THE HISTORY OF
Reality Rises
Unreal was finally a reality. Press releases from GT said it all in the first line: "Unreal Is Real! No, it's not a dream, it's real." Not surprisingly, GT worked at a breakneck pace to duplicate the game and get it onto store shelves as quickly as possible. The anticipation was so high that some stores on the east coast actually sent trucks to GT Interactive's warehouse to pick up the first copies as soon as they rolled off the production line. Even though these stores had already paid for shipping, they wanted to be the first to deliver the game to consumers.
Meanwhile, the developers anxiously awaited the reaction to the game from both consumers and the press. Unlike other major games, the press had not been provided with preview versions of Unreal, so the team had no idea how it would be received. Early reports were favorable, and within days of its release, Unreal received high marks in its first reviews. But the feedback that mattered most to Epic and Digital Extremes came from the players themselves. The fans that had supported Epic along the way - especially those on the Internet - were expecting an immersive gaming experience, and they weren't disappointed. Players were astounded by the rich visual tapestry unfolding on their computer screens - the scintillating environments draped in deep textures, spectacular lighting, and stunning effects, including waterfalls, water, fire, and smoke. Unreal's engine had delivered.
And in single-player mode, at least, so did its gameplay. The devil was truly in the details - details such as letting players unearth new secrets by using a flashlight in a dark corridor or letting them seed the ground with a special plant that would grow in real time and improve their health. In short, they could play creatively and have a real impact on their environment. The bot system designed by Steven Polge created realistic multiplayer opponents for players to practice against. The dynamic music, written by Alexander Brandon and Michiel van den Bos, broke new ground by setting the mood with deeply moving rhythms. Epic had succeeded in creating its real-time Riven.
Which is not to say that Unreal is perfect. As Warren Spector, the famed developer of System Shock and Ultima Underworld puts it, "Unreal lived up to its hype and that's saying something, although I wish the Unreal guys had deepened the simulation a bit and stretched the limits of what people expect from a 3D shooter a little more." This same sentiment has been echoed by others. Though not without fault, Unreal is truly a step in the right direction. In many ways, it has opened the door to the next level of single-player action gaming. Multiplayer, however, is another story. Early reviews in the United States took the game to task for its Internet multiplayer gameplay, an element that even Epic admits wasn't the best it could have been. Nonetheless, Rein thinks some of the criticism is overblown, considering the depth (or lack thereof) of multiplayer in other 3D action games. "I think the reviewers are being a bit hypocritical about the multiplayer," he says. "Look at the other 3D action games that initially shipped with much less multiplayer than us. They weren't slammed. But we put it out there, and we deserve whatever flak we get. We are going to fix it all." |  |
 | The Net Effect
These early multiplayer bumps notwithstanding, Unreal has another major strength that should be particularly relevant to the Internet. It is one of the most highly customizable games ever released. Because of this feature, Epic believes the game will have a very long life. "It was a conscious decision from day one to let users customize the engine. It's very open-ended," explains Rein. "The customizability will not just help the game stay alive, but help it grow into a whole community of users." At the same time, Sweeney's scripting system, UnrealScript, is something he thinks will make a big difference to future games. "UnrealScript is going to change the way games are made. Now a programmer can express concepts such as, for a monster, 'When I'm attacking a player, run forward two seconds, fire my weapon, find a new attack spot, run to it and evaluate, and create a new attack strategy.' No one else has ever done that." Sweeney is also extremely excited about Unreal's rapidly-growing Internet community. "There will be lots of interesting things happening on the Internet with Unreal over the next year," he says. "Unreal defines a web style of traversal, where players can go between servers by walking through teleporters, [automatically] downloading any new content they need - levels, textures, scripts, and so on. As the online community learns more about building levels, we will see complete online worlds spanning hundreds or even thousands of levels, interwoven by teleporters. New kinds of games will evolve out of the Unreal community, whether they are sci-fi or even role-playing." The possibilities are intriguing. |
A New 3D Standard?
Thanks to its red-hot technology, Epic has currently licensed the Unreal engine to over a dozen developers. MicroProse will use the technology to bring the aliens of X-COM to life in X-COM: Alliance. And Warren Spector is working on a new game called Deus Ex for Ion Storm and Eidos that will use the Unreal engine to take players through a virtual White House as well as other locations.
Why use the Unreal technology? Spector is to the point: "Unreal offered the best overall package of any 3D engine out there. The editor is second to none. Is it a dream tool? Yeah, I'd have to say it is. The powerful scripting and editing lets me cut back on the number of programmers I need so I can hire more designers." But perhaps the biggest endorsement of the Unreal engine comes from 3D Realms. In mid-June, the company shocked the industry by announcing that its upcoming release Duke Nukem Forever - already in production for nearly a year using id Software's Quake technology - would immediately switch to the Unreal engine. Why? "We simply felt Unreal was a better fit for us at the moment and for what we wanted to do," explains George Broussard of 3D Realms. Epic's Rein attributed the sudden switch to the importance of tools. "3D Realms now has an incredible set of tools at its fingertips to help create the next Duke Nukem game," he says. Without question, the decision to move the next Duke Nukem game to the Unreal technology (a deal hammered out between the two companies in just four days) was a major coup for Epic. Almost overnight, the Unreal engine has become the hottest piece of technology in the industry.
Though the technology has been licensed to other games, the announcements have not yet been made by their publishers. (Rein insists there are already at least 15 Unreal deals signed, though only a handful have been announced.) Does the inevitable competition between Unreal-based games worry designers like Spector? "Not at all," he says. "Execution is everything. It's like a contractor worrying about the fact he's using a saw, hammer, nails, wood, and paint to build a house. You can still build a lot of different houses with the same tools."
As for GT Interactive, it will be building a variety of Unreal houses themselves. The first will be Wheel of Time, developed by Legend Entertainment. Slated for 1999, Wheel of Time matches the Unreal engine with Robert Jordan's incredibly rich role-playing game universe. But that's not all. According to Chaimowitz, "The Unreal engine will be employed in the [next] title from Oddworld Inhabitants, [which will] follow Abe's Exxodus." Oddworld fans, rejoice! |  |
 | The Ultimate Extension: The Level Pack
Although licensing has now become a significant part of Epic's business model, the company will continue to make its own products as well. The core Unreal team will be reunited to create an Unreal level pack for release this holiday season, in addition to the Unreal editor that will ship as a separate product in the fall. Although a level pack usually brings to mind a few new levels, a new monster, and a leftover gun scrapped from the first game, Schmalz says Epic's idea is different. "A level pack should be an expanded experience," he says. "It should do something new and take the best of Unreal and make it even better. We want to make some new kinds of deathmatch games and different experiences."
Although Epic is extremely mum about the details of the pack - perhaps because it doesn't want to go through the pain of having an over-hyped product again - Rein says, "Steve Polge will be doing lots of things with his bots and AI in the level pack. Some of the materials for the level pack exist now. Let me just say this: Unreal had to fit on one CD, and there were many areas that were too big and too detailed to be a part of the first game." It's rumored that the level pack will be multiplayer focused (Rein believes that most people who buy level packs already play online), and according to the development team, the idea of adding bots to the single-player experience is a distinct possibility. |
Breaching a New Reality?
Beyond the Unreal add-on pack, the next obvious question is, what about a sequel? Concepts for the sequel are already in circulation, and GT Interactive will be the likely publisher. Chaimowitz says, "Our agreement with Epic is for Unreal and an option for a sequel, which takes us through 2000."
While not yet official, the potential of a sequel is tantalizing - perhaps to the developers most of all. Bleszinski is keen to explore more of the Unreal universe and delve deeper into the world of the mysterious Nali aliens. Schmalz can't wait to add more elements to the scripting and design a game without building an engine at the same time. "The beauty of the engine and its modular design is that we won't have to rewrite it for a sequel," says Schmalz. "We can redo parts of it or add new features, but the core scripting and other elements are there for the long haul."
And what sorts of things might be added? Sweeney says that the next-generation 3D games will "target fast 3D hardware, will include curved surfaces, technology for shiny and wet surfaces, and dynamic shadows, among other things." But in the same breath he adds, "there is a lot of research to be done before that goes from concept to implementation." Carmack agrees with Sweeney. "More advanced geometry representations will let curved and natural surfaces be placed in games." The bar is continually being raised. |  |
 | Finally Getting Their Due
For Epic MegaGames and Digital Extremes, the future seems very bright. They are now being compared to the biggest players in their field, namely id Software (Doom, Quake) and 3D Realms (Duke Nukem 3D). But don't expect this newfound success to change their approach to the business. "There have been two things that have led to the downfall of game developers in the past," says Sweeney. "The first is growing too fast while taking on marginal new projects, and the other is not keeping talented developers happy, thus leading them to splinter off. We don't need to become a huge or complex organization in order to achieve our goals." Will fame change the Unreal team? Jim Perkins doesn't think so. "I see the guys at Epic as being huge superstars, but they won't change who they are just because they are famous - they are great guys with incredible intelligence and a real love for gaming and technology." Still, they can't help but celebrate their success: Schmalz says he's thinking of buying a Hummer to deal with those harsh Canadian winters. |
Supporting Creativity
What does Unreal teach other developers and publishers about the industry? And what does it tell consumers about how the best games are created? Ron Chaimowitz sums it up by stating, "Unreal represents the vitality, creativity, technology, and excitement that has always been the hallmark of the games industry. That it creates a new standard in a genre thought to reach its peak proves that there is room for innovation. It also shows that creative talent must have creative freedom to be successful - we are only interested in making great games."
But you have to wonder: How can a small developer-owned company like Epic outdo the efforts of multimillion dollar publishers? Sweeney thinks the answer lies in the shareware marketing model pioneered by Apogee's Scott Miller and perfected by id Software. "What id, 3D Realms, and Epic all have in common is that our roots are in shareware. We all started out as a bunch of poor programmers putting out free demos, asking our customers to call 800 numbers to buy more episodes of games. With that business model, you absolutely must make a great game. We can't put a crappy game in a beautiful box and sell lots of copies. Selling through shareware forces you to be honest." Although Unreal was initially released in retail, Epic still fully intends to have shareware releases for its future products.
Whatever the marketing method, the operative phrase seems to be: "Take your time and get it right." Id Software recognizes the importance of this phrase and therefore always gives its games a familiar release date: "When it's done." Perkins, who originally signed Unreal for GT, says "Never deliver a game until it's ready and damn good! We only remember a game that is great and sells well - we tend to forget that it was late."
He's right. Yes, Unreal was late - but it was groundbreaking, and Epic, the little company that wrote shareware games such as Jill of the Jungle and ZZT, has hit the PC gaming jackpot big time. The Mariachi band is now silent; The Digital Extremes offices are empty. The mountain of dew has been dismantled, and the final CDs have been pressed. But the vision and passion of the team that created Unreal carries on. Four years of the team member's lives were devoted to what started out as one player controlling a bunch of lines onscreen. These simple onscreen lines blossomed into an opulent 3D world that is only starting to be explored and mined. Just as the designers envisioned creating a universe of self-discovery and revelation, many facets and quirks of Unreal have yet to be explored. To quote a line from a recent movie, "We accept the reality of that which we are given." Maybe before Unreal we did. But now, we know there are new realities to create - new realms, new worlds, and new secrets. It's your playground. |  |
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