MT Framework

Before the creation of MT Framework, Capcom's internal development teams were each using engines and tools of their own design, a process that was deemed inefficient. Thus, the decision to build an engine that would support the needs of all of Capcom's developers was made.{{cite web|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/co-op-creators-resident-evil-5-s-anpo-and-takeuchi-tag-team-interview|title=Co-Op Creators: Resident Evil 5's Anpo and Takeuchi Tag-Team Interview|author=Christian Nutt|date=August 15, 2008|work=Gamasutra|publisher=UBM TechWeb|access-date=23 June 2016}} At first MT Framework was being developed to be used in Dead Rising and Lost Planet: Extreme Condition only. Capcom evaluated the Unreal Engine 3 engine for adoption as their internal engine, but decided against it due to some performance limitations and difficulties of getting technical support from its American developer, Epic Games, in Japan. As such, the decision to further develop MT Framework and extend its internal use was made.{{cite web|url=http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20070131/3dlp.htm|title=西川善司の3Dゲームファンのための「ロスト プラネット」グラフィックス講座。 Xbox 360グラフィックスここに極まる! 日本発の次世代技術の秘密とは?|date=January 31, 2007|work=GAME Watch|publisher=Impress Watch Corporation|access-date=23 June 2016 |language=ja}}

Development of MT Framework had begun in September 2004 based on the Onimusha 3 engine. The engine was built to use PC development tools and initially target the Xbox 360 system because of its similarity to the PC platform. In 2004 the project had started by just one programmer but in the following years and as they added support for more platforms more people joined in. Because of its PC development tools, video games can be programmed first on the PC, and then adjusted to run on console hardware.{{cite web|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/the-devil-laughs-a-chat-with-capcom-producer-hiroyuki-kobayashi|title=The Devil Laughs: A Chat With Capcom Producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi|author=Christian Nutt|date=December 12, 2007|work=Gamasutra|publisher=UBM TechWeb|access-date=23 June 2016}} MT framework supports multithreading techniques to take advantage of the multicore CPUs that are being used in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, as well as modern PCs.{{cite web|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/programming/sponsored-feature-i-resident-evil-5-i-takes-full-advantage-of-intel-core-i7-processors|title=Sponsored Feature: Resident Evil 5 Takes Full Advantage of Intel Core i7 Processors|author=Garret Romaine|date=September 28, 2009|work=Gamasutra|publisher=UBM TechWeb|access-date=23 June 2016}}

For Lost Planet: Extreme Condition and its use of MT Framework, Capcom highlighted the following features supported by the engine: a light motion blur effect called "2.5D motion blur" (based on the "Stupid OpenGL Shader Tricks" presentation by Simon Green at the Game Developers Conference 2003){{cite web|url=http://www.nvidia.com/docs/io/8230/gdc2003_openglshadertricks.pdf|title=Stupid OpenGL Shader Tricks

|author=Simon Green|year=2003}} is supported to help smooth 30 fps games; Light-Space Perspective Shadow Maps,{{cite book|author1=Michael Wimmer|author2=Daniel Scherzer|author3=Werner Purgathofer |editor1=H. W. Jensen|editor2=A. Keller|title=Eurographics Symposium on Rendering|year=2004|publisher=The Eurographics Association|chapter-url=https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/vr/lispsm/shadows_egsr2004_revised.pdf|chapter=Light Space Perspective Shadow Maps}} a form of shadow mapping, is used for the rendering of the shadows and a technique called Percentage Closer Filtering to smooth them; normal mapping, HDR rendering, soft particles, variable amounts of MSAA, and a technique with which particles can be rendered at 1/4th of the full resolution for the benefit of performance; basic physics handling by the integrated Havok middleware, and a custom physics engine to handle character-local physics calculations such as cloth physics and inverse kinematics.

The first significant update to the engine was the release of the PC version of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, which was the second PC game to support DirectX 10 and the first with a DirectX 10 demo.{{cite web|url=http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_42444.html|title=NVIDIA® And Capcom Introduce Lost Planet - The First Directx 10 Game Demo - NVIDIA|work=nvidia.com|access-date=25 June 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.legitreviews.com/directx-10-benchmarking-lost-planet-extreme-condition_505|title=DirectX 10 Benchmarking - Lost Planet: Extreme Condition - Legit Reviews|date=15 May 2007|work=legitreviews.com|access-date=25 June 2016}} Ambient occlusion and parallax occlusion mapping support was added to the engine, and under DirectX 10 improved soft shadow rendering, and by the use of vertex shaders, less artifact-prone motion blur, fur shading and improved depth of field with a bokeh-like appearance.{{cite web|url=http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20070926/lp.htm|title=カプコン開発陣が明かす「ロスト プラネット」映像表現の内幕。独創的なビジュアルを生み出した技術と開発の手法に迫る|work=impress.co.jp|access-date=25 June 2016 |language=ja}}{{cite web|url=https://www.beyond3d.com/content/news/499|title=Beyond3D - CEDEC 2007: Capcom on Lost Planet Part II|work=beyond3d.com|access-date=23 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809225544/https://www.beyond3d.com/content/news/499|archive-date=9 August 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://firingsquad.com/hardware/lost_planet_demo_directx_10_performance/ |title=3D Performance with Lost Planet Demo: DirectX 10 Benchmarks |date=31 July 2012 |work=archive.org |access-date=23 June 2016 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731055449/http://firingsquad.com/hardware/lost_planet_demo_directx_10_performance/ |archive-date=July 31, 2012 }} The two games on PC that followed Lost Planet: Extreme Condition - Devil May Cry 4 and Resident Evil 5 - also featured DirectX 10 support, but Capcom decided against using it to improve upon the visuals,{{cite web|url=http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,645907/Interview-about-Devil-May-Cry-4/News/|title=Interview about Devil May Cry 4 - Devil May Cry 4, interview, DMC4, dmc4, capcom - PC Games Hardware|work=pcgameshardware.com|access-date=25 June 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,693783/Capcom-Producer-Masachika-Kawata-about-Resident-Evil-5/News/|title=Capcom Producer Masachika Kawata about Resident Evil 5 - Resident Evil, Capcom, Kawata, Producer, Interview - PC Games Hardware|work=pcgameshardware.com|access-date=25 June 2016}} thus making them look largely the same as when running under DirectX 9.{{cite web|url=http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/devil_may_cry_4_performance,1.html|title=Devil May Cry 4 Performance - Introduction|work=legionhardware.com|access-date=25 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820081718/http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/devil_may_cry_4_performance,1.html|archive-date=20 August 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,690313/Resident-Evil-5-PC-vs-Xbox-360-and-DirectX-9-vs-DirectX-10-graphics-comparison-Top-article-of-July-2009/Reviews/|title=Resident Evil 5: PC vs. Xbox 360 and DirectX 9 vs. DirectX 10 - graphics comparison [Top article of July 2009] - Resident Evil 5, DirectX 10, DirectX 9, PC, Xbox 360, graphics, comparison - PC Games Hardware|work=pcgameshardware.com|access-date=25 June 2016}} However, Resident Evil 5 under DirectX 10,{{cite web|url=http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/resident-evil-5,review-31677-4.html|title=Image Quality: DirectX 9 Versus DirectX 10 - Resident Evil 5: Demo Performance Analyzed|date=14 September 2009|work=tomshardware.co.uk|access-date=25 June 2016}} was the first video game to be presented fully in stereoscopic 3D, including all of its cutscenes, and the first to be rated as "3D Vision Ready" by Nvidia.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/resident-evil-5-pc-version-to-be-available-from-september-18th-across-european-territories|title=Resident Evil 5|work=gamesindustry.biz|access-date=23 June 2016}} Later re-releases of the two games on PC removed DirectX 10 support.{{cite web|url=http://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/devil-may-cry-4-special-edition-versus-devil-may-cry-4-directx-10-comparison-screenshots/|title=Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition versus Devil May Cry 4 - DirectX 10 Comparison Screenshots|date=27 June 2015|work=dsogaming.com|access-date=25 June 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-04-02-resident-evil-5-steam-edition-ripped-out-code-needed-for-split-screen-mod|title=Resident Evil 5 Steam edition "ripped out" code needed for splitscreen mod|work=eurogamer.net|access-date=25 June 2016}}

A major update to the engine called MT Framework 2.0 began development in January 2008 and made its debut with the release of Lost Planet 2 in 2010. According to Capcom, several parts of the engine were re-written from scratch and as a result it performs better on the PlayStation 3 hardware, compared to the previous version of the engine which was first built with the Xbox 360 in mind. Capcom highlighted the interactivity between characters and vegetation in Lost Planet 2 as one of the significant improvements made possible with the new engine, but also noted because the game began development on the previous version of the engine it doesn't fully represent the capabilities of the new iteration. Capcom further commented that MT Framework 2.0 is able to hide the specifics of the hardware and the supported shader models from programmers, enabling them to write more platform-agnostic code than before, and reducing their burden. In Capcom's 2011 annual report, it was confirmed that 80% of MT Framework's development process is common between the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC platforms, something which reduced development costs.{{cite web| url=http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/data/pdf/annual/2012/annual_2012_05.pdf|title=Annual Report 2012 - Our Strategy for Growth: Armed with "World-Class Development Capabilities" and "Leading Contents", Capcom Aims to Maximize Profits through Opportunities in the Rapidly Changing Game Market|last=Tsujimoto|first=Haruhiro|publisher=Capcom|access-date=April 15, 2016|date=March 31, 2012}} Lastly, Capcom made possible for the first time for external contract studios that would partner with them, to use the engine.{{cite web|url=http://andriasang.com/com8ig/mt_framework/|title=Capcom Talks MT Framework 2.0|work=andriasang.com|access-date=23 June 2016}} The first externally developed game to use MT Framework 2 was Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.{{cite web|url=http://andriasang.com/comp7w/3ds_mt_framework_detailed/|title=Capcom on 3DS MT Framework and Resident Evil Revelations|work=andriasang.com|access-date=25 June 2016}}

The PC version of Lost Planet 2 released some months after the console versions in 2010, added support for DirectX 11 features such as tessellation, displacement mapping and the use of DirectCompute for soft body simulation and wave simulation.{{cite web|url=http://techgage.com/article/lost_planet_2_dx9_vs_dx11/|title=Lost Planet 2: DX9 vs. DX11 - Page 2|date=16 August 2010|work=techgage.com|access-date=23 June 2016}} Later MT Framework 2.0 games released on PC were DirectX 9 only.

Another significant update was made for Dragon's Dogma, released in 2012. Previous MT Framework games were "stage-based" with each stage divided by a loading screen. Because Dragon's Dogma's levels are tens to hundreds times larger than in previous MT titles, and the structure of the game is open world, the only way they could make it work on the engine was by adapting it to be able to move in and out of memory portions of the game world as needed. Another improvement is that the engine moved from using a forward renderer to a hybrid one that makes use of deferred lighting (also known as Light Pre-Pass).{{cite web|url=http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/series/3dcg/538452.html|title=西川善司の3Dゲームファンのためのグラフィックス講座・E3特別編その1 MTフレームワーク2.0採用の「バイオハザード6」は進化したキャラクター表現に注目!|last=株式会社インプレス|date=7 June 2012|work=impress.co.jp|access-date=25 June 2016 |language=ja}} This made it possible to support a 24-hour cycle and weather variation and an "infinite" number of lights. Other changes include support for real-time variation of a character model and FXAA.{{cite web|url=http://www.capcom-unity.com/gregaman/blog/2012/04/05/how_dragons_dogma_changed_the_mt_framework|title=How Dragon's Dogma Changed the MT Framework|work=capcom-unity.com|access-date=23 June 2016}} Building on top of Dragon's Dogma's updated technology, Resident Evil 6 added SSAO,{{cite web|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-resident-evil-6-face-off|title=Face-Off: Resident Evil 6|work=eurogamer.net|access-date=24 June 2016}} and improved hair rendering (based on the "Light Scattering from Human Hair Fibers" paper presented at SIGGRAPH 2003){{cite web|url=http://www.cs.cornell.edu/~srm/publications/SG03-hair-abstract.html|title=Light Scattering from Human Hair Fibers|work=cornell.edu|access-date=25 June 2016}} along with facial expressions and eye movement. Monster Hunter: World, released in 2018, can output in HDR.{{cite web|url=https://www.vg247.com/2018/02/01/monster-hunter-world-doesnt-run-great-on-any-console-report/|title=Monster Hunter World doesn't run great on any console - report - VG247|date=1 February 2018|website=vg247.com|access-date=30 June 2018}}

In late October 2009, it was reported that Capcom was bringing MT Framework to Wii to reduce the development time and costs of developing Wii games.{{cite web|url=http://andriasang.com/comd11/mt_framework_wii/|title=Capcom Brings MT Framework to Wii|work=andriasang.com|access-date=25 June 2016}} Sengoku BASARA 3 was confirmed as the first game running on MT Framework Lite, a special version of the engine targeting the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 hardware. At E3 2010, Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition and Resident Evil: Revelations were announced as upcoming games for the Nintendo 3DS, and in late September 2010, the two games along with Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D and Mega Man Legends 3 were revealed to be running on MT Framework Mobile, a new version of the engine, based on MT Framework 2.0, specifically designed for the Nintendo 3DS.{{cite web|url=http://andriasang.com/compm9/capcom_3ds_push/|title=Capcom Makes Big 3DS Push|work=andriasang.com|access-date=25 June 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.capcom-unity.com/devroom/blog/2010/12/13/the_mega_man_legends_3_project:_eguchis_take_on_the_bonne_mecha_event|title=The Mega Man Legends 3 Project: Eguchi's Take on the Bonne Mecha Event|work=capcom-unity.com|access-date=25 June 2016}} Capcom noted that thanks to MT Framework Mobile, Resident Evil: Revelations features a graphics rendering pipeline that is almost identical to that of Resident Evil 5, supporting HDR rendering, self shadowing, normal mapping, color correction, gamma correction, depth of field, motion blur and anti-aliasing on the Nintendo 3DS hardware. In late January 2011, Capcom demonstrated the intro of Lost Planet 2 running on MT Framework Mobile on the "Next Generation Portable", later renamed to PlayStation Vita.{{cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/lost-planet-2-yakuza-demonstrated-on-ngp/|title=Lost Planet 2, Yakuza demonstrated on NGP|work=engadget.com|access-date=25 June 2016}} The Vita version of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was the first MT Framework Mobile game to be released on the hardware. MT Framework Mobile's support for iOS was later also announced,{{cite web|url=http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/interview/2011/vol07/02.html|title=CAPCOM - vol07.Masaru Ijuin (Developer Interview 2011)|work=capcom.co.jp|access-date=26 June 2016}} and the first game to use the engine on the iPhone was the port of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, released in 2014.

In a 2014 interview with Masaru Ijuin, an engineer behind MT Framework and the upcoming proprietary Capcom engine Panta Rhei, it was detailed that Capcom plans to move to the new engine starting with Deep Down but will continue the use of MT Framework for games developed for the seventh generation of consoles as well as MT Framework Mobile for handhelds and smartphones.{{cite web| url = http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/interview/2013/vol03/| title = Foundation for game creation at Capcom: "Panta Rhei" development engine for next-gen consoles and the potential it holds|work = Developer Interviews 2013 (Capcom)|date=January 6, 2014|volume=3|first=Masaru| last = Ijuin|publisher=Capcom Investor Relations}} He stated that "creators will have to start back at square one when they learn how [to] develop games using Panta Rhei" but the overall efficiency of development would increase more than it would if they had merely updated MT Framework. In June 2016, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was announced and revealed to be running on a new proprietary engine by Capcom named RE Engine. RE Engine was said that it, too, will power multiple upcoming Capcom games.{{cite web|url=http://www.play-asia.com/famitsu-interview-reveals-resident-evil-7-is-about-65-percent-complete/5f/747wj|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619205324/http://www.play-asia.com/famitsu-interview-reveals-resident-evil-7-is-about-65-percent-complete/5f/747wj|title=Famitsu Interview Reveals Resident Evil 7 is About 65 Percent Complete!|work=Play-Asia|date=June 16, 2016|access-date=June 27, 2016|archive-date=June 19, 2016}} However Capcom chose MT Framework to build 2018's Monster Hunter: World, despite the game targeting PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and modern PCs, as they felt the existence of custom toolsets built into the engine from previous Monster Hunter titles, would benefit its development.{{cite web|url=https://wccftech.com/capcom-mt-framework-monster-hunter-world/|title=CAPCOM Explains Why They Chose To Use MT Framework for Monster Hunter: World|first=Alessio|last=Palumbo|date=9 November 2017|website=wccftech.com|access-date=10 February 2018}}

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