Interplay - Press News - Coming Soon Magazine

INTERPLAY'S BALDUR'S GATE TO UTILIZE BIOWARE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT

New Engine Creates New Style RPG / Supports 24-bit Animation

Irvine, CA, August 20, 1997 -- Role playing games may never look the same after Interplay Productions releases Baldur's Gate in February of 1998. Baldur's Gate will feature a technologically advanced game engine from the developer BioWare. This progressive engine provides 2D top-down graphics with 16-bit animation. In addition there is support for 24-bit animation with a 4mg. video card, possibly a first for computer RPG's. The advanced development BioWare offers will allow users to enjoy fully rendered background images. The new engine, the Infinity BioWare Engine (IBE), was produced by a seven member design team specifically to enhance the look of Baldur's Gate and create a new look for RPG's. The upcoming title takes place in the Forgotten Realms world, licensed by TSR.

"The IBE enables us to create worlds beyond the scope of any previous computer RPG's," said Chris Parker, Producer of Baldur's Gate. "It allows the luxury of immersive sound and music, complete control over a dynamic world and its inhabitants and brings everything to life."

Baldur's Gate, in development for over 18 months, is the first RPG title advancing to fully rendered images. The IBE will include a height map, creating a 3D effect; a luminosity map, permitting lighting changes in characters and a position grid, to implement a very accurate pathfinding system. This progressive RPG features monsters and characters displayed as sprites, as opposed to real-time rendering engines, which allow for greater detail. The IBE has been tailored specifically for Baldur's Gate, however, with minor modifications other genres could benefit from the advanced engine.

"The first game to utilize the engine, Baldur's Gate, will definitely show off the true qualities and advancement we've achieved with this development," said Ray Muzyka, CEO of BioWare Corporation. "Our goal is to make an engine robust enough to be used in different games and genres. The BioWare Infinity Engine and Baldur's Gate are going to revolutionize the world of computer roleplaying."

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Founded in 1983, Interplay Productions is a leading developer and publisher of award-winning entertainment and educational software designed by gamers, for gamers. Interplay releases products through Interplay, Brainstorm, MacPlay, VR Sports and its affiliated labels for personal computers as well as leading console game platforms.

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