Sins-2 Engine -- Nitrous -- and the Formation of Oxide

Good post on this Dirty! I actually followed up on GearBox Homeworld forum and saw this post last night. So I decided to tell few of my fellow sins gamer friends including Dirty and told them about it. This could potentially be a leap forward in rts gaming engine. I heard that a lot of rumors are out about Sins2 not being made. If the rumors are true, maybe if another title for ironcladgames next rts could use this engine!?

It would be really silly not to produce a Sins-2.  Most of the concept work is already done.  They just need to add another race and maybe one more capital ship type per race and then they can justify producing the same content on a new engine.  Hopefully they would make an improved online multiplayer interface and allow for 7-v-7 games.

Well it's certainly a possible, but my money is that Ironclad will make an Iron Engine 2 for Sins 2.

Why go little on 7v7 when this new engine can handle 20-v-20 plus many more. I always thought that sins2 will be made, Its just too many hints by the devs left behind for Sins2 sequal. Not just hints but the game itself left an opportunity for a mysterious race to be included unto the game and also the origin of the phase jump inhibitor which could be another race besides the nemesis race that are chasing the vasari. This new type of engine can give surface bombardment more details as in tsunami wave's hitting the oceans and scarring terrain surface by leaving nuclear marks on the ground, city, forest and other global environmental damage a nuclear bombardment can leave.

This no doubt will make modders rich of their wildest imagination and talent waiting to be explored with no silliness of boundaries modders faces today. 

10 v 10, maybe.  Maybe that would be playable.  I really can't see much more than 7v7 being practical.  Can you imagine picking teams with 20 players?  One is guaranteed to be AFK and then of course, someone is going to minidump when the game loads.  Then they'll always be someone on the losing team who will drag it out for another 3 hours.

Seeing how Nitrious isn't a 100% finished engine, but rather the foundations for a full engine, I could see Nitrious being the foundation for a new Sins engine.

"Why go little on 7v7 when this new engine can handle 20-v-20 plus many more."

The engine can handle that scale graphically, sure. Network synchronization for multiplayer is a whole other can of worms (as is alluded to in the presentation).

As an aside, I'd sure like to know why quoting seems to have broken for me. Most peculiar.

The presentation gave a hardline info of what mantle is able to perform. Does this mean that we'll have to purchase some type of graphics card that has mantle technology build in or maybe perhaps have a dedicated server made specifically for hosting an online multiplayer game that support mantle technology?

Dedicated server could rid synchronized errors, lag experience and other crash issues that every one shares during in game player vs player games. Similar to having a counterstrike dedicated server that host and monitors individual IP address. I am limited to graphic engine or computer stuff for that matter so idk if i'm asking the right question here.

It looks glorious, wow. Is the skybox in the background the brownish one from Rebellion? It looks similar to me.

I hope this is going to be the engine for Sins2. If only its part handliing visuals.

Yeah looks pretty amazing. Actual tracking turrets, missiles and projectiles that are actual objects and not just particle fx.

Plus the fighter swarming/wing formations look epic. Totally felt nostalgia with the fighters weaving around and so many explosions in the background. Was like watching Robotech or something.

...and all while every single thousands of ships moveable components, laser effects, destruction of ships and lighting effects going on all at once on your screen with out any lag or giving a stable fps is a dream we rts gamers love to see one day on a multiplayer gaming session.

Seeing so many units at once, my computer would crash in a second if all these units were cluttered in my screen using with current existing sins engine. This engine is like a brain that uses all the nerves and limbs of what your current computer is capable of. I would compare this engine to like being Bruce Lee demonstrating techniques and fighting skills to a new born child that's barely learning how to walk.

Very promising!

@CliverBUG:

Oxide is a game engine (like Frostbite, Unreal, or Iron); Mantle is an API.

Specifically, Mantle is an alternative to OpenGL or Direct3D. From what I hear, it is incredibly efficient, being able to use the resources of your graphics card more efficiently than

What this means is as follows: any game engine that is written to take advantage of the Mantle API can use Mantle to make very good use of (compatible) graphics cards.

For example, Battlefield 4 apparently runs 45% faster on the same hardware using the Mantle API than it does using Direct3D (http://bf4central.com/2014/01/battlefield-4-runs-45-faster-amds-mantle-software/).

I'm excited. Mantle API + new engine = win.

Ahh i see. Compatible meaning that my NVIDIA gforce (if) supported will be able to upgrade the use of mantle? This doesn't necessarily mean that I would have to own an AMD graphics card to get the update right? My cpu is AMD but I have an NVIDIA that I use as my graphics card unless NVIDIA is the same or a product of AMD?

This means that if my NVIDIA card is supported by mantle then buying battlefield 4 will automatically auto update itself to use mantle engine right?

Your nVidia card would be able to support Mantle if, and only if, nVidia puts out support for the API. Knowing nVidia's track record, it would not be surprising if they chose not to do so.

I would not expect Mantle to be supported on non-AMD cards any time soon. If you have an nVidia card, D3D will simply be used instead.

Anyone developing an engine using Mantle needs to do both in order to support non-AMD platforms.

I would expect Nvidia to come with their own alternative to Mantle anytime soon. 

Coming with a promising and interesting new tech and not allowing it to other parties, thus preventing its widespread adaptation and ultimately causing it to fail, is a classic behavior from Nvidia´s book. As CliverBug said, it would not surprise me one bit, if they were given a chance to support Mantle, but chose not to do so, promoting their own proprietary solution instead.

That looks sick...  the tracking turrets etc...  man that would be sick for a battle fleet gothic game.. release to the public? i really hope that someone picks up and create a BFG game.....  i salivate at the idea.. 

If you guys watch the demo closely. Those two different type of ship designs reminds me of the Tec and the Advent race. Notice one of the carrier almost looks exactly or originated from a disciple ship. Also the background do look like a familiar one of the current background effects for sins.

Omg! maybe a possible orbiting galaxy that will allow us to jump planet to planet while the whole system is in real time orbit. I imagine ships burning up from the atmosphere crashing towards the surface and creating effects of debris hitting the planet all with no frame drops during the event. We can have moons for those planets that orbits around the planet and maybe create some sort of defensive structures to help protect main planet. Incoming planetary projectiles will enable us to see the effects of it penetrating and disrupting the atmosphere of the planets ozone layer and cloud coverings.

If this is just a demo stage, then a complete version would give us far greater space battles that I'll ever see in a movie. More things will be possible in great real life details.

Well you can judge for yourself much more closely this month. The tech demo will be available this month on Steam for all to try out. It's moddable so we're pretty excited to see what we can toy with.

Is this like stumble upon breakthrough stuff?

I for one hope those ships in the demo are not meant to be potential TEC/Advent/Vasari vessels one bit. The "rotating cylinder" carrier looks more like cut out from Sword of the Stars than from Sins.

Not saying those are ugly designs. But i would take Kortul or Kol over them anyday. 

It is, but is presented at its maximum glorious resolution (i.e., not compressed)!  It's used with permission from Ironclad.

There's no relation. Each ship was concepted from scratch and built solely for use in the demo.

Vastness will seep in.

With Amd Mantle credited for the game engine along with Ironclad and Stardocks art work in mind. I can now go back to hibernation state and brace myself for an evolution in rts game and a revolution in game engine design.

I can think of no better game to be one of the next generation RTS.  GO SINS!