3DO to License Engine

The 3DO Company plans to license the engine used in its upcoming game Requiem: Avenging Angel, which was developed by Cyclone Studios and carries a January, 1999 anticipated release date. 3DO calls the engine "a state-of-the-art foundation for the development of next-generation, first-person action games for the PC."

Helmut Kobler, Cyclone Studios' general manager, said of his studio's three-years-in-the-making, soon-to-be-licensable Requiem engine, "In Requiem: Avenging Angel, three key technologies combine to give the player a rich visual experience not seen before. The custom engine features refined portal technology that uses visible surface determination to enable a substantially higher frame rate. Additionally, we used 16-bit color and created a stunning lighting system featuring the first-ever use of real-time character shadows accurately mapped to architecture.

"It all adds up to a break-neck frame rate of 60 frames-per-second that moves fluidly and smoothly," Kobler said. "We designed our game to look great today on current PCs without 3D support, and adapt and expand with the player's next system. The custom engine in Requiem: Avenging Angel is one of the first to be fully optimized for the Voodoo2 3D card."