I thought the technical details of this were interesting. Here is the full text:
http://www.shacknews.com/extras/siliconknights_epic/siliconknights_epic.pdf
It gets very interesting at page 32. This confirms my observation that Unreal Engine 3 does not even resemble the technology that was promised in the old UE3 preview promotional videos. Apparently, the engine uses vertex colors for lighting. If you remember the first UE3 videos, the promised something completely different.
http://www.shacknews.com/extras/siliconknights_epic/siliconknights_epic.pdf
It gets very interesting at page 32. This confirms my observation that Unreal Engine 3 does not even resemble the technology that was promised in the old UE3 preview promotional videos. Apparently, the engine uses vertex colors for lighting. If you remember the first UE3 videos, the promised something completely different.
Also during the August 12, 2004 meeting at Silicon Knights’ offices, Tim
Sweeney described the lighting model that the Engine would make available.
According to Sweeney, the model was to be mostly dynamic with three or
four lights affecting each object, and with only a small amount of precalculation
needed for static lights. Lighting is a key component to any game
designer’s efforts to create a realistic scene, and the ability of a game engine
to create a scene whose lighting is constantly shifting by virtue of a number of
light sources is integral to that effort. However, that promise by Epic also
turned out to be untrue. Prior to May, 2006, when Silicon Knights had to
begin creation of its own engine to avoid losing Too Human and possibly
going out of business altogether, Epic’s recommended model and means of
using the Engine for lighting had changed repeatedly and without warning.
As of May, 2006,, Epic and its Engine had been unable to deliver the lighting
model on which Sweeney had sold Silicon Knights the license. Upon
information and belief, at the time Epic shipped its own game, Gears of War
– over seven months after the deadline for successful implementation of the
Engine on the Xbox 360, as provided by paragraph 5(a)(iv)(B) of the
Agreement – the prescribed lighting model for the Engine was to pre-calculate
as much of the scene as possible and consolidate the light effects into three
US2000 10177182.1
33
light vectors per vertex while lighting the character from a single point light
that approximates the overall scene lighting. The net effect of those
restrictions, simply put, is to dramatically limit the dynamic nature of the
lighting and the creativity with which that lighting can be used throughout the
game; limitations that Epic plainly represented at the outset of is relationship
with Silicon Knights would not be present in “the Engine” it was going to,
and did, license to Silicon Knights.
During that same August 12, 2004 visit to Silicon Knights’ offices, Tim
Sweeney also represented on behalf of Epic that the Engine would allow
many tens of characters on the screen at the same time. That representation
was reinforced by Joe Graf on behalf of Epic on or about January 3, 2005,
when he stated that the Engine would allow 40-50 characters on the screen at
the same time. As of May, 2006, when Silicon Knights had to begin creation
of its own engine to avoid losing Too Human and possibly going out of
business altogether, Epic had not delivered software, code, tools, and/or
information sufficient to, and had otherwise failed to, fulfill those promises.
In fact, as of October 30, 2006, Epic had conceded that it was only placing 8-
10 “pawns” on the screen at one time in the version of its own Gears of War
that it was (as of that time) hoping Microsoft would certify.
On or about February 21, 2005, Joe Graf, on behalf of Epic, further
represented, in an e-mail to Silicon Knights that the Engine would operate on
final hardware at 30 frames per second with more than 30 characters on the
screen. As of May, 2006, when Silicon Knights had to begin creation of its
own engine to avoid losing Too Human and possibly going out of business
altogether, Epic had not delivered software, code, tools, and/or information
sufficient to, and had otherwise failed to, fulfill that promise.
Sweeney described the lighting model that the Engine would make available.
According to Sweeney, the model was to be mostly dynamic with three or
four lights affecting each object, and with only a small amount of precalculation
needed for static lights. Lighting is a key component to any game
designer’s efforts to create a realistic scene, and the ability of a game engine
to create a scene whose lighting is constantly shifting by virtue of a number of
light sources is integral to that effort. However, that promise by Epic also
turned out to be untrue. Prior to May, 2006, when Silicon Knights had to
begin creation of its own engine to avoid losing Too Human and possibly
going out of business altogether, Epic’s recommended model and means of
using the Engine for lighting had changed repeatedly and without warning.
As of May, 2006,, Epic and its Engine had been unable to deliver the lighting
model on which Sweeney had sold Silicon Knights the license. Upon
information and belief, at the time Epic shipped its own game, Gears of War
– over seven months after the deadline for successful implementation of the
Engine on the Xbox 360, as provided by paragraph 5(a)(iv)(B) of the
Agreement – the prescribed lighting model for the Engine was to pre-calculate
as much of the scene as possible and consolidate the light effects into three
US2000 10177182.1
33
light vectors per vertex while lighting the character from a single point light
that approximates the overall scene lighting. The net effect of those
restrictions, simply put, is to dramatically limit the dynamic nature of the
lighting and the creativity with which that lighting can be used throughout the
game; limitations that Epic plainly represented at the outset of is relationship
with Silicon Knights would not be present in “the Engine” it was going to,
and did, license to Silicon Knights.
During that same August 12, 2004 visit to Silicon Knights’ offices, Tim
Sweeney also represented on behalf of Epic that the Engine would allow
many tens of characters on the screen at the same time. That representation
was reinforced by Joe Graf on behalf of Epic on or about January 3, 2005,
when he stated that the Engine would allow 40-50 characters on the screen at
the same time. As of May, 2006, when Silicon Knights had to begin creation
of its own engine to avoid losing Too Human and possibly going out of
business altogether, Epic had not delivered software, code, tools, and/or
information sufficient to, and had otherwise failed to, fulfill those promises.
In fact, as of October 30, 2006, Epic had conceded that it was only placing 8-
10 “pawns” on the screen at one time in the version of its own Gears of War
that it was (as of that time) hoping Microsoft would certify.
On or about February 21, 2005, Joe Graf, on behalf of Epic, further
represented, in an e-mail to Silicon Knights that the Engine would operate on
final hardware at 30 frames per second with more than 30 characters on the
screen. As of May, 2006, when Silicon Knights had to begin creation of its
own engine to avoid losing Too Human and possibly going out of business
altogether, Epic had not delivered software, code, tools, and/or information
sufficient to, and had otherwise failed to, fulfill that promise.