Artificial intelligence solution helps UE3 developers more quickly create lifelike worlds
MONTREAL, CANADA - GRIP, a leading developer of innovative game technology and artificial intelligence (AI) tools, announces it has joined Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3 Integrated Partners Program. The Unreal Engine 3 (UE3) integration for GRIP’s groundbreaking Digital ExtraTM System (DES) is now available to UE3 licensees.
GRIP’s DES is an AI software module for creating and managing large numbers of secondary characters (“extras”) in video games. DES enables content creators to rapidly populate interactive worlds and simulate meaningful human interactions requiring tens to hundreds of extras. UE3 developers can now more easily leverage this AI solution to enhance realism in gameplay and cinematic experiences with GRIP-powered intelligent secondary characters.
The DES system primarily operates on one of four gameplay constructs: Living City, Electric Lounge, Baddie Hordes or Civilian Panic. Each setting simulates a specific type of behavior for non-player characters (NPCs) and crowds given implied environmental constraints, making game worlds feel more authentic and alive.
“The streamlined flow of AI assets from GRIP into Unreal Engine 3 helps our licensees more easily populate game worlds with believable human and crowd behavior,” said Epic Games President Dr. Michael Capps. “Developers aren’t the only ones who benefit from great tools. Shortening the time spent honing the execution of AI lets developers spend more time polishing their games to improve the final product.”
“We have performed a very deep integration with DES and UE3. Our goal was to make our AI module feel as native as possible,” said Dr. Paul A. Kruszewski, president and founder of GRIP. “That is, we wanted the development experience to be so seamless in UE3 that the level designer wasn’t even aware that it was a third party software, that it felt like it was built by Epic. For example, the behavior tree brain editor has the same look and feel as the UE3 animation graph, and debugging and performance analysis is all done through UE3 console commands.”
About Unreal Engine 3
The award-winning Unreal Engine is known for its cutting-edge graphics, best-of-breed toolset and scalability across platforms. Unreal Engine 3’s highly mature toolset and content pipeline consistently evolve along with its advanced mobile features, multi-core processor support, optimizations for iOS, Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 and massive world support. Unreal Engine 3 is designed to accelerate developers’ productivity for computer and video games, mobile games and applications, training simulations, 3D visualizations, digital films and animated television shows. Additional information on Unreal Engine 3 can be obtained at http://www.unrealengine.com.
About Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its “Unreal” series, including “Unreal Tournament 3” for PC, PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360®. Epic’s “Gears of War” franchise has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide and won more than 50 Game of the Year awards. Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 is the five-time winner of and Hall of Fame inductee for Game Developer magazine’s Best Engine Front Line Award. Unreal Engine 3 has also held the Develop Industry Excellence Award in its category for the past three years. Additional information about Epic can be obtained at http://www.epicgames.com.
About GRIP
GRIP is an independent Montreal-based video game technology company and developer of the innovative GRIP Digital ExtraTM System and GRIP Character Control System. GRIP provides custom AI and NPC creation services for commercial and internally developed game engines. GRIP is uniquely able to tackle AI outsourcing by providing a holistic set of technology and services including production management, design adaptation, animation integration and programming. More information about GRIP is available at http://www.gripent.com.
Epic, Epic Games, Gears of War, Unreal, Unreal Development Kit, UDK, Unreal Engine, UE3, and Unreal Tournament are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. PlayStation is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.