Getting started

The graphics engine

RF Online runs on the R3 Technology engine, a 3D engine developed by CCR Inc. R3 Technology made it possible to build the MMORPG from the first outline of the concept to the final tuning of gameplay, correcting as needed all the way. Compared with most online RPGs of its day, which often used FPS engines never meant for the purpose (Unreal, Quake and others), RF Online has a serious edge in performance and flexibility.

The engine renders closed interiors and vast open spaces equally well. Because the game uses a mega-texturing system, the load on the machine drops considerably, which makes the transition from interiors to open ground seamless and raises the number of objects drawn at once. R3 Technology supports most of the techniques of its generation (pixel and vertex shaders, dynamic lighting, multi-layer textures), which gives it striking effects and a realistically handsome picture.

The R3 engine has a flexible set of options that give the best performance both to owners of high-end computers and to those with weaker machines. As an example, the game ran comfortably on a Pentium III 550 with a GeForce2 MX 32 MB, and the picture still pleased the eye with sharpness and detail.

Because the engine was designed from the start around graphics chips with hardware T&L, the game showed its full potential on GeForce FX and Radeon 9xxx class cards. CCR was at the time developing R3 Engine 2.0, meant to bring even higher speed and better image quality, especially on the newest cards.

One of R3's strengths is speed: it can process more than twenty million polygons a second, which allows large-scale battles with huge numbers of players without a serious drop in frame rate even on weak machines. That helps create a real feeling of battle and lets you enjoy every nuance of the game.

Source: rfonline.ru (Innova, 2007–2009), recovered from the Internet Archive. original page