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SIGGRAPH 1999 press release NaN showcases The Game-Blender The Game-Blender allows anyone to author and publish interactive 3D worlds and realtime interactive 3D animations. August 10, 1999 - Los Angeles - Today at the Siggraph 99 conference and exhibition Not a Number showcased Blender 2.0, dubbed the Game-Blender. This new software will revolutionise 3D game creation by fully integrating a powerful 3D suite of tools with a game authoring system. The Game-Blender allows users to create and share with other users 3D worlds and realtime interactive 3D animations. The Game-Blender's radical approach offers an alternative to the time-consuming programming and development associated with game development. Using the Game-Blender a broad spectrum of game enthusiasts and end-users can intuitively create original 3D worlds and games compact enough for distribution via the web. Blender's central games engine utilizes solid-body dynamics simulation in which all forces, such as gravity, impacts from weapons, character interactions and collision detections, are handled automatically by the software. The display engine makes full use of OpenGL and is compatible with all low-end OpenGL cards for Windows, Linux and BeOS. "The Game-Blender continues NaN's full commitment to OpenGL. We see this as a guarantee that we can empower all users to create state-of-the-art 3D animations without the need for high-end machines." explains Ton Roosendaal, CEO of NaN. "The Game-Blender takes Blender one step further in allowing users to create and share via the web the sort of game experiences that until now they have only been able to purchase." Blender 2.0 has a planned release date for Q2 2000 and will be distributed as freeware via the internet. Simultaneously with the freeware release, there will be a boxed version available for purchase via the internet and in retail stores in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan. The boxed set will include a CDROM, tutorials, manual and cool games. Visit NaN's booth at Siggraph (2067) During Siggraph's exhibition the flexibility of the Game-Blender can be seen in a continuous demonstration featuring a 3D-platform game, several walkthroughs and a shooting game. Visitors to the booth can also hands-on test the current Blender release 1.6 on the following OS: Windows 95/98/NT, Linux, FreeBSD, SGI and BeOS. Visitors to the booth can also receive a free CDROM which includes current versions of Blender for all OS, tutorial files, spectacular Blender movies and the HTML manual. As exhibition special a printed mini-manual is included. Blender Blender is a freeware 3D modelling and animation package initially developed for SGI workstations and as an in-house tool for a leading European animation house. Since its release in 1998 it has become very popular among SGI and Linux users, both enthusiasts and professionals. Blender has a dedicated following among students and has been incorporated into courses in art and design schools around the world. A freeware version for Windows 95/98/NT was released in May 1999. Developed from scratch for speed and transportability, all Blender versions are extremely compact and Blender is perfectly evolved for delivery via the internet. The download size for Windows is below 1 Mb and yet still offers all the features one can expect from a professional 3D package. Comparable products are +50Mb. The program is equipped with all contemporary modelling principles such as polygon meshes, Bezier curves, NURBS surfaces, meta balls, vector fonts and particle systems. Blender has an advanced and surprisingly fast renderer, a versatile animation system, deformation tools, inverse kinematics and an editor for postproduction. This is all fully integrated in a single executable that runs without installation on any PC utilizing OpenGL. With the release of the Windows version Blender is now available for almost all platforms, including: SGI, Sun Solaris, Alpha Linux, i86 Linux, i86 FreeBSD and i86 BeOS. A port to Linux PPC is being planned, and a Mac version will be available after Mac-OSX is released. Blender is the result of twenty man-years of development by the Dutch animation studio NeoGeo. Strict deadlines and daily use of graphics and animation technology made NeoGeo the ideal development and testing ground for a program such as Blender. Its roots as an in-house tool, rather than a product for a mass market allowed it to grow and evolve into a program driven by the practical needs of a group of professionals. The interface is built for speed and rewards the required change in the user's working methods. In addition to the Blender freeware, there are currently two commercial products available: - The Blender manual, 312 pages with cool design, price Euro 40 (+/- $40). - The 'Complete'-key, price Euro 95 (+/- $95). This key opens additional functionality in Blender such as the radiosity tool, facial animation, VRML export, the plugin development kit and Python scripting. These products can be purchase exclusively at NaN's internet shop which can be found at the Blender website, www.blender.nl. Not a Number Not a Number was founded in June 1998 by Ton Roosendaal, part owner of NeoGeo. NaN's mission is the exploitation and further development of Blender with the aim of empowering users to participate in creating multi-user gaming worlds on the net. For more information visit the Blender website: www.blender.nl or contact: Ton Roosendaal, Not a Number ton@blender.nl |
