Cryptic Studios Licenses 3D Optimization Tool For Neverwinter

In the event that you’re curious about some of the backend technology that’s being implemented in Cryptic Studios’ Neverwinter, this press release will share quite a few details about the Simplygon 3D optimization tool they’re using for the co-op friendly MMORPG. Facts below:

CRYPTIC STUDIOS LICENSES SIMPLYGONâ„¢ FOR D&D NEVERWINTER

Stockholm, Sweden – October 9, 2012 /GameBlast/ – Donyaâ„¢ Labs, creators of Simplygonâ„¢, and the leading provider of automatic 3D-optimization solutions for the video-game industry, today announced a new licensing agreement with US game developer Cryptic Studios. Simplygon’s powerful 3D-optimization features have been integrated into the art pipeline to automatically optimize the 3D assets in Cryptic Studios’ upcoming MMORPG game Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter.

Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter is a fantasy-themed, free-to-play MMORPG from Cryptic Studios that takes place in the Forgotten Realms setting. The game was first publicly displayed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2011, and is scheduled for release in early 2013 by publisher Perfect World Entertainment, that acquired Cryptic Studios from Atari in May 2011. Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter was awarded “Best of Show” by MMORPG.com at PAX East 2012.

“Simplygon helps us neatly solve several environment performance bottlenecks,” said Craig Zinkievich, COO, Cryptic Studios. “Artists can build great art, and Simplygon allows their work to be assembled into a great experience for the player.”

Simplygon is rapidly becoming the standard solution for high-quality MMORPG and console games. By licensing the middleware, Cryptic Studios now joins the ranks of other game-development companies that have invested in it to benefit from its cutting-edge automatic process for creating Level of Detail models. In modern game development in general, and especially in games with open-world environments with lots of content, it is necessary to use various optimization techniques to make the game run smoothly.

With the amount of models and content displayed on screen in the large and crowded areas that are commonplace when playing MMORPGs, using Level of Detail (LOD) reduces complexity of the data rendered which is crucial to speed up the game and provide a more pleasant experience for the players. Simplygon’s sure-fire way of automatically providing developers with the data necessary with little or no manual work is an important key to creating an efficient 3D-content pipeline in game development.

For more information on Simplygon please go to www.simplygon.com.

About Cryptic Studios (www.crypticstudios.com)
Cryptic Studios, Inc. is a leading developer of massively-multiplayer online role playing games, with a reputation for delivering profitable, on-time, on-budget titles. Cryptic Studios developed the innovative and successful City of Heroes, as well as its subsequent expansion, City of Villains. Both titles garnered numerous awards from leading enthusiast press including GameSpy’s Game of the Year award in 2004. After developing both City of Heroes and City of Villains, Cryptic Studios was purchased by Atari and created Champions Online and Star Trek Online. In addition to supporting Champions Online and Star Trek Online with new updates and content, Cryptic is now developing Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter and other unannounced projects and is rapidly diversifying its portfolio of games to reach beyond the traditional MMORPG genre. Cryptic Studios’ development process is centered on efficiently structured teams working together in a collaborative atmosphere to develop high quality games. The goal is to deliver unparalleled gaming experiences that appeal to a wide range of audiences and to iterate based on early prototyping and vertical slices. Cryptic utilizes a proprietary engine that contains all the tools needed to efficiently build and operate massive online games. Developed in house, the engine continues to be upgraded and adjusted by its original creators to improve the engine’s versatility and functionality. In addition, efficient content generation tools have been incorporated to streamline the development process, allowing real-time testing of art assets within the game environment.

About Donya Labs & Simplygon (http://www.simplygon.com)
Donyaâ„¢ Labs, creators of Simplygonâ„¢, is the leading provider of automatic 3D-optimization tools for the games industry. Privately held, founded in 2006 and headquartered in Sweden, Donya is the premier developer and provider of automatic 3D-optimization solutions and dedicated to helping professional game developers streamline their 3D-content pipeline. The revolutionary Simplygon middleware has been licensed by some of the world’s most well-renowned game developers including Blizzard Entertainment, CCP Games, BioWare, NCsoft, Nexon, Blue Byte, Funcom, Reloaded Studios, Wemade Entertainment, Ani-park and XLGames.