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Crytek Giving Away CryEngine To UK Universities

Posted by Soulskill on from the nibbles-doesn't-cut-it-anymore dept.

GamesIndustry reports that German game developer Crytek will be making CryEngine, the game engine behind Far Cry and Aion, available to universities in the UK for free. They're doing so because they want new college grads to get hands-on experience with the technology that runs real games. Crytek's Karl Hilton said, "Universities are looking to foster creativity and send people out into the industry who have lots of ideas, but it's also about that practical hands-on training so that they know what the limitations are. It's very easy for students to come out of the academic world and not have a grasp on the realities of making a videogame. The more we can get involved with them and give them feedback and access to the tools involved, the more accurate the course will become in training people up."

7 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Makes business sense too by Kentaree · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As they're used to the engine they'll be more likely to use it commercial if they have the choice. It's the same thing Microsoft, Adobe and a multitude of other companies do when providing educational licenses

    1. Re:Makes business sense too by Canazza · · Score: 4, Informative

      Except this is the CryEngine 1, not CryEngine 2 which is their main engine. While programming is undoubtably similar for both engines, going back to Far Cry it's already begining to look dated, and game made with it would probably make a decent Indie release, but wouldn't do as a commercial release graphics wise.

      It would however, as you suggested, float the better programmers on these courses to the surface.

      --
      It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
  2. Repeat after me... by PeterBrett · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Universities are not intended to provide vocational training."

    Why do so many people seem to have forgotten this?

    --
    Pirate Party UK
    1. Re:Repeat after me... by lordandmaker · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Universities provide academic training that is in line with your prospective vocation.

      Universities do not teach you how to be an Engineer or an archaeologist, they teach you engineering or archeology.

      They teach you the academic side of the above, and then release you into the real world to make it your vocation.

  3. Re:Nice move by Crytek... by drsmithy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sure, many of the basic principles don't change, but even so... how do you get your head around writing multi-threaded code for a modern game, when the last thing you learned was Hello World in Fortran?

    Completing the last 3 years of your degree would probably be a good place to start.

  4. Re:Nice move by Crytek... by xaxa · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What Computer Science courses are these?

    Languages used in mine were Java, Haskell, C, C++, and Prolog. All are up-to-date modern languages, and it was similar for all the students I've met from other universities.

    (Having said that, we weren't really taught languages after first year. We were taught principles, told what languages used them, then told to go implement something in one of them.)

  5. Unreal Engine by deusmetallum · · Score: 4, Informative

    I think it's important to remember that the Unreal Engine has been free for educational use for a very long time. No doubt that there will be a similar number of restrictions on the CryEngine, mostly along the lines of not being able to reuse any code or assets for any future release. I imagine, however, that the unreal engine is probably a lot more useful to students as it is used in a much larger number of games or varying genres.