After a couple days’ exploring the Game Developers’ Convention expo hall, the most interesting trend was the proliferation of new, powerful and above all, intuitive tools for professional game design. Game development continues to democratize, and if the offerings on display are any indication, high-production-value development tools are well within independent studios’ grasp.
Here are some of the highlights of the convention expo floor for myself and my fellow reporter.
Engines
Two of the largest booths concerned two game development engines with very different audiences and specialties.
Unity Technologies’ Unity 4.1 engine occupied a central location. This engine seems designed for independent and mobile studios working on games within a 3D environment. The program includes a relatively intuitive graphical interface, object-based interactions, and scripting support for several interchangeable languages including Javascript and C++. On-the-fly adjustments to content while demoing were also a noteworthy feature, as was its respectable array of third-party plugins and apps.
Unity will probably appeal most to independent developers of mobile and browser titles. However, the booth demonstrations did not indicate a platform well-suited to traditional PC or console games with complex mechanical design.
The other large engine on public display, CryTek’s CryEngine3, is an entirely different kettle of fish. This powerful engine has been available for free usage for several years, used to develop a number of upcoming and released titles. (A licensing agreement allows for the sale of titles developed on the engine.) Its user interface is reminiscent of the Neverwinter Nights 2 map editor, and incorporates both GUI-based placement and scripting and Lua functionality. Separated layers – including dedicated layers for pathing, terrain and art assets, and encounter design – and zones allow developers to populate the game simultaneously, optimizing design time.
Of the two engines, the CryEngine3 is the more suited to traditional game design for 3D console and PC titles. An on-site demonstration of Xaviant’s upcoming title Lichdom surprised us with just how intuitive would be to design encounters and locations – though obviously more complex, someone familiar with even third-party map editors or game creators would probably not find using the engine an unreasonable challenge.
NVidia Graphics Software
The NVidia booth featured a number of demonstrations showing off graphical uses for their CUDA computing model. Especially impressive were a group of simulations showcasing their hardware’s ability to model dynamically flowing water and destructible surfaces on the NVidia GTX 580 – flowing water crashing against obstructions looked remarkably convincing, and the free-form destruction capabilities of the software will doubtless allow for far more dynamically reacting environments and models if developers are willing to take advantage of them. A modified Hawken client provided an excellent example, with explosive ordinance actively blasting apart buildings and even floors.
Motion Capture
A consistent theme on the show floor, motion capture technology continues to advance. Traditional (albeit) abbreviated rigs were present on the floor itself, but also interesting was the Faceshift facial recognition tool. By using a 3D camera – such as a Kinect – this software captures facial motion-capture data and translates it into a Maya-generated face, linking expressions to the motion-capture actor’s expressions in real-time using predetermined rigging.
Faceshift is available in several distinct levels. For more information, check out its site.
3Dconnexion 3DMouse
One of the most unusual – and coolest – pieces of technology on the show floor, 3DConnextion’s 3d mice would be invaluable for development and computer graphics. This unusual mouse allows a user fine control over the Y and Z axes through careful manipulation of its cylindrical body, much like a flattened-out joystick. The mouse also features a number of keys, some programmable and others serving as stand-ins for commonly-accessed keys like Control, Shift, Alt, Esc, and the NumPad, a full-sized hand rest, and software support for an on-screen display of the mouse’s programmable function keys.
A 3D mouse is currently a highly specialized piece of technology, and at $299.00 for the most recent model, they’re not going to come cheap. At the present it price is likely to dissuade buyers beyond the ranks of technology enthusiasts and people who work a great deal in a 3-dimensional development space. Nonetheless, it’s a fascinating piece of technology, and as computer graphics and 3-dimensional game development continue to democratize, a dedicated three-dimensional interface device can only become more and more useful.
For more information on the 3D mice offered by 3Dconnexion, check their site.
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This article was written by James Trauben and Shawn Moore.