xaitment, the creators of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) middleware for video games and simulations, today announced that it has combined the previously named xaitMap and xaitMove products to create a single, new product named xaitMap 3.0. The new product, which couples pathfinding and automatic navigation mesh (NavMesh) generation with a flexible movement core, provides game and simulation developers with a more integrated and intuitive approach for creating intelligent entity and crowd movement. xaitment will demonstrate xaitMap 3.0 at gamescom 2011 (Hall 04.1, Stand D030).
Prior to xaitMap 3.0, xaitment offered pathfinding and movement functionality in two separate modules - xaitMap and xaitMove - to give developers a more affordable choice that didn't lock them into more functionality than they needed. Over time, however, NavMesh generation, pathfinding and movement have become more integrated and more necessary for a wider range of games, which necessitated a melding of the two products into one: xaitMap 3.0.
"NavMesh generation, pathfinding and movement are all critical components to any AI solution," said Thorsten Maier, CTO of xaitment. "With xaitMap 3.0, we've not only enhanced our pathfinding and NavMesh generation tools, we've now added a highly flexible movement core that allows every studio to modify or add functionality as they see fit."
In addition to the already rich feature set included in previous versions of xaitMap, xaitMap 3.0 comes with a number of major upgrades, including:
-A new, dynamic blocking pathobject for simulating doors, destructible objects and the like
-The ability to add custom data to, and handle it in, the NavMash
-A fully integrated, fully customizable movement core with:
o A well-defined object-oriented interface
o Support for physics engines, such as NVIDIA's PhysX (a PhysX demo is included)
o A predefined, extensible path followero Entity avoidance
o An exchangeable collision interfaceo Multiple, simulation worlds
o Detailed code tutorials
"Our goal as an AI middleware provider has always been to provide tools that are powerful, yet simple to use. The modularity of our solutions is a key component of that simplicity. But in the case of xaitMap and xaitMove, the separation no longer made sense," said Mike Walsh, managing director and CEO of xaitment. "xaitMap 3.0 now makes it easier to access critical AI functionality from one interface without losing the affordability of our modular approach."
