Product: LucasArts To Use NaturalMotion Euphoria In Indiana Jones Title

Video game developer and publisher LucasArts and NaturalMotion, the developers of the Endorphin 3D animation creation software, announced today that the upcoming Indiana Jones title in development for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is being created using NaturalMotion's Euphoria, a run-time animation technology for game play and development on next-generation platforms, including PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. The software allows characters in the game the behave in a realistic manner without the restrictions and limitations of more traditional animation techniques. Characters move and adapt realistically to their given situations on the fly, resulting in a series of unique experiences and payoffs. LucasArts is one of only two game developers given early access to the Euphoria engine. Based on NaturalMotion’s DMS technology, Euphoria uses the CPUs of next-generation platforms to synthesize interactive animations on the fly, using fast simulations of the game character’s actual motor control, muscles and biomechanics. "With Euphoria, A.I. drives character behaviors so that there's a different payoff every time. The depth of this character interaction gives us true next-gen gameplay that you simply couldn't do with earlier generations of hardware," said Peter Hirschmann, vice president of product development at LucasArts. "We've been working with NaturalMotion since 2004 to help bring their groundbreaking technology to games, and there's no better character to demonstrate it than Indiana Jones." LucasArts will demonstrate Euphoria in action when it debuts its next-generation Indiana Jones game on May 10-12 at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles.