The paradox today is that it’s never been easier to make games. But we never had that many insipid games and one of the reason is that they use some kind of generic middleware. Like all these third person games based on Unreal technology, or these platform games made in Unity. They all have the same feel. The same can be said with music, all made with the same samplers or action movies all shot and rendered with the same technology.
If we look at the best computer games ever, most if not all are built on custom made technology, custom made tools and custom made engine. From the Marios to the Sonics to Doom to Ico to GTA, they all have been made from scratch. The same can be said with music, from Jimi Hendrix custom pedals to Skrillex’s plugins or movies with Kubrick’s special lenses. Custom means character, means standing out, means being different. It might not be enough to be great, but it’s a good start!
I’m playing Just Cause 2 and the engine gives you an amazing sense of scale, is beautiful and runs well. Impossible to get that with any middleware. Same with Soul Bubbles or The Witness, immediately recognizable through their own charm. JC2 aesthetic is horrible –generic military stuff- but the game engine is so good that it’s a lot of fun to navigate the world, attaching planes to mountains and stuff like that.
Obviously with games it’s not just about aesthetics, it’s also about mechanics. Systems are built in order to support a particular gameplay. Custom systems are not that flexible and might only be used once or need to be heavily modified.
Will generic tools be mastered enough that personality will come out of what will be produced with them? Or will we have to start engine from scratch forever if we want to explore great ideas? I just know that people capable of coding low level tech while having a high level design mind are rare. I don’t know if we’re losing them with tools like Unity but a lot of youngsters really think they can do anything with a couple of middleware.
There’s a terrible lack of legacy and learning from older generations in the game business. May game engines soul stay strong.