Unigine

Infobox Software
name = Unigine



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developer = Unigine Corp
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programming language = C++
operating system = MS Windows, Linux
platform = x86, x86-64
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genre = Middleware
license = Proprietary
website = http://unigine.com/

Unigine is a proprietary cross-platform middleware, developed by Unigine Corp. It's either a game engine and an engine of VR systems.This middleware is aimed to the wide market, so there are various licenses of Unigine, including special ones for independent developers.The name "Unigine" means "universal engine" or "unique engine".

Roots of Unigine are in the [http://frustum.org/ frustum.org] open source project, which was initiated in 2002 by Alexander "Frustum" Zaprjagaev, who is currently a CTO of Unigine Corp and Lead Developer of Unigine.

Versions

* Engine v0.1 - very early prototype (2004-04-20, GPL)
* Engine v0.2 - early prototype (2004-06-10, GPL)
* Unigine v0.3 - first commercial release (2005-05-04, proprietary license)
* Unigine v0.32 - (2005-06-30, proprietary license)
* Unigine v0.33 - last release of v0.3x series (2005-10-08, proprietary license)
* Unigine 1.0 - current version (previously named v0.4)

Features of Unigine

ystem

* Cross-platform: MS Windows / Linux
* Support of 32-bit and 64-bit systems
* Multicore CPU support
* Big endian support
* XML-based data structures
* Full-scene serialization support
* Flexible C++ API

Rendering engine

* Triple API (Direct3D9 / Direct3D10 / OpenGL)
* HDR (64-bit color High Dynamic Range rendering)
* Different models of shading: Phong, Oren-Nayar, anisotropic
* Per-pixel dynamic lighting
* Dynamic shadowing (including soft shadows)
* Normal mapping and parallax occlusion mapping
* Postprocessing effects: motion blur, refraction, depth of field, glow, color correction, Sobel filter, anaglyph mode
* Volumetric environmental effects
* Support of high-precision textures (16 bits per channel)
* Particle systems
* Unique materials system with support of parameter's hierarchy
* Water with surf zone
* Special materials for vegetation
* Different types of mirrors (2D, cube)
* Skeletal (bone-based) animation system
* Morphing (key frame) animation system
* Extensible set of shaders (GLSL/HLSL)

Physics engine

* Rigid body physics system
* Ragdoll character animation
* Various destroyable joints
* Vehicles
* Physics-driven sound

cene management

* Dynamical data loading in the background
* Seamlessly interconnected indoor and outdoor
* Flexible LOD system
* Very large terrains (maximal size in cells is 65536 x 65536 for Direct3D9 or 262144 x 262144 for Direct3D10)

Graphic User Interface

* Comprehensive set of widgets, containers and dialogs
* 3D effects, transparency, animation
* UI files in XML format
* Skins support
* Ready for localization (including eastern languages)

cripting system (UnigineScript)

* Object-oriented programming
* Built-in 3D math
* Similar to C/C++ in syntax
* Transparent interconnection with external C++ objects
* Rich standard library (more than 2000 functions out-of-box)

Unigine-based projects

There are some Unigine-based game projects (Action, Racing, FPS, MMORPG and RPG genres) currently in the development, almost all of them are unannounced yet. Announced ones are Afterfall a spiritual successor to the Fallout series by Intoxicate Interactive from Poland and [http://syndicate-online.com/ Syndicate Online MMORPG] . There are also non-game projects (including one by Qilqax International) on the basis of Unigine. See [http://unigine.com/clients/ full list of announced projects] .

Two Unigine-powered demos with benchmarking capabilities (available for free on the official website) are rather popular in overclockers community:
* "Sanctuary" demo
* "Tropics" demo

External links

* [http://unigine.com/ Official website]
* [http://afterfall.pl/ Afterfall game (Unigine-based)]