The game and this engine have already allowed the graphics to evolve massively compared to the original Kickstarter days, but can this be maintained to keep up with modern titles? Does the engine have a limit? Is there going to be a point where we can't improve?
TL;DRAli Brown doesn't think the engine hits a limit, saying graphics development is accelerating now that the renderer has been replaced, and assuming the team stays the same or grows, more visuals are expected.
So I don't think so. It's almost the opposite. First off, an engine isn't a single thing, obviously, that has a limit, where you hit it and then you stagnate or you replace it. It's many, many different subsystems, and subsystems of the subsystems. And these, like I've mentioned before, are being constantly iterated or replaced. And that's not a problem. That's not wasted. That's just the natural evolution of software. So in terms of whether we can maintain it, I think it's the opposite. I think we're accelerating quite quickly. I think the initial years, say for the graphics team, were finding our feet. We obviously inherited a code base, and learned that, and then brought more people on board to better understand and start to develop that code base. And more recently on the graphics side, we obviously replaced the renderer. So now it is 100% ours, and 100% our understanding of every nook and cranny of it. And once that's done, our rate is going to be much greater to be able to keep up with new technology. And that's the big motivator for Gen12. Performance was one, but the secondary one was to be able to adapt to new technology and create new features much more quickly. So yeah, I think, again assuming the team stays the same or grows in size, we've got plenty of capacity now to develop things much quicker than we have done in the past. And we need to, obviously, to keep up with the big engines. But yeah, I'm not concerned in that way. I think we're going to be pushing a lot more visuals in the coming years.