Ignition Engine

The Ignition Engine is a game engine developed by NINE100 Studios optimized for use in first-person video games. The name of the engine refers to it's dynamic fire mechanics, which include realistic propagation and different materials having unique flame retardancy levels. It was first used in the video game Everwar: Black Widow.

Development History
The concept of the Ignition Engine was conceived during the initial development phases of Everwar: Black Widow. Originally, the game was to be developed using the Scar Engine, but the developers found that it wasn't suited for use in a first-person perspective game. Development of Black Widow was halted, although art assets were still being created, while the Ignition Engine was worked on. The decision for the focus on the titular fire effects was based on design documents for Black Widow, which generally a lot of smoke, fire and explosions, as well as things such as muzzle flash from guns.

After months of work, the engine was ready for use, and development on Everwar: Black Widow was re-instigated. The development team found the engine easy to use and modify, and that effects possible from using the engine were high-end and would help the game reach a new graphical level. While the intention for high-quality and near photorealistic fire effects was clear from the first few weeks of planning, a great deal of effort was also put into things such as water and particle effects, as well as making sure general animations were top quality. This first version of the Ignition Engine was referred to as Ignition v1, showing that the engine will expand and be further developed.

Prior to the release of Warzone: Advanced, it was discovered that Ignition v1 was not very well optimized for mobile platforms, with the game being an exclusive for the PlayStation Vita. With this in mind, a team of developers inside of NCS Voyage began working on a mobile version of the engine that would offer less intensive effects but better performance. Before any serious development time on Warzone: Advanced was lost, a fully working mobile version of the engine was completed, and performance of the game was found to be much better on the Vita with this version being used.