To show off the optimization to developers and gamers, Intel needed a content demo that would prove the point and also be fun to play. The environment had to be lively and stay away from overly violent gameplay, and rounds had to be relatively short-lived to offer easy comparison between frame rates using standard, then optimized hyper-threading, technology.


Solution: Fast, Seamless Production Cycle for a Salient Demo and a Great Game

To show how hyper-threading significantly improves performance, the content designers at Virtools created Particle Arena. In an environment reminiscent of today's top video games, players customize a robot and engage in a visual battle of wits by firing particles at their computer-controlled opponent. The robots spar using their specific particle effects and defend by deflecting incoming particles, until one opponent overpowers the other.

Approximately 6,000 particle collisions are calculated at any given time, with this total exceeding 10,000 when robots start firing particles. The demo shows a 15% gain in processing performance thanks to hyper-threading optimization.

In only four weeks, the full interactive application was produced by a 2-person team. Led by a game designer who also created 2D and 3D graphics and animations, a Virtools scripter was able to work independently to develop the game structure and basic AI for the computer-controlled robot and CPU vs. CPU version of the demo. CPU version of the demo. Virtools Dev provided the production hub for seamless, effective development: once the robot attack and defense systems were scripted, the designer was able to fine-tune gameplay quickly and efficiently by adjusting parameters and adding particles to push frame rates to the limit.


Key Benefits


- Fast production: prototype made by a 2-person team in only 3 weeks, with final version finished one week later!
- Ease of content and script updates as project progressed
- Seamless development, from initial mock-ups to final demo in one smooth process, with the same scripts
- Cutting-edge technology with Virtools optimizations for Intel hyper-threading.