Get a physics lesson with this Euphoria tech demo
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Apr 26th 2008 at 7:00PM }
With the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV and the building anticipation for titles such as Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Backbreaker, we're constantly asked about the Euphoria physics engine featured in said games -- and by constantly, we mean never. However, to prevent such a onslaught of queries, we present you with a recently released tech demo from Euphoria creators NaturalMotion, which exhibits some of the differences between their engine and those of the ragdoll variety. Yes, we truly have reached a new era of making Michelin Men fall down in increasingly realistic ways.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
tmacairjordan87 @ Apr 26th 2008 7:06PM
This is going to end up replacing rag doll in just about every game ever. I've seen it in action in some GTA live feeds and describing it just cannot do it justice, it has to be seen.
Chris @ Apr 26th 2008 7:27PM
Indeed. It's so much more convincing and beautiful than ragdoll ever was. It's not really a replacement so much as an evolution.
I'm really glad this video is up now. I've heard so many people; even professionals like 1up talk about the 'euphoria' in relation to stuff like helicoptors and cans rolling down the street. It's all about PEOPLE simulation! people!
PS. if anyone wants to try animating with this (which is a lot of fun fyi) you can go to http://www.naturalmotion.com/endorphin.htm and download a free version of their animation program. You'll be amazed by what you can create.
Arttemis @ Apr 26th 2008 7:40PM
@Chris WOW! Thanks for the link, great bit of info!!!
Nobuyuki @ Apr 26th 2008 7:07PM
Okay, there are so many great things about this video but for me, the best touch is the fact that the poor little Michelin man clearly doesn't understand why all these horrible things are happening to him. Never before have games made me feel sufficiently guilty for being an asshole but if they incorporate this technology well I can feel ashamed for my acts of virtual torment.
theturtle363 @ Apr 26th 2008 7:15PM
Everytime he got hit in the balance segment he had a complete "WTF" behavior style all the sudden
Ted @ Apr 26th 2008 7:37PM
Lol! Totally! When the guy was being shot through by the lasers, I was sort of horrified... I'm usually never horrified by a virtual character being shot up.
Mr.ESC @ Apr 26th 2008 9:48PM
I hope it doesn't evolve more than this,if they incorporate feelings I would be deeply ashamed of burning people in the next sims game.
-Why are you burning us?
Me-Sorry pal,it used to be fun.
-How burning people is fun to you? Are you sick?!
-ARRGHHHHH *screams in pain
Me-*glup.
DomoBraden @ Apr 26th 2008 9:48PM
My thoughts exactly. What if they were somehow sentient? How would we know? Of course I know they aren't this is more of a philosophical thing, something along the lines of that movie "The Thirteenth Floor".
LaughingTarget @ Apr 27th 2008 12:25AM
I already felt bad in games like Black and White when I dropped a fireball on the village, this is going to make it worse.
Ted @ May 1st 2008 8:38AM
@ Domo Braden
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/science/14tier.html?ei=5070&en=2242bf406ca9d5c7&ex=1190174400&pagewanted=all
Article about the idea of us all living in a simulation on some guy's computer.
Ties into the idea of us eventually being able to have AI beings generated on our computers which are as complex and independent as real people.
Maverick Saturn @ Apr 26th 2008 7:16PM
Should have used this in Tekken 6 ¬_¬
Would look better then the videos I saw.
I hope Killzone 2 and Gears 2 makes use of this.
theturtle363 @ Apr 26th 2008 7:16PM
The self preservation part was pretty lolworthy. I don't understand how getting thrown against a wall or falling into a pit is self preservation but it's damn funny
tmacairjordan87 @ Apr 26th 2008 7:22PM
Well with the falling part, humans instinctively put their arms up when they fall to try and protect their face and head so when that guy went over the railing he put his arms up. Impressive stuff but I agree both were funny.
Tiptup300 @ Apr 26th 2008 9:58PM
Self Preservation?
If(Darth_Helmet == "Angry!")
{
ProtectBalls();
}
gLitterbug @ Apr 26th 2008 7:19PM
I've only seen a few videos of this back then with the Lucasarts Indy game that's in production. Looked rather awkward. The same for any other video I have seen that utilized actual in game models and stuff that wasn't a tech demo video that probably just showed situations where it worked out nicely.
So how is it in GTA? Does it actually look good enough already so that it's not some kind of uncanny valley of ragdoll animation? Not that I say it isn't great tech, simply wondering just how much it advanced since I last seen it now that it's in a rather big game release.
tmacairjordan87 @ Apr 26th 2008 7:26PM
It works amazingly well from the parts that I saw. Guy wrecked his car and bailed out in mid air and tried to grab onto a rail but missed and tried to protect his head by puttin his arms over it as he fell.
embassy @ Apr 26th 2008 7:20PM
is there suppose to be no sound..or is my comp/internet just acting wonky?
on topic: dope stuff, i really dig the self preservation, its stuff like this that most people dont even think about in games, that maybe the NPCs
*dont want to die* and will act accordingly. amazing stuff.
John McPoop @ Apr 26th 2008 7:24PM
no sound at all for me
Sora267 @ Apr 26th 2008 7:25PM
There's not supposed to be sound.
KeenCommander @ Apr 26th 2008 7:24PM
A next gen console? They must have been testing it on the Wii then.
*Do note, this is an experiment and if you vote it down - you'll be proving me correct*
KeenCommander @ Apr 26th 2008 7:25PM
Now that I've got that over with. The demo is nice - but I highly doubt it works nearly that well in a truly dynamic simulation as it does in a small scale environment. Twitching corpses, anyone?
Sora267 @ Apr 26th 2008 7:26PM
Ironically, with that little tidbit at the end, your experiment will /fail.
KeenCommander @ Apr 26th 2008 7:33PM
Probably, but I'll do it again - there's plenty of topics to insert Wii related comments in. I actually expect it will get voted down more because I told people not to do so than it would have otherwise. That's the real experiment, determining whether or not all Joystiq readers not named Fernando are biased against the Wii can wait for another day.
wootman @ Apr 26th 2008 8:55PM
what if i vote up?
is that the equivalent of dividing by 0?
or not vote at all?
fwacce @ Apr 26th 2008 8:57PM
You're an idiot.
No, no need to run an experiment on that. We have already confirmed the results. You really are an idiot.
KeenCommander @ Apr 26th 2008 9:22PM
You'll assume something to be true without any firm basis, and yet I'm an idiot...? Nice!
Mr.ESC @ Apr 26th 2008 9:55PM
Actually he is correct.
The console flamebait theory has been proved several times and it will become a law soon after the or during the next console war.
Hypothesis about you being a complete idiot are yet to be proved but I don’t think anyone is researching that field anyway.
*Do note that voting me down or insulting me will prove than indeed you are or anyone else is indeed an idiot. Up voting will result in Win and doing nothing results may vary depending on the subject.
Shmil @ Apr 26th 2008 10:16PM
...so what if i just don't vote?
Mr.ESC @ Apr 26th 2008 10:31PM
Nothing and the test would'be terminated.
In case you don't make it through the testing,Goodbye.
John McPoop @ Apr 26th 2008 7:24PM
Will the Wii version of The Force unleashed also feature these physics?
Would be cool in the fighting mode added to the Wii version
tmacairjordan87 @ Apr 26th 2008 7:28PM
Last I heard the wii version won't have this or the DMM (?) thing they were talking about. That's why they went ahead and added some extra stuff for the wii version
playwhutyalike @ Apr 26th 2008 10:50PM
They used a different physics engine. I can't for the life of me remember what it is called though. Back in a minute.....
playwhutyalike @ Apr 26th 2008 11:02PM
Can't find it. Going to do a little PGR3, swear at the flat screen for a little bit, and go to bed.
PJ @ Apr 26th 2008 7:38PM
Grand Theft Auto would greatly benefit from this...to say the least!
opnickc @ Apr 26th 2008 7:47PM
Wow, 3 years since next-gen hardware came along and we're just now getting next-gen software to go along with it.
Seriously, character animation has improved ZERO this generation until euphoria. Hate to bring this up, but I was pretty pissed at the graphics coming from the 360 and PS3 before now. I know the wii was worse, but at least the wii never promised anything (hence nothing to be disappointed by. . . besides online, but that's another matter). Honestly, all three systems had the same garbage level of animation, meaning those super-high-res textures and detailed models for 360 and PS3 games looked great in screenshots, but were still clunky, unrealistic, and distinctly video-game looking in action.
embassy @ Apr 26th 2008 8:03PM
i dunno, assassins creed looked pretty good in motion, and COD 4 has some pretty solid animation as well. the nba 2k series has always had that too.
euphoria is indeed quite a leap, but animation was improving pretty nicely. just not to the level of this.
opnickc @ Apr 26th 2008 8:10PM
You mention Assassin's Creed as an example of better animation. Ironically, the trailer is what made me pissed off about the shoddy animation quality of so-called "next-gen graphics" in the first place.
Seriously, take a look. Everything is really choppy at a certain level, like smooth movements are happening but only a little at a time. Also, there is at least one point where the character pivots without moving his feet (good one there ubisoft!). And this is the freaking trailer! It's designed from the ground up to make the game look GOOD! And it doesn't, it looks like a freakin' video game, just like every 3d game has looked for the past decade.
High res textures, bump mapping, and super-detailed models are worthless if the animation isn't good - games today look just as much like reality as games 10 years ago when in motion. That's pretty pathetic.
embassy @ Apr 26th 2008 9:09PM
well luckily the trailer isnt a final, definitive representationof the actual game. *playing the game*, on the other hand, is. and AC got alot of praise for its animation, pretty much across the board my friend.
im not saying its the end all be all, but its proof that there have bee positive steps in animation this gen.
Lobo @ Apr 26th 2008 7:54PM
As an animator in the games industry I just want to say that I hate ragdoll. I hate it. It just doesn't look realistic because every ragdoll death ends up looking like a headshot. There's no muscle resistance, no trying to stay on your feet, no gripping the wound in agony.
Euphoria looks like a big improvement on that. Not quite ready for doing walking and running I don't think, but it's a definite step up for hit reacts.
Haggard @ Apr 26th 2008 8:33PM
They need to put this in Mafia II - the first had very cinematic firefights, and this looks like it'd improve that by several orders of magnitude.
Joeshie @ Apr 26th 2008 7:56PM
Not quite as big of a leap as the previous physics engines, but it's a nice touch.
Ghostbuddy @ Apr 26th 2008 8:02PM
Adaptive intellgence modules? Self preservation? Oh noes its Skynet!!!
Seriously though, awesome stuff. Can't wait to see it implented in GTA 4 and Forced Unleashed.
I can see this being implented in games more then Havok. And that engine is implented ALOT.
I can't see this being used in the WII version. Don't think it has the muscles.
Burnt Meatloaf @ Apr 26th 2008 8:30PM
That's too bad, really. I'd like to see this "self-preservation" at work when Yoshi tries to eat Toad's head.
Seroth @ Apr 26th 2008 8:03PM
Before I even knew about this, I always thought it was stupid how games would use ragdolls for people that weren't dead. Like in Crackdown or Saints Row or Skate, if you simply just fell out of your vehicle, your character would go ragdoll and roll around as if here were did, then suddenly get back up. It looked so stupid!
So, yes, I'm glad this technology exists now, and I hope every game that involves people needing to die uses it.
Stink Snake @ Apr 26th 2008 9:13PM
"roll around as if here were did"
Seven words, none misspelled, yet three obvious mistakes...
Which leads me to ask: Why hasn't spell check evolved like game physics over the last twenty years?
Seroth @ Apr 26th 2008 9:28PM
I'm not sure how that happened. I noticed it after I had already posted. No "edit" function seems to exist for these comments, and I felt it unnecessary to make another post correcting my mistakes as you could probably get the gist of what I was saying anyway.
Stink Snake @ Apr 26th 2008 10:00PM
Its not a problem. I was being an ass. I don't thing your a looser and I do hate rag doll physics with a passion...I was being peevish to make a point.
Why has Moore's law held true for so long; yet simple things in programming get left behind? For years, I have had to fight to for the right to write in a passive voice. However, the software couldn't figure out when I write right words wrongly.
Mr.ESC @ Apr 26th 2008 10:34PM
"I don't thing"
He..he,lol.
Insert Stink Snake apology here,remove mistakes for great justice.
All your post are belong to us.
Burli @ Apr 27th 2008 5:02PM
"I don't thing your a looser"
6 words, 3 mistakes?
Drew @ Apr 27th 2008 4:09PM
@Mr.ESC:
Since Stink Snake said "I don't thing your a looser...", which includes two more mistakes you apparently didn't catch, I 'thing' he did it on purpose. ;)