PathEngine Announces SDK Release 5.18, New Licensees

PathEngine announced the release of a new update for its pathfinding and agent movement SDK, which adds a 2D overlap analysis phase to the automated 3D content process. At the same time, the company struck licensing deals with developer Cats Who Play (Fairy Tales: Three Heroes) and global defense electronics company Elbit Systems. The latest SDK's 2D overlap analysis detects source geometry elements which do not overlap other elements vertically. These elements are then processed with code that bypasses BSP (binary space partition) generation. Where geometry is overlapped vertically, the overlap analysis also detects where clumps of geometry can be processed separately with independent local BSP analysis. The company believes that this optimization can be seen particularly with outdoor scenes that have a significant level of terrain detail. Other 3D content processing changes include static and dynamic linkage standardization, iPathEngine root interface availability during dll linkage, API support for loading 3D content snapshots, a new face attribute for marking 3D source content as excluded from th ground result, and an option for automatic exclusion of downward faces based on vertex winding order. The PathEngine SDK is build around an implementation of points-of-visibility pathfinding on three-dimensional ground meshes. According to the company, the new release also includes support for obstacle set preprocess save and load. PathEngine has been integrated with a variety of previously released titles, such as Dimps Corporation's Mobile Suit Gundam: Operation Troy, Ironlore Entertainment's Titan Quest, and Flying Lab Games' Pirates of the Burning Sea.