source infosheet q!03 - lagout development/programming/source...ai, real-world physics, and...
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ENGINELICENSINGinformation sheet
The Source™ engine technology, the same usedto power Half-Life® 2, is now available forlicense by third party developers. Sourceprovides major enhancements in several keyareas including character animation, advancedAI, real-world physics, and shader-basedrendering.
Source's animation system brings expressivecharacters to life with an unlimited palette offacial expressions that allow them to convey amessage without having to say a word. Inaddition, these characters possess the industry'smost advanced artificial intelligence, makingthem extremely capable allies and foes.
These characters populate beautifully renderedand physically simulated worlds. Nextgeneration applications will require the use of aphysics simulation to provide realistic andresponsive environments. This will allowdevelopers to break from authoring the pre-
scripted events featured in previous generationsof games, and open the door for the creation ofcompletely new styles of play.
Source contains robust networking code,providing support for 32-player LAN andInternet games, and includes a complete toolsetfor level design, character animation, democreation, and more.
PricingSource offers the most advanced features, tools,and support at extremely competitively prices.Discussed under NDA.
For more information, please [email protected].
INTRODUCTION
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Water refraction, High-Dynamic Range lighting, and advanced AI greatly enhance visual fidelity and believeability in Source.
RENDERERVersion 2.0b (and below) DirectXshaders, bump mapping, LOD onmodels and world
Author shaders with HLSL
Cube and environment mapping
Dynamic lights, vertex lighting andlight maps, many light typesincluding flickering, pulsing etc.
High-Dynamic Range lighting
Water with refraction and fresneleffects
Advanced particle system that canemit sprites or models
Projected shadows allow for a largenumber of characters per scene
Intelligent graphics caching system
Occluder entities for visibilityblocking
Indoor/Outdoor environments
· Deformable terrain· 3D skyboxes extend the horizonand add parallax on distantobjects
· Dynamically rendered organics(grass, trees etc)
Subdivision surfaces, diffuse &specular bump maps
Real-time radiosity lighting
Effects include but are not limitedto: particles, beams, volumetricsmoke, sparks, blood, environmentaleffects like fog and rain
Scalability
· Dx6-Dx9 hardware supported
MATERIALS SYSTEMInstead of traditional textures,Source defines sets of materialsthat specify what the object is madefrom and the texture used for thatobject. A material specifies how anobject will ffrraaccttuurree,, ssoouunndd wwhheennddrraaggggeedd aaccrroossss aannootthheerr ssuurrffaaccee oorrbbrrookkeenn, aass wweellll aass tthhee oobbjjeecctt’’ss mmaassssaanndd bbuuooyyaannccyy. This system is muchmore flexible than other textureonly based systems.
Materials can also interact withobjects or NPCs. For instance, mudor ice can make sounds and causevehicles to slide/lose traction.
SOURCE™ ENGINE FEATURES
Create expansive and highly-detailed outdoor environments.
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Source enables DX9 shaders written in HLSL
BUMPMAPPING
MONITORS +CAMERAS
DISPLACEMENTMAPS WITHBUMPMAPPING
REFLECTION +REFRACTION
VOLUMETRICEFFECTS
PARTICLESYSTEM
STATICPROPS
DETAILPROPS
MULTIPLAYER NETWORK CODE
Time and gamer tested by millionsof gamers around the world
Support for both LAN basedmultiplayer and Internet basedmultiplayer games
Prediction analysis forinterpolating collision/hit detection
Optimizations for high-latency,high-packet loss 56k connections
ADVANCED CHARACTERSDetailed and believable charactersprovide intelligent playerinteraction
Realistic eyes
· Focus on player/object, notsimply parallel views
· Proper eye "bulge" for realisticeye reflections
Simulated musculature providesoutstanding emotions, speech andbody language
Language independent speech,characters can naturally speak inmany languages
Skeletal/bone system for animation
Layered animation system cansynthesize complex animations outof several pieces
PHYSICSMore responsive world withrealistic interactions
Sounds & graphics follow fromphysics
AI characters can interact withphysically simulated objects
World-class machines, constraintsystems and ragdoll physics
Ropes and cables move realisticallywhen bumped or hit by an object
Can be controlled by level design
Kinematic animated bone followers
Custom procedural physics controllers
Vehicles
· Wheels slip and skid
· Realistic suspensions
· Tunable parameters:Horsepower, gearing, maxspeed, shift speed, tire material,tire friction, springtension/dampening, etc.
· Multiple players in a vehicle
· Hovercraft
Players and non-player characters are physically simulated, and possess the ability to interact with objects and vehicles.
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SOURCETM ENGINE FEATURES (Cont’d)
ADVANCED AIGraphical entity placement allowslevel designers to quickly controlthe interactive gaming environment.
Sophisticated navigation:characters that run, fly, jump,crouch, climb stairs and ladders,and burrow underground
Senses things using sight, sound,smell
Determines relationships such asfriend/foe status of other entities
Battle capabilities allow squads ofAI characters to operate together,know when to advance, retreat, laycover fire, etc.
Provides for intelligent characterinteraction during non-combatscenes.
SOUND5.1 surround sound, 4 speakersurround
High-quality 3D spatialization
Custom software DSP
Automatic DSP based onenvironmental geometry
ADPCM decompression
16-bit 44KHz, stereo wave datawith all features
MP3 decompression (requires Mileslicense)
Support for audio streaming on anywave
Real-time wave file stitching
Pre-authored Doppler effectencoded waves
Pre-authored distance variantencoded waves
UIServer browser - Displays all activegame servers and allows a player tochoose which one to participate on.Players can filter and sort serverlists in order to speed up the displayand selection of a server.
Friends instant messenger - Allowsplayers to message each other bothin and out of the game as well asjoin friends in existing games. Nomore confusion about what serveryour friends are on, you can easilyjoin with this feature.
VGUI - Valve's custom GUIinterface mimics most windowcontrols but is rendered using theSource engine for both in-game andout-of-game user interfaceuniformity. It is platformindependent and is UUnniiccooddeeccoommpplliiaanntt.
Source’s advanced AI create intelligent, life-like characters. Source includes a powerful suite of sound technologies.
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SOURCETM ENGINE FEATURES (Cont’d)
PROGRAMMINGAll code written in C/C++ usingVisual Studio 7.1. Easily andquickly derive new entities fromexisting base classes.
Internal context sensitiveperformance monitoring system
Graphics performance measurementtools built into the engine
Modular code design (via DLL's)allows swapping out of corecomponents for easy upgrading orcode replacement
Dx9 shaders all written in HighLevel Shading Language (HLSL).
Allows custom HLSL shaders
TOOLSFaceposer
· Facial expression tool used tocraft speech and emotions
Valve Hammer Editor®
· WYSIWYG World editor
· Create world brushes
· Terrain editor
· Place detailed world models andAI NPCs
· Set navigation points/paths forNPCs
· Place triggers, clip brushes,logic etc.
· Allows level designer to hook upI/O between entities to controlAI within the game
· Includes real-time lighting
Half-Life® Model Viewer· Full model previewer with
lighting
· Rotate models in any direction
· Setup hit boxes
· View physics hull
· View normals
· Wireframe, shaded or texturedview modes
Studiomdl· Model compiler
Vbsp, Vrad, Vvis, VMPI· Map compilation tools (bsp,lighting and visibility)
· VMPI - distributed compilationtool allowing level compiles tobe spread across many pc'sgreatly reducing compile times
Exporters· XSI, Max and Maya .smdexporters for exporting 3Dmodels
Faceposer allows you to direct each actor in every scene.
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SOURCETM ENGINE FEATURES (Cont’d)
Build and preview new worlds within the Valve Hammer Editor ®.