Metroid Prime ran on Unreal Engine 2

[Valwin]

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.

mind = blown
Source

 

[Deleted-236924]

Interesting indeed.

 

[Foxi4]

Unreal engine ---> Smells of mods from a mile, which is always welcome. I give my blessing to this holy research, let it be continued until fruition.

 

[Quietlyawesome94]

Gee valwin keeps uncovering bombshell after bombshell these days! Congratz

 

[DinohScene]

Unreal engine ---> Smells of mods from a mile

Strong nose xd

Interesting indeed.

 

[Giggtysword344]

Gee valwin keeps uncovering bombshell after bombshell these days! Congratz

If we fix his English then he could become like the Ron Burgundy of Gbatemp.

 

[granville]

Very cool find, and interesting! I'm assuming this also means Prime 3 is built on Unreal 2 as well, seems to be the same engine as the original two.

Wonder if Retro will work on a Prime 4 with Unreal Engine 3 for the Wii U, since it supports it.

 

[Bladexdsl]

Wonder if Retro will work on a Prime 4 with Unreal Engine 3 for the Wii U, since it supports it.

we can only hope

 

[gokujr1000]

This is a pretty good piece of information. I didn't even think it was possible that this game could run on unreal o.o

 

[T3GZdev]

hmmm so metroid wii u & 3DS on unreal engine 3 or 4?

 

[granville]

hmmm so metroid wii u & 3DS on unreal engine 3 or 4?

Metroid Prime for Wii U would be feasible considering there already exist games confirmed for Wii U that use Unreal 3 (Arkham City i believe is one, possible others i forget). 3DS on the other hand, Epic claims to be unable to support Unreal 3. At least in its current state. So save for a completely new mobile specific rewritten version of the Unreal engine (as Capcom did with MT Framework), i don't think a 3DS Metroid could use Unreal 3. Unreal 2 should work fine, and i'd imagine most people would be satisfied with it. While it's apparently a pretty crappy programming mess, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory 3DS is said to run on Unreal 2.5. With a more competent developer, a Metroid Prime probably do really well on the 3DS. Better shader effects are possible too. Unreal 2.5 is still a great engine.

 

[Bladexdsl]

make metroid with unreal eng 3 for wiiu
and make 2d metroids for 3ds
problem solved

 

[injected11]

Very cool find, and interesting! I'm assuming this also means Prime 3 is built on Unreal 2 as well, seems to be the same engine as the original two.

Wonder if Retro will work on a Prime 4 with Unreal Engine 3 for the Wii U, since it supports it.

From what I've read, the Primes were a trilogy, so that's done. I'd gladly welcome another Retro Studios Metroid though.

 

[Rydian]

Am I the only one not really surprised? Companies license and re-use engines like this all the time. Metroid Fusion looks to have used the Wario Land 4 engine, for example.

As for the Unreal engine series, it's sold to be used for games.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unreal_Engine_games
Bioshock 1/2?
Red Steel?
Even some PSP games used various versions.

But yeah the modding ability would be interesting if it was doable.

 

[Hielkenator]

Am I the only one not really surprised? Companies license and re-use engines like this all the time. Metroid Fusion looks to have used the Wario Land 4 engine, for example.

As for the Unreal engine series, it's sold to be used for games.
http://en.wikipedia....al_Engine_games
Bioshock 1/2?
Red Steel?
Even some PSP games used various versions.

But yeah the modding ability would be interesting if it was doable.

Agreed, nothing special here I think.
Retro did an AWESOME job though

 

[Bladexdsl]

Retro did an AWESOME job though

A LOT better than team ninja

 

[dorayaki95]

actually what is so mind blowing with metroid prime using unreal engine 2? can somebody please explain. doesn't game like red steel uses unreal engine 2.5?

 

[ZAFDeltaForce]

actually what is so mind blowing with metroid prime using unreal engine 2? can somebody please explain. doesn't game like red steel uses unreal engine 2.5?

Likewise. Forgive my ignorance, but what on earth is the big deal?

 

[HaniKazmi]

If any of you actually read the source thread, this has been all but debunked and was based on very flaky and circumstantial evidence.

 

[Maikel Steneker]

Likewise. Forgive my ignorance, but what on earth is the big deal?

I'm also a bit confused. Maybe people care because Nintendo normally uses their own engines?

It is true that Metroid Prime is a visually strong game, especially if you consider when it came out.