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Rockstar to Use NaturalMotion Technology in Upcoming Games

Posted by Zonk on from the feeling-euphoric dept.

CVG reports that future Rockstar titles will feature NaturalMotion technologies in an effort to make the games more realistic. Specifically, Rockstar will be licensing the 'Euphoria' engine, an advanced physics and substance simulation model already in use in several upcoming LucasArts titles. There's no word in the article on which games will feature the technology, but this certainly seems like something that would fit well with the sandbox style games of the GTA series. " Employed in the recently revealed The Force Unleashed, euphoria simulates the human body and motor nervous system. It means that in-game characters are fully interactive and always react differently to external influences, ultimately leading to a more life-like experience for the player. Specific reference to how euphoria 'uses the processing power of PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360' to simluate the human body and motor nervous system was made in the announcement. While Rockstar is yet to name games using euphoria, its integration of the tech is well advanced."

4 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Well.... by ardor · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I just hope this guy does not kill off NaturalMotion with his overly broad patents.

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    1. Re:Well.... by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They really have got a broad patent.
      The first one has a mistake:

      Anti-slip control for a legged robot and realisitc simulation of a legged creature

      does this make it invalid?

      from here: http://animats.com/topics/patents.html

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      liqbase :: faster than paper
    2. Re:Well.... by ardor · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Ok, now I don't want to troll, flame, or otherwise. I am just curious. You don't seem to be a patent troll, you seem to be actually working on that thing. So why do you write something as offensive as "If it falls, it has joints, it looks right, and it works right, it's probably covered by our patent." ? Doesn't that sound like a patent troll's line? Like a complete blocking of this area?

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  2. About Time by MBCook · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's about time people start using this kind of stuff. I know it's very CPU intensive so it is only now becoming more viable in a game. Still I would prefer this kind of technology and DreamCast or even PS1 quality graphics over the stuff the 360 and PS3 can make without this technology. I've seen videos and game-play of the recent Madden games and while they often look stunning, they still have these errors. Feet "pop" or "slide" as the mo-cap doesn't match up to exactly what's happening.

    While this can be a little blip in these games, in other games (say an adventure game) it can be very obvious that these problems are going on and somewhat distracting.

    All I ask from "next-gen" is foot-planting. They can be more than just more poly's and shiny effects.

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