RE Engine

Last updated

RE Engine
Developer(s) Capcom
License Proprietary

RE Engine, also known as Reach for the Moon Engine, [1] [2] is a video game engine created by Capcom. Originally designed for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard , it has since been used in a variety of the company's games, such as Devil May Cry 5 , Monster Hunter Rise and Street Fighter 6 . [3] [4] [5] The engine is a successor to MT Framework, Capcom's previous engine. [6]

Contents

History

RE Engine was created in 2014, during the beginning of the development of Resident Evil 7. The engine was originally designed with the game's linear nature in mind and was created to make game development more efficient. [7] The reason the team did not choose a third-party engine was that "a highly generic engine developed by another company would not be appropriate" for a game like Resident Evil 7. [8] MT Framework was not used for the project due to its slower development tools. Jun Takeuchi, the head of Capcom's Division 1 stated "we had to rethink the way we make games. In order to carry out asset-based (graphic and 3D model elements) development, which is globally the mainstream, we began developing our new RE Engine". [9]

Since its introduction, RE Engine has been used as the primary game engine across all Capcom titles. No single game or franchise drives the direction of the engine, according to Monster Hunter producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, and instead all studios contribute towards its improvement. This approach has avoided the pitfalls that other developers have had dealing with the demand to use a singular engine tuned for a specific game to be used across all games, such as at Electronic Arts. [10]

When discussing Monster Hunter Rise, Yasunori Ichinose, the game's director, discussed porting RE Engine to the Nintendo Switch, and said "a lot of background technical engineering work need[ed] to be done just to achieve targeting a new hardware platform", and mentioned the challenge of creating the large maps the team wanted while trying to maintain the game's graphical quality. [11]

In October 2023, Capcom unveiled "Codename REX" (RE neXt ENGINE), their next-generation game engine, during a 22-minute developer-focused presentation. Acknowledging limitations in the current RE Engine, the new engine upgrade will involve incrementally integrating RE+X technology into the existing RE Engine, elevating it to next-generation capabilities. [12] [13] [14]

Features

RE Engine features various improvements over MT Framework, including new anti-aliasing and volumetric lighting features. [15] The engine also allows developers to use photogrammetry to create higher quality assets. It also includes improved VR support over its predecessor, allowing it to hit high framerates necessary to avoid motion sickness. [9] It also includes tools to make animation faster, such as modular rigging, motion matching, procedural animation and motion retargeting. [16] [17] [18] RE Engine also has various new physics simulation options which allow for more realistic debris. [19]

Games

Games developed using RE Engine
YearTitleRef.
2017 Resident Evil 7: Biohazard [3]
2019 Resident Evil 2 [15]
Devil May Cry 5 [20]
2020 Resident Evil 3 [21]
Resident Evil: Resistance [22]
2021 Capcom Arcade Stadium [23] [ better source needed ]
Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection [24]
Monster Hunter Rise [4]
Resident Evil Village [25]
2022 Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium [26]
Resident Evil Re:Verse [27]
2023 Resident Evil 4 [28]
Street Fighter 6 [29]
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective [30] [ better source needed ]
Exoprimal [31] [ better source needed ]
2024 Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy [32]
Dragon's Dogma 2 [33]
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess [34]
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster [35]
2025 Monster Hunter Wilds [10]
TBAPragmata [36]

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References

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