Sony Online Entertainment has licensed Criterion Software’s dynamic PVS (dPVS) game development middleware product for use in Star Wars Galaxies, a game it is developing in partnership with Lucas Arts Entertainment Company LLC, and Ever Quest: The Shadows of Luclin, two new 3D massively multiplayer
online games.
Dynamic (dPVS) is a game development middleware product powered by Hybrid's Umbra technology which enables game developers to increase the realism of game content. Available as a plug-in for RenderWare Graphics or as a stand alone library for use with other game engines, dPVS speeds 3D rendering by rapidly and dynamically determining which objects need to be drawn, allowing for richer environments with nearly unlimited numbers of objects. Reducing the amount of information a server needs to transmit cuts down on bandwidth needs, and it can cut down on cheat programs that rely on this extra information on non-visible objects.
