Codemasters working on a new FPS engine

Posted January 26, 2012 by Julian Benson in Industry News, News.

Codemasters are apparently working on a new FPS engine that is likely to be used for a new Operation Flashpoint.

Rumour has it that Codemasters are working on a new FPS engine in an effort to beef up the visuals supplied by their games. For the past two shooters out of their stable (Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising and Red River) Codemasters used their propriety EGO engine, the same technology they use to build their racing games. It showed too.

Whilst looking lovely whilst travelling at speed in tight racing levels, the engine had trouble with the sedate pace of a large open tactical shooter. Scenery popped in and out of existence, ugly placeholders appeared for models in the middle distance, and generally it stood in the shadow of games  such as Crysis an Battlefield.

So the news that Codemasters are working on a new engine is welcome. Its source is a hush hush Codemaster’s employer, but there is some evidence to back up this whisper. Stuart Merry, a Codemasters’ programmer, has on his CV:

Worked briefly on Codemasters’ new engine technology after shipping Red River.

So, it’s certainly hopeful. We don’t know whether this would be a further iteration to the EGO engine (currently on V2.0) or a whole new package. If it is an iteration then they’ll likely be using it for upcoming racing games too, if it’s a new engine then we may see something purpose built for shooters.

When we know more you’ll be able to read it here.

Tagged as Codemasters, DiRT, Operation Flashpoint