Most PC gamers have heard of a few of the big engines that developers like to use. They've heard of Unity, or CryEngine, of Unreal Engine, but how many of you have heard of Spatial OS? While not an engine in the typical sense, Spatial OS allows a game to go far beyond what traditional creations have been capable of, by linking 3D worlds together in a much more seamless manner than has been possible in the past and the next Runescape is going to take advantage of that.
Runescape has been rebuilt several times over the years, offering gamers better graphics, more interaction with the virtual world and a more contemporary and intuitive experience overall. Spatial OS however, could have an even bigger impact on the MMO's world.
Spatial OS allows a developer to link gaming worlds from different engines and server systems together much more seamlessly. It could make it possible to view the same scene in different engines or perspectives, reduce the need for instancing as multiple servers could handle different groups of players and perhaps more importantly for developers, it makes it much easier to deploy updates and changes to the world. That means getting updates out to players faster and it makes the process of iterating and testing before release far quicker (thanks PCGN).
Runescape developer, Jagex, has also secured a contract for Spatial OS for use with future projects too, so it may be that Jagex breaks out into a number of new properties in the future, possibly intertwined, but all built using Spatial OS.
How do you guys think this could change the gaming marketplace?
Image source: Jayzuryonime/Deviantart