DigiQ8
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You can find it Here
but ill just copy+paste the text
>>>>To: xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>From: xxxxx xxxxxxx
>>>>Subject: AnimX Technology Followup
>>>>Date: Mon, 16 October 2006 19:45:28 -0500
>>>> Hi xxxxxxxx,
>>>> Thanks for joining us for the presentation yesterday, it was alot of fun finally getting to discuss about some of the technologies we've
>>>> been working on. I thought I'd address the questions you raised during the session personally cause I'm not sure our team did as
>>>> great a job explaining the AnimX tech as they could have. They're good at content but I probably should have done a better job
>>>> coordinating the slides and the dialogue.
>>>> Anyhow, let me try to give you a better understanding of what we're dealing with here. The basics we got through yesterday - the
>>>> dynamic interaction, fluid animations and the entirely interactive environments, but something that we only alluded to yesterday that I
>>>> want to describe to you further is that QA playtest we ran last month. Once we've finalised the packaging for the tech (our deadline
>>>> comes up on the 1st) we'll be doing a proper corporate showing but I hope my descriptions here suffice for now.
>>>> As we said, the demo was based entirely on Chaos Theory technology except for the animation tech which we effectively bolted on to
>>>> the existing structure. The amazing part about this, is that despite the fact that at that point we hadn't even completed the initial code,
>>>> it only took two of ours guys an afternoon to slipstream the new tech into what was already in place! This amazed us and really proved
>>>> that our guys know how to put a piece of compatible software together. As mentioned yesterday, the AnimX tech actually allows us to
>>>> open up an entire level's geometry for character interaction. We took the Lighthouse level from Chaos Theory and spent a couple days
>>>> taking 100% of the artificial boundaries out of the framework and opening up every single polygon for possible interaction. The beauty
>>>> of the AnimX tech is that it comes packaged with very, very realistic representations character gravity and weight which fit very nicely
>>>> with our subject matter (however the variables are very easily adjusted should the tech be used in a space shooter for example).
>>>> All told, it took us four days to get the Lighthouse level fully playable with the AnimX tech installed, and just for kicks, we disabled the
>>>> entire HUD system for a really clean, natural look. What you have to understand about what I'm going to tell you next is that the
>>>> graphics engine, the lighting effects - everything in terms of graphical features and flare, was chock standard Chaos Theory - we even
>>>> ran the game on SM1.1. We got a group of six of our longer serving QA testers in for a two hour, private NDA session to see how they >>>> reacted to the technology the next day. Standing in that room, I heard more expletives than I had thought possible from a group of
>>>> twenty-somethings and it was all good news! These guys have played the Lighthouse level, quite literally, thousands upon thousands
>>>> of times and the exact same level, with the animation technology being the only changed variable, completely blew them away. The
>>>> first thing they all said (or whispered in disbelief in one case) was that Sam "looked like real life". 5 of the 6 spent a very long period of
>>>> time walking around on the beach trying to get Sam to walk or jump in the same way twice with no success, while the other guy
>>>> started scaling the cliff at the edge of that opening area. It took on average 35 minutes for these guys to reach the first bridge as they
>>>> were all too busy exploring the level, climbing to the proverbial 'ceiling' and trying different ways of clambering into the shipwrecked
>>>> boat. It was when the testers came across the first NPC's (also running under AnimX with direction coordinates for where to walk) that
>>>> that attitude moved from amazement to utter disbelief. Because of the AI that has been programmed into the animation engines of
>>>> each character, the NPC's were no longer following a set path, but actually interacting with the geometry around them. We changed
>>>> the coordinates a bit giving one NPC a few seconds to choose whether he wanted to lean against the cave wall or not. He chose to,
>>>> while the other NPC lost his balance going across the bridge (which we made to swing slightly for the purposes of testing NPC
>>>> reaction) and had to grip on to the guard rope. The clever tester who happened to encounter this turn of events (who had by now
>>>> climbed down into the canyon and was hanging on a precipice below the bridge) lunged upwards grabbing on to one side of the bridge,
>>>> yanking the entire structure to the side the NPC was leaning, who then lost his footing and his grip on the hand rail and slipped into
>>>> the gorge below.
>>>> Now, this all sounds very impressive, but realizing that the tech surrounding the AnimX kit is more than two years old gives a better
>>>> picture of how amazing the gameplay experience in Conviction will be. Our demo did not include a proper damage model, fully
>>>> accurate material properties, or a proper NPC AI (our AI code only extends to character interaction with the environment) with the
>>>> knowledge to react dynamically to events, however meetings with the other teams so far have proven that there won't be much lacking
>>>> in feel in Conviction. AnimX plugs beautifully into existing physics and graphics setups (UE3 and Havok in the case of Conviction) and
>>>> is the most versatile internal software package we've produced. As we mentioned yesterday, the Assasins Creed, Carlos the Jackal,
>>>> and Splinter Cell 1984 teams have been kept entirely up to date with development and are building their environments and levels to
>>>> suit the capabilities of AnimX as well. If I may add a personal remark here, in my years as part of Ubisoft, up to this point, I hadn't felt
>>>> that we genuinely offered anything over and above what gamers already expect. AnimX however, I must say, is a complete coup. I'm
>>>> no analyst, but I can tell you that the key to next-gen is animation and interaction, and Ubisoft is going to be the only game in town
>>>> doing what we're doing. I think this is going to become clearer and clearer once we start merging our technology, and I'm looking
>>>> forward to seeing your (and your colleagues) reactions once this all comes together.
>>>> I hope that gives a clearer picture of what we're dealing with here. As usual, please forward this on to anyone that you feel needs more
>>>> clarity and I'll catch up with you likely some time after our full demo next month.
>>>>Regards,
>>>>xxxxx xxxxxxx
>>>>xxxxx xxxx, xxxxxxxx, Ubisoft
I dont know if its real or not
but its great.
but ill just copy+paste the text
>>>>To: xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>From: xxxxx xxxxxxx
>>>>Subject: AnimX Technology Followup
>>>>Date: Mon, 16 October 2006 19:45:28 -0500
>>>> Hi xxxxxxxx,
>>>> Thanks for joining us for the presentation yesterday, it was alot of fun finally getting to discuss about some of the technologies we've
>>>> been working on. I thought I'd address the questions you raised during the session personally cause I'm not sure our team did as
>>>> great a job explaining the AnimX tech as they could have. They're good at content but I probably should have done a better job
>>>> coordinating the slides and the dialogue.
>>>> Anyhow, let me try to give you a better understanding of what we're dealing with here. The basics we got through yesterday - the
>>>> dynamic interaction, fluid animations and the entirely interactive environments, but something that we only alluded to yesterday that I
>>>> want to describe to you further is that QA playtest we ran last month. Once we've finalised the packaging for the tech (our deadline
>>>> comes up on the 1st) we'll be doing a proper corporate showing but I hope my descriptions here suffice for now.
>>>> As we said, the demo was based entirely on Chaos Theory technology except for the animation tech which we effectively bolted on to
>>>> the existing structure. The amazing part about this, is that despite the fact that at that point we hadn't even completed the initial code,
>>>> it only took two of ours guys an afternoon to slipstream the new tech into what was already in place! This amazed us and really proved
>>>> that our guys know how to put a piece of compatible software together. As mentioned yesterday, the AnimX tech actually allows us to
>>>> open up an entire level's geometry for character interaction. We took the Lighthouse level from Chaos Theory and spent a couple days
>>>> taking 100% of the artificial boundaries out of the framework and opening up every single polygon for possible interaction. The beauty
>>>> of the AnimX tech is that it comes packaged with very, very realistic representations character gravity and weight which fit very nicely
>>>> with our subject matter (however the variables are very easily adjusted should the tech be used in a space shooter for example).
>>>> All told, it took us four days to get the Lighthouse level fully playable with the AnimX tech installed, and just for kicks, we disabled the
>>>> entire HUD system for a really clean, natural look. What you have to understand about what I'm going to tell you next is that the
>>>> graphics engine, the lighting effects - everything in terms of graphical features and flare, was chock standard Chaos Theory - we even
>>>> ran the game on SM1.1. We got a group of six of our longer serving QA testers in for a two hour, private NDA session to see how they >>>> reacted to the technology the next day. Standing in that room, I heard more expletives than I had thought possible from a group of
>>>> twenty-somethings and it was all good news! These guys have played the Lighthouse level, quite literally, thousands upon thousands
>>>> of times and the exact same level, with the animation technology being the only changed variable, completely blew them away. The
>>>> first thing they all said (or whispered in disbelief in one case) was that Sam "looked like real life". 5 of the 6 spent a very long period of
>>>> time walking around on the beach trying to get Sam to walk or jump in the same way twice with no success, while the other guy
>>>> started scaling the cliff at the edge of that opening area. It took on average 35 minutes for these guys to reach the first bridge as they
>>>> were all too busy exploring the level, climbing to the proverbial 'ceiling' and trying different ways of clambering into the shipwrecked
>>>> boat. It was when the testers came across the first NPC's (also running under AnimX with direction coordinates for where to walk) that
>>>> that attitude moved from amazement to utter disbelief. Because of the AI that has been programmed into the animation engines of
>>>> each character, the NPC's were no longer following a set path, but actually interacting with the geometry around them. We changed
>>>> the coordinates a bit giving one NPC a few seconds to choose whether he wanted to lean against the cave wall or not. He chose to,
>>>> while the other NPC lost his balance going across the bridge (which we made to swing slightly for the purposes of testing NPC
>>>> reaction) and had to grip on to the guard rope. The clever tester who happened to encounter this turn of events (who had by now
>>>> climbed down into the canyon and was hanging on a precipice below the bridge) lunged upwards grabbing on to one side of the bridge,
>>>> yanking the entire structure to the side the NPC was leaning, who then lost his footing and his grip on the hand rail and slipped into
>>>> the gorge below.
>>>> Now, this all sounds very impressive, but realizing that the tech surrounding the AnimX kit is more than two years old gives a better
>>>> picture of how amazing the gameplay experience in Conviction will be. Our demo did not include a proper damage model, fully
>>>> accurate material properties, or a proper NPC AI (our AI code only extends to character interaction with the environment) with the
>>>> knowledge to react dynamically to events, however meetings with the other teams so far have proven that there won't be much lacking
>>>> in feel in Conviction. AnimX plugs beautifully into existing physics and graphics setups (UE3 and Havok in the case of Conviction) and
>>>> is the most versatile internal software package we've produced. As we mentioned yesterday, the Assasins Creed, Carlos the Jackal,
>>>> and Splinter Cell 1984 teams have been kept entirely up to date with development and are building their environments and levels to
>>>> suit the capabilities of AnimX as well. If I may add a personal remark here, in my years as part of Ubisoft, up to this point, I hadn't felt
>>>> that we genuinely offered anything over and above what gamers already expect. AnimX however, I must say, is a complete coup. I'm
>>>> no analyst, but I can tell you that the key to next-gen is animation and interaction, and Ubisoft is going to be the only game in town
>>>> doing what we're doing. I think this is going to become clearer and clearer once we start merging our technology, and I'm looking
>>>> forward to seeing your (and your colleagues) reactions once this all comes together.
>>>> I hope that gives a clearer picture of what we're dealing with here. As usual, please forward this on to anyone that you feel needs more
>>>> clarity and I'll catch up with you likely some time after our full demo next month.
>>>>Regards,
>>>>xxxxx xxxxxxx
>>>>xxxxx xxxx, xxxxxxxx, Ubisoft
I dont know if its real or not
but its great.
