Head2Head: Splinter Cell: Conviction vs. Metal Gear Solid 4 Performance

[Reasonable]

darkknightkryta said:

Reasonable said:

Kind of obvious really.  A multi-platform engine (2.5 I think not 3) vs a custom engine build specifically for the platform.  I'd expect MGS4 to run more smoothly.

I wonder what's next for them to compare?  Uncharted 2 vs Gears 2?  Both 3rd person, etc.

I think if they're going to do this they should at least align it to something more specific - such as comparing pros/cons of custom engines vs off the shelf or something like that.

Otherwise they seem like oddities really.

Splinter Cell is running a custom engine though.  They took Unreal 2 modified the hell out of it and made Splinter Cell.

99% of the time a modded Unreal engine delivers worse performance.  Always have and probably always will.  Epic always produce better performing games because they understand every byte of the engine.  Other developers mod on top of the base and invariably they don't do as good a job.

There's some interesting reads on this going right back to early Unreal engine days where Deus Ex devs wondered if the money saving in using an off the shelf engine actually made sense due to the extra work they had to put in modding it and the challenges of keeping unfamiliar code stable.

Personally, as the consumer, I prefer custom engines - they almost always outperform a devloper working on someone elses engine.  But I understand commercial drives make using something like Unreal Engine attractive.