CryEngine 3 - Possible?

[oshi7 365]

So one of the biggest hurdles in playing DayZ is the engine. I love DayZ, from the aesthetics to the intensity. Saying that, I don’t think I’m alone when I say that Arma 2, or at least the Real Virtuality Engine, seems to be holding the game back from wacky stuff like doors opening and breaking legs to other problems like incredibly poor optimization that causes, even good machines, to run horribly. There are a lot of other engines that could be used, but the one that stands out to me is CryEngine 3, as it is free to develop on and take 20% when you release the game full.

I am, by any persons standards, NOT a game developer. One thing I have done, however, is download the

CryEngine 3 SDK and messed around with it. I’ve created landscapes that are larger than Chernarus and easily made forests that look amazing. The one thing I love about this engine is the versatility, ease-of-use and the real-time editing.

There are things I see, being developed for CryEngine 3, that blow my mind and make me wonder how amazing a game like DayZ could be on this game. Although it might change some play styles and ways we do things, I think DayZ would be better for it. I’m not sure if Rocket has some kind of affinity for Real Virtuality, or it was just the engine he chose because it is so realism based, but I can’t imagine there is anything it can do that can’t be done in CryEngine 3.

Things like real-time vegetation:

Could you imagine a world where the year-long cycle lasts a 60 days? Depending on what time you play on, the world could be completely different. You could have lots of long grass to crawl through in February but by the end of March it could be a pretty barren landscape and you’d need to move differently.

Vehicles are so much more immersive and take locational damage (you can pop tires, etc.) and with mods like the above (or even a simplified version) you could get very immersive and real things happening in games, rather than what we have now where you can throw a grenade at a car, it’ll explode, but the car will sit there for a few seconds until it randomly combusts.

CryEngine 3 has a pretty great showcase of games that have been made on it also, which show how versatile an engine it can be. Of course, we have Crysis 1 and 2, which show how we can go from urban landscapes to forests but also we have games such as Nexuiz that are quake-like shooter games. which couldn’t be more different than Crysis was and shows that latency and hit-detection isn’t a huge issue.

Even MMORPG games, which rely heavily on being able to put many players on on server and include a in-depth inventory system, are being developed such as Cabal 2, Archeage and AION.

Games like Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 have a bullet cam that is very pretty. Could you imagine DayZ being able to give you replays of your kills with a bullet cam? Maybe this idea isn’t for everyone, but it’s something that could be done within the engine.

So that’s my attempt at turning you guys onto CryEngine. I don’t work for CryTek or have ever communicated with them, I’ve just faffed around in the engine a little bit and have been blown away by how good it is and that even someone like me could learn how to use it without much trouble.

Edited July 18, 2012 by OshiSeven

[Tuke Nukum 12]

You have my beans brah.

[Badhaggis 40]

The biggest problem i could see is that, despite Arma II's flaws it is very good at generating Maps, I don't think the crysis one could create a map that big with no loading screens, and if it could only around 1% of gamers would have the hardware neccisary to play it.

[Lady Kyrah 1110]

It's a common... mistake from gamers to think that if a game cannot do something, it's because it's running on the wrong engine. All those features are nice, but they all have a cost.

The arma engine isn't a "bad" engine, It does a lot and tend to do it well.

Rocket being a BIS Employee, this says a lot about his affinity with the company's engine.

[Kreyesh 2]

As much as i love DayZ i would like to throw my support behind a move to this engine. Some things may have to change, but i would be willing to bet you could end up implementing all the things in Cryengine that you can in arma and then some. Plus this could immediately and drastically reduce/eliminate the massive numbers of hackers on the arma 2 engine.

[Fooz (DayZ) 46]

I think he used the Real Virtuality Engine because he already worked at Bohemia Interactive (not 100% on this though) and also most of the stuff was already there, he just needed to add some stuff or edit certain scripts.

If he used Cryengine 3, creating a map as large as Chernarus would take forever and would also be a bitch to run on most PC's I would imagine, and he would have to create loads of new code etc.

It might be a possible option if the game were to be developed as a standalone and had lots of support and a proper team working on it, but at the moment, it would be too much hassle

[Alopex 46]

Perhaps people don't realize how much content DayZ borrows from the existing ArmA 2 libraries. One does not simply conjure up DayZ on CryEngine 3!

[Kreyesh 2]

Perhaps people don't realize how much content DayZ borrows from the existing ArmA 2 libraries. One does not simply conjure up DayZ on CryEngine 3!

True, however, since he has already stated he would like to move towards a standalone game eventually this would seem to be a great engine to move into when that happens as he will then have a whole team and plenty of financial backing to do whatever he likes. He is already guaranteed to sell many many many copies of his game no matter what he decides to do so he can therefore easily acquire financial support to develop on a better engine.

[DDaron 38]

I don't really like the CryEngine. Everything looks so cartoony.

[whatbadguy 21]

I'm not a game designer but I would imagine that the content pipeline for CryEngine would be significantly different from Armas which could possibly result in remaking majority of the assets involved in Dayz and Arma, also differences in scripting languages, not to mention I'm sure CryEngine has a nasty price on their commercial license.. Not worth it.

[oshi7 365]

I don't really like the CryEngine. Everything looks so cartoony.

This is just based on what you've seen from other games. You could match the 'look' of DayZ quite easily.

Also for those saying CryEngine 3 couldn't handle map sizes as large as Chernarus, you are mistaken. Loading the entire map in one go is a thing of the past and the engine is waaaaaay more optimized than most of you are assuming, I believe.

Example:

[Alopex 46]

True, however, since he has already stated he would like to move towards a standalone game eventually this would seem to be a great engine to move into when that happens as he will then have a whole team and plenty of financial backing to do whatever he likes. He is already guaranteed to sell many many many copies of his game no matter what he decides to do so he can therefore easily acquire financial support to develop on a better engine.

I suspect that carrying development over to Real Virtuality 4 (alongside the release of ArmA 3) would be a priority. So development on a better engine is inevitable, perhaps not with CryEngine 3, however. :)

[jruhe240@gmail.com 42]

As much as I would love to see CryEngine 3 being used it is pretty inefficient, staying with the ArmA engine and reusing code Rocket has already created/used would provide us with the amazing experience we fell in love with while being easier and faster for Rocket to create the final product.

[MinxinG 50]

It would be amazing to start work on Cry Engine 3 SDK, but Rocket is already associated with Bohemia Interactive Studio, so I think it just wont happen :/

[Dancing.Russian.Man 1631]

You had me at "CryEngine."

[oshi7 365]

If he used Cryengine 3, creating a map as large as Chernarus would take forever and would also be a bitch to run on most PC's I would imagine, and he would have to create loads of new code etc.

Actually, CryEngine 3 can make maps significantly larger than Chernarus and load them in fine. I think more peoples PC's could run Crysis 2 comfortably than could run Arma 2 comfortably.

It would be amazing to start work on Cry Engine 3 SDK, but Rocket is already associated with Bohemia Interactive Studio, so I think it just wont happen :/

Rocket has nothing holding him back from moving. I was at Rezzed where he spoke and he even said he has considered moving to different engine.

[[Gen]Adzic 241]

If a move to a new engine was made.. would it be the same DayZ we all know and love? I think not.

You can change the feel of the whole game with something as major as an engine change.

[oshi7 365]

If a move to a new engine was made.. would it be the same DayZ we all know and love? I think not.

You can change the feel of the whole game with something as major as an engine change.

I thought the same thing, but the "feel" doesn't come from the engine I believe. I messed around with CryEngine 3 and created a shitty forest with a mountain right next to it and I could really see myself playing DayZ in it, if it were done right, and it would be so much more impressive. Weapons lay on the ground and you have to go and pick them up and it goes straight into your hand. How amazing would it be if the gear in your hands had a separate user interaction than the gear on your backpack? You'd have to manage the gear in your backpack, like normal, but could just pick up or throw weapons in your hands and even have another rifle (or something) slung over your shoulder. You can pick up and throw things without having to do any backpack managing, such as whiskey bottles for distracting zeds (same thing as when you first got on the beach in Crysis and picked up a turtle and threw it).

Also, in CryEngine, built into the default file is the ability to grab other character models. Could you imagine DayZ with the ability to sneak up on someone, grab them, cover their mouth so their direct comms wouldn't work and let your friend loot them? Very possible. Also throwing objects is much more intuitive and similar to real life; ie. you just hurl shit. Hell, even in CryEngine you could pick up a whiskey bottle, smash it, and bam! Instant melee weapon without ever having to go into a menu.

Just watch this and try to imagine DayZ in it.

[Z)OOM 2]

The move videos you post of FarCry, the Arma2 engine just doesn't do it for me... its like playing CounterStrike 1.6, only a bit prettier, and less control when shooting. Because of DayZ, I know about Arma2, and Arma3.. 4 months ago, I wouldn't even have paid $15 to try Arma2.

[MinxinG 50]

Jesus, Good to know that Rocket isn't associated with BIStudio, I would really LOVE to see DayZ on CryEngine 3, theen I would actually say Good Bye Social Life :c

[jesquik 75]

Those were some beautiful videos! Thanks for sharing.

I think that using an better engine is the way of things. I heard that ARMA 3 was based on ARMA 2 which makes me cringe... they have the realism, but so much is lost on the engine.

[MinxinG 50]

I heard that CryEngine 3 supports Google Sketch Up, that would be amazing to develop more environment to DayZ

[oshi7 365]

Those were some beautiful videos! Thanks for sharing.

I think that using an better engine is the way of things. I heard that ARMA 3 was based on ARMA 2 which makes me cringe... they have the realism, but so much is lost on the engine.

Arma 3 is going to be based on a updated version of the same engine Arma 2 uses; Real Virtuality.

[Lady Kyrah 1110]

Sheesh, Crytek sure know how to make theyr engine look awesome.

Excepted it's not really that awesome.

You guys need to realise that one thing that really show in these videos is that they have exellent artists preparing the demos. That's all.

[Nexagelion 8]

I fully support this. I have a bitching system right now and really struggle with ARMA2 when I crank all the settings up. It is severely lacking in optimization. Crysis1 wasnt on CryEngine 3 so that can be forgotten however.

Map size, loot spawning, and mob spawning are things that the ARMA engine does well. CryEngine3 handles those well plus is optimized very well, looks way better now then the current screen shots of ARMA3, and would squash the issue of user executed scripts for hacking and exploits. It would even do more then that.