Fox Engine

Fox Engine
Developer(s) Konami
Kojima Productions
Platform Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Type Game engine
License Proprietary

The Fox Engine is a proprietary cross-platform, cross-generational game engine built by Kojima Productions for use in many Konami games.[1] The engine's development began after the completion of 2008's Metal Gear Solid 4, with the goal of making the "best engine in the world."[2] The first title to use the Fox Engine was Pro Evolution Soccer 2014.

The engine makes it possible for Kojima Productions to develop multiplatform games with a significantly shortened development time[2] and has been described as the first step for the developer to move away from development for a single platform.[3] The engine is named after FOX, a fictional military unit from the Metal Gear series, wherein is also a reflection of Kojima Productions itself, which based its company logo on FOX's fox emblem.

Development

A demo of the engine was shown at Konami's conference at E3 2011. Taking place in a jungle environment, the demo showed off the engine's visual capabilities and featured a young man running around, a horse and a dog, reminiscent of the later released Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.[4] The tech-demo was not a game that will be released but instead a test area for the development of the engine.[1] Kojima Productions will use the engine for all future titles, and is used in the Metal Gear franchise, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which was revealed by Hideo Kojima, the series creator at a special 25th anniversary of the series event in Tokyo.[5]

On August 17, 2011, Kojima released a series of images on Twitter. The images were of facial tests created in the Fox Engine.[6] In addition, during a lecture at the University of Southern California held by Hideo Kojima, an image was shown to various students in a demonstration of the Fox Engine's capabilities with a scene depicting a forest environment. Later, on December 16, Kojima released more images over Twitter, including one image showcasing cloth transparency features.[7]

On March 2, 2012, the Development Without Borders website uploaded a "classified" CD labelled "Fox Engine Lighting Sample" that contained a question as to which of the two pictures was a simulation of the staff room created by the Fox engine. Clicking on it will reveal that Side B was the correct answer, and explains how it does it. The second slide also depicts some hoops and levitating balls of varying colors in the "seats" of the table, as well as a horse entering through the room.

At the "Zone of the Enders HD ReBOOT Preview" event on May 25, 2012, Kojima confirmed that work on the next installment in the Zone of the Enders series had begun codenamed "Enders Project". The game was to be developed using the Fox Engine.[8] However, the project has since been put on indefinite hold due to the underwhelming sales of Zone of the Enders: HD Collection.[9][10]

On June 8, 2012, in an interview with CVG, Kojima confirmed that the FOX Engine was running on 'PS3, 360 and current PCs'.[11]

On the March 14, 2013 GTTV episode, Joakim Mogren, the head of "Moby Dick Studio", showed off some screenshots of their recently announced The Phantom Pain via iPad. Some of the screenshots contained the Fox Engine logo on the bottom right corner, with Geoff Keighley pointing this out to Mogren and asking why they were present. Mogren appeared nervous after being asked, although gaming websites deduced that the interview had been staged.[12]

On March 27, 2013, The Phantom Pain was revealed to be Metal Gear Solid V. Kojima explained that Phantom Pain was presented as a project unrelated to the Metal Gear franchise in order to better observe the public response to the Fox Engine's capabilities.[13] In September 2015, Julien Merceron, the overseer of the engine, quit Konami.[14]

Games using Fox Engine

Title Year Platform(s) Genre(s)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2014[15] 2013 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Sports
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes 2014 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One Stealth action
P.T. 2014 PlayStation 4 Survival horror
Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 2014 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One Sports
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain[16] 2015 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One Stealth action
Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 2015 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One Sports
Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 2016 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One Sports
Metal Gear Survive 2017 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Survival horror

References

  1. 1 2 Humphries, Matthew (2011-06-03). "Hideo Kojima unveils his new Fox game engine". Geek.com. Retrieved 2011-06-04.
  2. 1 2 Ide, Michael (2011-06-03). "Kojima Debuts New Games With A New Engine At Pre-E3 Show". ITProPortal. Retrieved 2011-06-04.
  3. ↑ McCarthy, Al (2011-06-03). "Fox Engine Screenshots From Kojima". Attack of the Fanboy. Retrieved 2011-06-04.
  4. ↑ Southard, Ryan (2011-06-03). "Kojima Projects to Be Multi-Platform via 'Fox Engine'". Nerd Reactor. Retrieved 2011-06-04.
  5. ↑ Ramsay, Randolph (2012-08-30). "New Metal Gear Solid game, movie confirmed". GameSpot. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  6. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian (2011-08-17). "Look at the Faces Hideo Kojima Is Making". Kotaku. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
  7. ↑ Kojima, Hideo (2011-12-16). "Fox Engine Transparent Technique". Twitter. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  8. ↑ Gantayat, Anoop (2012-05-25). "Kojima Productions Begins Zone of the Enders Sequel Project". Andriasang. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  9. ↑ "帰ってきた裏ヒデ（前篇） 第311回 （13.05.02）" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-04-04.
  10. ↑ "We Might Have To Wait A Little Longer For A Zone Of The Enders Sequel". Siliconera. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
  11. ↑ Dawkins, Daniel (2012-06-08). "World exclusive: CVG interviews Hideo Kojima at E3". CVG. Retrieved 2012-06-08.
  12. ↑ Romano, Sal (2013-03-15). "The Phantom Pain runs on FOX Engine, full reveal at GDC". Gematsu. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
  13. ↑ "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Kojima Interview". GameTrailers. 2013-03-28. Retrieved 2013-03-29.
  14. ↑ "Report: Fox Engine Overseer Julien Merceron Quits Konami". IGN. Ziff Davis. 2015-09-17. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  15. ↑ Nunneley, Stephany (2013-03-13). "PES 2014 in development for next-gen using FOX Engine". VG247. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
  16. ↑ "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Listed for September 1 Worldwide". animenewsnetwork.com. March 4, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
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