Autodesk Gameware is a discontinued

middleware Middleware is a type of computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue". Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement c ...

software suite A software suite (also known as an application suite) is a collection of computer programs (application software, or programming software) of related functionality, sharing a similar user interface and the ability to easily exchange data with eac ...

developed by

Autodesk Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that makes software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquartered ...

. The suite contained tools that enable designers to create game lighting, character animation, low level path finding, high-level AI and advanced user interfaces. On July 12, 2017, Autodesk removed Scaleform, Beast, HumanIK and Navigation from their online store, and announced the ending of support for the products.

Products

The Gameware suite consisted of the following modules: * Scaleform: A

vector graphics Vector graphics is a form of computer graphics in which visual images are created directly from geometric shapes defined on a Cartesian plane, such as points, lines, curves and polygons. The associated mechanisms may include vector display ...

rendering engine used to display

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Fla ...

-based user interfaces, HUDs, and animated textures for games, developed by

Scaleform Corporation Scaleform Corporation is a developer providing middleware for use in the video game industry. As a result of Autodesk's acquisition of the company in March 2011, Scaleform has become part of the Autodesk Gameware line of middleware. Product ...

. Also includes Scaleform Video and Scaleform IME. * Beast: A

global illumination Global illumination (GI), or indirect illumination, is a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes. Such algorithms take into account not only the light that comes directly from ...

solution featuring natural lighting effects: color bounce, soft shadows,

high-dynamic-range rendering High-dynamic-range rendering (HDRR or HDR rendering), also known as high-dynamic-range lighting, is the rendering of computer graphics scenes by using lighting calculations done in high dynamic range (HDR). This allows preservation of details tha ...

, and lighting of moving objects in real-time game environments. * HumanIK: A character animation middleware library with full body

inverse kinematics In computer animation and robotics, inverse kinematics is the mathematical process of calculating the variable joint parameters needed to place the end of a kinematic chain, such as a robot manipulator or animation character's skeleton, in a gi ...

. Can be integrated into animation engines such as

Autodesk MotionBuilder MotionBuilder is a 3D character animation software produced by Autodesk. It is used for virtual cinematography, motion capture, and traditional keyframe animation. It was originally named Filmbox when it was first created by Canadian company Kayd ...

. * Gameware Navigation:

Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

middleware providing automatic NavMesh generation, pathfinding, and path following in complex game environments. Originally developed as

Kynapse Kynapse is the artificial intelligence middleware product, developed by Kynogon, which was bought by Autodesk in 2008 and called ''Autodesk Kynapse''. In 2011, it has been re-engineered and rebranded ''Autodesk Navigation''. Since the discontinu ...

Kynogon Kynogon was a computer software company that provided AI middleware to the video game and the simulation industries. The company was acquired by Autodesk in February 2008, and its flagship product was titled Autodesk Navigation. Autodesk ended t ...

. *

FBX FBX (''Filmbox'') is a proprietary file format () developed by Kaydara and owned by Autodesk since 2006. It is used to provide interoperability between digital content creation applications. FBX is also part of Autodesk Gameware, a series of vid ...

: Asset exchange technology that facilitates 3D data transfer between multiple software applications.

Beast

Beast is a content pipeline tool used for advanced

and dynamic character relighting. Beast is developed and sold by Swedish games lighting technology company Illuminate Labs (acquired by

in 2010). Beast is used to make light maps, shadow maps and point clouds with advanced global illumination. Beast can precalculate lighting for light maps, shadow maps and point clouds, to bake occlusion or normal maps or to generate light fields for dynamic relighting of characters and objects. Beast has built-in integration with

Gamebryo Gamebryo (; ; formerly NetImmerse until 2003) is a game engine developed by Gamebase Co., Ltd. and Gamebase USA, that incorporates a set of tools and plugins including run-time libraries, supporting video game developers for numerous cross-pla ...

Lightspeed and Epic's

Unreal Engine Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genr ...

, Evolution and several other in-house game engines. In March 2010,

Unity Technologies Unity Software Inc. (doing business as Unity Technologies) is a video game software development company based in San Francisco. It was founded in Denmark in 2004 as Over the Edge Entertainment (OTEE) and changed its name in 2007. Unity Technolo ...

announced that the next version of

Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a ...

would feature built-in Beast lightmapping and global illumination off the shelf. There is an

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...

available for projects working with Beast but not ready for integration. The Beast API is a programming interface designed to make it as easy as possible to create a Beast integration with any game engine. Beast has been used in games such as: ''

Mario Kart 8 is a 2014 kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. It features the ''Mario Kart'' series' game mechanics, in which players drive go-karts using ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise characters in various kart racing ...

'', ''

Mirror's Edge ''Mirror's Edge'' is an action-adventure platform game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2008, and for Microsoft Windows in 2009. Set in a near-future city, the game follows th ...

'', ''

CrimeCraft ''CrimeCraft'' was a free-to-play online Persistent World Next-generation Shooter dubbed "PWNS" by Ukrainian developer Vogster Entertainment and published at retail by THQ. The game is set in the near future where the world lies in anarchy and g ...

'', '' Army of Two: The 40th Day'', '' Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe'' and ''

Alpha Protocol ''Alpha Protocol'' is a 2010 action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Sega. The player assumes control of agent Michael Thorton, a new recruit at a clandestine United States agency called Alpha Protocol, whic ...

''. The new Beast was presented at GDC 2010 in San Francisco. The new version of Beast features two entirely new modules called DistriBeast and eRnsT. DistriBeast is an extremely fast and easy to use distribution engine for managing render farms. eRnsT is a real-time visualizer that allows artists to explore and control the lighting set-up without having to run a complete bake.

References

External links

Autodesk Gameware
{{Autodesk products Autodesk discontinued products Middleware for video games Video game development software

Products

Beast

See also

References

External links