Reality Engine
The technology behind Air Hockey Arcade and Air Hockey XR started with a small experiment in C.
Reality Engine is our own game engine, built alongside our games. It gives us the freedom to shape the technology around what we want to make, learn as we go, and keep building on what works for us.
A little engine with a long story
Reality Engine began as an experiment with modern C. Claire had enjoyed working in C since learning it at college, and returning to it felt like a productive way to build the technology for Air Hockey Arcade.
That experiment grew into an engine for VR. Since then, it has continued to evolve alongside our games, from Air Hockey Arcade to Air Hockey XR and its move into mixed reality.
Building an engine takes time, but it’s also part of the enjoyment of making games. It lets us explore ideas, understand the systems we depend on, and choose how best to spend our development time.
A closer look for developers
Reality Engine is primarily written in C. It includes a Vulkan renderer and uses OpenXR to work with XR runtimes. It also has its own tools and systems for things like resources, rendering and user interfaces.
For online features, the engine includes integration with Epic Online Services, including networking and lobby code. Multiplayer is already part of the technology behind our games. For Air Hockey XR, we’re finishing the work needed to bring it to both Quest and Android XR after launch, including support for Google Play credentials.
Reality Engine continues to change as we work on our games and explore new platforms.
Where it began
Claire wrote more about the early days of Reality Engine, choosing C and some of the techniques she was using in 2021:
The little engine that could: Reality Engine!
The article is a snapshot of the engine at the time; the technology has continued to evolve since then.