Shenmue III: reuse the old engine or start over?

[Jacob Marley]

The game engine used in Shenmue 1 and 2 were both phenomenal and flexible. They allowed for large environments loaded with objects and dozens of characters. Being that the FREE engine originated on the lowly Sega Dreamcast, there are some imperfections and areas that could stand to be improved, but overall, my opinion is that this is a versatile engine that worked well in the past, so why not reuse it for Shenmue 3?

But, since Shenmue 3 is still years away from completion, the question is, should Yu Suzuki and company spend the time and resources to develop a totally new engine for what could potentially be only 1 more game in the series? Graphics would be high res, loading times between locations could be cut or eliminated altogether, and so on.

Honestly, part of Shenmue's charm is the pseudo-realistic look and play style that we've come to know and love from the previous 2 games...would changing the engine for part 3 HELP or HURT the series? Your opinions please!

[ShenmueAddict]

sheez, tough question, i think they should re-use the old engine but improve it drastically.though i think the new engine idea doesent sound bad either

[braziliangc]

The graphics on the SEGA dreamcast are very good. But yes I do think if this is the last game in the series then they should go out with a bang with lush bloody graphics and everything. But rumours are that there will be shenmue 4?

I dunno though.

[tailsandy89]

Jacob said:

lowly Sega Dreamcast

wxsqueeze me? baking powder? LOWLY? I think not

[ShenmueAddict]

tailsandy89 said:

wxsqueeze me? baking powder? LOWLY? I think not

Marley Hates Dreamcast for some reason

[tailsandy89]

why the heck does it say shut the fuck up cockhead?

anyway, how did he play shenmue I if he hates the dreamcast?

[ShenmueAddict]

He bought a Dreamcast just for Shenmue And Soul Calibur, he says all the other games on the system suck which is a bit of a sad opinion to be honest as he cant of possibily played all the games and they dont suck anyway, theres loads of great dreamcast games.

His favourite console is the xbox, i think jacob is a bit biased to xbox, just read some of his posts in the other forums.

[braziliangc]

Yea he is a bit biased.

The trouble with the graphics engine at the mo is that people walking down the street come out of no where and sometimes when your walking/running along you see a couple of characters getting mixed up and one ends up disappering.

[Chris]

The graphics just need a little spruce up,make it look even more real.It would be a good idea if they used the Shenmue-Online cutscene engine in Shenmue 3.