As part of a demo for the newest version of the Unreal Engine, CD Projekt RED showed off some Witcher 4 shit that is, just… I mean, look at it.

My fear whenever a piece of technology like this becomes dominant is that it's going to lead to homogenization somewhere in the experience. Apparently people aren't crazy about the new Doom, but the one thing you can't say is that it isn't masterfully married to a piece of technology designed to do what they did very well. The tech was genuinely one of my favorite things about it.

Halo going to Unreal Engine is exactly the sort of thing I would fear for this reason. Halo, and its wayward child Destiny, feel a very particular way - so particular that they've put up with it even once it was so long in the tooth it made the game harder to develop, expand, and support. Something had to change. If we see a Destiny 3, I don't think it's gonna ride on the old warhorse. I'm not sure it can, for reasons beyond "feel." But feel is what they got.

But I don't know, man. I keep up with these tech demos. Turning leaves into voxels at a distance so they're light work but can still dish up everything you expect from the illumination system?! If you make games, maybe you're gonna be like "Yeah, obvs." I work with words. Out here, the way these problems get solved (and the digital sacraments they enable) is fucking crazy. Maybe tools should be their own job, like Bink Video from RAD Game Tools! I just saw that Epic bought them. So… they agree, I guess.

(CW)TB out.