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GameSpot Video Games, PC, Wii, PlayStation 2, GameCube, PSP, DS, GBA, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Too Human on track, keeping Unreal Engine

Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack denies that his studio's sci-fi action game is having problems.
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
Posted Aug 15, 2006 12:14 pm PT

Over the weekend, rumors spread that Too Human had hit a major development snag. Word was the makers of the Norse-mythology-inspired sci-fi Xbox 360 game were discontinuing use of the Unreal Engine 3 in favor of an all-new proprietary engine. The alleged reason for Too Human losing Unreal Engine was that it was not running well on the 360, even though it is the basis for Gears of War and Mass Effect, two of the most visually complex games in development for the platform.

Too Human

How's Silicon Knights Unreal-based game look? See for yourself.
Watch | Download

Given the amount of programming work inherent in a game-engine switch, the aforementioned move would have all but assured a delay for the release of Too Human, which is currently slated to ship next spring. The game has been in development for nearly a decade, having first been announced for the original PlayStation and then the GameCube before its current--and drastically different--360 incarnation.

Yesterday, GameSpot attempted to contact Denis Dyack, president of Too Human developer Silicon Knights, for a status update on Too Human. In response, a Microsoft Games Studios rep declined to comment on the matter, given its speculative nature.

However, today, Microsoft reps sent GameSpot a statement from Dyack strongly denying that Too Human was ditching the Unreal Engine or that it was in development limbo.

"Although we do not usually comment on speculation, rumors of Silicon Knights completely scrapping the Unreal Engine 3 on Too Human and massive delays for the Too Human product release are false," said Dyack. "Too Human is progressing very well and we expect that gamers will be extremely excited with Too Human when we next show it."

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93 Comments

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boffo21

looks like a good old dungeon hacker to me. i loved those games and technology has moved on so much that these games are not at the pinnacle anymore, shame, cus they still are so much fun to play. Cant wait too hear more about this game

Posted Jun 6, 2007 11:21 am PT
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Pedro7_2000

This game looks sweet. Hope we get some more news sometime soon.

Posted Apr 17, 2007 9:35 am PT
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foxy42

Too frickin cool more like.

@lord-azrael, Unreal is a graphics Engine, Havoc is a physics engine. And the Xbox360 is 'programmed' with neither. Which engines develpers choose to use for their games is up to them, but obviously, some engines do some things better than others...Crytek's cry engine from far cry, Valve's Source engine from Half life too, and similarly, the Unreal engine. They all can be made to play on the xbox. There's nothing 'official' about any engines relating to any hardware, but it makes sense for developers to license the best engine they can for their games, yet it is still arguable that UE is the best...until the next 'big thing'.

Posted Jan 23, 2007 8:19 am PT
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mohammed888

I am really hyped for this game but from the gamplay scenes the framerate seems too shaky so I hope it can be fixed before the original game is lanched and if this game really hits the juicebox for the xbox 360 why only keep it limited to only three parts

Posted Nov 28, 2006 12:52 am PT
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lord-azrael

to davahsa,i thought the 360 was programmed using Havok 3 and not Unreal.either way this game looks funky

Posted Aug 25, 2006 6:21 am PT
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jakeboudville

cool

Posted Aug 22, 2006 12:30 am PT
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peeweeshift

lol this is first m$ reply i have seen that didn't say that "we don't comment on speculation" thing

Posted Aug 19, 2006 8:34 am PT
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2TrickedOut

davahsa- Dead rising is not a 8. Dead Rising is an awesome game Its an 8.3 at lowest,but I think its a 9 or better. The amount of detail in the mall is crazy. anyone that gave it low rating is because they can't handle how hard it is. How do we know there won't be a patch added to fix minor things later on as well. I have seen games given higher ratings then Dead rising and have more problems.
Gears of war will be an amazing game as well as too human they will get them right they have been working on them a while.

Posted Aug 16, 2006 11:40 pm PT
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davahsa

If Gears of War run's smoothly then those fine people at Silicon Knights will have a nice product on their hands...if not...360 is screwed! I highly doubt the 360 is screwed. I just wished the Japaneese would get on the ball allready and flesh out there 360 products.... Dead Rising is an 8 that could easily be a 9....... D'oah! Anyhoo....the UE is the official engine of both the 360 and the PS3 so if gears of war runs at 30+fps than that analyst predicting the PS3 to win is waaaaaaay off. Who's gonna spend 700 clams for MGS4.... and FF? Do a lot of people actually FF in the US and if they do are they over 15? Wow I think I have read enough news for the day... all these articals are starting to run together in my head!

Posted Aug 16, 2006 5:43 pm PT
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jdbthexboxgamr

Great news!,I am glad to hear that Too Human is on track and will be retaining UE3!..............

Posted Aug 16, 2006 2:08 pm PT
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FallenOneX

This rumor didn't have anything to do people trying to steal MS's thunder. Just accept the fact that this game has been in development for 3 videogame generations. THREE. That means that companies have devloped entire new systems in the time it's taken them to almost finish a game. I just want to know how much money has been sunk into this game. I feel sorry for SK, because there's no way TH will live up to that kind of development time hype. Great game? probably. But don't plan on seeing people burning their PS3's in the street.

Posted Aug 16, 2006 12:20 pm PT
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Sydwynder

Hopefully this game comes out and sells like hotcakes because it plays like gangbusters in a game world as cool as snowcones.........

Posted Aug 16, 2006 11:11 am PT
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moocow21

Nice of them to come out and squash the rumors.

Posted Aug 16, 2006 11:08 am PT
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magatsu17

First Too Human was supposed to be a Playstation game, then a N64 game, then a Gamecube Game, now it's supposed to be a 360 game?? I'll believe it's going to come out when i see it in the stoors

Posted Aug 16, 2006 9:16 am PT
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SavoyPrime

Too Human has been hit with a lot of flack since E3. I hope Silicon Knights can get the game on track.

Posted Aug 16, 2006 7:40 am PT
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XAF1

Well guys, the closer it gets to PS3 and Wii release time the more we're going to hear rumors trying to kill the 360's thunder just wade through the crap and you will eventually hear the truth. If they didn't anounce anything in a Blog or public I wouldn't worry about it. Just enjoy the new stuff coming out until the game surfaces. I know I will .

Posted Aug 16, 2006 5:51 am PT
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nev70

WHO HAS SEEN GEARS OR WAR RUNNING ON A 360 (EVEN A HD VID) NOW TELL ME IT LOOKS S*** WTF ARE YOU ON ABOUT?

Posted Aug 16, 2006 3:50 am PT
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chikahiro94

"frankly im tired of the unreal platform. i rather have it on a fps paltform form someone else. "

If you played a game without being told the engine or knowing what the engine was, how would you tell the difference between something based off of Doom, Lithtech, Jupiter Extended, Unreal, Source, Renderware, Serious Engine, etc? Those engines/middlewares provide the graphics engine, not the art direction (which really determines what a game looks like) or the gameplay. Is there technical annoyance you've got with the Unreal engines? Care to be specific? Can you debate the pro's and con's of each engine, or licensing an engine versus creating one?

Go for it - explain. Please.

Posted Aug 16, 2006 3:21 am PT
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Andron666

Who cares. It will probably never come out, or get released horribly dated.

Posted Aug 16, 2006 12:33 am PT
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the_real_VIP

Whoever started the rumour can say goodbye to his integrity. Nobody will believe him/her/it for future news.

Posted Aug 16, 2006 12:29 am PT
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Pacemen2

WAIT!

You're telling me . . . that instead of scrapping the project and starting over costing millions, they're just going to go ahead and use the most advanced engine on the market? Someone at SK messed up . . .

Posted Aug 15, 2006 11:23 pm PT
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ghost89x

this game is going to be great, don't forget, oblivion had the same type of problems, but look at it now. Too Human will not dissapoint

Posted Aug 15, 2006 9:58 pm PT
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AnubanUT2

Ouch! Is that really the case though?

Posted Aug 15, 2006 8:12 pm PT
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Night_Frost

Never believed a word the rumor said, can't wait to see the final product, everything about this game sounds awesome

Posted Aug 15, 2006 7:47 pm PT
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Valen_Ca

I can't wait for this trilogy to be over and done with, that way SK can get working on another ED game.

Posted Aug 15, 2006 6:46 pm PT
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SOLIDUS_SNAKE

not suprised

Posted Aug 15, 2006 6:18 pm PT
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DesRed

Not surprised. As what everyone have mentioned, its too far into the development cycle to ditch the Unreal Engine 3 and considering that its release date is next spring, it would be ridiculous to do so. Just hope that when they release the game, it will be worth the effort.

Posted Aug 15, 2006 6:16 pm PT
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surferboy2177

This wasn't too big of a surprise. They wouldn't ditch the engine this late in the development cycle.

Posted Aug 15, 2006 5:57 pm PT
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evanparker2134

Word. I doubt an Xbox 360 game would ever look as bad as the original Unreal for PC.

Posted Aug 15, 2006 5:49 pm PT
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caesarbites

Lexlas, this is Unreal Engine THREE, so it isn't old at all...

Posted Aug 15, 2006 5:24 pm PT
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LexLas

The Unreal engine has been around for a long, long time. It's funny they have not come out with something better ?? Somethings are better left untouched, I guess ?
Thanks for the info Caesarbites appreciate it.

Posted Aug 15, 2006 5:16 pm PT
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Superdude687

This game & the 2 sequels will own

Posted Aug 15, 2006 4:52 pm PT
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MetroidBounty

Yeah! Safe

Posted Aug 15, 2006 4:22 pm PT
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DrCLos

Great news! Hopefully the game is coming along well for the intended release date.
Though I don't mind waiting a bit longer if it turns out to be another Eternal Darkness. Too Human definitely has a lot to live up to.

Posted Aug 15, 2006 4:19 pm PT
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Digital-Devil

F1sTDaCuffS
It's simple
Unreal is one, if not the best engine out there, why use another one if you can use it, and it is so well done?

Posted Aug 15, 2006 4:05 pm PT
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theRunninGamer

That was the quickest turnaround on a rumor I've ever seen.

Posted Aug 15, 2006 3:41 pm PT
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blackIceJoe

Wow was to come out on the first PlayStation so I think it should be good seeing as how long this game had been worked on. Plus It would have been nice to see a new Engine like Offset or some other kind but it would mean more delays so I can see that it will be Unreal. Unreal is a nice Engine it just would have been nice to see a new one used.

Posted Aug 15, 2006 3:39 pm PT
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spydrman5472

Considering how Too Human has been showed numerous times at recent events it's overtly harsh to compare it to Duke Nukem Forever and say it's a phantom title. If you wanna talk recent and more substantiated instances of phantom titles how about Killzone 2 and Devil May Cry 4, huh? Even though I doubt either of them won't make it to sotre shelves it's hard to say a game like Too Human is a "phantom" when there are clearly better examples in recent times.

As long as it doesn't get delayed too much longer it doesn't matter to me. I heard the controls aren't all that great so if they need more time to polish everything, whether it be graphics or controls, to make this a triple A title then so be it. No rush here, folks. Just make an outstanding game.

Posted Aug 15, 2006 3:22 pm PT
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IrishMonkey

as long as the camera angle is fixed from what it was at e3 i'll be looking foward to this trilogy!

Posted Aug 15, 2006 3:20 pm PT
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manueldude44

lets hope everything really is ok

Posted Aug 15, 2006 3:19 pm PT
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gamer_10001

Good no delays. Well, no delays yet.

Posted Aug 15, 2006 3:14 pm PT
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_LEGIONS_

I guess it was the trolls who invented the lame rumor

Posted Aug 15, 2006 2:31 pm PT
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poliveto

LMAO love how Microsoft pushes Silicon Knights to debunk the UE3 rumor!

"Microsoft reps sent GameSpot a statement from Dyack..."

Posted Aug 15, 2006 2:27 pm PT
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F1sTDaCuffS

frankly im tired of the unreal platform. i rather have it on a fps paltform form someone else.

unreal is overused, holla! xna was right, wheres the new blood?

Posted Aug 15, 2006 2:25 pm PT
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frankeyser

they are both phantom release titles
Rothgarr
What will be released first -- Too Human or Duke Nukem Forever?

Posted Aug 15, 2006 2:23 pm PT
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milsvaard

That's more like it, you really cant believe that the unreal engine 3 runs badly on the xbox360, there are 5 games that i know of currently in development for the xbox360 that use this tecnology.

Posted Aug 15, 2006 2:23 pm PT
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Charlie2688

decebal you mean Gears of War?

Posted Aug 15, 2006 2:20 pm PT
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decebal

This game will turn out so much better than that Epic one... I forgot the name... The one everybody keeps blabing about, with lots of blood, 3d person shooter... Man... it compleatly slips my mind, and I don't feel like checking the name out. But anyways... the one that's more like a technical demo than a game... targeted to the bloodthirsty NA, who play games based on their looks.

Posted Aug 15, 2006 2:15 pm PT
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demollyon

3) Since Gears of War, Bioshock and Mass Effect work Great on 360, the rumour was out just to harm 360.

Here, that is the truth! You can thank me later!

Posted Aug 15, 2006 2:14 pm PT
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Charlie2688

This is one of two
1. its true, they were never abandoning the engine
2. M$ entered a panic state cuz saying that the Unreal engine didnt worked well will bring OBVIOUS bad publicity to the 360, so they applied some "pressure"

the first, the second...both?

Posted Aug 15, 2006 2:11 pm PT
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