Autodesk Offers New Gameware Products

RMN Digital | March 7, 2012 | Americas, Applications, Consumer, Corporate, Enterprise, Feature, Games, Regions, Strategy | No Comments

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) has announced new and enhanced game development middleware from its recently launched Autodesk Gameware product line.

The company has extended its mobile game development and artificial intelligence offerings, while providing usability and performance enhancements for existing products.

Evaluation versions of the products will be available on the Autodesk Gameware website, http://gameware.autodesk.com, along with related videos, tutorials and forums.

The latest version of Autodesk’s video game user interface (UI) solution, Autodesk Scaleform 4.1, offers new features and enhancements designed especially for mobile game development.

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A new mobile-ready player, flexible input support, game kits and tutorials extend the product’s toolset for developing mobile game UI, as well as 2D games and apps. Scaleform 4.1 is available for use with Unity 3 engine. It also now supports the new Microsoft Windows 8 Metro platform, which provides touch-based interface to tablets and PCs.

Autodesk has integrated recently acquired artificial intelligence (AI) technology from Grip Entertainment into its Gameware line through the introduction of two new products: Autodesk Cognition and Autodesk Population. The company further expanded its AI offering through new enhancements in Autodesk Kynapse middleware for real-time 3D pathfinding.

Autodesk Cognition 2013 is a visual programming system and run-time engine for creating and managing high-level artificial intelligence.

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Autodesk Population 2013 is an AI software module for Epic Unreal Engine 3 technology that enables game designers to create and manage large numbers of secondary characters. With Gameware Population, game designers can create vibrant, living worlds populated by hundreds of nonplayer characters (NPCs), resulting in a more meaningful and compelling gaming experience.

The 2013 version of Autodesk Kynapse offers enhancements for more realistic navigation by NPCs. And the 2013 release of Autodesk Beast lighting solution enables live scene authoring, so artists can see results interactively as they edit scene geometry, lights, as well as their parameters and baking properties.

Autodesk HumanIK 2013 middleware enables more realistic character animation with simplified access to its two-bone IK solver, a new shoulder solver and an improved spine solving technique that uses a new parameter to control spine curvature.

The new versions of Scaleform, Cognition, Population, Kynapse, Beast and HumanIK middleware are expected to be available in spring 2012.