RenderWare

RenderWare
Developed by	Criterion Software
OS	Microsoft Windows, Gamecube, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
Type	Game engine (Middleware)
Licence	Proprietary
Website	http://www.renderware.com/

RenderWare (RW) is computer and video game middleware from Criterion Software.

Description

RenderWare is a 3D API and graphics rendering engine used in computer games, Active Worlds, and some VRML browsers. RW is developed by Criterion Software Limited (which used to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon but is now owned by Electronic Arts).

It originated in the era of software rendering on PCs prior to the appearance of GPUs, competing with other libraries such as Argonaut's BRender and RenderMorphics' Reality Lab (the latter was acquired by Microsoft and became Direct3D).

RenderWare's principal commercial importance was in providing an off-the-shelf solution to the difficulties of PS2 graphics programming. It was almost describable as "Sony's DirectX" during this era - although the name refers to surrounding framework and toolchain middleware.

Prior to version 2, an external programming or scripting language was required to take advantage of RenderWare. RenderWare 2, on the other hand, has its own internal scripting language: RWX (RenderWare script). However, in RenderWare 3 RWX support was removed. This next iteration focused on a binary model file format. As with the previous version increment, Criterion removed support for RW3's formats in RenderWare 4.

RenderWare was widely cross-platform: It ran on Windows as well as Apple Mac OS X-based applications and many video game consoles such as GameCube, Wii, Xbox, Xbox360, PlayStation 2, Playstation 3, and PlayStation Portable.^{[citation needed]}

RenderWare is no longer available for purchase, although EA still honours old contracts, meaning that external developers who licensed the technology before the Criterion acquisition may still use the technology. What was RenderWare 4 has dissolved into the rest of EA internal tech.^{[citation needed]}

Bing Gordon, an EA executive, has stated that RenderWare didn't perform well enough for next-gen and that RenderWare didn't stand up to competition from Epic Games. He has also stated that the RenderWare team is "mostly a dev house" (as opposed to EA still using RenderWare).^[1]

Games

Please wikify this article or section. Help improve this article by adding relevant internal links. (September 2007)

RenderWare is used throughout the video game industry. Some of the games using RW include:

See also

• Unreal Engine, the chief competitor to RenderWare
• Gamebryo, a competitor to RenderWare
• Active Worlds

References

1. ^ Gamasutra interview with Bing Gordon

External links

• RenderWare
• Criterion Games
• Active Worlds RenderWare Object Creation
• RenderWare V2.1 API Reference
• worlds.com