God of War engine up and running on PS3

[one]

From the part 2 of the interview for God of War 2 developers, Lead Programmer and Sony Santa Monica director of technology Tim Moss says:
http://ncroal.talk.newsweek.com/default.asp?item=571269

Now that you're moving on from PS2, what will become of the God of War engine? Is it currently being used for any other games? Will it be in the future?

The God of War engine is a set of proprietary tools and engine technology used only at SCEA's Santa Monica Studios. It will continue to be used by games that we make. An enormous amount of the effort and resources went into the tools specifically and they are not so radically affected by what the target platform is. The game engine is already up and running on the PS3 and while large parts of it will be rewritten to work better on the new hardware architecture, I am pretty sure it will still be somewhat recognizable when we finish up our first PS3 project. We simply cannot afford to throw everything away and start again for a new platform, there is far too much time and knowledge invested in them. So we will iteratively change out our engine over the next few months while the designers and artists get to work on the next project.

Overall an interesting interview to read. (part 1 is http://ncroal.talk.newsweek.com/default.asp?item=570710 )

 

["Nerve-Damage"]

Now that you're moving on from PS2, what will become of the God of War engine? Is it currently being used for any other games? Will it be in the future?

The God of War engine is a set of proprietary tools and engine technology used only at SCEA's Santa Monica Studios. It will continue to be used by games that we make. An enormous amount of the effort and resources went into the tools specifically and they are not so radically affected by what the target platform is. The game engine is already up and running on the PS3 and while large parts of it will be rewritten to work better on the new hardware architecture, I am pretty sure it will still be somewhat recognizable when we finish up our first PS3 project. We simply cannot afford to throw everything away and start again for a new platform, there is far too much time and knowledge invested in them. So we will iteratively change out our engine over the next few months while the designers and artists get to work on the next project.

Err, I really don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing? Next-Gen gaming (IMO) isn’t having someone say “Hey this looks PS2ishâ€￾.

 

[sunscar]

It's a good thing that they don't have to begin again from scratch, completely. Doing so would otherwise break them. Something to keep in mind, though is they said it'd still be somewhat recognizable when their first new effort was ready to arrive, but that says nothing for the recognizability of the engine and componentry, come the arrival of their second effort.

 

[Blade]

Chances are that it won't look evenly remotely "PS2-like."

Up the texture res, geometric complexity, and special effect detail... and you have "next-gen." Scalable engines... gotta love 'em!

 

[Diesel2]

Err, I really don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing? Next-Gen gaming (IMO) isn’t having someone say “Hey this looks PS2ishâ€￾.

I'm pretty sure that's not what they meant. I'm pretty sure you knew that.

 

[Vic]

I thought that work had already begun on this.

Any news on whether Jaffe is going to lead on this project, or is he done on GOW?

Also, (sorry to sound impatient) does anyone know the kind of time-scale for the development for the next game? I know that if SM were developing a game engine from scratch, we'd be looking at around 2 years, but will things be accelerated with this scalable engine?

 

[deepbrown]

Jaffe will be involved...but not too much.

 

[Vic]

Having said that, he says that Sony hasnt green-lighted a third game yet. So I guess SM are just working on the engine right now. Still, they're bound to make a trequel, so I guess they're just being coy?

 

[Rainbow Man]

Err, I really don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing?

I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that bits an dpieces of code from quake (2?) remained in the doom 3 engine and likewise you could find original unreal stuff in unreal 3.

I suppose there's just no reason to throw out some non-critical things. Maybe loading files or parsing the console input or whatever.
pEace.

 

[Fu3lFr3nzy]

I thought that work had already begun on this.

what? Jaffe and Barlog have stated in many interviews that Sony hasnt given the green light to the project at this time, so I dont know where you got that impression

Any news on whether Jaffe is going to lead on this project, or is he done on GOW?

He's stated in many interviews aswell that his main focus right now are on small downloadable games. God of War was too stressful for him which is why he handed it over to Cory during the second game (and ofc he still had a part in the game )

For the third one, assuming it comes to life, its most likely Cory that will remain the director of the game with Jaffe pitching in an idea or two. But he never ruled out the possibility of going back to making epic games(as stated in a recent GT interview) so who knows...

 

[Vic]

what? Jaffe and Barlog have stated in many interviews that Sony hasnt given the green light to the project at this time, so I dont know where you got that impression



He's stated in many interviews aswell that his main focus right now are on small downloadable games. God of War was too stressful for him which is why he handed it over to Cory during the second game (and ofc he still had a part in the game )

For the third one, assuming it comes to life, its most likely Cory that will remain the director of the game with Jaffe pitching in an idea or two. But he never ruled out the possibility of going back to making epic games(as stated in a recent GT interview) so who knows...

Yeah figured that, hence my second post.

 

[deepbrown]

Yeah figured that, hence my second post.

Jaffe will just be in the background as you said...unless something goes very wrong, but I think he trusts the team.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Jaffe also said with the conception of GOW he had the story ready for three titles. A third is pretty much a certainty, though not announced as AFAWK not yet in the works. With GOW2 finished, what are Santa Monica doing? All hands to download titles??

 

[slider]

With GOW2 finished, what are Santa Monica doing? All hands to download titles??

We may get some more clarity after Calling All Cars hits the PSN.

 

[inefficient]

I'm pretty sure Jaffe will have nothing to do with GOW3. Not even compared to the little involvement he had on GOW2.

It was actually what he said on the Insomniac podcast a few weeks ago that really indicated to me that he was seriously planning on leaving Sony and starting his own thing.

He brought up a movie production reference, and basically he said his salary was appalling compared to what a director of a movie with a comparatively sized budget would have been making. He said he still has to worry about things like paying his mortgage, and the bills. Compare that to a movie director who gets paid millions for a single gig and can often just live off a pay check from just 1 blockbuster.

I'm paraphrasing, but he practically came out and said the reason why he does not want to do big games for Sony anymore was because they were not paying him enough. He also said when he was at the release party for GOW/GOW2 he was really bummed out because even though he had spent so much time and energy into this product, he knew it was not really "his" product.

Anyway, he is probably going to see how this PSN business goes. And if it goes well, he will very likely branch off his own small company and just start cranking out small PSN or EDI games. Maybe even XBL games. Sony should be willing to help him get started on his own venture. It would make sense for him to be essentially a 2nd party developer instead of an internal in house diva developer. Going with small EDI games would allow him to start off with a small team on a small budget. And will allow for a quick turnaround time for the money that gets invested into his company. And then he can eventually can get back to making bigger games. Maybe using an IP he got started in one of the sucessfull smaller games.

 

[Arwin]

I'm pretty sure Jaffe will have nothing to do with GOW3. Not even compared to the little involvement he had on GOW2.

The script, basically, is his. And he'll be play-testing it and give his input. That's it I think.

I'm paraphrasing, but he practically came out and said the reason why he does not want to do big games for Sony anymore was because they were not paying him enough. He also said when he was at the release party for GOW/GOW2 he was really bummed out because even though he had spent so much time and energy into this product, he knew it was not really "his" product.

In almost all interviews I have seen, the main reason is that the projects run too long and take too much time, which he doesn't want to do anymore. He wants to see results faster, and more importantly, he wants to get home to his wife and kids in time every day. That's the main reason the way I have understood it.

Going with small EDI games would allow him to start off with a small team on a small budget. And will allow for a quick turnaround time for the money that gets invested into his company. And then he can eventually can get back to making bigger games. Maybe using an IP he got started in one of the sucessfull smaller games.

Yes, but like you said, he's probably better off with Sony for a little while yet, or at least have them fund the games for a while and take the risks, until the PS3 install-base is large enough.