CryEngine 5.3 is coming soon and Crytek just announced one of the new major features, a new visual programming language “Schematyc”. From the CryEngine blog:
What is Schematyc?
At its heart, Schematyc is a node-based visual scripting language aimed at changing the way gameplay systems can be built within CRYENGINE. It gives designers the power to create new gameplay functionality using a set of building blocks, without needing an actual programmer every step of the way. As such, it should especially benefit smaller indie teams, where we know that experienced C++ programmers can often be a rarity, as it allows everyone on the team to help with the gameplay scripting.
…wait a minute here. Doesn’t CryEngine already have a visual programming language called Flowgraph? Why yes, yes it does. The new Schematyc language is meant to compliment Flowgraph:
How it differs from Flowgraph
Some of you may be raising their eyebrows now and wondering what the release of Schematyc means for our existing visual scripting tool, Flowgraph. While they may look similar at first, their intended purposes are actually very different. Whereas Flowgraphs are great for level scripting, Schematyc is designed to provide more finite control of the objects within those levels. All logic is driven by state and context in order to simplify the information that is presented to designers, and greatly reduced latency should make it possible to take new gameplay systems beyond the prototyping stage without the need to re-write them in C++.
From that description it sounds like a UI for managing state machines without the performance penalty of Flowgraph. Schematyc will be available in beta form in the upcoming CryEngine 5.3 release which drops later this month.