Developer(s) | RAGE Technology Group (Rockstar San Diego) |
---|---|
Middleware | |
Platform | |
Predecessor | Angel Game Engine |
License | Proprietary |
The Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) is a proprietary game engine of Rockstar Games, developed by the RAGE Technology Group division of Rockstar San Diego (formerly Angel Studios), based on the Angel Game Engine. [1] Since its first game, Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis in 2006, released for the Xbox 360 and Wii, the engine has been used by Rockstar Games's internal studios to develop advanced open world games for computers and consoles.
Angel Studios previously used the game engine Angel Real Time Simulation (ARTS) for Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr. (1998) and Midtown Madness (1999). [2] [3] The following year, Angel Studios developed Midtown Madness 2 (2000), the first title to use the new Angel Game Engine (AGE). [4] In 2002, Angel Studios was sold to Take-Two Interactive, moved under Rockstar Games, and rebranded Rockstar San Diego. This sale also included AGE, later renamed the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE). [5]
Prior to developing RAGE, Rockstar Games mostly used Criterion Games's RenderWare engine to develop games for PlayStation 2, Windows, and Xbox, such as the early 3D installments in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. [6] In 2004, Criterion Games was acquired by Electronic Arts, which led Rockstar Games to switch from RenderWare and open RAGE Technology Group as a division of Rockstar San Diego. [7] RAGE Technology Group started developing what would later become RAGE, based on Rockstar San Diego's AGE. [8] The engine would facilitate game development on Windows and seventh generation consoles. [9] [10] The first game to use the engine was Rockstar San Diego's Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis , released for Xbox 360 on May 23, 2006 [11] and ported to the Wii more than a year later. Since then, RAGE integrates the third-party middleware components Euphoria [12] and Bullet, as character animation engine and physics engine, respectively. [13] [14]
On PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, RAGE often saw a disparity in the optimization on the hardware: major titles on PlayStation 3 usually had lower resolution and minor graphic effects, as in Grand Theft Auto IV (720p vs. 640p), [15] [16] in Midnight Club: Los Angeles (1280×720p vs. 960×720p) [17] and in Red Dead Redemption (720p vs. 640p). [18] Despite its problems in optimization equality, in July 2009, Chris Stead of IGN voted RAGE as one of the "10 Best Game Engines of [the 7th] Generation", saying: "RAGE's strengths are many. Its ability to handle large streaming worlds, complex A.I. arrangements, weather effects, fast network code and a multitude of gameplay styles will be obvious to anyone who has played GTA IV." [19]
Since the release of Max Payne 3 , the engine supports DirectX 11 and stereoscopic 3D rendering for personal computers. [20] Max Payne 3 also marked the first time in which RAGE was capable of rendering the same 720p resolution on a game, both on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. [15] This benefit has been achieved also in Grand Theft Auto V , which renders at a 720p resolution on both consoles. [21]
For the remastered versions of Grand Theft Auto V, RAGE was reworked for the eighth generation of video game consoles, with 1080p resolution support for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. [22] The PC version of the game, released in 2015, showed RAGE supporting 4K resolution and frame rates at 60 frames per second, as well as more powerful draw distances, texture filtering, and improved shadow mapping and tessellation quality. [23]
RAGE would later be further refined with the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018, supporting physically based rendering, volumetric clouds and fog values, pre-calculated global illumination [24] [25] as well as a Vulkan renderer in the Windows version. [26] The Euphoria engine was overhauled to create advanced AI as well as enhanced physics and animations for the game. [27] [28] HDR support was added in May 2019. [29] [30] [31] Support for Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) was added in July 2021. [32] [33] [34] [35]
The 2022 release of Grand Theft Auto V for the ninth generation of video game consoles introduced several enhancements, incorporating features from later RAGE titles. Raytraced reflections, native 4K resolution on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, upscaled 4K on the Xbox Series S, as well as HDR support were added. [36] [37] [38]
Year | Title | Platform(s) | Developer(s) |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis [39] | Wii, Xbox 360 | Rockstar San Diego |
2008 | Grand Theft Auto IV [40] | PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 | Rockstar North |
Midnight Club: Los Angeles [41] | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Rockstar San Diego | |
2009 | Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned | PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 | Rockstar North |
Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony | |||
2010 | Red Dead Redemption [42] | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360 | Rockstar San Diego |
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare | |||
2012 | Max Payne 3 [43] | OS X, PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 | Rockstar Studios |
2013 | Grand Theft Auto V [44] | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | Rockstar North |
2018 | Red Dead Redemption 2 [25] | PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One | Rockstar Games |
2025 | Grand Theft Auto VI [45] [46] | PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S |
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a 2002 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the fourth main game in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2001's Grand Theft Auto III, and the sixth entry overall. Set in 1986 within the fictional Vice City, the single-player story follows mobster Tommy Vercetti's rise to power after being released from prison and becoming caught up in an ambushed drug deal. While seeking out those responsible, Tommy gradually builds a criminal empire by seizing power from other criminal organisations in the city.
Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Founding members of the company were Terry Donovan, Gary Foreman, Dan and Sam Houser, and Jamie King, who worked for Take-Two at the time, and of which the Houser brothers were previously executives at BMG Interactive. Sam Houser heads the studio as president.
Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 1999's Grand Theft Auto 2, and the fifth instalment overall. Set within the fictional Liberty City, the story follows Claude, a silent protagonist who, after being left for dead by his girlfriend during a robbery, embarks on a quest for revenge leading him to become entangled in a world of crime, drugs, gang warfare, and corruption. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Its open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main areas.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the fifth main game in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and the seventh entry overall. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, the game follows Carl "CJ" Johnson, who returns home after his mother's murder and finds his old street gang has lost much of their territory. Over the course of the game, he attempts to rebuild the gang, clashes with corrupt authorities and powerful criminals, and gradually unravels the truth behind his mother's murder.
Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is an action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is primarily developed by British development house Rockstar North, and published by its American parent company, Rockstar Games. The name of the series is a term for motor vehicle theft in the United States.
Rockstar Leeds Limited is a British video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Leeds. Ian J. Bowden, Dave Box, Gordon Hall, and Jason McGann founded the company as Möbius Entertainment in December 1997 after working together at the studio Hookstone. Möbius worked with SCi on two games: Alfred's Adventure, a remake of Alfred Chicken, and the cancelled Titanium Angels. Starting in 2001, the studio created Game Boy Advance games for several publishers, including multiple for The 3DO Company and Max Payne for Rockstar Games.
Rockstar Toronto is a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Oakville, Ontario. The company was established as Imagexcel in the early 1980s and developed more than fifteen games under that name, including Quarantine, which was published by GameTek in 1994. The publisher bought the studio's assets through its Alternative Reality Technologies subsidiary in March 1995 and then sold Alternative Reality Technologies to Take-Two Interactive in July 1997. The studio became part of Take-Two's Rockstar Games label as Rockstar Canada in 1999 and was renamed Rockstar Toronto in 2002 when Take-Two acquired Rockstar Vancouver. Under Rockstar Games, the studio developed the 2005 game The Warriors, based on the 1979 film of the same name, as well as several ports, including the Windows versions of Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, Max Payne 3, and Grand Theft Auto V. In July 2012, Rockstar Vancouver was merged into Rockstar Toronto, which then moved into larger offices.
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Grand Theft Auto Online is an online multiplayer action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 1 October 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, 18 November 2014 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, 14 April 2015 for Windows, and 15 March 2022 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The game is the online component of Grand Theft Auto V. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto Online allows up to 30 players to explore its open world environment and engage in cooperative or competitive game modes.
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