Does WoW need a modern engine?

[Karon]

a common misconception here is that artsyle = engine.

Which is just rubbish.


I think they already did quite a bit of reworking of the engine throughout the expansions.. in that sense calling it an obsolete 20 y.o engine is unfair.

That being said, new engine means new possibilities, better loadtime .. who can say no to that?

You can't run the game on highest settings with acceptable frame rates due to CPU bottlenecks caused by the engine. It IS a 20 y/o obsolete engine. Just because they added new effects that are offloaded to other cores doesn't change the fact that the core part of the game still runs on a single core.

[rda]

WoW's graphics are fine as they are.

[cuafpr]

yeah, i think so to add even more features, not upgrade graphics. Also to add even more features and physics, and clean up the years of code buried under the updates.

[RobertMugabe]

Define what you mean with engine first, then we might talk.

(NOTE: a "game engine" is merely another word for a framework, so what the definition of an "engine" is unclear)

[Karon]

No, it'll take away the essence of the game.

Well said. Any person thinking otherwise do not understand what creates the essence of a video game. There's a reason why a screenshot from today looks like the same as a screenshot from years ago.

The graphics and more technically its engine is what makes the game. Change the engine, you change the game.

No one who like the game want the game to be changed.

You like the colors and the pleasure from exploring Azeroth ? Say goodbye to it if they change it. Say also goodbye to your 10+ years progression because the game will be different, it will not mean anything anymore. Yes it would be an historical disaster. Which is why the game will keep its current style over the years and forever.

Art style is tied to the game engine.
You can't deny this. You can recognize a unity or a unreal based game. Which is why so many games look the same. How sad is that, that almost every games look the same.

Game engine renders the graphics, by definition it's tied to the art style.

God you're misinformed, it's not even funny.

[RobertMugabe]

WoW has really great art for what it is. Gameplay is also really smooth.

Some people say it should just use the HotS engine but I played HotS and it felt really uncomfortable even to just move around. It didn't look "right". For example, when you mount up in HotS it felt like the animations were far worse than in WoW, like your mount was going at a full gallop but barely going anywhere. Just felt bad.

It's interesting what you are saying, because all current blizzard game EXCEPT Hearthstone are made with the same toolkit

[Daedius]

no. wow is never going to be a realistic looking game. its not the essence of wow. the engine could do realistic if the developers wanted to, they chose to make a cartoony game. done.

nor do i actually want that in wow. if i want realistic graphics ill go find another game, wow is comforting to me just the way it is. adding higher definition is ok, but leave the realism out of it.

What's a new engine got to do with realistic graphics? -.-;

[RobertMugabe]

What's a new engine got to do with realistic graphics? -.-;

Nothing and everything. A "game engine" can be literally anything really, OP needs to be more specific what he wants to be changed actually.

[Cæli]

God you're misinformed, it's not even funny.

Inform me then, with links and interesting articles, everyone is watching.

[Deleted]

Lots or people are confusing "new engine" with "realistic graphics". Blizz can keep the cartoonish style even with an modern graphic engine.
Now well all know they would need to remake the game from scrap so it will never happen, but if we are to fantasize for a moment, a new engine would surely enhance the gaming experience: strong visuals, physics and lightning effects would contribute to deepen the immersion and offer new possibilites for gameplay.

If we are to provide an example, the recent succes of Zelda:BotW proves that what said above greatly improves the gaming experience. Imagine an Azeroth like this:
http://i.onionstatic.com/avclub/6169/59/16x9/640.jpg
https://assets.vg247.com/current//20...the_wild-1.jpg
http://assets1.ignimgs.com/2017/03/0...5943_1280w.jpg

Of course, WoW does not need this kind of graphic, as the game is functional as it is, but it would definitely be nice to have. Physics tho could be a really good addition (so we get actual clipping, moving capes and robes) and could also be used in dungeon/raid encounter to breath fresh air into them.

[Hottage]

Inform me then, with links and interesting articles, everyone is watching.

These are examples of resources a game engine can consume:

- spell effects
- textures
- map/models
- sound effects
- translatable text
- cinematic movies and scripted in-game camera sequences

While the engine may have limitations on what formats of these it can consume, they are not part of the engine itself.
Assuming no resource limitations, these can all be upgraded in quality with little to no engine modification whatsoever.

These are examples of components of the engine itself:

- Shader/rendering and other camera effects
- surround sound and reverb
- collision detection
- input handling
- model animation/physics
- client-server communication

Upgrading these would generally require at least some rewriting of engine code.

In the case of World of Warcraft, these are sort of a grey area:

- item stats and properties
- quests
- spell data (not the visual effects but what it does)
- character sheet details
- account data

These are technically "resources" that the engine can consume, but they are intrinsically linked to the limitations of the game engine.
For example: adding a new spell damage type for the "spell data" would require an engine update, but adding a new item would not (assuming the model already exists).

These sorts of resources could easily be interfaced to by a new engine to be reused.
In a way this already happens as you could consider the armoury and it's various apps as another "engine" which interfaces with this data to produce visible changes to the environment of the actual game engine.

[Jalatiphra]

It would basically be WoW 2 so yeah

you guys have no clue about software development and thus not make these statements

[Deleted]

any inherently old game could use an engine update.
the question, however, is if it's worth the time/money if the end result is only so much better than the current state.

the current state is stable if not wobbly.
and a complete engine overhaul, whiles't beneficial, won't have to much of an impact on the game itself.

though i can only imagine how the back end looks.

[Marston]

If by "modern" you mean something that's more like "Wildstar" and less like, let's say, "Blade & Soul", then yes.

If not, then no.

[derpkitteh]

no thank you. i'd like to be able to play the game, as i currently can.

it looks fine as it is. you rich motherfuckers can go jack off to your god computers on some modern game.

[Hottage]

no thank you. i'd like to be able to play the game, as i currently can.

it looks fine as it is. you rich motherfuckers can go jack off to your god computers on some modern game.

How many times does it need to be said...

New game engine =/= new graphics engine.

Generally a new game engine would mean improved performance for all system specifications.
Bottlenecks and inefficient/obsolete subroutines in the code can be removed which currently can't be touched in case doing so has unexpected side effects.

[Natylyaz]

Definitely, with native Linux support.
Any indie in their basement can, Steam can, therefore Blizzard can.

[Nero Stormchester]

Nope. It runs smoother in Combat than any other MMO I've played, which is one of the reasons why I've stuck with it for so many years.

Try GW2 ^^

[Evangeliste]

They add new technology into the game quite often. If you check the front page of MMO-Champion and Dalaran, they are making a new technology to deal with combat situations probably in the sense of how many bodies are displayed because they mentioned Withered Jim (and that with players can mount up and slow FPS right down because of the amount of ploygons, textures and whatnot without a decent GPU and Ram setup). This is probably a new physic engine update really. Something that has been tinkered with but not sure if necessarily an overhaul but we aren't really in Blizzard to know yay or nay for it.
Phasing technology is another big one that has been developed over the years and made more streamline. I recall it came into Wrath of the Lich King, mostly remember the zones (especially Icecrown) adapting with your progression in storyline which nowadays is still used, look no further than Suramar really. It can adapt to many different points in the game but people can still see each other which before you couldn't.
Cross-realming is another technology they've added and has been expanded a little, not a lot but can at least trade specific items now.

They've not seen a need to update the engine overall, they edit it and add to it. They may have even upgraded it without us knowing, we just assume it's the same because they haven't updated everything and not seen a majot impact but notice when they updated the races, in textures and polygons there wasn't much error with them. Software and graphically.
A game engine is just basis software used in the game which they have generally added and edited over the years. Not everything I'll add and admit but they have changed it, for example the HUD display hasn't moved but other core systems have been, obviously the combat one in particular as they are testing it in 7.2 with Dalaran aforementioned. There are probably examples on both sides of that line but in the end, the game itself is about the design which they can't always limit because people want big and badass with not every computer setup coping.

[Cæli]

These are examples of resources a game engine can consume:

- spell effects
- textures
- map/models
- sound effects
- translatable text
- cinematic movies and scripted in-game camera sequences

While the engine may have limitations on what formats of these it can consume, they are not part of the engine itself.
Assuming no resource limitations, these can all be upgraded in quality with little to no engine modification whatsoever.

These are examples of components of the engine itself:

- Shader/rendering and other camera effects
- surround sound and reverb
- collision detection
- input handling
- model animation/physics
- client-server communication

Upgrading these would generally require at least some rewriting of engine code.

In the case of World of Warcraft, these are sort of a grey area:

- item stats and properties
- quests
- spell data (not the visual effects but what it does)
- character sheet details
- account data

These are technically "resources" that the engine can consume, but they are intrinsically linked to the limitations of the game engine.
For example: adding a new spell damage type for the "spell data" would require an engine update, but adding a new item would not (assuming the model already exists).

These sorts of resources could easily be interfaced to by a new engine to be reused.
In a way this already happens as you could consider the armoury and it's various apps as another "engine" which interfaces with this data to produce visible changes to the environment of the actual game engine.

The game engine consume some graphics resources, and it is not part of the engine. The engine handles different other things. Is that right ?

I think the topic from OP ties with how the graphics are rendered since he talks about the essence of the game, which is not just the technical implementations of the different things that make the game work.

I was talking about the game engine, and I don't know what did I said that makes people think that it's misinformed
Changing the graphical part of the engine will change the game, I think it's the subject of the topic, not the engine that handles controls, data and the like