MULTIGEN SHIPS GAMEGEN II REALTIME 3D AUTHORING TOOL FOR ENTERTAINMENT APPLICATIONS

    GameGen II Optimizes Realtime Performance on All Game Platforms

    San Jose, Calif.-April 1, 1996-MultiGen Inc., the leader in realtime 3D authoring software, today announced at the 1996 Computer Game Developers Conference that it has begun shipping GameGen II, the new world builder for realtime 3D arcade, location-based and home entertainment applications. GameGen II represents the next step in MultiGen's expansion into emerging markets for realtime 3D technology.

    GameGen II offers a powerful set of authoring tools in an intuitive, interactive world-building environment. With GameGen II, developers can respond to the challenge of creating exciting 3D worlds for a variety of applications, without sacrificing realtime performance. MultiGen's latest technology enables designers to efficiently and easily create, edit and prototype highly artistic 3D gamescapes, which are optimized to run in realtime on the next generation of game platforms.

    New Features Improve Quality, Performance and Usability

    A member of the new MultiGen Series II product family, GameGen II enables developers to create, assemble and optimize realtime 3D databases for entertainment applications. GameGen II offers designers new features that simplify the 3D world-building process and shorten application development time. These features include:

    Powerful World Building Format - The foundation of GameGen II is OpenFlight, MultiGen's scene description database format which allows developers to create, assemble and tune their 3D worlds for optimum interactive realtime applications. OpenFlight helps maximize graphics performance using level of detail, model morphing and culling volume control, while its memory saving techniques-like model instancing and visual property palettes-enable the designer to manage tight memory budgets.

    OpenFlight can also be optimized for realtime culling methodologies such as Z-buffer, BSP trees and Fix listing, and it has the power to support dynamic effects and event logic with degrees of freedom, state switching, collision volumes, flipbook animations and linkages. The OpenFlight data format is now available to be downloaded royalty-free from MultiGenís World Wide Web site at http://www.multigen.com/.

    User Interface and Preview Improvement    s - introduce a new look and feel to the 3D artist. GameGen II provides a new WYSIWYG 3D graphical user interface that is compliant with X-Motif standards. This new windowing system enables drag and drop editing, a custom tool icon window, multiple views and multiple open files. GameGen II also offers user-defined windows and a global undo function, which can take the user back to any stage in the authoring process.

    Ease-of-Use Enhancement    s - comprise features like the ability to customize tool palettes, viewing windows and construction templates to suit user-defined preferences and tasks. Other new usability features include saved eye points and tracking planes, reference structures and 3D views. GameGen II offers accelerator hot keys, a global undo function*which can take the user back to any stage in the authoring process, and an application programming interface (API) which allows users to add functionality, create their own tools and extend the OpenFlight format. GameGen II also includes MultiGen's new online help system with hot key access and expanded content, new user documentation, and new training materials.

    More System Administration Tool    s - GameGen II provides improved system administration with adopted Silicon Graphics, Inc. Software Management Tools, including GUI-base installation, software removal capabilities and new license manager initialization scripts. The software also includes support for the Silicon Graphics Indigo2 Impact through native OpenGL optimized graphics code.

    Growing Entertainment Customer Bas    e

    Many of the hottest computer and video games on the market, including Cyberia I and II for the PC, FA-18 Hornet for the Mac and Twisted Metal for the Sony PlayStation, were created with MultiGen products. MultiGen has also been a key supplier of realtime 3D authoring tools for upcoming Nintendo 64 games. MultiGen's technology was also used to create some of todayís most popular high-end location-based entertainment (LBE) applications, such as the Namco Magic Edge centers in Mountain View, Calif., and Tokyo, Japan, and the Aladdin ride at Disney Worldís Epcot Center.

    "MultiGen's strong reputation in visual simulation attracted several early adopters, such as Disney Imagineering, Time Warner Interactive and Paradigm Simulation, to our entertainment tools," said Joe Fantuzzi, president and CEO of MultiGen. "Now, GameGen II is being used by key players in the industry, including Nintendo and Sony, to create the next generation of cutting-edge applications for entertainment."

    Today, MultiGen's expanding list of entertainment customers includes: 3Dfx Interactive, Blue Shift, Boss Game Studios, CAPCOM, DMA Design, Electromedia Productions, Electronic Arts, Enix Corporation, Entertainment Systems Corp., GameTek, Gemini Technology Inc., Graphics Simulations Inc., Greystone, H2O Entertainment, HAL Laboratory, Hudson Soft, Interplay Productions, Looking Glass Technologies, Magic Edge, MÄK Technologies Inc., MicroProse, Military Simulations Inc., Nintendo Company Ltd, Ocean of America, Paradigm Simulation Inc., Parsoft Inc., Pyrotechnix, Rare Limited, Sega Co. Ltd., Software Creations Ltd., Sony Interactive Studios America , Square Co. Ltd., Time Warner Interactive, Viacom New Media, Virgin Interactive Entertainment Ltd., Visions of Reality, Walt Disney Imagineering, Xatrix Entertainment Inc., Zipper Interactive, Inc., and Zombie.

    Increased Compatibili    ty

    GameGen II runs on all Silicon Graphics, Inc., platforms and supports a wide range of leading game platforms, such as Sony, Nintendo, Sega, Mac and PC with graphic accelerator boards. Software partner compatibility includes MÄK Technologies' DIS network application tools, Paradigm Simulationís AudioWorks 2 and Vega, and direct support for the Nintendo 64 and Gemini Technology's GVS simulation runtime application tools. GameGen II allows database assets built using CAD, animation and paint tools, programs such as AutoCAD", 3D Studio", PowerAnimator, and Adobe Photoshop to be imported into the authoring environment, where the developer can tune data and correct errors to create textured realtime 3D models.

    Pricing and Availabili    ty

    A single executable license of GameGen II is available at a cost of $20,000. Options for GameGen II are priced separately. GameGen customers under maintenance will receive an upgrade to GameGen II at no charge. MultiGen has the following options in development for release in the second half of 1996:

    Road construction tools
    Texture tools
    Nintendo 64 developer kit
    Expanded File Conversion: SoftImage importer and Alias Version 7.0 importer
    Application Programmers Interfaces: Database import/export API and Tool expansion API

    MULTIGEN IN    C.

    MultiGen Inc., founded in 1986, is the leading supplier of 3D authoring software for realtime visual simulation, entertainment and CAD visualization applications. Its products, including MultiGen" II Pro, MultiGen" II, GameGen II and SmartScene are used to create 3D objects and scenes used in realtime applications for non-immersive and immersive environments. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., the company markets its products worldwide directly and through partnerships with leading computing and realtime simulation companies and a network of distributors.

    All trademarks mentioned herein are property of their respective owners.

    FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

    Chris Stocker
    MultiGen Inc.
    408/261-4100
    ctocker@multigen.com