Exclusive: Meqon Q&A Feature

The recent announcement by Meqon about their new physics engine may not be the most earth shattered news that eager gamers look for but when you see that the premier studio, 3D Realms, will be utilising it adds interest. Fact is that only with improvements of tools and many of the so called â??technicalâ?? innovations will we see games playing and looking better. The Duke Nukem game, coming from Take2Games, is certainly one flagship 3D first person shooter action title.

Derek dela Fuente spoke with Marcus Lysén, CMO at Meqon, about what the engine offers and the team behind it.

TVG: Please tell us about Meqon, your core expertise and how you came to create the physics engine that will be used by 3D Realms?

It all started when Dennis Gustafsson and I developed a prototype physics engine at Linköpings University. We had been interested in real-time physics simulation for some time. We knew that we had a good foundation for a next-gen physics engine on our hands, so we left the university and went ahead and started Meqon together with Jonas Lindqvist and Dr Mark Ollila, with the ambition to produce an easy to use, efficient and extendible physics SDK. We are proud to say that we did reach these goals and we now have state of the art character and vehicle dynamics as a part of our package.

TVG: For the average gamer what does your physic engine mean in terms of discernable onscreen solutions/actions that will be apparent within 3D Realmsâ?? game Duke Nukem?

I am as excited as you are to see what 3D Realms can come up with for Duke, but I actually don't know much about it yet. What I do know is that with our technology, combined with their visions, just about anything can be created. The flexibility of our API is perfect for a team as innovative and creative as 3D Realms.

Without speculating on exactly what will be used in Duke Nukem; with our product itâ??s easy to make every object in the game world moveable. Imagine being able to barricade doorways with heavy crates, jamming an elevator with a chair or having explosions that actually break objects nearby, throwing the debris against other players that spin and fall. Imagine being able to set a trip wire that will break and ripple when someone runs into it and at the same time the player is thrown face first towards the ground but tries to brace the impact with his arms. AI and reflexes especially will be a major part of modern games. However, not all physics is important to the game play, you can also have curtains flapping in the wind, water surfaces that make realistic waves when you walk through it and twirling smoke or mist being affected by moving objects.

TVG: Can you expand on some of the parameters that a physics engine covers? The average person associates speed, actions and reactions being the main physics components within a game. What are some of the other areas it covers?

A physics engine is responsible for quite a lot in todayâ??s games. It is a tool in upholding the rules of the game and also sees to it that everything behaves realistically. With a modern physics engine you can do much more than test if two boxes are occupying the same space. For example, game AI uses the physics engine to be able to determine reactions and counter reactions.

However, what the gamer sees as physics is in the highest regard related to actions and reactions. It can be objects falling over, glass shattering, cars skidding or characters falling down a flight of stairs. This in turn is realized with different simulation technologies like rigid body dynamics, particle dynamics and soft body dynamics.

TVG: What do you believe makes your physics engine stand out against others and what do you consider were the main factors that helped 3D Realms decide to use your engine?

Itâ??s fast, itâ??s multiplatform and has the best API structure of any physics engine. Moreover we have world class character animation/simulation blending and a top-notch vehicle module. George Broussard supports this with; â??Meqon was really fast, had the cleanest interface and integrated into our game very quicklyâ?. 3D Realms also complemented us on our support quality, which is very nice to hear. Doing business with them has been a smooth ride all the way through, good guys, no question about that.

TVG: Do you believe the future of gaming is about developers, like yourselves, creating specialized engines so that game developers can concentrate on the game concept and ideas as opposed to some of the specialized technicalities?

The games industry continues to grow, game projects are getting bigger and bigger. The games take longer and longer to finish. The only feasible solution is to buy specialized solutions for different areas. There is definitely enough work to do as a game creator as it is, trying to develop and maintain complete full-scale engines in-house is more and more a luxury of the past.

TVG: One other outstanding physics engine that is known by many is the Havok engine. How does yours compare in terms of bench tests and specs?

We compare well. However we have to trust our customers and evaluations on this since we of course donâ??t have access to the Havok SDK. We usually hear that our SDK makes more sense and is easier to use and extend with the customers own technology. No one is complaining about our speed either! Furthermore, we get very positive feedback regarding our character simulation technology and tools.

TVG: Presently how many teams are lined up to use your engine and what formats will the engine cover?

Most of our developers want to keep things secret, we consider ourselves lucky that 3D Realms is okay with going public like this. Currently we are working with about 25 developers that are using our SDK, on three platforms and on four continents. The first game out with Meqon technology will be Shade: Wrath of Angels which is out October 1st for PC.

TVG: What are some of the future goals for both the engine and your company?

Meqon is a physics simulation company that will continue to rise through the ranks. We are convinced that we will be able to make a permanent mark in the modern gaming arena with better tools, more platforms and better support.

Currently I canâ??t say much about specific features. However we are continuously developing new technology and there is going to be some amazing stuff out by the next Game Developers Conference!

TVG: Anything else you would like to add for our readers!?

We started Meqon only two years ago with many hopes and dreams. More and more of these are becoming reality. If you like our demos, tell a friend. If your friend happens to be a game developer, have them contact us.