Bioshock uses the Unreal gaming engine from Unreal Technology. From what I’ve read it’s a $350,000 investment for the engine, so not really an option for the indie gamer like the more inexpensive Torque engine from GarageGames.
Excerpt from full article at: http://www.unrealtechnology.com/case-studies.php?ref=bioshockÂ
In addition to the hard work and dedication that the team put into the game, Chey credits Unreal Engine 3 in helping create this original adventure game—a game that has been called a masterpiece by game critics and gamers, alike.
“For BioShock, the advantage of us working with an existing engine allowed us to get started prototyping art and gameplay without waiting to get basic renderer, editor and other functions on the line,†said Chey. “With Unreal’s mature technology we benefited a lot from the work Epic did to get the engine running on Xbox 360.â€
Ken Levine, the creative director of BioShock, wanted to find some place where the player could be cut off from the rest of the world, so he came up with the notion of an underwater city. The architectural influences from the game came from New York, specifically, Rockefeller Center.
“It was there that the visual concepts of Rapture began to form,†said Chey. “Ken and his wife and spent a day at Rockefeller Center with cheap cameras bought at the gift shop, photographing every lighting fixture, door knob, and Diego Rivera mural they could find. They followed that up by going to the Empire State Building, which hosts the inspiration for the ‘wall coins’ you find in the lighthouse sequence.â€
In addition to the art deco architecture of New York City, the team was influenced by a variety of media when creating the world of Rapture and the story of BioShock. Chey said the largest literary influences were “The Fountainhead†by Ayn Rand, “The Shining†by Stephen King and “Animal Farm†by George Orwell. The music of Bernard Hermann and movies like “Fight Club†and “Logan’s Run†also helped formulate ideas and themes for the story.