• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Metroid Prime probably did not run on Unreal Engine 2

I

Ignis Fatuus

Banned
I was this being discussed in the Wii U megathread and my mind was blown so hard I figured this new news was worth a new thread.

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31067

Metroid Prime runs on a very heavily modified version of Unreal Engine 2. You can certify this to yourself by looking at the text box next to Asset_CMDL_EditorModel. Notice the word "/cooked/" in there.

For those of you who have worked with the Unreal Engine, you'll know what this is, else, you might wanna read. Cooking is a term for compiling all of the maps, scripts, materials, etc. you've made into one usable executable, or "game". It was used primarily for consoles, although now support has come out for PC cooking, resulting in faster loading times.

They also used Unreal's level streaming feature. This is highly detailed in Unreal Engine 3, but was also present in 2. It's funny how Retro got a private license for this stuff yet never sought to bring it out.

I also can confirm some UnrealScript source files exist on disk, which I am attempting to extract. Will probably branch this off into a separate thread for loads of fun and wackiness.
Click to expand...

Thanks to wsippel for pointing this out.
 
Where is that iD tech diagram?

Also pretty cool we are getting more information on the behind the scenes stuff of Metroid. Never enjoyed the games but was really impressed with the quality of Retro's work.
 
Well, consider me surprised!

Love that game, and I always thought it ran on a proprietary Retro engine.

What about the other 2 games?
 
Obligatory: It was the best game of the last generation.

I wonder why no other devs tried to go for the streaming/loading-as-you-lay approach?
 
Ok, this is one of those time where cvxfreak's tag is appropriate.

HOLY FUCKING CRAP
 
Wow, mind blown.

Seemed like it was heavily modified, but the game looked fantastic at the time. A bit more respect for the engine for being used in what is probably my game of the generation.
 
WOW.
 
Mama Robotnik said:
Obligatory: It was the best game of the last generation.

I wonder why no other devs tried to go for the streaming/loading-as-you-lay approach?
Click to expand...
So good of an idea that they patented it!

Which isn't implausible, given Namco patented loading mini games.
 
jett said:
wat

That's one hell of a modification considering the games run at a rock solid 60fps.
Click to expand...

Just think what Retro could do with UE3 modifying it. No, don't think about it, 'cause the only thought can make brains explode.
 
Topic title is misleading. It's a very heavily modified version of Unreal Engine 2, to the point where it barely resembles its original source engine.

Metalmurphy said:
Because of a /cooked/ folder?

That's a bit of a stretch no?
Click to expand...

Some Unreal Script files exist on the MP disc. It is definitely based on UE2.
 
...Buuuut DKCR...don't tell me it runs on another modified version of UE2. Or...or even UE3 :O
 
jett said:
wat

That's one hell of a modification considering the games run at a rock solid 60fps.
Click to expand...
Am I the only one who had the game run like shit when there were more than a couple of space pirates + flying ones on screen? :/
 
This is...interesting, to say the least. According to my quick and dirty searching skills, the only non-Epic UE2 game released in 2002 is supposedly America's Army.

Would be weird if we went a decade without this ever becoming mainstream, public knowledge.
 
Mama Robotnik said:
Obligatory: It was the best game of the last generation.

I wonder why no other devs tried to go for the streaming/loading-as-you-lay approach?
Click to expand...

Dark Souls does this I think. There aren't any loading screens unless you die, or warp somewhere. Metroid Prime has those doors to mask loading while in Dark Souls there's often long hallways, paths, or corridors before entering another area which is where I think the loading takes place.
 
Mama Robotnik said:
Obligatory: It was the best game of the last generation.

I wonder why no other devs tried to go for the streaming/loading-as-you-lay approach?
Click to expand...

There were a few other developers who have done that. iirc, the Ratchet and Clank games last gen had mostly or entirely masked load times.


GavinGT said:
And all the Call of Duty use a modified Quake III engine, so how is this surprising?
Click to expand...

Eh, this isn't nearly as common knowledge and there is even less of a resemblance to typical games using the engine, plus Nintendo and their developers aren't known for using third party engines. Though, to be fair, Retro was still an independent developer until after MP.
 
GavinGT said:
And all the Call of Duty games use a modified Quake III engine, so how is this surprising?
Click to expand...

That's kind of obvious though. The COD games have a very "quake" like look, as do most games based on the Quake 3 engine, UE2 and UE3.

Metroid Prime 1, 2 & 3 look nothing like any other UE2 game though. The only other game that really escaped that common look was Bioshock (which also used a massively modified version of UE2.5)
 
Metalmurphy said:
That was probably Renderware.
Click to expand...
Wiki has a very impressive list of Renderware games, looks like you're right.

But regardless, I still don't get the shock and awe about this, is this meant to be some secret shame or something? It doesn't stop those games being remarkable in any way.

It does make me wonder if Armature's PS3 game is UE3 though.
 
Wow. I didn't notice the similarities before, but going back, I can definitely line this up against other UE2 games and it makes sense.
 
Nuclear Muffin said:
That's kind of obvious though. The COD games have a very "quake" like look, as do most games based on the Quake 3 engine, UE2 and UE3.

Metroid Prime 1, 2 & 3 look nothing like any other UE2 game though. The only other game that really escaped that common look was Bioshock (which also used a massively modified version of UE2.5)
Click to expand...
And Mirror's Edge and Mass Effect (for UE3) and the Splinter Cell games (for UE2) and Anachronox (for Q2) and basically almost any title that the developers of actually tried and had the skill to come up with and fully realise a good visual style of their own instead of just replicate UT, GoW, Quake, or whatever else was trendy... It's not the engine's fault if some companies want to make gritty uninspired shooter #2948.... Though I'd personally say any COD game since MW doesn't resemble Quake III either, and no, it's not just the themes since the Quake roots are obvious in something like Enemy Territory...
 
Need a new Metroid from Retro for Wii U to make the system relevant IMO.

I feel that they are the only ones that can do it.
 
g.r.e. said:
Am I the only one who had the game run like shit when there were more than a couple of space pirates + flying ones on screen? :/
Click to expand...
It was mostly good but in certain situations, yeah, there were drops. The one fight I remember where the frame rate got really bad was against the worm boss (Amorbis) in Echoes.
 
Bear said:
There were a few other developers who have done that. iirc, the Ratchet and Clank games last gen had mostly or entirely masked load times.
Click to expand...

God of War 1 and 2 also had mostly masked load times besides when you died and had to restart. Other than that I think there were like two brief loading sequences in each game.
 
Frankfurt said:
Where's that kid that whines about the "piss filter" in every Unreal thread?
Click to expand...
I doubt he whines over UE2 since there were no such filters back then for the most part, UE2 was more or less the top of the line of the "last gen" type tech at that point, before the introduction of things like heavy use of pixel shaders and what not... Just raw power, polygon pushing, high resolution textures, large maps with both detailed indoors and open terrain, etc... It only had poor lighting, though that also wasn't obvious in Epic's (at the time rather colorful) games since they had static conditions. Except for games that modified it to add such effects, like the Splinter Cell games with their full dynamic lighting, shadows, filters all over, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Epic introduces major Unreal Engine 5 update that runs ‘twice as fast’ on Nintendo Switch 2
Hardware Platform 
19
29
Abysse replied
UNREAL ENGINE 6 ANNOUNCEMENT WITH ROCKET LEAGUE 2
2 3 4
180
2K
RodriGames40 replied
Unreal Engine 6 - Reveal Overview
2
69
695
Hudo replied
Conan Exiles Enhanced to change engine to Unreal Engine 5 on 5 of May 2026
Trailer 
39
1K
Mithos replied
Can you run... Unreal?
2
55
1K
JohnnyFootball replied
Top Bottom