It’s been a long journey since Sonic & Knuckles (from SEGA) as the game engine technology has undergone diverse advances in game physics, animation, AI, networking, localization support, multi-threading, etc. These improvements have been integrated seamlessly in PC and console games. Core functionality in games like Doom, includes 2D and 3D rendering, sound, streaming, etc. Most of the gaming business was carried down by reusing the same game engines to make different games. However, later games needed more resources because of innovative game designs and simulation requirements.
NaturalMotion, a UK based company, introduced Morpheme, the first graphically-authorable animation engine for PlayStation3, Xbox 360, Wii and PC. In the partnership with airplay, morpheme is now available on iPhone. This engine features a runtime engine (morpheme:runtime) and a unique 3D authoring tool chain (morpheme:connect). morpheme:runtime is a next-gen animation engine with advanced animation features with simple run-time core. It ships with full source code.morpheme:connect is a powerful and flexible 3D interface with comprehensive and scriptable environment, 2D and 3D viewports for authoring and visualization, and more. Morpheme gives unprecedented creative control to animators and developers through diverse 2D and 3D tools and finest in-game animation. “Morpheme puts the animator in control of in-game animations. The result is in-game animation of unprecedented quality” said Torsten Reil, CEO of NaturalMotion.
Euphoria, NaturalMotion’s previous product, is based on Dynamic Motion Synthesis (DMS) – which synthesizes the animation data in real-time. Unlike Euphoria, Morpheme is not based on DMS. Instead it drastically increases the quality of canned in-game animation that gives splendid real-time output. However, Morpheme supports all the features of Euphoria.
It features advanced graphics tools to build complex blend trees and real-time visualization of animation source contribution through node highlighting. It also has full Lua support for automating tasks and to add AI logic for real-time input. With graphical mark up of animation data, Morpheme adds one-shot and duration events, for highlighting finer details in games, sound effects, etc. Multiple runtime characters can be created using morpheme:connect. This also enables character interaction. Morpheme gives intense network support for creating and functioning on transition networks through user-friendly drag-and-drop. This engine has flexibility to use custom high-level controls for real-time in-game manipulation through game pad controller or sliders. It also features an animation browser to work with source animation from animation list that is automatically updated to reflect changed source files.
Morpheme is being used by some of the world’s leading game developers and publishers like Activision, THQ, Bioware, Codemasters, Ubisoft, Disney, and many others.
Games that used Morpheme: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Red Dead Redemption, Shattered Horizon, etc.
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Written by Anirudh
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