Source (game engine)
Developer(s) | Valve |
---|---|
Initial release | October 2004 |
Written in | C++ |
Middleware | Havok |
Predecessor | GoldSrc |
Successor | Source 2 |
License | Proprietary |
Source is a 3D
History
Source distantly originates from the GoldSrc engine, itself a heavily modified version of John Carmack's Quake engine with some code from the Quake II engine. Carmack commented on his blog in 2004 that "there are still bits of early Quake code in Half-Life 2".[3] Valve employee Erik Johnson explained the engine's nomenclature on the Valve Developer Community:[4]
When we were getting very close to releasing Half-Life (less than a week or so), we found there were already some projects that we needed to start working on, but we couldn't risk checking in code to the shipping version of the game. At that point we forked off the code in VSS to be both
/$Goldsrc
and/$Src
. Over the next few years, we used these terms internally as "Goldsource" and "Source". At least initially, the Goldsrc branch of code referred to the codebase that was currently released, and Src referred to the next set of more risky technology that we were working on. When it came down to show Half-Life 2 for the first time at E3, it was part of our internal communication to refer to the "Source" engine vs. the "Goldsource" engine, and the name stuck.
Source was developed part-by-part from this fork onwards, slowly replacing GoldSrc in Valve's internal projects[5] and, in part, explaining the reasons behind its unusually modular nature. Valve's development of Source since has been a mixture of licensed middleware and in-house-developed code. Older versions of Source use Bink Video for video playback,[6] however more recent releases of the Source engine use WebM videos for menu backgrounds, Full Motion Videos, and splash screens.[7] .
Modularity and notable updates
Source was created to evolve incrementally with new technology, as opposed to the
Source 2006
The Source 2006 branch was the term used for Valve's games using technology that culminated with the release of Half-Life 2: Episode One. HDR rendering and color correction were first implemented in 2005 using Day of Defeat: Source, which required the engine's shaders to be rewritten.[9] The former, along with developer commentary tracks, were showcased in Half-Life 2: Lost Coast. Episode One introduced Phong shading and other smaller features. Image-based rendering technology had been in development for Half-Life 2,[10] but was cut from the engine before its release. It was mentioned again by Gabe Newell in 2006 as a piece of technology he would like to add to Source to implement support for much larger scenes that are impossible with strictly polygonal objects.[11]
Source 2007
The Source 2007 branch represented a full upgrade of the Source engine for the release of The Orange Box. An artist-driven, threaded
Left 4 Dead branch
The Left 4 Dead branch is an overhaul of many aspects of the Source engine through the development of the
OS X, Linux, and Android support
In April 2010, Valve released all of their major Source games on
Source 2
Source 2 was announced by Valve as the successor to Source at the
Tools and resources
Source SDK
Source SDK is the software development kit for the Source engine, and contains many of the tools used by Valve to develop assets for their games. It comes with several command-line programs designed for special functions within the asset pipeline, as well as a few GUI-based programs designed for handling more complex functions. Source SDK was launched as a free standalone toolset through Steam, and required a Source game to be purchased on the same account. Since the release of Left 4 Dead in late 2008, Valve began releasing "Authoring Tools" for individual games, which constitute the same programs adapted for each game's engine build. After Team Fortress 2 became free-to-play, Source SDK was effectively made open to all Steam users. When some Source games were updated to Source 2013, the older Source SDKs were phased out. The three applications mentioned below are now included in the install of each game.[citation needed]
There are three applications packaged in the Source SDK: Hammer Editor, Model Viewer, and Face Poser. The Model Viewer is a program that allows users to view models and can be used for a variety of different purposes, including development. Developers may use the program to view models and their corresponding animations, attachment points, bones, and so on. Face Poser is the tool used to access facial animations and choreography systems. This tool allows one to edit
Hammer Editor
The Hammer Editor, the engine's official
Scenery objects or complex geometry can be imported as separate 3D models from the game directory. These models can also be used as physics objects or interactive props. The editor also features an in-depth logic I/O system that can be used to create complex interactive elements. Signals to trigger different responses or change the state of an entity can be sent between entities such as buttons, NPCs, intangible trigger brushes, and map props.
Source Dedicated Server
The Source Dedicated Server (SRCDS) is a standalone launcher for the Source engine that runs multiplayer game sessions without requiring a client. It can be launched through Windows or Linux and can allow for custom levels and assets. Most third-party servers additionally run
Source Filmmaker
Source Filmmaker (SFM) is a 3D animation application that was built from within the Source engine.[37] Developed by Valve, the tool was originally used to create movies for Day of Defeat: Source and Team Fortress 2. It was also used to create some trailers for Source Engine games. SFM was released to the public in 2012.
Destinations Workshop Tools
In June 2016, Valve released the Destinations Workshop Tools, a set of free virtual reality (VR) creation tools running using the Source 2 SDK.[38]
Valve Developer Community
In June 2005, Valve opened the Valve Developer Community wiki. It replaced Valve's static Source SDK documentation with a full MediaWiki-powered community site.[39]
Academic papers
Valve staff have occasionally produced professional and/or academic papers for various events and publications, including SIGGRAPH, Game Developer Magazine and Game Developers Conference, explaining various aspects of Source engine's development.[40]
Notable games using Source
Titanfall, Titanfall 2, and Apex Legends are not included because their engines, while originally based on the Source SDK, were modified to the point that they are effectively different engines.[44]
See also
- First-person shooter engine
- List of Source engine mods
Notes
- ^ Ported to Source 2 in 2015
References
- ^ Birsner, Chris (August 22, 2021). "10 Best Half-Life 2 Mods". TheGamer. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
- ^ Mitra, Ritwik (January 26, 2020). "11 Best Video Game Engines, Ranked". Game Rant. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
- ^ "Welcome, Q3 source, Graphics". John Carmack's Blog. December 31, 2004. Archived from the original on May 17, 2006.
- ^ Johnson, Erik (September 1, 2005). "Talk:Erik Johnson". Valve Developer Community. Archived from the original on February 15, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
- ISBN 0-7615-4364-3.
- ^ O'Donnell, Ryan (July 19, 2004). "Counter-Strike: Source - Full-Screen E3 2004 Presentation". GameSpy. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
- ^ "CS:GO Update 7/24/2018". Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ "New Update Breaking New and Old Mods?". PlanetPhillip. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
- ^ Valve. Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (PC).
Chris Green: The Source engine supports a wide variety of shaders. The refraction shader on the window here requires us to copy the scene to a texture, refract it, and then apply it the window surface. To fully support HDR, every shader in the engine needed to be updated, so this refraction shader was improved to the support the full range of contrast.
- ^ "Interview with Gabe Newell". DriverHeaven.net. Archived from the original on June 28, 2009. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
- 1UP.com. Archived from the originalon July 13, 2006. Retrieved July 14, 2006.
- ^ "Face-to-Face with TF2's Heavy". Steam news. May 14, 2007. Archived from the original on May 8, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
- ^ "Interview: Gabe Newell". PC Zone. September 11, 2006. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved September 20, 2006.
- ^ "Dual Core Performance". October 11, 2008. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
- ^ Lombardi, Doug (May 13, 2008). "PCGH interview about Left 4 Dead, part 2". Interviewer: Frank Stöwer. Retrieved December 23, 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Breckon, Nick (March 18, 2008). "Team Fortress 2 Update Adds Multicore Rendering". Archived from the original on June 16, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
- ^ "Source - Console Support". Valve. Archived from the original on August 13, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
- ^ "Joystiq interviews Doug Lombardi about Xbox 360 Source". Joystiq. October 17, 2006. Archived from the original on September 22, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
- ^ Yoon, Andrew (October 11, 2007). "Gabe Newell calls PS3 'waste of everybody's time'". Engadget. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
- Sony Computer Entertainment America. April 14, 2011. Archivedfrom the original on September 2, 2011.
- ^ "Valve to Deliver Steam & Source on the Mac". Valve. March 8, 2010. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
- ^ "Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Portal and Steam Coming to Mac in April". Kotaku. March 8, 2010. Archived from the original on December 18, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
- ^ "Simple DirectMedia Layer - Homepage". Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ^ "News - Source SDK 2013 Release". Steam. Archived from the original on April 8, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ^ "The Greatest PC Games of All-Time – 'Half-Life 2′ and 'Portal' – Now Available on SHIELD". Nvidia. May 12, 2014. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
- ^ Kollar, Philip (March 3, 2015). "Valve announces Source 2 engine, free for developers". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 5, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
- ^ Mahardy, Mike (March 3, 2015). "GDC 2015: Valve Announces Source 2 Engine". IGN. Archived from the original on March 4, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
- ^ Migdalskiy, Sergiy (March 2015). "Physics for Game Developers: Physics Optimization Strategies" (PDF). Game Developers Conference. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
- ^ Martin, Michael (June 13, 2015). "Valve Announces Dota 2 Reborn". IGN. Archived from the original on June 29, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
- ^ Macy, Seth (September 9, 2015). "Dota 2 Now Valve's First Ever Source 2 Game". IGN. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
- ^ Livingston, Christopher (June 12, 2015). "Valve announces Dota 2 Reborn, new engine coming". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on June 15, 2015. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
- ^ Macy, Seth (September 9, 2015). "Dota 2 Now Valve's First Ever Source 2 Game". IGN. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
- ^ "Source Engine Licensing - Information Sheet" (PDF). Valve Corporation. p. 6. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- ^ "Building Crown, part two: layout design, textures, and the Hammer editor". PC Gamer. March 18, 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
- ^ "MetaMod:S". Archived from the original on July 1, 2014.
- ^ "SourceMod". Archived from the original on June 1, 2014.
- ^ "Source Filmmaker". Archived from the original on April 2, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
- ^ Crecente, Brian (June 8, 2016). "Valve rolls out free VR creation tool for new destinations workshop". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 9, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
- ^ Maragos, Nich (June 29, 2005). "Valve Developer Community Wiki Opens". Game Developer. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ "Valve Publications". Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
- ^ "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Designer Diary #3". GameSpot. December 16, 2003. Archived from the original on May 18, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
- Rock, Paper, Shotgun. June 7, 2012. Archivedfrom the original on April 5, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
- ^ "NEOTOKYO on Steam". Retrieved March 7, 2020.
- ^ Dunsmore, Kevin (June 14, 2016). "E3 2016: Respawn Talks Content Variety, Reworked Engine in Titanfall 2". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved November 24, 2021.