Gamebryo is a game engine developed by Gamebase Co., Ltd. and Gamebase USA, that incorporates a set of tools and plugins including run-time libraries, supporting video game developers for numerous cross-platform game titles in a variety of genres, and served as a basis for the Creation Engine.
History
Numerical Design Limited (NDL) was founded in 1983, mostly doing contract work for government and CAD clients in the computer graphics sector, though also some game developers such as Interactive Magic.2 This work led to the production of the NetImmerse game engine in 1997, evolving into Gamebryo by 2003.3
NDL was merged into Emergent Game Technologies (EGT, founded 2000, Butterfly.net until May 20054) in August 2005.5 NetImmerse then evolved to Gamebryo LightSpeed. During 2009 the development staff of Gamebryo was downsized,67 and by July 2010 the engineering office in Chapel Hill, North Carolina was closed. On November 11, 2010, assets of EGT were offered for acquisition, including its intellectual Property (IP), in whole or in part.8
In December 2010, Korea-based Gamebase Co., Ltd., a longtime partner of EGT, finalized the acquisition of EGT assets and technology, and established a newly capitalized U.S. company, Gamebase USA.9 Gamebase USA is based in the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina and is focused on continual development of the Gamebryo game engine. The newest version, Gamebryo 4.0, was introduced in March 2012.
Features
The Gamebryo system is a suite of modular C++ libraries. Game developers can combine and extend the libraries to modify the engine for a particular game. Gamebryo's design emphasises a rapid prototyping approach aimed at an iterative development process.
The Gamebryo engine supports several deployment platforms including Microsoft Windows (DirectX 6–11), Mac, iOS, Android, Linux (OpenGL), GameCube, Wii, PlayStation, PS2, PSP, PS3, PS4, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Gamebryo 4.0 is the latest version of the engine, designed to merge the original Gamebryo system with its LightSpeed spin-off.
Games
Gamebryo is used by numerous companies within the gaming industry. Below is a sample of titles that have used the engine:
NetImmerse games
| Game | Year | Platform(s) | Developer | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Age of Camelot | 2001 | Windows | Mythic Entertainment | Vivendi Universal Games |
| Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee | 2001 | Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Windows, PS3, PS Vita, iOS, Android, Mac | Oddworld Inhabitants | Infogrames, THQ, Oddworld Inhabitants |
| The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind | 2002 | Windows, Xbox | Bethesda Game Studios | Ubisoft Entertainment |
| Freedom Force | 2002 | Windows, Mac | Irrational Games | Electronic Arts |
| Futurama | 2003 | Xbox, PS2 | Unique Development Studios Sweden | Vivendi Universal Games, SCi Games |
| Prince of Persia 3D | 1999 | Windows, Dreamcast | Mindscape | Red Orb Entertainment, Mattel Interactive |
| Simon The Sorcerer 3D | 2002 | Windows | Headfirst Productions | Adventure Soft |
| Star Trek: Bridge Commander | 2002 | Windows | Totally Games | Activision |
| Tetris Worlds | 2001 | Windows | Blue Planet Software | THQ |
| Wild Wild West: The Steel Assassin | 1999 | Windows | SouthPeak Interactive | SouthPeak Interactive |
| Zoo Tycoon 2 | 2004 | Windows | Microsoft Game Studios |
Further reading
- Lightbown, David (May 1, 2020). "Classic Tools Retrospective: The birth, death, and re-birth of Gamebryo". Gamasutra.
- Wallis, Alistair (May 11, 2007). "Tooling Around: Emergent's Gamebryo". Gamasutra. Retrieved May 26, 2007.
External links
References
Pedersen, Roger E. (2003). Game Design Foundations. Wordware Publishing, Inc. p. 186. ISBN 978-1-55622-973-2. Retrieved June 15, 2019. 978-1-55622-973-2 ↩
"Gamebryo.com ~ About NDL Overview". Archived from the original on June 9, 2003. https://web.archive.org/web/20030609161531/http://www.ndl.com/about_overview.cfm ↩
"Gamebryo.com ~ History". Archived from the original on June 11, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20030611040120/http://www.ndl.com/about_history.cfm ↩
"EMERGENT Game Technologies evolves from Butterfly.net". May 17, 2005. Archived from the original on July 13, 2005. Retrieved December 24, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20050713004123/http://www.emergentgametech.com/press_1.html ↩
"Emergent: About Emergent Game Technologies". Archived from the original on April 19, 2006. Retrieved December 24, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20060419141719/http://www.emergent.net/index.php?source=about-us ↩
Alexander, Leigh (October 2, 2009). "Emergent Announces Restructuring, Layoffs". Gamasutra. Retrieved September 9, 2012. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25504 ↩
French, Michael (October 2, 2009). "Restructuring and job losses at Emergent". MCV. Develop. Retrieved September 9, 2012. http://www.develop-online.net/news/32971/Restructuring-and-job-losses-at-Emergent ↩
Gerbsman, Steven R. (November 11, 2010). "Sale of Emergent's Assets". Gerbsman Partners Blog. Retrieved September 9, 2012. http://boic.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/emergent-game-technologies-inc-date-certain-ma-of-its-assets-and-intellectual-property/ ↩
Alexander, Leigh (December 22, 2010). "Longtime Partner Gamebase Revealed As Gamebryo Buyer". Gamasutra. Retrieved September 9, 2012. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32168/Longtime_Partner_Gamebase_Revealed_As_Gamebryo_Buyer.php/ ↩
Coleman, Stephen (March 14, 2005). "Sid Meier's Civilization IV Powered By Gamebryo". IGN. Archived from the original on February 11, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070211162842/http://games.ign.com/articles/595/595761p1.html ↩
"Bethesda Speaks On Gamebryo Engine, Final Fallout 3 DLC". Slashdot. July 9, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2009. http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/07/09/1655222/Bethesda-Speaks-On-Gamebryo-Engine-Final-emFallout-3em-DLC ↩