The PROWLER Hardware section
||| Jaguar Focus: Special Effects
||| Courtesy: Atari Corp.
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Users and developers alike will reap the rewards provided by the
Jaguar system's programmable special effects capabilities. Users will
delight in the ultra realism seen in computer generated images, from
shadowing and depth distortion to three dimensional movement. And
game designers will be both challenged and excited by the unlimited
possibilities.
Some of the effects that can be created are:
Texture Mapping: A simple or complex image can be "wrapped"
onto any two or three dimensional structure.
This allows for an unlimited number of
textures and images that can be made part of
the surface of complex objects.
Morphing: Animate and inanimate objects can be modified
smoothly so that they appear to be
transformed from one image to another. A frog
can become a prince, a lamp may transform
into a genie and a battleship can turn into a
submarine; all in real-time. This effect was
made popular by the blockbuster motion
picture, "Terminator 2" and Michael Jackson's
music video, "Black and White."
Warping: Any image can be stretched, pulled, rotated or
skewed in any way the programmer requires.
This allows very real simulations of the
interaction between physical objects such as a
football bouncing off the ground. It also
permits the easy creation of cartoon-like
imagery.
Lighting: Single or multiple sources of lighting can be
defined. The system will automatically
illuminate objects based on their location
relative to the light source(s). This creates
realistic shading unsurpassed by any current
video game manufacturer.
Transparency: Use of the transparency feature makes it
simple to create effects that are normally
complex to generate. For example, smoke and
shadows can be made part of any game
scenario, adding realism to the game
experience.
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PROWLER The Atari Console Disk Magazine February 27, 1996
Copyright (c) 1996 All Rights Reserved Issue No. 01