Product: Emergent, Umbra Partner For Gamebryo Element

Major middleware firm Emergent Game Technologies has announced a new partnership with 3D optimization firm Umbra Software to include Umbra's dPVS technology within Gamebryo Element, Emergent's next-generation game engine and set of game development tools. Umbra Software's dPVS is an advanced visibility optimization tool designed for game developers creating large 3D worlds, such as those found in MMOs. Chief among the benefits afforded by the software are that it requires no scene pre-processing and works with dynamic environments. The tool is currently available for PC, Xbox and GameCube development, and will soon be available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The latest next-gen version of Gamebryo Element, used by Bethesda Softworks to create The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, is optimized for development on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Gamebryo is currently available as a stand-alone engine, or as part of the Emergent Elements suite of game development tools, including Metrics Element, a tool for collecting, analyzing and distributing any game data within a simple web-based user interface, and Automation Element, a tool for automating common development processes including builds and server operations. "With Gamebryo's deep integration with dPVS, we are giving our customers, particularly our MMO developers, yet another best-of-breed tool for making richer, more enjoyable games," said Scott M. Johnson, executive vice president of Emergent. "Using Gamebryo with dPVS, our customers will be able to speed their development cycles to create more efficient games that make better use of tremendous data sets.”