Chrome Engine

Chrome Engine

Developer(s)	Techland
Initial release	2003, with Chrome Engine I
Stable release	6.x
Written in	C++
Platform	Microsoft Windows, Linux, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, OS X
License	Proprietary
Website	http://technology.techland.pl/

Chrome Engine was a proprietary 3D game engine developed by Techland. The current version, Chrome Engine 6, supports Mac OS X, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PS3 and Microsoft Windows.

Chrome Engine evolved through over nine years of development. According to its creators the engine is purely "What You See Is What You Get" and allows substantial control over the process of creating game levels.

Features

Rendering

• Platform-independent multi-threaded rendering system architecture:
  • built-in DX10 / Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 implementations
  • static and dynamic visible surface determination
  • resource management system
• Material system:
  • supports per-pixel lighting techniques: normal mapping, virtual displacement mapping, environment mapping or parametrized Phong lighting
  • Deferred shading
  • static and dynamic lighting
  • GPU shader level access
  • shader level-of-detail support
• Terrain:
  • heightmap-based geometry enhanced with geomipmapping and polygon reduction algorithms
  • flexible road system
• Procedural vegetation and meshes spreading
• Post-processing effects manager:
  • 64-bit High dynamic range (HDR) rendering
  • supports motion blur, bloom, glow, depth-of-field, ambient occlusion, tone-mapping, edge anti-aliasing, gamma correction
• Sun dynamic soft shadowing techniques:
  • up to four stable cascades in shadow mapping
  • accurate dynamic shadows
  • multiple shadow filtering techniques
• Skeletal animation system:
  • animation blending and morphing
  • built-in skeletal controllers
  • integrated with 3D Studio Max
  • utilizing morph targets for face mimics
• Particle system:
  • particle physics and environmental effects
  • procedural fire
• Volumetric natural phenomena atmospheric effects
• Graphical user interface (GUI) system

Physics

• Rigid body physics system:
  • basic physics type presets
  • interactions with physical objects and static environment
  • destroyable objects
  • breakable joints with constraints
  • ragdoll character animation
• Deformable objects: clothes, ropes
• Multithreading support
• Physical Level Of Detail
• Scripting physics

Sound

• support for major output formats and multichannel surround sound
• sound streaming
• 3D sound spatial positioning, sequencing, looping, filtering

Networking

• support for Internet and LAN play
• client - server architecture
• authorization server

Level editing

ChromEd is an expanded content creation and management tool. It enables real time level editing. The main features are:

• visual placement and editing of game objects with a real time view of their appearance
• a data-driven property editing framework
• real time terrain editing
• road system placing tool
• time of day function, setting sun position to an hour-accurate location
• real time performance analysis
• lightmap generation tool
• browser framework for finding and viewing game assets of all types.

Versions

Chrome Engine 1

First release of the engine used in Chrome.

Chrome Engine 2

Improved version of engine enhanced with support for DirectX 9.0.

Chrome Engine 3

This version of the engine underwent significant modifications. DirectX 9.0c and DirectX 10 support, HDR, shaders and bump mapping were implemented.

Chrome Engine 4

The fourth iteration of the Chrome Engine that was introduced with Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. Supports DirectX 9 only.

Chrome Engine 5

This version debuted with Call of Juarez: The Cartel and Dead Island. This version was primarily used between 2011-2013.

Chrome Engine 6

The latest version of the Chrome Engine. Used in Dying Light and in the 2015 release Hellraid. This version of the engine has been used from 2013 to the present.

Games using Chrome Engine

Chrome Engine 1

• FIM Speedway Grand Prix (2003)
• Chrome (2003)
• Chrome: SpecForce (2005)
• Crazy Soccer Mundial (2006)

Chrome Engine 2

• Xpand Rally (2004)
• Xpand Rally Xtreme (2006)
• Terrorist Takedown: War in Colombia (2006)
• Terrorist Takedown: Covert Ops (2006)
• GTI Racing (2006)
• FIM Speedway Grand Prix 2 (2006)
• Expedition Trophy: Murmansk Vladivostok (2006)
• UAZ 4X4 Racing (2007)
• Full Drive: UAZ 4x4 – Ural Appeal (2007)
• Classic Car Racing (2007)
• Code of Honor: The French Foreign Legion (2007)
• Full Drive 2: UAZ 4x4 (2008)
• 4x4: Hummer (2008)
• Full Drive 2: Daurian Marathon (2008)
• Full Drive 2: Siberian Appeal (2008)
• Battlestrike: Force of Resistance (2008)
• Sniper: Art of Victory (2008)
• GM Rally (2009)
• KrAZ (2010)
• Full Drive 2: Trophy Murmansk - Vladivostok 2 (2010)

Chrome Engine 3

• Call of Juarez (2006)
• FIM Speedway Grand Prix 3 (2008)
• Speedway Liga (2009)
• FIM Speedway Grand Prix 4 (2011)

Chrome Engine 4

• Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (2009)
• Sniper: Ghost Warrior (2010)
• Nail'd (2010)
• Mad Riders (2012)

Chrome Engine 5

• Call of Juarez: The Cartel (2011)^[1]
• Dead Island (2011) ^[2]
• Dead Island: Riptide (2013)
• Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (2013)

Chrome Engine 6

• Dying Light (2015)
• Hellraid (TBA)
• Dead Island Definitive Edition (2016)
• Dead Island Riptide Definitive Edition (2016)

Unknown version

• Chrome 2 (project suspended) ^[3]
• Warhound (project suspended) ^[3]

References

1. gram.pl. "Call Of Juarez: The Cartel".
2. "Dead Island is coming, with more information released". February 17, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
3. "Techland has suspended production of Chrome 2 and Warhound". April 22, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.

External links