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[Vieo]

Bioware's "Eclipse Engine"?

With the recent news of Neverwinter Nights 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 rumors, I couldn't contain my anxiety and had to try to find out more. I did a trademark search for Bioware and an unfamiliar (well to me at least) game engine popped up:

If I'm correct, I know Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale uses the Infinity Engine, NWN uses the Aurora Engine, KotOR 1&2 use the Odyssey Engine, according to Bioware's Dragon Age FAQ(http://www.bioware.com/games/dragon_age/faq/#12 ) the upcoming Dragon Age is using an engine called the "Bioware Dragon Age Engine", and finally according to Bioware's Jade Empire FAQ(http://jade.bioware.com/game_info/faq.html#07 ), it uses an entirely different engine than KotOR.

The filing date was May 28, 2004. So, what game could be running on this engine? It's name certainly doesn't seem to be giving any clues.

 

[BigGreenMat]

Fallout?

 

[golem]

maybe its the name for the dragon age engine? since it was registered shortly after e3...

 

[Vieo]

1.12: What game engine does Dragon Age use? (Back to Top)

Dragon Age will use a brand-new cutting edge technology engine, called the BioWare Dragon Age Engine. BioWare's programmers are applying the experience learned from working on past BioWare engines like the BioWare Infinity Engine, the BioWare Aurora Engine, the BioWare Odyssey Engine and the BioWare Jade Empire Engine to create this new RPG engine.

Bah! According to Bioware's FAQ, Dragon Age's and Jade Empire's engines are named directly after the games themselves.

 

[Azih]

I thought the Baldur's gate engine was named the eclipse engine. could be wrong, though it did have a fancy name.

Edit: my bad, that's the Infinity Engine.

 

[Vieo]

I think I figured it out!

SYLLABICATION: au·ro·ra
PRONUNCIATION: AUDIO: -rôr, -rr KEY
NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. au·ro·ras or au·ro·rae (AUDIO: -rôr, -rr)
1. A luminous atmospheric phenomenon appearing as streamers or bands of light sometimes visible in the night sky in northern or southern regions of the earth. It is thought to be caused by charged particles from the sun entering the earth's magnetic field and stimulating molecules in the atmosphere.

SYLLABICATION: e·clipse
PRONUNCIATION: AUDIO: -klps KEY
NOUN: 1a. The partial or complete obscuring, relative to a designated observer, of one celestial body by another. b. The period of time during which such an obscuration occurs.

They're both phenomena's of light that happen in nature. If NWN uses the Aurora Engine, then NWN2 must use the Eclipse Engine! =D =)

Edit: So I guess this means NWN2 will have an entirely different engine. I hope it's better than the Aurora Engine.

 

[WarPig]

They trademarked something called the Omen Engine in 1999, too. Which one's that?

Edit: Aha, an obscurity. That was the MDK2 engine.

DFS.