster and put on PSVR2, some would still look great as VR titles and could do a whole lot to bolster the headset w these exclusives! I'd imagine the investment of reworking these titles into VR would be way less than building new games from the ground up, and they could be amazing experiences, and VR often makes flat games feel fresh again. The Resistance and Killzone games are particularly what I want to see!!
I played killzone 3 in 3d and it really changed the game per being immersive.
In vr, that would be even more awesome.
Funny you mention that... my son wanted to play some PS3 games in 3d on my PS tv and he was blown away by how good KZ3 was. It really was a great addition to the game. Im surprised there have not been more 3d games from that era being ported to the PSVR/VR2.
resistance 1-3, killzone 1-3, uncharted 1-3, uncharted golden abyss, folklore, socom 4 , motorstorm, twisted metal, MAG, heavenly sword
Killzone 2+3
Sly Thieves in Time
Crack in Time
God of War Ascension
Motorstorm
Modnation racer
Infamous 1+2
Killzone trilogy in VR would be amazing bonus points if they offer shadow fall.
There was a psvr1 Killzone project that supermassive was working on at one stage which wasn't up to scratch and Sony brand it back in house I was hoping we would see that on psvr2 eventually.
Personally I'd love to see some more love or acknowledgement of psvr2 from Sony in general it was a expensive headset and Sony barely acknowledge it's existence
The amount of work needed to remaster these games wouldn't be beneficial on a financial and business sense.. MGS4 would probably be the best bet as it would need the least amount of work!
The time is perfect for a resistance fall of man game campaign coop multiplayer
The resistance series is str8 trash to me. Socom 3 I would welcome. Or killzone MP.
Resistance was ok but Warhawk and Starhawk was better and kept me coming back for almost a decade of fun and petty revenge on the loud mouth unskilled players 🤣
Edit I loved capture the flag dropping the pot on the flag carrier was extremely satisfying as well as transforming your plane in bot form and stumping them to death 😱
Created by Bethesda Softworks, The Elder Scrolls is hailed as one of the most groundbreaking RPG franchises.
Crackdown uses Havok and it sucks. Nothing special I can tell you that.
with version 4.5. Something like 5~10 times the performance of a typical triple-core CPU. (their figures, not mine)
I'll read it again i though they said 5 to 10 times of current PS3 titles