GDC 11: A New Graphics Engine to Top Infinity Blade's Unreal Engine?
by Staff Writer
March 5, 2011
While at GDC, we met with Tak Fung, the developer of MiniSquadron, EpicWin, and Fox Vs Duck. Over the past few months, he has taken on a monumental task of creating a new iOS graphics engine. His goal? For it to be the best looking graphics engine on iOS, even topping Epic’s Unreal engine. The Unreal engine is used in Infinity Blade on iOS, as well as in console games like Mass Effect 2, Gear of Wars 2 & 3, and Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Tak had a demo of his engine similar to what Epic Citadel was before Infinity Blade. To say the least, it was quite amazing, and was especially jaw dropping to see it on the iPhone. To make it more impressive, this is from a two man indie studio rather than a multi-million dollar company with a development team in the triple digits.
Tak describes it as:
Tak Fung has renamed his studio Supermono Studios, which is based on the new engine, which he’s calling Supermono. Once we finally see a game running this engine, it will further push what we think is capable on iOS. The next game is planned to be ready for Summer 2011, and the engine is planned to be used for the games Tak develops over the next 2-3 years.
In speaking with Tak, we also found out that MiniSquadron 2 plans are in the works as soon as Tak's next game releases this summer. MiniSquadron 2 will be built with the Supermono engine, and will have a 2.5D graphics engine reminiscent of Little Big Planet.
No matter when Supermono Studios releases their next game, it has all the makings of liquid awesome, so be sure to watch out for it! As always, AppAdvice will be sure to keep you in the loop.
Tak had a demo of his engine similar to what Epic Citadel was before Infinity Blade. To say the least, it was quite amazing, and was especially jaw dropping to see it on the iPhone. To make it more impressive, this is from a two man indie studio rather than a multi-million dollar company with a development team in the triple digits.
Tak describes it as:
“A Deferred Renderer...it handles diffuse and specular illumination for up to twenty dynamic, coloured lights, along with bloom and environment reflections, in real time”.The next game he develops will be a car-themed game using this engine, but Tak says it will not be just another car racing game. Rather, it will add the arcade flair and fun of MiniSquadron as opposed to being more similar to other racers like Real Racing, Asphalt, and Need For Speed. The video below shows the model in action, but doesn’t really represent how great it looks in person. The alternating lighting, rendering, and dynamic points of light while moving the camera is just unmatched in the current iOS space.
Tak Fung has renamed his studio Supermono Studios, which is based on the new engine, which he’s calling Supermono. Once we finally see a game running this engine, it will further push what we think is capable on iOS. The next game is planned to be ready for Summer 2011, and the engine is planned to be used for the games Tak develops over the next 2-3 years.
In speaking with Tak, we also found out that MiniSquadron 2 plans are in the works as soon as Tak's next game releases this summer. MiniSquadron 2 will be built with the Supermono engine, and will have a 2.5D graphics engine reminiscent of Little Big Planet.
No matter when Supermono Studios releases their next game, it has all the makings of liquid awesome, so be sure to watch out for it! As always, AppAdvice will be sure to keep you in the loop.
