Fallout 4 - Engine Analysis

Eurogamer has made an analysis of the Fallout 4 engine to ask themselves the question if it is Next-Gen or not.

The end product in Fallout 4 is an unusual mixture of old and new. It undoubtedly follows a familiar template underneath, but the new lighting model layered over the top gives it an often-times beautiful, current-gen veneer. Certain new effects already look dated, but regardless, it has a flexibility most games don't offer, with its wide scope for exploration, and a freedom granted by its dialogue options. It's not a knockout blow in technical terms, but it still impresses in its own way - and hopefully this marks the first step of many, as Bethesda continues to develop for PS4 and Xbox One.

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And Eurogamer also shows this performance comparison between Xbox one and PS4.

For now though, evidence so far suggests those buying Fallout 4 on console should get an overall smoother experience from PS4. It's far from perfect, and we have a suspicion re-tests will be due once each machine receives new patches down the line. As ever, we'll update as new information comes in. Meanwhile, for those with PC as their platform of choice, all the signs look good for a smooth experience even on budget kit. We're currently putting together an in-depth guide to settings tweaks and recommended setups, so expect that in the next couple of days.

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Thanks Eye.

More information.

Does it have hairworks included?
Well... On PC it's not next gen then.

Is it next gen on phones, tablets, phablets and other gadgetery... Who cares?

They could definitely use a brand new engine, tailored for their needs.

That said, I'm not sure it's truly worth it - in terms of development effort and cost. I mean, their games are positively huge and they keep expanding what they can do.

To develop an entirely new engine would probably take at least two years - and it'd be hard to develop content for a new game on the side. They'd also have to work with a new engine and new tools - which could also be extremely expensive in terms of cost, because all their designers would have to relearn a bunch of stuff.

They're close to perfecting the streaming aspect - which was always the biggest problem with this engine, in my opinion.

They still need to stream from exterior to interior - and vice versa - but that's about it for streaming issues.

Apart from that, my only real issue with Fallout 4 is the facial technology. I mean, the low-res textures isn't an engine thing - as it will obviously be fixed by modders. But the facial technology could use more work.

People keep forgetting what goes on behind the scenes with this engine, and I can't think of any engine that's as flexible and powerful for advanced scripting and things like vast distance encounters. I mean, most other streaming engines have a ton of visible pop-up or awkward streaming of enemies when you get close to them.

I love that I can look at mobs from vast distances and actually engage in combat with them, for instance.

Also, there's quite a level of detail going on when it comes to interacting with the environment - where pretty much everything is an actual object that can be picked up or manipulated. That level of interactivity and persistence is extremely rare in modern 3D RPGs.

Also, the recent improvements in animation and lighting makes for a pretty impressive looking game, even if it's not as striking as the best of the best.

But when you combine the gameplay complexity with the visuals - I think it's a far more sophisticated experience than pretty much any open world RPG out there.

I had a nice run in with new engine. As I was exploring, a sudden storm appeared. Fog appeared, thunder and lightning hit, wind and radiation. I must say I was awed, this was best thunderstorm I seen and experienced in any computer game.
I would have been very cool if I was able to experience that with VR headset.

You mention something that I noticed strongly last night. A guy was shooting at me from atop a building in Lexington and I wasn't really close to town yet; a couple hundred yards away. Idiot was just standing there wildly firing a machine gun, so I took him out with a sniper rifle. Almost walked into turret fire when I went to get his loot

Distance shooting is very common this time and it is no longer one sided. Of course that guy in Minefield in F3 could shoot you from a long ways too, but he was a rarity. In F4 long distance gun battles are common.

The problem is that gamebryo kind of died... well someone bought them but now they are only being used for crappy MMORPG's. Otherwise I am sure things would have continue to evolve.

If they are to build a completely new engine of such a complexity as the one they have... I don't think 2 years will be enough.

Also while you are talking about engines, someone decided to recreate Fo1 in FNV engine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUoVeT-fIGY

GothicGothicness said:

If they are to build a completely new engine of such a complexity as the one they have… I don't think 2 years will be enough.

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With a talented team it'd take less than a year to develop and another year to weed out bugs. I don't think TW3 engine took more than that.

But Bethesda however doesn't have such human resources, not because there are no talented people in the world, but because they just don't care.
Why would they care in fact? All the cash went into ESO and developing an engine for that… Thing. And instead of refusing to buy it, people are still supporting their MMO.

Thing is, iirc, according to some very respected modders, there are some things in the engine that cause bugs or making modding more problematic and that modders have already pointed out, that Bethesda could easily fix but havent

I'm completely cool with them using the old engine. Yeah, perhaps it isn't the prettiest game in the world, but it looks good to me and better than expected. As mentioned, the less-than-great facial animations do stand out a bit.

But I wouldn't want a new engine. New engines always come with more bugs. Anyone bother to play the thoroughly underwhelming Watch_Dogs on release? That was a new engine, and it ran like crap. And that game was much more scripted than FO4. I'm now 22 hours into FO4 and wouldn't want to see more bugs than I have already, although some bugs are really to be expected with such a large world that is so interactive.

Not to mention, a familiar engine seems to make the lives of modders so much easier, and I'm glad to see the mods flowing fast and furious already.

Capt. Huggy Face said:

I'm now 22 hours into FO4 and wouldn't want to see more bugs than I have already, although some bugs are really to be expected with such a large world that is so interactive.

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Yeah, I've had to reload several times because of my character or a companion falling through floors, wall, etc. and getting stuck.

I had one bug that was actually kind of funny though. Mama Murphy in Sanctuary somehow teleported onto the roof of a house. I figured the game would eventually teleport her back down after awhile, so I didn't reload. Thing is, it never did. She was still there several hours later even after resting and using fast travel.

I thought I was going to have to use a console cheat to move her, but instead I crafted a stairway to that roof, and she immediately walked down as soon as I placed it.

Yeah, I've had some odd bugs too.

Thankfully, they've implemented a "Lone Wanderer" perk, which means I don't feel compelled to try out companions. I always play games like this solo if I can, so I haven't had much in the way of companion bugs.

That said, there's been a few quests with obligatory "partners" - and I've already seen more glitches than I expected.

Strange, as I clearly remember Todd Howard going on about how much time they've spent fixing and polishing things. The game was supposedly all but done back when they first announced it.

I'm finding the dialogue system especially frustrating - because I quite like the idea of being able to leave a conversation and get back at the same exact point, but it's so damned quirky. Characters keep facing walls - and my guy often looks in the wrong direction when speaking and so forth.

Might seem like a small thing, but it's killing my immersion at times.

Npc also walk away during conversarions...

Archangel said:

Npc also walk away during conversarions…

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That should be a very realistic experience for you, though?

DArtagnan said:

That should be a very realistic experience for you, though?

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Depends if I care about them walking away or not. This one was selling me her Brahmin and I could not close the deal due to her walking away constantly.

joxer said:

With a talented team it'd take less than a year to develop and another year to weed out bugs. I don't think TW3 engine took more than that.

But Bethesda however doesn't have such human resources, not because there are no talented people in the world, but because they just don't care.
Why would they care in fact? All the cash went into ESO and developing an engine for that… Thing. And instead of refusing to buy it, people are still supporting their MMO.

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I can ensure you that not even the best developers in the world can make such an engine from scratch in less than a year.

I still can't understand why not.
Of course I assume the engine is PC only. Not multiplatform for phones and other garbage.

joxer said:

I still can't understand why not.
Of course I assume the engine is PC only. Not multiplatform for phones and other garbage.

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Well, even for CDProkect it took them 3+ years to develop RedEngine 3 and then they had a lot of things to build on from RedEngine 2 already for that.

Still RedEngine has quite some limits which would probably not allow them to make something like Fallout 4 in it. So I really really doubt someone could do that in less than a year. Especially since CDProjekt is famous for having some of the absolute best developers around.

I've played FO4 just under 20 hours so far. What I've noticed is the world seems more content dense so far compared to FO3 and NV. The NV world always seemed small and cramped to me.
In relation to game engines, what I feel is missing in FO is the ability to climb. I mean to reach up to a roof, wall, or any container and get on top of it. Even Gothic 1, 2, and 3 had that ability. You could climb up on rock/mountains, building, fences, etc.
It seems, to me at least, a glaring omission in FO.

Zephyr said:

I've played FO4 just under 20 hours so far. What I've noticed is the world seems more content dense so far compared to FO3 and NV. The NV world always seemed small and cramped to me.

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It's a little too dense imo.

I appreciate a large amount of content, but I want it to be somewhat realistic as well. I feel they could have spaced things out a lot better in FO4.

I keep wondering how some of these settlements could have lasted so long when they're literally within sight of a super mutant camp, etc.