Square Enix Shows Off Photo-Realistic Next-Gen Engine

By Matt Mann / October 12, 2011

Square Enix have demonstrated their new engine for next-generation games called Luminous. This new engine will supposedly do something the video game industry has needed since we moved to next-gen consoles and that is lower the cost of making games by 30% and shorten the development time. The engine works with DirectX 11 and according to reports "is capable of cloth and fluid simulation, realtime reflections, and new methods of detailing 3D models." http://youtu.be/J_fbvW0RNjw Square Enix technology officer Julien Merceron stated:

"If I take a picture and after this I create the same objects in a game with the right materials, I can achieve a rendering that is very close to the picture because I'm using the physical parameters of the real world."

Luminous will be used to create games from "small-scale casual games to complex console titles", however at this time the engine will only be developed internally; as Square Enix has not announced that this new technology will be available to other video game studios at this time. Here are some actual photos that were taken and rendered in real time using the new Luminous engine: The most exciting thing about this new engine is the possibility that it will lower the cost of video game development by 30%, that is huge news. The biggest problem for developers this generation has been the cost of creating new games from scratch, which has lead to a decrease in innovation. However, a new video game engine that promises to cut down on cost and development time is very exciting, we could see more developers taking bigger chances in the future as well as more game companies being able to survive.