Quote:Original post by Kylotan
If the engine is available on multiple platforms, all this is already taken into account. Features can be switched off and on.
You can't really just switch models "off an on" to lower-poly. There are programs that reduce the triangles, but they're usually used for making level-of-detail versions of a model.
Quote:The idea of an engine is not to be capable of doing anything you like on every platform, but to be able to make a game that runs on multiple platforms. Therefore, the fact that the design of some games relies on a specific look that isn't practical on certain systems, doesn't mean that cross-platform engines are useless. This is why most people do indeed use such engines.
Agreed, which is why people sell engines and they're used on multiple platforms. But if a game is run on the Unreal Engine on the PS3/360, and the company wants a Wii version, chances are they won't just be able to switch an enormous amount of stuff off on the engine. Usually, they'd just either hire a new company to do the Wii/PS2 version, like for The Force Unleashed, which usually turns out a weaker product.
Quote:Neither of these things are 360/PS3 specific. They're just easier and/or more efficient on those platforms.
Yes, but you have to put in twice as much work to recode just for one platform, rather than both the "High-End" ones. And if you decide that you want a PS2 and a Wii version, 99% of the time they're exactly the same game with some changes, which really limits the Wii's power.
I don't even remember what my original point was anymore, but what I was really trying to get across was that most devs don't want to go to all the effort of making a Wii-specific version, because you need to remodel EVERYTHING (unless there's some awsome triangle-killer program that is used to lower the poly count a TON) and modify remove some of your features from the engine.
