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NCsoft Signs 'SpeedTree' For their MMORPG 'Auto Assault'

by Rainier on April 27, 2004 @ 1:02 p.m. PDT

NCsoft has chosen SpeedTree for use in Auto Assault, a massively multiplayer game currently under development by Denver-based NetDevil, LTD. The animated, incredibly realistic and efficient foliage generated by SpeedTree will be visible in virtually every Auto Assault level, both in town and on the highways, promised NetDevil CEO Scott Brown.

Auto Assault is set in a post-apocalyptic world where players drive tricked-out cars, motorcycles and semis, and fight it out with bandits and mutated creatures for control of the world. The game is set for a 2005 release and will be featured in May at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the world's leading trade show for interactive entertainment.

"In every scene, wherever there are a lot of trees or just a few, the graphics are greatly improved," said Mr. Brown, who chose SpeedTreeRT for both its efficiency and aesthetic prowess. "The rendered quality is amazing. There is a wealth of great techniques that make SpeedTree the best tree and plant solution in the industry."

Mr. Brown added that access to SpeedTreeRT source code, provided to all full licensees, will ensure that the flora of Auto Assault will feature natural lighting and realistic physics-based effects. Like the rest of the game's environmental features, the trees generated by SpeedTreeRT will react realistically to game action. "Players will be able to light the trees on fire, knock them over and blow them up," Mr. Brown said. "Our game is all about destructible environments."

SpeedTreeRT's use in an NCsoft title is a huge win for Interactive Data Visualization, according to IDV President Chris King. "NCsoft's addition to our rapidly-growing list of licensees further establishes SpeedTreeRT as the de facto real-time foresting solution of AAA-list game developers," says Mr. King. "We are very pleased to have them on board."

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