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Infinity Engine

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The Infinity Engine is a game engine which allows the creation of isometric role-playing video games adapting the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset. It was originally developed by BioWare for a prototype real-time strategy game codenamed Battleground: Infinity, which was ultimately re-engineered to become 1998's Baldur's Gate. BioWare used it again in subsequent installments of the series and also licensed the engine to Interplay's Black Isle Studios to create the Icewind Dale series and Planescape: Torment. The engine would serve as the cancelled Battleground: Infinity's namesake.[1]

Infinity Engine
Developer(s)BioWare
Initial release1998
Written inC++, Lua
Operating systemOriginal editions: Windows, Mac OS, OS X
Enhanced Editions: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Switch, PS4, XB1
GemRB: Windows, macOS, Linux (release builds; many more OSs via community builds)
TypeGame engine
LicenseProprietary
Websitehttp://www.bioware.com
https://gemrb.org/ (open-source recreation)

History

The Infinity Engine was conceived by BioWare as the foundation for the real-time strategy game, then-titled Battleground Infinity, which eventually evolved into the first Baldur's Gate, a CRPG.[2]

The graphical engine was specifically optimized for computer role-playing games. It relies on unified huge pre-rendered 2D scrolling backgrounds, with both characters and objects represented by sprites. OpenGL acceleration for enhanced effects was added with Baldur's Gate II.[2][3]

In December 2002, following the release of BG2, Ray Muzyka announced a high-resolution patch for BioWare's games that enabled the Infinity Engine to support resolutions higher than 800×600 pixels.[4] The last original game to use the Infinity Engine was Icewind Dale II, released in 2002, unique for adapting the newer D&D 3e instead of 2e.[5]

The Aurora Engine is regarded as the spiritual successor to the Infinity Engine. BioWare would use it to create Neverwinter Nights (2002) and its expansions.[6][7] The Polish studio CD Projekt Red also employed the Aurora Engine to develop The Witcher, the 2007 video game adaptation of the Polish fantasy novel series by Andrzej Sapkowski, although the rendering module was rewritten from scratch.[8]

Players independently wrote GemRB, a game engine recreation of Infinity that is open source and multiplatform. After development started in 2000, it first achieved completability of a game (BG2) in 2009, and of all games by 2024.[9]

From 2012 to 2017, Infinity was modernized for remasters by Beamdog of all games (except IWD2, due to the loss of its source code),[10] as well as for a new expansion to BG1, Siege of Dragonspear.[11]

List of games using Infinity Engine

The following games and expansions are powered by the Infinity Engine:

See also

References

  1. ^ BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development. United States: Dark Horse Comics. 2020. p. 27. ISBN 9781506718804. Archived from the original on 12 August 2025. Baldur's Gate was the first game re-leased using BioWare's Infinity engine, named for Baldur's Gate's predecessor: the unreleased Battleground: Infinity. BioWare also used the Infinity engine for Baldur's Gate II... and... licensed it for other isometric Western RPG classics.
  2. ^ a b "Infinity Engine". Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  3. ^ "Infinity Engine". Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  4. ^ "Bioware, una patch alta risoluzione per i suoi RPG". multiplayer.it (in Italian). 2002-12-13. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  5. ^ Greg Kasavin (2002-09-06). "Icewind Dale II Review". Gamespot.com. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  6. ^ "Aurora Engine". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on 4 May 2025. Retrieved 29 July 2025. The spiritual successor to the Infinity Engine. This 3D engine made its appearance in the Neverwinter Nights series, and provided a toolset along with multiplayer where players could be Dungeon Masters and make their own stories and play them out with friends.
  7. ^ Shields, Jo (27 August 2002). "The new night". HEXUS.net. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  8. ^ Bayer, Thilo; Reuther, Philipp (2022-10-27). "15 Jahre The Witcher 1: CD Projekt Reds erster Streich im Retro-Rückblick [Hinweis]". PC Games Hardware (in German). Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  9. ^ "History of the engines and games - GemRB homepage". Retrieved 2025-08-18.
  10. ^ "Real Talk - Icewind Dale II, Enhanced Edition Patch Progress, and a Beamdog Client Update - The Beamblog". 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
  11. ^ Brett Todd (2016-04-14). "Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
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