Rockstar Advanced Game Engine

Proprietary game engine

"Rage engine" redirects here. For the engine used in id Software's 2011 video game named Rage, see id Tech 5.

Rockstar Advanced Game Engine

The city of Los Santos, as seen in Grand Theft Auto V: The game makes use of RAGE's many graphical features, such as depth of field, high draw distance and detailed weather effects.

Developer(s)| RAGE Technology Group (Rockstar San Diego)
Middleware|

* Bink Video
* Bullet
* Euphoria

Platform|

* macOS
* PlayStation 3
* PlayStation 4
* PlayStation 5
* Xbox 360
* Xbox One
* Xbox Series X/S
* Stadia
* Wii
* Nintendo Switch
* Windows

Predecessor| Angel Game Engine
License| Proprietary

The Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) is a proprietary game engine of Rockstar Games, developed by the RAGE Technology Group division of Rockstar San Diego (formerly Angel Studios), based on the Angel Game Engine.[1] Since its first game, Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis in 2006, released for the Xbox 360 and Wii, the engine has been used by Rockstar Games's internal studios to develop advanced open world games for computers and consoles.

## History

[edit]

### Early history

[edit]

Angel Studios previously used the game engine Angel Real Time Simulation (ARTS) for Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr. (1998) and Midtown Madness (1999).[2][3] The following year, Angel Studios developed Midtown Madness 2 (2000), the first title to use the new Angel Game Engine (AGE).[4] In 2002, Angel Studios was sold to Take-Two Interactive, moved under Rockstar Games, and rebranded Rockstar San Diego. This sale also included AGE, later renamed the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE).[5]

### Development

[edit]

Prior to developing RAGE, Rockstar Games mostly used Criterion Games's RenderWare engine to develop games for PlayStation 2, Windows, and Xbox, such as the early 3D installments in the Grand Theft Auto franchise.[6] In 2004, Criterion Games was acquired by Electronic Arts, which led Rockstar Games to switch from RenderWare and open RAGE Technology Group as a division of Rockstar San Diego.[7] RAGE Technology Group started developing what would later become RAGE, based on Rockstar San Diego's AGE.[8] The engine would facilitate game development on Windows and seventh generation consoles.[9][10] The first game to use the engine was Rockstar San Diego's Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis, released for Xbox 360 on May 23, 2006[11] and ported to the Wii more than a year later. Since then, RAGE integrates the third-party middleware components Euphoria[12] and Bullet, as character animation engine and physics engine, respectively.[13][14]

On PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, RAGE often saw a disparity in the optimization on the hardware: major titles on PlayStation 3 usually had lower resolution and minor graphic effects, as in Grand Theft Auto IV (720p vs. 640p),[15][16] in Midnight Club: Los Angeles (1280×720p vs. 960×720p)[17] and in Red Dead Redemption (720p vs. 640p).[18] Despite its problems in optimization equality, in July 2009, Chris Stead of IGN voted RAGE as one of the "10 Best Game Engines of [the 7th] Generation", saying: "RAGE's strengths are many. Its ability to handle large streaming worlds, complex A.I. arrangements, weather effects, fast network code and a multitude of gameplay styles will be obvious to anyone who has played GTA IV."[19]

Since the release of Max Payne 3, the engine supports DirectX 11 and stereoscopic 3D rendering for personal computers.[20] Max Payne 3 also marked the first time in which RAGE was capable of rendering the same 720p resolution on a game, both on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[15] This benefit has been achieved also in Grand Theft Auto V, which renders at a 720p resolution on both consoles.[21]

For the remastered versions of Grand Theft Auto V, RAGE was reworked for the eighth generation of video game consoles, with 1080p resolution support for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[22] The PC version of the game, released in 2015, showed RAGE supporting 4K resolution and frame rates at 60 frames per second, as well as more powerful draw distances, texture filtering, and improved shadow mapping and tessellation quality.[23]

RAGE would later be further refined with the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018, supporting physically based rendering, volumetric clouds and fog values, pre-calculated global illumination[24][25] as well as a Vulkan renderer in the Windows version in addition to DirectX 12.[26] The Euphoria engine was overhauled to create advanced AI as well as enhanced physics and animations for the game.[27][28] HDR support was added in May 2019.[29][30][31] Support for Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) were added in July 2021 and September 2022 respectively.[32][33][34][35][36]

The 2022 release of Grand Theft Auto V for the ninth generation of video game consoles introduced several enhancements, incorporating features from later RAGE titles. Raytraced reflections, native 4K resolution on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, upscaled 4K on the Xbox Series S, as well as HDR support were added.[37][38][39]

## Games using RAGE

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Platform(s)  | Developer(s)

|
|
|

2006  | Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis[40] | Wii, Xbox 360 | Rockstar San Diego
2008  | Grand Theft Auto IV[41] | PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360  | Rockstar North
Midnight Club: Los Angeles[42] | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360  | Rockstar San Diego
2009  | Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned | PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360  | Rockstar North
Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony
2010  | Red Dead Redemption[43] | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360  | Rockstar San Diego
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
2012  | Max Payne 3[44] | OS X, PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360  | Rockstar Studios
2013  | Grand Theft Auto V[45] | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | Rockstar North
2018  | Red Dead Redemption 2[25] | PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One  | Rockstar Games
2026  | Grand Theft Auto VI[46][47] | PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "RAGE". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
2. ^ Antunes, José (April 11, 1999). "A loucura da Microsoft". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved August 5, 2024.
3. ^ "Software Industry Takes Hard Stand Against Piracy - San Diego Business Journal". September 28, 2022. Archived from the original on September 28, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
4. ^ Torik, Svyatoslav (September 2011). "Так сложились рок-звезды" [This is how Rockstars work]. Strana Igr (in Russian). Vol. 9, no. 325\. Gameland. pp. 64–72.
5. ^ Hester, Blake (April 16, 2020). "Two days in Colombia with the founder of Rockstar San Diego". Polygon. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
6. ^ "'This is the game that will put PSP over the top.'". 1Up.com. September 12, 2005. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016.
7. ^ Mittler, Patrick (December 26, 2013). "Seite 2: Die wichtigsten Spiele-Engines – Hinter den Hits" [Page 2: The Most Important Game Engines – Behind the Hits]. GameStar (in German). Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
8. ^ "Rockstar explains the tech behind GTA4, with new screens". 1Up.com. April 23, 2008. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016.
9. ^ "RAGE Namespace Glossary". rage.re. May 18, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
10. ^ "Rockstar Advanced Game Engine". prezi.com. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
11. ^ Klepek, Patrick (January 4, 2016). "That Time Rockstar Made A Table Tennis Game". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
12. ^ McKeand, Kirk (February 12, 2017). "Nine years later, one feature in GTA4 has never been bettered – here's its story". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
13. ^ Arendt, Susan (February 28, 2007). "Rockstar Fills its Games With Euphoria". Wired. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
14. ^ Hardwidge, Ben (February 17, 2011). "AMD Talks GPU Gaming Physics: Bullet Physics – The Future of GPU-Accelerated Physics?". Bit-Tech. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
15. ^ a b Morgan, Thomas (May 22, 2012). "Face-Off: Max Payne 3". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
16. ^ Leadbetter, Richard (May 5, 2008). "Grand Theft Auto IV: PS3 vs. Xbox 360 Special • Page 3". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
17. ^ Leadbetter, Richard (November 4, 2008). "Xbox 360 vs. PS3 Face-Off: Round 15 • Page 3". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
18. ^ Peckham, Matt (May 19, 2010). "Analysis: Red Dead Redemption on PS3 vs. Xbox 360". PC World. Archived from the original on July 4, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
19. ^ Stead, Chris (July 15, 2009). "The 10 Best Game Engines of This Generation". IGN. Archived from the original on May 23, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
20. ^ Dutton, Fred (March 22, 2012). "Max Payne 3 PC supports DirectX 11, 3D". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
21. ^ Morgan, Thomas (September 17, 2013). "Face-Off: Grand Theft Auto 5". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 17, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
22. ^ "GTAV: IGN Delivers New Details – First Person Experience Revealed". Rockstar Games. November 4, 2014. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
23. ^ Morgan, Thomas (April 21, 2015). "Face-Off: Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
24. ^ Linneman, John (October 25, 2018). "Red Dead Redemption 2 analysis: a once-in-a-generation technological achievement". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
25. ^ a b Linneman, John (October 3, 2017). "Red Dead Redemption 2's state-of-the-art technology analysed". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
26. ^ Moass, Dominic (November 7, 2019). "Vulkan vs DX12 Red Dead Redemption 2 PC Performance Analysis". KitGuru. Archived from the original on February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
27. ^ Parijat, Shubhankar (October 24, 2018). "Red Dead Redemption 2's Euphoria Engine Is "Radically Overhauled", Says Rockstar". GamingBolt. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
28. ^ McKeand, Kirk (December 12, 2018). "Best of 2018: Red Dead Redemption 2 - how advanced AI and physics create the most believable open world yet". VG247. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
29. ^ Sinha, Ravi (May 17, 2019). "Red Dead Redemption 2 Title Update Fixes HDR, Adds Calibration Menu". GamingBolt. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
30. ^ Murnane, Kevin (May 24, 2019). "'Red Dead Remption 2' Finally Gets An HDR Patch. How Does It Look?". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
31. ^ Morgan, Thomas; Fairclough, Adam (May 24, 2019). "Red Dead Redemption 2 patch 1.09 tested: has HDR been fixed?". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
32. ^ Robinson, Andy (July 13, 2021). "Red Dead Redemption 2 PC's DLSS update is out, with a '45% 4K performance boost'". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
33. ^ Prescott, Shaun (July 14, 2021). "Red Dead Redemption 2 DLSS update brings 'up to' 45 percent performance boost today". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on July 16, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
34. ^ Klotz, Aaron (July 14, 2021). "Red Dead Redemption 2 Finally Gets DLSS Support". Tom's Hardware. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
35. ^ Stobing, Chris (July 16, 2021). "We Tested the New DLSS 2.2 Update for Red Dead Redemption 2: Here's What We Saw". PCMag. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
36. ^ "Red Dead Redemption 2 Title Update 1.31 Notes (PS4 / Xbox One / PC)". Rockstar Support. September 6, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2025. "AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 2.0 has been implemented"
37. ^ McWhertor, Michael (March 4, 2022). "GTA 5 PS5 and Xbox Series X remaster offers a mix of 4K, 60 fps, and ray tracing". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
38. ^ Kerry, Ben (December 29, 2022). "Video: Digital Foundry Puts GTA5 Ray Tracing To The Test On Xbox Series X". Pure Xbox. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
39. ^ "GTAV and GTA Online Coming March 15 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S". Rockstar Games. March 4, 2022. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
40. ^ Totilo, Stephen (May 4, 2006). "The First Rule Of Ping-Pong Club: Talk About Rockstar's Table Tennis Game". MTV. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
41. ^ Thorsen, Tor (June 15, 2006). "Grand Theft Auto IV powered by Table Tennis engine?". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
42. ^ Roper, Chris (August 23, 2007). "Midnight Club: Los Angeles Preview". IGN. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
43. ^ Bramwell, Tom (February 4, 2009). "Rockstar unveils Red Dead Redemption". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
44. ^ Bramwell, Tom (June 10, 2009). "Balding Max Payne 3 sighted". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
45. ^ "Rockstar Game Tips: Learn from the Max Payne 3 Leaderboard Legends". Rockstar Games. October 10, 2012. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
46. ^ "Grand Theft Auto 6 - DF Direct GTA 6 Special - Trailer 1 Tech Breakdown". Digital Foundry. December 6, 2023. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
47. ^ Thompson, Michael (December 7, 2023). "The GTA 6 Game Engine Looks Insane - IGN's Grand Theft Auto 6 Performance Preview". IGN. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.

Portal:

* Video games

* v
* t
* e

Rockstar Games

Franchises|

* Grand Theft Auto
* Max Payne
* Midnight Club
* Red Dead

Other games|

* Agent
* Beaterator
* Bully
* L.A. Noire
* music
* Manhunt
* Manhunt 2
* Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis
* Smuggler's Run
* Smuggler's Run 2
* The Warriors

Studios|

| Current|

* Rockstar Dundee
* Rockstar India
* Rockstar Leeds
* Rockstar Lincoln
* Rockstar London
* Rockstar New England
* Rockstar North
* Rockstar San Diego
* Rockstar Toronto

|

Former|

* Rockstar Vancouver
* Rockstar Vienna

Technology|

* Rockstar Advanced Game Engine

People|

| Current|

* Sam Houser

|

Former|

* Leslie Benzies
* Christian Cantamessa
* Dan Houser
* Lazlow Jones

Related|

* The Football Factory
* Take-Two Interactive

* v
* t
* e

Take-Two Interactive

2K|

| Current studios|

* 31st Union
* Cat Daddy Games
* Cloud Chamber
* Firaxis Games
* games
* Gearbox Software
* Hangar 13
* HB Studios
* Mass Media
* Visual Concepts

|

Former studios|

* 2K Australia
* 2K China
* 2K Czech
* 2K Los Angeles
* 2K Marin
* Frog City Software
* Indie Built
* Irrational Games
* PopTop Software
* Venom Games

Notable games|

* BioShock series
* Borderlands series
* Civilization series
* Duke Nukem series
* Evolve
* Lego 2K Drive
* Mafia series
* Prey
* Spec Ops series
* The Darkness series
* XCOM series

| 2K series|

* MLB 2K series
* NBA 2K series
* NBA 2K League
* NHL 2K series
* PGA Tour 2K
* WWE 2K series

|

Rockstar Games|

| Current studios|

* Rockstar Dundee
* Rockstar India
* Rockstar Leeds
* Rockstar Lincoln
* Rockstar London
* Rockstar New England
* Rockstar North
* Rockstar San Diego
* Rockstar Toronto

|

Former studios|

* Dhruva Interactive
* Rockstar Vancouver
* Rockstar Vienna

Notable games|

* Bully
* Grand Theft Auto series
* L.A. Noire
* Manhunt series
* Max Payne series
* Midnight Club series
* Red Dead series
* The Warriors

Technology|

* Rockstar Advanced Game Engine

Zynga|

| Current studios|

* NaturalMotion
* BossAlien
* Peak Games
* Small Giant Games
* Zynga Eugene
* Zynga with Friends

|

Notable games|

* Chess with Friends
* Clay Jam
* Drop7
* Empires & Allies
* FarmVille
* Gems with Friends
* Hit It Rich!
* Word Streak with Friends
* Words with Friends
* Zynga Poker

Technology|

* Chartboost
* Euphoria

Other|

* Ghost Story Games
* Nordeus
* Socialpoint
* List of games
* List of acquisitions

Former labels|

* Double Take Comics
* Gathering of Developers
* Global Star Software
* Gotham Games
* Jack of All Games
* Private Division
* Take-Two Licensing
* TalonSoft

* v
* t
* e

Game engines (list)

* Source port
* First-person shooter engine
* List of first-person shooter engines
* Game engine recreation
* List of game engine recreations
* Game creation system
* Game IDE
* List of visual novel engines
* id Tech

Proprietary|

| 1980s|

* Adventure Game Interpreter
* Cobra
* Filmation
* Freescape
* Gold Box
* Sierra Creative Interpreter
* SCUMM

|

1990s|

* 3D GameStudio
* Clickteam
* Dark Engine
* GameMaker
* Genie Engine
* GoldSrc
* Jedi
* LithTech
* Mugen
* Pie in the Sky
* Reality Lab
* RenderWare
* RPG Maker
* Sim RPG Maker
* Unreal Engine 1
* Virtools
* Virtual Theatre
* Voxel Space
* Zillions of Games

2000s|

* Anvil
* C4 Engine
* CryEngine
* Crystal Tools
* Euphoria
* Flare3D
* Frostbite
* Gamebryo
* GameSalad
* HeroEngine
* IW
* Leadwerks
* Marmalade
* MT Framework
* PhyreEngine
* Q
* RAGE
* Shark 3D
* Source
* Titan
* Unigine
* Unity
* Unreal Engine 2
* Unreal Engine 3
* Virtools 2.5
* Vicious Engine
* Vision
* Visual3D Game Engine

2010s|

* 4A Engine
* Amazon Lumberyard
* Bitsquid
* Buildbox
* Construct
* Creation Engine
* Decima
* Defold
* Felgo
* ForgeLight
* Fox Engine
* id Tech 5
* id Tech 6
* Ignite
* Luminous Engine
* Pixel Game Maker MV
* RE Engine
* Snowdrop
* Stencyl
* Source 2
* UbiArt Framework
* Unreal Engine 4

2020s|

* id Tech 7
* Unreal Engine 5
* S&box

Free and
open-source|

| 1970s|

* Z-machine

|

1990s|

* Adventure Game Studio
* Build
* Crystal Space
* Doom engine
* Game-Maker
* OHRRPGCE
* Quake engine
* Quake II engine
* Stratagus

2000s|

* Away3D
* Blender Game Engine
* Bork3D Game Engine
* Cocos2d
* Dim3
* Game Editor
* GDevelop
* id Tech 3
* id Tech 4
* Irrlicht Engine
* jMonkeyEngine
* Lightweight Java Game Library
* Löve
* OGRE
* Open Wonderland
* Panda3D
* Papervision3D
* Plasma
* Platinum Arts Sandbox
* Pygame
* Ren'Py
* Scratch
* Solar2D
* Thousand Parsec
* Torque
* Vassal Engine
* Wintermute Engine

2010s|

* Delta3D
* Godot
* GPUOpen
* Horde3D
* libGDX
* Moai
* OpenFL
* ORX
* PlayCanvas
* Raylib
* Snap!
* Stencyl
* Stride

2020s|

* Open 3D Engine

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