Terathon Software, like many middleware developers these days, has a stake in the next generation of consoles. With the C4 Engine optimized for PS4 along with current-gen platforms, concerns would undoubtedly arise when it comes to the architecture of Microsoft’s console, namely the Xbox One. Terathon already found the amount of enthusiasm from Sony to far outweigh that from Microsoft but does that mean the C4 Engine will never come to Xbox One?
It could, according to founder, president, and CTO of Terathon Software Eric Lengyel, but that would mean dealing with eSRAM, which has been causing nothing but issues for devs. On being asked how Terathon would overcome the bottlenecks of the Xbox One should the C4 Engine support it, Lengyel said, “That depends on Microsoft. If we do port to the Xbox One, it will be unfortunate that we still have to deal with things like the eSRAM in this generation of consoles. Many of the methods established with the 360 still apply, and they’ll provide us with some solutions.”
Lengyel also revealed that there would be other updates in mind for the engine. “The C4 Engine is updated regularly, and each update always includes new features in the engine and productivity improvements in the tools. Additionally, we frequently make improvements to existing features whenever we realize that something could be done a better way, and this comes from our first priority being to make the highest-quality product possible and not to make as much money as possible.
From time to time, our existing customers are surprised by a significant speed boost when a new version comes out, and it’s something they just get for free because we included some kind of internal change that made the engine better at what it already does.
“Some specific features that we currently have in the works are new foliage painting tools, new river sculpting tools, and a new particle system editor.”
What are your thoughts on the Xbox One’s limitations, especially when it comes to the C4 Engine? Let us know in the comments.
