Phoenix engine: Difference between revisions

The "'''Phoenix engine'''"{{Ref/Note|The name "Phoenix engine" is not an official term, and is instead inferred from the codename of the project it was originally developed for, Phoenix, and the fact that many internal ''Halo Wars'' files are prefixed <code>PHX</code>, for '''PH'''oeni'''X'''. Though unofficial, the name "Phoenix engine" is the most commonly used term in the community, and thus it is adopted here.}} is a [[Wikipedia:Game engine|game engine]] designed for the [[Wikipedia:Real-time strategy|real-time strategy]] genre, which was developed between [[2005]] and [[2009]]. The engine takes its name from the eponymous [[Phoenix (Ensemble pitch)|cancelled video game project]] by [[Ensemble Studios]], for which it was originally created. Circa [[2006]], when [[Microsoft]] directed Ensemble to retool the pitched project as a ''Halo'' game, the Phoenix engine was retained and would go on to power the final product, ''[[Halo Wars]]'', and its eventual sequel ''[[Halo Wars 2]]''.

Before the Phoenix engine ever entered development, Ensemble initially attempted to port the ''Age of Empire 3''{{'}}s iteration of the [[ageofempires:Bang Engine|Bang! engine]], an older, PC-exclusive engine originally created for ''Age of Mythology''.{{Ref/Site|URL=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/ageofmythology/news.html?sid=2680346|Site=GameSpot|Page=Ensemble Studios interview|D=06|M=03|Y=2009}} Engineers [[Rich Geldreich]] and [[Billy Khan]] spent around 3 months in 2005 porting the engine from PC to [[Xbox 360]], in what Geldreich described as "the most painful and mind numbing task [he] ever did [at Ensemble]". Ultimately, it was a waste of time, as while the game was made to run and the [[Wikipedia:Windows API|Win32]] networking backend was rewritten for the Xbox 360 to allow for multiplayer on the console, the game's performance was incredibly poor, averaging between only 3-8 [[Wikipedia:Frame rate|frames per second]], and load times were as long as 5 minutes due to a slow, custom [[Wikipedia:Interpreter (computing)|interpreter]] used by the script processor compoment of the map generator.{{Ref/Reuse|RG}}

Some time in 2006, after it had been in development for between 12 and 18 months, Ensemble formally pitched the Phoenix project to Microsoft, who agreed to produce is provided that it be reworked as a ''Halo'' title, due to concerns that an entirely new real-time strategy IP on a console would not be successful. This set the project down the path that led it to becoming ''[[Halo Wars]]''.{{Ref/Site|Id=Goodman|URL=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-09-26-tony-goodman-the-publisher-as-we-know-it-may-become-extinct|Site=gamesindustry.biz|Page=Tony Goodman: "The publisher as we know it may become extinct"|D=21|M=9|Y=2021}}

A sequel to ''Halo Wars'', ''[[Halo Wars 2]]'', entered pre-production in [[2014]] but did not enter development until at least [[2015]], under a different studio from the original, [[Creative Assembly]]. Despite the different studio, ''Halo Wars 2'' was developed under the Phoenix engine, just like the original.{{Ref/Note|It is believed that ''Halo Wars 2'' uses an evolution of the same engine as ''Halo Wars'', due to similarities in the internal file structure and naming scheme.}}{{Citation needed}}

*''[[Halo Wars 2]]'' (2017)