The Fdev website says the Cobra engine has been used since 1988. So was it used for Elite II (1993) and First Encounters (1995)? What is the first game that uses Cobra?
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What's the Game Engine of Frontier: Elite II and First Encounters?
- Thread starter Cosmo
- Start date
David Braben finished programming Zarch for the Acorn Archimedes in 1987, worked on the conversions for the Amiga/Atari ST (where the game was known as “Virus”) in 1988, and then commenced work on Frontier Elite 2.
Previews of the game back in 1992 (when it was going under the title “High Frontier”) stated that he’d been working on the game for 4 years already.
I’d hazard a guess based on that information
Previews of the game back in 1992 (when it was going under the title “High Frontier”) stated that he’d been working on the game for 4 years already.
I’d hazard a guess based on that information
Did they develop the Cobra engine for Frontier: Elite II which released 5 years later? Do you have a source that Elite II uses the Cobra engine?
Here it says Frontier: Elite II uses the Frontier 3D engine. Is this the Cobra engine?
David Braben wrote FE2 in 68000 assembly language (around 250,000 lines of code) starting sometime in 1988 if the 1992 magazine “The One” is to be believed (issues 47 & 48).
If his company says that the Cobra engine started in 1988 then I will not gainsay them
We need a reference that confirms the name of the first game that uses the Cobra engine. Someone at Frontier should know.
There was an Gamedev.net interview 4 years ago with the senior localisation manager that started with this question:
— Frontier Developments works with proprietary game engine Cobra that’s been evolving since 1988 . Why, do you think, Frontier spent time and resources on developing their own engine when there were ready-made solutions?
— Back in 1988 there were no commercial engines available to support making the games Frontier wanted to make. Unreal was only introduced in 1998, and Unity did not come around until 2005. Therefore, Frontier had to create a unique engine for our unique games; an engine that can be scaled and customised as needed, in order to achieve the outstanding gameplay and visualisation we endeavour to deliver to our players. By having our own internal engine team, we can develop custom tools and add new engine features as needed, and we do not need to wait for a commercial engine team to consider and develop our feature request. We can stay focused, since our own games drive our engine development, and we can optimise Cobra to the specific tasks it needs to perform, be it simulating park visitors and zoo animals, or rendering star systems.
In an interview with mcvuk.com in 2018, Jonny Watts (chief creative officer at the time) said:
“Our engine is multi-platform, it’s been in development in various iterations for 30 odd years.”
Frontier Elite 2 may not have had the equivalent of a modern day splash screen “Powered by…THIS SOFTWARE” but I think it’s pretty clear where David Braben considers the first generation of Cobra started.
— Frontier Developments works with proprietary game engine Cobra that’s been evolving since 1988 . Why, do you think, Frontier spent time and resources on developing their own engine when there were ready-made solutions?
— Back in 1988 there were no commercial engines available to support making the games Frontier wanted to make. Unreal was only introduced in 1998, and Unity did not come around until 2005. Therefore, Frontier had to create a unique engine for our unique games; an engine that can be scaled and customised as needed, in order to achieve the outstanding gameplay and visualisation we endeavour to deliver to our players. By having our own internal engine team, we can develop custom tools and add new engine features as needed, and we do not need to wait for a commercial engine team to consider and develop our feature request. We can stay focused, since our own games drive our engine development, and we can optimise Cobra to the specific tasks it needs to perform, be it simulating park visitors and zoo animals, or rendering star systems.
In an interview with mcvuk.com in 2018, Jonny Watts (chief creative officer at the time) said:
“Our engine is multi-platform, it’s been in development in various iterations for 30 odd years.”
Frontier Elite 2 may not have had the equivalent of a modern day splash screen “Powered by…THIS SOFTWARE” but I think it’s pretty clear where David Braben considers the first generation of Cobra started.
Well we need a clear source that mentions the first game powered by Cobra.
I'd say that back then calling something a "game engine" from back then is a stretch in the first place, at least compared to what we consider to be game engines these days.
Its like asking what game engine was used to develop Jet Set Willy.
I suspect the "engine" was more like a set of libraries that they used for common functions they needed for the game.
Its like asking what game engine was used to develop Jet Set Willy.
I suspect the "engine" was more like a set of libraries that they used for common functions they needed for the game.
There were a couple of bits of software that let you put together the (fairly simple) games of the day - platformers, scrolling shooters, etc. I can't remember their names though. Those would have fit the definition of "game engine".
The blurb on the FDev website talks about how adaptable Cobra is and how games can easily be ported to different systems - seeing as FE2 came out on Amiga, Atari ST, and PC, I can see how it could be pointed at as the first iteration of Cobra.
There is definitely lots of code shared between FE2 and FFE, then there is the Sega 32x space shooter Darxide (1996) which looks very FFE-ish, and I can imagine something of the landscape generation technique and physics code from FE2/FFE making it into Virus 2000 (1998, the Zarch sequel) and then Infestation (2000) which is the earliest game I can see listed as using the Cobra engine. I believe Cobra is currently in its fourth generation - I think it would be interesting to see what games are from what generation. Where do Wallace and Gromit fit in?!?
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On Steam the user Alrik said: "Frontiers first Cobra Engine game was Infestation in 2000". PCGamingWiki also lists Infestation as the first Cobra game. These are unreliable sources though. Cobra was first developed in 1988 so there should be earlier games powered by Cobra. Speculation on a forum is unreliable.
This article on Ars Technica says "In spite of its Elite-sounding name, the COBRA engine actually has a theme park heritage, being first developed to power Frontier’s 2004 Roller Coaster Tycoon 3." If development started in 1988 why did it take 16 years to use the engine? It's probably an earlier game.
This article on Ars Technica says "In spite of its Elite-sounding name, the COBRA engine actually has a theme park heritage, being first developed to power Frontier’s 2004 Roller Coaster Tycoon 3." If development started in 1988 why did it take 16 years to use the engine? It's probably an earlier game.
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