Kojima: Fox Engine all about photorealism

March 21, 2013 7:37AM PDT

By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Metal Gear creator says Kojima Productions aiming for life-like creations with new technology.

Ahead of the Fox Engine's first public demo at the 2013 Game Developers Conference next week, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima has explained his ambitions for the new engine.

 

As translated by Kotaku, Kojima explained in a series of tweets that in addition to online connectivity, souped up visual fidelity is also a goal for the engine.

"The concept of the Fox Engine is photorealism." Kojima said. "The age of fixating on pictures and sound in games is over. Now the questions are: How free is it? Does it connect to the internet and is the gameplay smooth? Even so, a certain level of realistic atmosphere is required."

"At Kojima Productions, we're aiming for a line where even simple CG models look photo-realistic when you zoom out of the game screen," he added.

Kojima then gave an account of the original 1998 Metal Gear Solid, saying that at the time, it was believed that the use of pre-rendered movies would come to an end.

"When Metal Gear Solid 1 was released in 1998, it was said that it was 'the day that [pre-rendered] movies would disappear.' We looked to the future and chose to have video sequences in the game that used polygon models instead of pre-rendered graphics. Now they make VFX movies with game engines," Kojima said. "With Peace Walker, we tried a handheld system with the age of cloud technology. People laughed at us then, too."

Kojima concluded his comments by saying developers must constantly look to the future and not get caught up in what "businessmen" may believe is the way forward.

"Businessmen in the field always think ‘What platform or career is going to succeed? With whom/where should I strengthen my ties?' and look to the future and choose their path from there," Kojima said. "But technology is always evolving, and it always leaves the laboratory and becomes a part of everyday life. Creators must look to that future when they create."

Kojima will give an in-depth look at the Fox Engine next week during GDC. He will also discuss the development process on Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes during the discussion. GameSpot will stream the event live.

2023: A look back on the Fox Engine

Sony Fanboy: "OMG, that looks so terrible! I needz teh PS6 right NAO!"
Microsoft Fanboy: "Can I play diz wif da Kinectz?"
Nintendo Fanboy: "It's not about teh grfxx! We needz new controllerz wif 8 screens!"
PC Master Race: "I did tis grfxx 40 years ago on my calculator, bitches!"

Sorry if I missed the topic a bit, it just went through my mind. Point is,that is still nowhere near photo realism an in a couple of years, it will look pretty old. You know, all the way back in 1999, game magazines and developers were already talking about "photo realism". But it's still a loooooong way to get there.

I think Joakim Mogren in the Gamertrailer's interview is CG running in FoxEngine.



Team CG 4ever.

BAHAHAHAHAHAA! @bolded part

funny stuff!

disagree with the rest though

Next gen is finally here.

If the guy in the interview is CG I will be very surprised. Film CGI can't do photo-realistic human faces so I doubt a real time game engine could. I think he's wrapped up to hide his identity and the interview is weird because he wasn't there in person. It was just edited together. Personally I can't stand cryptic marketing campaigns like this. Sure it gets people talking, but it causes so much confusion and hype that when the truth comes out people are always disappointed because their expectation were so high.

Lmao @bolded 

However the part about photorealism is true.  We arent going to be there on consoles anytime soon.  We are there on very high end PC's and Mods but until we achieve that on consoles devepers arent going to develop for the very few people who are able to do photorealism.  It must be affordable and mainstream at the same time before that happens.  And even mods arent perfect to this day so like you said it'll be a while

If you can can move your upper eyelids independently of your lower ones like Joakim Mogren apparently can I will be even more surprised.