Beelzebub (game engine)

From Carmageddon Wiki

Although in recent years Stainless Games have focused more on off-the shelf technologies such as Unity and the Unreal engine, historically their work centred around their in-house flexible videogame development technology known as Beelzebub.

Summary

Beelzebub (also known as ShapeShifter for a short time[1]) took shape as a game engine when Stainless Software was developing Carmageddon 2, building upon the original Carmageddon code. It became a large suite of routines and sub-systems that share protocols, allowing each to talk to the other without any additional work. Beelzebub was fundamentally cross-platform, although some parts of it (such as the renderer) were almost entirely different for each platform as soon as you looked beneath the API. It notably relied on the BRender graphics engine during its first generation.

World-building and scene creation tools (Plaything 2, Acolyte) accompanied Beelzebub, and various plug-ins for programs such as Maya, 3D Studio Max and Photoshop completed the data pipeline.

Platforms supported throughout the years

Basically all platforms were claimed to be supported by Stainless Games.

  • Windows 9x, Windows NT (XP - 10) (including Games for Windows - Live)
  • Classic Mac OS, Mac OS X
  • Xbox, Xbox 360 (incl. Live Arcade), Xbox One
  • PlayStation 2, PSP, PlayStation 3 including PSN (incl. PlayStation Home), PlayStation 4
  • Nintendo GameBoy Advance, GameCube, Wii, DS/DSi, 3DS, Switch
  • iPhone, iPad and Apple TV (Incl. Game Center)
  • Android
  • Gizmondo

Principle technology components

  • Low-level physics engine, now in its 6th generation
  • High-level dynamics API that sits above the physics
  • Car dynamics technology. 3rd-generation code, developed in conjunction with ProDrive (Subaru rally team)
  • Scene and texture animation system
  • Low-level renderer
  • High-level renderer
  • 2D graphics routines (including blitting)
  • World hierarchy management
  • Level-of-detail management
  • Texture management
  • Unlimited multi pass texturing
  • Multi texturing in a single pass on capable hardware
  • Shadows, reflections, highlights, etc.
  • Particle effects
  • Other visual effects
  • Sky boxes
  • Character skinning
  • Character animation
  • Character physics
  • Network transport layer
  • Network physics
  • Network game management
  • Memory management with diagnostics
  • Time management
  • Action Replay
  • Sound System
  • Mesh-deformation and splitting system
  • File I/O
  • Script files
  • Camera management
  • Split-screen and multi-viewport rendering
  • Debugging and diagnostic aids
  • Error-handling
  • Maths library
  • Utility library
  • Console
  • Input devices abstraction
  • Force-feedback support
  • Main-loop and general game management
  • Fractal vegetation generation
  • World creation tools

Known Beelzebub-powered titles

All titles developed by Stainless Games, except where noted.

Product Year Platforms Publisher
Carmageddon 2: Carpocalypse Now 1998 Windows, Mac SCi
Arena AD (cancelled) 1999 Windows, Mac, PlayStation SCi
JFK: Reloaded 2004 Windows Developed and published by Traffic Games
Carmageddon (Gizmondo) 2005 Gizmondo SCi (never shipped)
London Racer: Destruction Madness 2005 Windows Davilex Games
Novadrome 2006 XBLA Buena Vista Games
PocketBike Racer 2006 Xbox, Xbox 360 King Games
Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm 2008 Windows, Xbox 360 Sega
Red Baron: Arcade 2008 PSN, Windows Sierra Entertainment
Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2009 Windows, XBLA, PSN Wizards of the Coast
Risk: Factions 2010 Windows, XBLA, PSN Electronic Arts
Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 2011 Windows, XBLA, PSN Wizards of the Coast
Carmageddon Funsize 2012 iOS, Android Stainless Games
Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 2012 Windows, XBLA, PSN, iOS Wizards of the Coast
Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 2013 Windows, XBLA, PSN, iOS, Android Wizards of the Coast
Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2015 2014 Windows, XBLA, PSN, iOS, Android, Xbox One Wizards of the Coast
Carmageddon: Reincarnation 2015 Windows Stainless Games
Magic Duels: Origins 2015 Windows, Xbox One, iOS Wizards of the Coast
Carmageddon: Max Damage 2016 Windows, Xbox One, PS4 Stainless Games