Infinity Engine
| Infinity Engine | |
|---|---|
| Screenshot of Planescape: Torment demonstrating the user interface and 2D isometric graphics representative of games using the Infinity Engine | |
| Developer | BioWare |
| Initial release | 1998 |
| Written in | C++, Lua |
| Operating system | Original editions: Windows, Mac OS, OS X Enhanced Editions: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Switch, PS4, XB1 GemRB: Windows, macOS, Linux (release builds; many more OSs via community builds) |
| Type | Game engine |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | gemrb.org (open-source recreation) |
The Infinity Engine is a game engine which allows the creation of isometric role-playing video games adapting the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset. It was originally developed by BioWare for a prototype real-time strategy game codenamed Battleground: Infinity, which was ultimately re-engineered to become 1998's Baldur's Gate . BioWare used it again in subsequent installments of the series and also licensed the engine to Interplay's Black Isle Studios to create the Icewind Dale series and Planescape: Torment . The engine would serve as the cancelled Battleground: Infinity's namesake.[1]
History
[edit ]The Infinity Engine was conceived by BioWare as the foundation for a real-time strategy game, then-titled Battleground: Infinity, which eventually evolved into the first Baldur's Gate, a computer role-playing game.[2]
The graphical engine was specifically optimized for computer role-playing games. It relies on unified huge pre-rendered 2D scrolling backgrounds, with both characters and objects represented by sprites. OpenGL acceleration for enhanced effects was added with Baldur's Gate II .[2] [3]
In December 2002, following the release of BG2, Ray Muzyka announced a high-resolution patch for BioWare's games that enabled the Infinity Engine to support resolutions higher than ×ばつ600 pixels.[4] The last original game to use the Infinity Engine was Icewind Dale II , released in 2002, unique for adapting the newer D&D 3e instead of 2e.[5]
The Aurora Engine is regarded as the spiritual successor to the Infinity Engine. BioWare would use it to create Neverwinter Nights (2002) and its expansions.[6] [7] The Polish studio CD Projekt Red also employed the Aurora Engine to develop The Witcher , the 2007 video game adaptation of the Polish novel series by Andrzej Sapkowski, although the rendering module was rewritten from scratch.[8]
Players independently wrote GemRB, a game engine recreation of Infinity that is open source and multiplatform. After development started in 2000, it first achieved completability of a game (BG2) in 2009, and of all games by 2024.[9]
From 2012 to 2017, Infinity was modernized for remasters by Beamdog of all games (except IWD2, due to the loss of its source code),[10] as well as for a new expansion to BG1, Siege of Dragonspear .[11]
List of games using Infinity Engine
[edit ]The following games and expansions are powered by the Infinity Engine:
- Baldur's Gate (1998)
- Planescape: Torment (1999)
- Icewind Dale (2000)
- Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000)
- Icewind Dale II (2002)
- Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition (2012)
- Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (2013)
- Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition (2014)
- Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition (2017)
See also
[edit ]References
[edit ]- ^ BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development. United States: Dark Horse Comics. 2020. p. 27. ISBN 9781506718804. Archived from the original on 12 August 2025.
Baldur's Gate was the first game re-leased using BioWare's Infinity engine, named for Baldur's Gate's predecessor: the unreleased Battleground: Infinity. BioWare also used the Infinity engine for Baldur's Gate II... and... licensed it for other isometric Western RPG classics.
- ^ a b "Infinity Engine" . Retrieved 2025年08月03日.
- ^ "Infinity Engine" . Retrieved 2025年08月03日.
- ^ "Bioware, una patch alta risoluzione per i suoi RPG". multiplayer.it (in Italian). 2002年12月13日. Retrieved 2025年08月03日.
- ^ Greg Kasavin (2002年09月06日). "Icewind Dale II Review". Gamespot.com. Retrieved 2025年08月03日.
- ^ "Aurora Engine". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on 4 May 2025. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
The spiritual successor to the Infinity Engine. This 3D engine made its appearance in the Neverwinter Nights series, and provided a toolset along with multiplayer where players could be Dungeon Masters and make their own stories and play them out with friends.
- ^ Shields, Jo (27 August 2002). "The new night". HEXUS.net. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
- ^ Bayer, Thilo; Reuther, Philipp (2022年10月27日). "15 Jahre The Witcher 1: CD Projekt Reds erster Streich im Retro-Rückblick [Hinweis]". PC Games Hardware (in German). Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 2022年12月30日.
- ^ "History of the engines and games - GemRB homepage" . Retrieved 2025年08月18日.
- ^ "Real Talk - Icewind Dale II, Enhanced Edition Patch Progress, and a Beamdog Client Update - The Beamblog". 2017年07月06日. Retrieved 2025年08月24日.
- ^ Brett Todd (2016年04月14日). "Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition Review". GameSpot . Retrieved 2025年08月03日.
External links
[edit ]- GemRB - Infinity Engine open-source implementation
- Infinity Engine Structures Description Project
- Infinity Engine at MobyGames
- Infinity Engine at Universal Videogame List