Volatile Games license endorphin 2.5 in production of next-gen zombie title.
October 3, 2005
[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Game Developer and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press]
Author: Blitz Games Studios
Press Enquiries:
Alison Beasley
Lincoln Beasley PR
T: +44 (0) 1608 645756
3rd October 2005. Leamington Spa, Wars. UK. Volatile Games, a division of Blitz Games and one of the UK's leading independent game developers, today announced the use of endorphin 2.5 in its spectacular next generation zombie action-thriller Possession.
endorphin 2.5, developed by Oxford-based NaturalMotion, is the newest version of the company's award-winning 3D character animation software. The software uses Artificial Intelligence to create 3D character animation in real time. In addition, version 2.5 allows powerful new transitioning, blending and behaviour features, combined with enhancements to asset repurposing tools and improved FBX support, allow animators to create realistic, fully interactive 3D character animation faster and easier than traditional keyframe or motion capture techniques.
Chris Swan, Project Manager of Possession for Volatile Games enthused, "Incorporating endorphin 2.5 into the Possession animation pipeline has been one of those rare experiences where you receive a significant increase in quality and a saving in time all in one go!" He continued, "Our next-gen title relies heavily on our zombies and civilians attacking each other in very detailed and original ways. There's only so far that you can go with real-life actors of course, which is where endorphin steps in. In minutes we can literally load in some motion capture footage, set up a few behaviours on the characters, and let endorphin work out the rest! The resultant animation is incredibly convincing (we haven't had to touch up a single animation so far), while the save in hand-animation time is huge."
Possession is being developed for the forthcoming next generation consoles, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. The game allows the player to take the role of The Enslaver, a former good guy transformed into an evil, twisted killing machine, who leads a horde of hundreds of zombies on a mission to lay waste to an enormous, thriving city.
In addition to controlling vast hordes of humans and zombies in single-player games, Possession will also feature an online, multiplayer mode where one player faces up to seven others in a bloody contest of wits, tactics and survival against The Enslaver and his massive zombie army. endorphin plays a vital part in the creating of 'lifelike' battles between zombies and humans, especially as next-generation consoles will allow Volatile Games to create ever more complex sequences.
Chris Swan, Volatile Games added, "Additionally, endorphin is very enjoyable to use, thanks to its intuitive layout, robustness and very close level of support. The speed with which it operates is also highly impressive. Using multiple next-gen character rigs we still find that endorphin only takes seconds to calculate the results of our complex attack scenes. This makes it very easy for us to quickly export multiple resultant animations from a single attack, and then choose which one is our favourite!"
Volatile Games is a division of Blitz Games focused on developing Mature Content Games. www.VolatileGames.com
About Blitz Games
Blitz Games is based in Leamington Spa and was founded in 1990 by twin brothers Andrew and Philip Oliver and now boasts over 130 staff. The Oliver's are responsible for developing over 100 games since the early 1980s and their company has three new titles planned for release in the next year, including Pac-Man World 3 and Bratz: Rock Angelz. Also currently in development is next generation original title Possession. The company continues its huge long-term investment into BlitzWare, its in-house technology, which provides one of the best game development environments of any independent developer.
About NaturalMotion
NaturalMotion Ltd. is the first company to create 3D character animation software (endorphin) based on Dynamic Motion Synthesis (DMS), a technology that utilizes Adaptive Behaviours and artificial intelligence to simulate the human-nervous system. Based on Oxford University research on the control of body movements, endorphin synthesizes 3D characters in real time. A breakthrough in 3D character animation, this process allows animation to be created much faster than conventional methods; thus significantly reducing asset production time and costs. With customers such as Sony Europe, Sony America, Moving Picture Company, The Mill, Namco, Konami, Rainbow Studios and Tigar Hare Studios, endorphin is rapidly becoming the tool of choice for today's leading visual effects artists creating high-end animation. For further information please visit NaturalMotion's Web site www.naturalmotion.com.
endorphin and Dynamic Motion Synthesis are trademarks of NaturalMotion Ltd.
All other brand names, product names, service marks or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
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