Glacier (game engine): Difference between revisions

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{{Notability|date=January 2022}}

{{Primary sources|date=January 2022}}

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{{Infobox Software

|name = Glacier Engine

|developer = [[IO Interactive]]

|released = 2000 (Glacier 1)<br />2010 (Glacier 2)

|latest release version = Glacier 2

|platform = [[Microsoft Windows]]<br />[[Xbox]]<br />[[Xbox 360]]<br />[[Xbox One]]<br />[[PlayStation 2]]<br />[[PlayStation 3]]<br />[[PlayStation 4]]<br />[[PlayStation 5]]<br />[[Xbox Series]]<br />[[Nintendo GameCube|GameCube]]<br />[[Wii]]

|license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]]

}}

The '''Glacier''' engine is a series of [[game engine]]s created by the Danish game studio [[IO Interactive]] (IOI) and is used for their games, the ''[[Hitman (franchise) |Hitman]]'' series, ''[[Freedom Fighters (video game)|Freedom Fighters]]'', the ''[[Kane & Lynch: Dead Men|Kane & Lynch]]'' series and ''[[Mini Ninjas]]''.<ref name ="Maurizio De Pascale at 4C">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw7BhS1lMkI|title = Assets and Entities in the Glacier 2 Engine / Maurizio de Pascale, Technical Director IO Interactive|website = [[YouTube]]}}</ref>

The first iteration of the Glacier engine was first used in the game ''[[Hitman: Codename 47]]'' from 2000 and up until ''[[Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days]]'' from 2010. Glacier 2 was first seen with ''[[Hitman: Absolution]]'' and has since been an evolving engine used in all new games from IOI, with ''[[Hitman 3]]'' from 2021 being the latest. As the engine is evolving with game releases and even in patches for current games, it was at some point decided by IOI internally to drop the version number from the engine name and simply call the engine '''Glacier''' or G2.

[[Square Enix]] has licensed the Glacier 2 engine and branched off to create the [[Dawn Engine]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mcvuk.com/development-news/how-the-dawn-engine-is-powering-the-next-wave-of-deus-ex-games/|title=How the Dawn Engine is powering the next wave of Deus Ex games|website=MCV|date=11 February 2015}}</ref>

== Glacier 1 ==

The first iteration of the engine was notable for having working mirrors and advanced [[ragdoll physics]]. Not much information is known about Glacier 1 as it's a proprietary engine and not much has been discussed in public.

== Glacier 2 ==

The second generation of the Glacier engine was a clean cut from the first iteration. One of the major reason for developing an in-house engine is the AI system. The AI system in Glacier 2 can handle an enormous amount of NPCs which enabled the creation of the sprawling levels seen in the [[World of Assassination]] trilogy.

Glacier 2 will be one of the first engines to support [[DLSS]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/ces-january-2022-dlss-rtx-games-updates/|title = CES 2022: NVIDIA RTX Coming to 10 More Games, Including the Day Before, Rainbow Six Extraction, & Escape from Tarkov}}</ref> [[XeSS]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/visual-technology/arc-discrete-graphics/xess.html|title=Intel Arc - Xe Super Sampling}}</ref> and [[GPUOpen#FidelityFX_Super_Resolution|FSR]]<ref>https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/radeon-software-fidelityfx-super-resolution {{Bare URL inline|date=April 2022}}</ref> simultaneously. The engine will support [[ray tracing (graphics)|ray tracing]] with an update to ''[[Hitman 3]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/ces-january-2022-dlss-rtx-games-updates/|title = CES 2022: NVIDIA RTX Coming to 10 More Games, Including the Day Before, Rainbow Six Extraction, & Escape from Tarkov}}</ref>

==Technical aspects of Glacier 2==

Glacier 2 was developed with three main pillars in mind, [[WYSIWYG]], hot reloading/live editing of levels and an automatic asset pipeline.<ref name="Maurizio De Pascale at 4C" />

==References==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Video game engines]]

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