Monthly Archives: June 2017

Train2Game News Need for Speed Payback

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​Today Ghost Games™, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) studio, announced Need for Speed Payback, the new action driving blockbuster from one of the world’s bestselling video game franchises, hitting stores November 10th, worldwide.
This explosive adventure is filled with intense heist missions, high stakes car battles, epic cop pursuits and jaw dropping set pieces. It’s blockbuster gameplay never before seen from the series, fueled by a gripping story of betrayal and revenge. With Need for Speed Payback, it’s no longer just about being the first to cross the finish line or racing to prove to be the best, it’s about building the perfect ride, getting behind the wheel and playing out an action driving fantasy.

“Need for Speed returns this year to challenge what players expect from racing games,” said Marcus Nilsson, Executive Producer. “We’re still delivering everything our fans love about the franchise – the deepest customization, an impressive roster of cars, intense races and open world pursuits – but with Need for Speed Payback, we’re bringing together all those elements in an all new blockbuster driving experience. From the story, to the different characters you can drive as, to the varied missions, to the edge-of-your-seat moments, this is our vision for what action driving entertainment means today.”

Set in the underworld of Fortune Valley, players will drive as three distinct characters reunited by a quest for vengeance against The House, a nefarious cartel that rules the city’s casinos, criminals and cops. They will take on a variety of challenges and events as Tyler, the Racer; Mac, the Showman; and Jess, the Wheelman to earn the respect of the underground. Featuring the deepest customization from the series, players can truly craft a personalized and unique ride, or spend hours finding and tuning an abandoned derelict into a supercar. They can then push their cars to the limit and raise the stakes by betting on their own performance, where they can either multiply their winnings or risk losing it all.

For players that pre-order the game, they will receive the Need for Speed Payback Platinum Car Pack and get instant access to five uniquely customized and tuned iconic cars at launch, each with exclusive Platinum Blue Tire Smoke. The Car Pack includes:

    Nissan 350Z 2008

    Chevrolet Camaro SS 1967

    Dodge Charger R/T 1969

    Ford F-150 Raptor 2016

    Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport 2016

For drivers who want to get the extra edge over the competition, the Need for Speed Payback Deluxe Edition gives players up to three days of early access to the full game, along with exclusive customization items such as the Deluxe Edition license plate and NOS color, in-game discounts, Rep bonuses, everything the Platinum Car Pack has to offer, and more.

Players can also get into the action before launch through EA Access and Origin Access, where members can play for up to 10 hours starting Thursday, November 2nd with the EA Access and Origin Access Play First Trial. Need for Speed Payback Deluxe Edition owners will get their three-day early access starting Tuesday, November 7th. Need for Speed Payback will be available worldwide on November 10th for Xbox One, PlayStation®4, and Origin™ for PC.

EA Access and Origin Access members receive a 10 percent discount when they purchase a digital version of Need for Speed Payback.

Train2Game News 2D Animation Engine 

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​Midas Touch Interactive, a groundbreaking physics based animation and VR/AR interaction technology studio, today released its latest product, Midas Creature – a Directable Automated Animation Engine and workflow for quickly and easily creating complex 2D animations for video games and other creative applications. 

As part of the product rollout, the company is also launching a new website that contains product information along with a purchasing shop.

Midas Creature was developed by Jiayi Chong, a former Technical Director at Pixar Animation Studios whose experience includes working on many feature films, including Toy Story 3, Wall-E, UP, Brave, and Monsters University. Chong’s role at Pixar spanned ten years and involved developing physics simulation tools and engines, including simulations for rigid body dynamics, deformable solids, cloth, hair, fluid dynamics, and skin simulation tools. In his role as Technical Director of Animation for Midas Touch, Chong leads his team on creating cutting-edge animation pipeline and service, such as Midas Creature, that is made available to both internal projects as well as licensing partners.

“Midas Creature is the ideal pipeline for game developers and anyone else looking for a more powerful, efficient, and easy-to-use 2D animation process,” said Kevin He, CEO of Midas Touch Interactive. “The Directable Automated Animation Engine of Midas Creature allows you to create animations you might have previously thought impossible with key frame or flash animation. This includes motion like hair and cloth fluttering in the wind, as well as 3D-to-2D Mocap transfer.”

Video game developers and others can use Midas Creature’s powerful Skeletal Rigging and Animation tools to build, pose, warp, and bring their art to life. These tools are made to streamline the user’s workflow, reducing time and money spent while maintaining high-quality results.

“We’re very excited to have Jiayi on our team as he brings tremendous passion and expertise,” continued He, “which he utilizes to build and implement our next-gen AI driven physics based animation pipeline helping to further establish Midas Touch Interactive as a burgeoning immersive entertainment technology expert developing cost effective and deeply interactive content creation services.”    

Midas Creature caters to 2D developers of all sizes with its “Creature Enterprise” and “Creature Indie” levels. Enterprise is a premium offering that gives users everything they need to get started using Creature for their company and projects. This is the full-featured version of the tool and gives users a license for Sprite Bump, a normal mapping tool that gives 3D lighting effects to 2D images. Unlimited support tickets are included in the Enterprise package. And for first-year Enterprise customers, a Creature Lead Engineer will offer one hour a month of feedback on their projects. “Creature Enterprise” is offered as a subscription, renewed annually.

Indie is designed for small-scale development teams who prefer more flexibility without an annual commitment, while still offering product complete features and support for indie teams to realize their animation needs. The “Creature Indie” license is available to those with less than $100,000 in gross revenues in the current year, and can be purchased for $19.99 per seat for a 30-day license and to be renewed month-by-month. Committed to inspiring young and aspiring creative developers, Midas Touch is also offering students a version of Midas Creature that allows them (with proof of enrollment/student ID) to use the tool free for one month.

Midas Creature is a blend of traditional tools and new technologies. Both premium levels will have comprehensive customer support to aid user needs.  Early adopters have used Midas Creature and seen positive benefits, including a 10x increase in speed of art pipeline performance (source PlayStudios).

Midas Creature is available at the shop page: http://www.creature.midasphysics.com/shop