Digital
Media FX News Archives
Wednesday
- August 15, 2001
- Shogun: Total War Warlord
Edition Ships
- Softimage 3D 4.0
Announced
- eStudio Gets The Kellys
- News Link of the Day
- Final Fantasy Special Effects Rate an Oscar
Shogun:
Total War Warlord Edition Ships
(by digitalmediafx.com) EA Games has shipped an expansion to last
year's award winning strategy game, Shogun: Total War. The expansion,
called Shogun: Total War Warlord Edition features a new enemy
who threatens to destroy the country, as well as offers an array
of new and improved features while reintroducing players to the
original Shogun: Total War. In addition, there are many new animated
segments, that added to the interest of the original.
Features include:
-- Ten
new battlefield units.
-- New region upgrades, including new buildings such as the
Drill Dojo, to improve holdings.
-- Multi-player game types -- up to six players via LAN or the
Internet in new multiplayer games.
-- New strategy map scenarios for quick tactical battles.
-- Multiple Battle Modes -- two new additions whose goal is
to defeat the enemy or capture tactical points such as castles.
-- Map and Scenario Editors -- Define the strategy map starting
positions and set up individual campaigns for both single and
multi-player games.
-- Unit Training -- Improve solider skills and equipment.
-- Crisp Full Motion Video animation and high resolution still
art.
For more information
or to order, click
here.
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Softimage
4.0 Announced
(by digitalmediafx.com) Softimage Co. has announced that a
new version of Softimage, version 4.0, will begin shipping this
fall. New features and enhancements include additions and improvements
such as multiple UV texturing vertex color shading, interactive
editing of shading normals, and additions to the Saaphire SDK.
Softimage 3D, version 4.0, will also support the Linux platform.
Key new features
and enhancements to Softimage 3D, version 4.0, include:
--Multiple
UV Texturing - enables designers to assign multiple UV mapped
textures on polygon mesh domains, using a UV domain of their
choice.
--Dopesheet
Control for Shader and Custom Fcurve - provides increased control
over animation function curves for plug-ins and mental ray(R)
shaders.
--Interactive
Normal Editing - allows designers to interactively edit selected
shading normals on polygon mesh models. The shade view provides
instant feedback on the shading modifications.
--Enhanced
Vertex Color Shading - provides more flexibility for controlling
use of vertex colors, especially for developers of next-generation
console games.
--Polygon
Hide / Unhide - adds the ability to hide and unhide selected
polygons.
--All the
new features in v.4.0 are exposed programmatically via the Saaphire
plug-in SDK.
Until 4.0
is officially released, Softimage is offering version 3.9.2, at
promotional pricing of $1,995. When version 4.0 ships, it will
cost close to $4,000.
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eStudio
Gets "The Kellys"
(by digitalmediafx.com) You've heard of The Simpsons, now
here comes The Kellys, an upcoming animated series based on professional
stock car auto racing. Nancy Cartwright's SportsBlast, Inc. company
announced that it has contracted eStudio as a partner to bring
the animated series to life.
eStudio will
provide all the visual elements for "The Kellys," including
character design, storyboards and animation.
"The
technical wizardry of this series is going to significantly raise
the bar on web animation, " says eStudio Executive Producer
and Co-Founder Ken Martin. "We intend to pull out all the
stops to deliver on SportsBlast's phenomenal development concept."
Note: Nancy
Cartwright is known as the voice of Bart Simpson on The Simpsons.
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News Link
of the Day - Final Fantasy Special Effects Rate an Oscar
According
to The Star Bulletin (originally published July 11):
"They
can mail the Oscar to the Square One people now for Final Fantasy.
But it will be limited to 'best special effects,' and possibly
'best song,' a category that should be dropped since songs are
often included just to win an Oscar. The special effects at Monday's
pre-premiere showing at the Waikiki Theatres -- which began a
record 45 minutes late, long even by Hawaiian time, due to traffic
and logistics -- wowed everyone. You'll have nightmares about
the phantoms, the non-humanistic bad guys lurking about everywhere..."
Click
here for the full story.
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