The forthcoming reboot of the Hitman franchise, Hitman: Absolution will feature crowds of up to 1200 characters, according to its developer.
Under development at IO Interactive, Hitman: Absolution uses the studios new propriety engine, Glacier 2. Built from the ground up by the developer, the Glacier 2 engine was tailored to meet the demands of the development team and enable them to realize their vision for the game.
According to IO, a key requirement for this vision was to have very dense crowds which allow players to both interact with and influence the behaviour of each individual character.
The developer will be showcasing the technology behind this amazing achievement at this year’s San Francisco Game Developers Conference. The presentation, presented by IO Interactive’s lead physics programmer, Kasper Fauerby, will discuss the techniques and optimizations used to achieve the 1200 character crowds present in Hitman: Absolution, whilst still running at 30fps on current-generation consoles.
He will also provide an overview of the crowd implementation and discuss both the algorithms used as well as how gameplay considerations affected the design decisions. For those attending the Game Developers Conference this week, the talk can be found in Room 2006, West Hall, on the 2nd Floor.
- Crowd-Technology in Hitman: Absolution
- Game Developers Conference, March 7th
- Room 2006, West Hall, 2nd Floor
Needless to say, it’s not surprising as to why this is IO’s “most ambitious project to date” – their words, not mine.
Hitman: Absolution follows Agent 47, a cold blooded assassin, as he takes on his most dangerous contract to date. Betrayed by those he trusted and hunted by the police, he finds himself at the center of a dark conspiracy and must embark on a personal journey through a corrupt and twisted world, in search for the truth.
Hitman: Absolution is set for release in 2012 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC. See a shot of the Glacier 2 crowd technology in action below.
