If you’ve been playing video games for quite some time, you would have heard of Electronic Arts and its wondrous Frostbite engine. You might have been in awe the first time you saw the trailer of Star Wars Battlefront II, thinking of the limitless possibilities of photorealistic design in video games. This article will talk about the Frostbite engine and why it’s one of the best digital engines we have today.
Electronic Arts (EA) is a multi-billion dollar company that owns many big IPs such as Star Wars, Madden, and FIFA. These video games also sport the most realistic graphics out there, with near to real-life textures. Behind the success of these games is the engine that helped develop it: Frostbite:
So what is the Frostbite Engine?
The Frostbite engine was developed during the early 2000s, with its first usage shown in the Battlefield: Bad Company. The video game featured indestructible environments, which were revolutionary at the time. For example, a single home can be put into mere rubble in the game, and deathmatch city maps can easily turn into an open field after players are done with it.
Another great aspect of the engine was how realistic it looked. The current version of the engine can produce almost human-like textures and produce beautiful vistas that are in some cases more beautiful than the original. No other form of digital animation comes close to such an engine, making it one of the essential video game engines in this current generation.
Other Uses of the Engine
Websites
The Frostbite engine has other uses as well. For example, a website design company can take full advantage of the Frostbite engine in creating 3d assets and other essential features. This is exactly what EA is doing in its video game websites, such as the one in Star Wars BattlefrAs a result, you II. You can see beautifully rendered, almost lifelike pictures, creating a website that shows the strength of this given engine.
Movies
Although the Frostbite engine was never used in movies, EA can easily do so. We’ve already seen the beautiful cutscenes it can make in a video game. So what’s stopping it from being used in big movies? Sadly, EA isn’t giving the license to use it for any movies right now, but maybe in the future, we can see a movie that’s made through the use of the engine.
Future Lighting Systems and Rendering
Lastly, we should talk about how important lighting systems and rendering are in all aspects of digital media. Creating artificial lighting that looks natural is a daunting task, but the Frostbite engine does this with ease. If broken down into mere parts and applied to different animation software, this would make their jobs a lot easier.
Problems With the Engine
The Frostbite engine has many good things going for it, but it does have its own set of disadvantages, one of them being it’s hard to use.
Difficult Engine
When sub-companies of EA were forced to use the Frostbite engine in their video games, they realized one big problem: its interface is too complicated, and it takes days to create a single asset out from the engine. Sure, it looks photorealistic and beautiful, but the user interface isn’t friendly to those who aren’t trained to use the system.
This requires employees to undergo extensive training in the various elements of the engine itself. It pushes the knowledge of some developers to the limit, with some giving up on the engine itself in pursuit of alternatives. Another problem with the engine is that so far, it’s only good in doing photorealism.
Art Design
The reality with the Frostbite engine is that if you want photorealistic assets, you can easily make beautiful ones using them. But if you want to have a more surreal art design or give your game a unique look, this engine is not for you.
If you’ve checked the list of games that the Frostbite engine has helped produce, most of them have human or humanoid characters. They look great, more beautiful than real life, but some games have all sorts of design choices that do not only involve humanoids. Some monsters can’t be quickly made from such an engine.
However, with the release of Plants Vs. Zombies and its sequel, it seems that EA is trying to push the limit of what the Frostbite Engine can do. The game itself has a unique design compared to the other games that the engine has made, emphasizing more unorthodox designs, but it still has the same look as any Frostbite engine game.
The Frostbite engine is a revolutionary form of digital tech that has changed how we view video games and animations. The emphasis on realistic models while also creating almost real-life lighting is something that most engines tried but ultimately failed. Only time will tell where this engine will go, but experts believe that it will push various designs of video games to new heights.