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Equipment selection
Algorithms of character’s behavior selection also analyze a number of
conditions concerning equipment selection. Among the most important are: is
it worthy to pick up a weapon if it is better than the one currently
carried? Is it worthy to pick up a potion or armor? Are we exposed to an
attack while doing this?
Selection of currently used item
The enemies see what kind of
weapon the character uses and they adjust their strategy to it. If the
weapon is effective in a short distance, it is advised to retreat and change
the weapon to one effective in a long distance. If a character carries a
ranged weapon , it is advised to come close and prevent an effective use of
this item.
Cooperation between characters
Characters can call for reinforcements, wait for their arrival and then
attack in a group. Because of that their actions are even more similar to a
natural human behavior.
Implementation of various materials covering the
surfaces
Various elements of the
character may be covered with materials having different optical parameters.
This provides new possibilities concerning the visualization of objects.
Thanks to this solution for instance a character’s skin may reflect the
light differently than armor parts. Clothes a character is wearing may be
made of transparent textile and polished armor parts may reflect the light
of the background. The technique of diversifying the materials can be also
used to demonstrate additional effects, such as smoke and sparkles.
Implementation of Specular Highlights lighting
In our game
we give the player a possibility of choosing the way the reflections are
seen. In the first option the process on calculating necessary parameters
has been limited so that the processor load is minimal. Second method allows
presenting reflections simultaneously with presenting a bump bitmap, which
is described in the next item of this document.
Implementation of environmental bitmapping
Environmental bitmap is a supplement to the Specular Highlights type of
lighting, however in some circumstances (mainly during visualization of open
spaces) it provides extraordinary aesthetic quality. It is also a very
simple way to present pseudo-mirroring surfaces. Our software enables the
use of environmental bitmaps, which increase authenticity of a presented
scene and at the same time do not require the processor’s power as much as
specular lights or real mirrors do.
Implementation of volumetric fog
Volumetric fog allows to define places, where air transparency is lower.
This effect was first used in computer games long ago, but many games still
do not employ this technology.
Implementation of Bump-Mapping
Modern graphic cards give means to apply Bump-Maps in the game. The effect
of Bump-Map is a perfect solution to increase visual quality of almost every
surface. We are going to exploit this option fully and prepare many
attractive effects, such as for instance water waves. These are examples of
Bump-Map effect use:
three-dimension missile marks
three-dimension footprints on snow or sand
realistic ornaments
small animated objects such as insects, spiders and cockroaches
realistic face grins
a number of spectacular light effects
Realistic model of water surface
When using Bump-Map it is possible to create a simulation of very realistic
waves on the surface of the water. Shape and direction of waves movement
depends on the size of the waters and the object that caused waving.
Mirroring
and shining surfaces
Our software enables use of mirrors and shining surfaces (e.g. floors) in
the game. Rendered reflection is generated together with a reflected object
in one projection process. This solution provides a very effective method of
projecting mirror reflections and because of that this process does not have
a visible influence on the processor’s work.
Carefully implemented physics of components
In this product we will implement technologies enabling realistic rendering
of physical phenomena. The most spectacular examples are: water surfaces and
breaking glass. Also floating or drowning objects can be encountered in the
game, their realistic fall into the water (change of density and consistence
of the surrounding), effect of rolling stones and many, many other elements.
Full implementation of realistic dynamic shadows
Although our technology allows projecting dynamic shadows in real time, we
would like to improve it in the future.
Smooth
change of daytime
Daytime change means a change of lighting of the scene during the game. This
solution may also bring variety to behavior profiles of the characters in
the game.
Smooth change of weather conditions
Change of weather conditions is supposed to create a maximum authenticity of
the presented world. This solution enables smooth beginning of falls and
change a type of fall, for example an autumn rain may transform into rain
and snow, then into snow and everything will seem perfectly natural.
Implementation of dynamic level of detail change
Dynamic change of details level means presenting objects in a distance with
use of a smaller number of triangles. Analogically, objects being close to
the observer are projected with use of a larger number of triangles.
Applying this method allows to create scenes with more details, while
preserving unchanged frequency of picture reloading. Increased precision is
much higher than the growth of capacity demand concerning the device needed
to operate this world.
Perfect quality of Internet connections in network
games(*)
We've spent months on polishing
up the technology of network game. The results of our work are techniques of
smoothing network player’s picture and developing algorithms of predicting
his situation in case of latency in data transfer from server.
Particles
Many objects in the game are so small that they can be regarded as point
objects during their simulation. When applying this method it is possible to
simplify algorithms modifying this behavior and manage much more such
objects in a unit of time. A large number of small objects gives the player
visual sensations, which cannot be found in products without this option.
Ultrarealistic organic models
Using point objects makes it easier to visualize organic elements of the
scene, especially trees, bushes, scrubs and grass. These elements seen as
groups of point objects give the impression of remarkable similarity to the
real world.
Realistic
physical model of broken glass
Our engine can present the process of glass breaking in bullet-time mode,
where it is visible in detail how the tension spreads inside the material
and how the energy of shattering fragments is dispersed.
Full
implementation of architectonic sound system
Our engine provides three-dimensional sound through DirectSound (tm)
libraries. This system ensures good quality sound both when reproduced as
quadraphonic sound, through headphones or typical stereophonic set.
Currently we focus on the implementation of echoes of sounds, their loudness
and relay will depend on the shape and size of the room.
Scalarity
By “scalarity” we understand the ability of the software to adjust to the
capacity of the computer it is used on. This feature of software is a very
important factor, which decides how wide range of receivers can enjoy the
product. While creating the game we pay a lot of attention to prepare the
product to operate smoothly and provide a high quality entertainment on
computers with various hardware resources.
The basic factors influencing scalarity of the product are listed below:
- specular lighting
- simulation of waves movement
- quality of reproduced sound
- change of accuracy of scene elements reproduction
- change of resolution and anti-aliasing
- visibility of small details present in the scenery of the game
- size of textures depending on AGP port and graphic card capacity
Anti-aliasing
This is an option of smoothing sharp edges of the objects on the screen. The
picture becomes smooth and pleasing to the eye. Unfortunately, on some video
cards this option may slow down the frequency of projection. Our software
allows the user to toggle the option.
T&L
Technology
This technology charges the graphic card not only with the process of
projecting ready triangles, but also enables processes of transformation and
lighting of the objects. Thanks to this solution the processor’s free time
can be spent on other tasks and thus result in more effective work of the
whole application.
Vertex
Shader and Pixel Shader Technologies
Vertex Shader technology enables creating programs, which modify the
way the video card processes geometric point data (vertex). Pixel Shader
allows modification of software that governs the method of processing a
single pixel. Both technologies provide new possibilities of visualization.
MMX
technology and SIMD and SIMD2 (Single Instruction Multiple Data)
Both technologies give means to manage arithmetical operations on data
boards (vectors) by means of individual assembler instructions. In our
software we use these technologies to improve the efficiency of the game
world visualization process.
Hyper-threading technology
This technology was implemented in Pentium 4 (r) processors. Pentium
processor is the key to this technology, as it contains electronic
structure, which works as two separate processors, thus much more
productively. Thanks to cooperation with Intel(r) we can prepare software
soon after introducing a new processor to the market, so that it operates as
efficiently as possible on modern computers.
Here
you can find info about projects build
on IC engine
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