Essential Game Engines: BlitzTech

Creator: Blitz Games Studios
Platforms: PC, Mac, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS, PSVITA, browser, iOS, Android
Seen in: Dead to Rights: Retribution, House of the Dead: Overkill, Wrecked
www.blitzgamesstudios.com

BlitzTech is a cross-platform game development tool that has been utilised by indies and large studios alike.

The tech covers pipelines from an integrated asset management database through visual editor with real-time editing to automatic dependency tracking and deployment into the game.

The engine supports ‘high quality graphics’, as well as real-time lighting, shadows and effects, Blitz’s own physics, audio, AI, scripting and network services.

Blitz technical director Richard Hackett believes that supporting a plethora of platforms and tuning the technology to fit various development team sizes is the biggest challenge facing the sector right now.

“We are seeing much more variation in the scale of games from traditional console triple-A through to XBLA, browser and mobile,” he explains.

“This brings challenges for both technology and business models to ensure that what we offer is appropriate for both sectors.

He adds: “It isn’t just about bringing console quality to multiple devices and ensuring that the performance and power management is there; it is at least equally important that the development tools we provide support both the high-end quality on one side and also rapid development cycles on the other.”

Hackett says that as well as the range of platforms and features the engine current supports, Blitz is continually looking to position itself for the future.

It has has just added support for Native Client, a Google Chrome technology for securely running C++ code in the browser, as well as positioning itself to support next-generation development, which he hopes to announce later this year.

“We are also looking at future platforms such as console quality gaming for HTML5 capable browsers, and have some promising proof of concept technology for targeting HTML5 with full hardware accelerated 3D,” he says.