September 21, 1998 - Paris, France

Virtools S.A ships Virtools Dev Interactive 3D content development platform for the PC.

Powerful 3D Content Prototyping and Production Platform Will Enable Faster Time to Market for Developers

Virtools S.A ™ today announced that Virtools Dev™, a behavioral interactive 3D content development platform for the PC is shipping. Virtools Dev allows rapid prototyping of real-time 3D content, as well as full product development. Virtools Dev's component-based architecture enables maximal reuse of code on projects.

"Virtools Dev enables developers to focus on game design, coding only what's needed to make a PC game truly exceptional," said Bertrand Duplat, Virtools S.A Chairman and CEO. "Based around a behavioral engine that handles interactions between 3D objects in real-time, Virtools Dev allows developers to create interactive prototypes in weeks, reuse code, work more closely with the designers, and save time and money."

Virtools Dev is a professional production tool for 3D games and interactive 3D content, based on the concept of reusable encapsulated behavioral components. It is an integration platform for programmers (creating behaviors), graphic and sound designers (importing media, as 2D, 3D objects, and sound) and game designers (overviewing the whole production cycle).

Several game studios in Europe, including Cendant Software Europe, have already acquired Virtools Dev before its official release for both prototyping and production purposes. " Virtools Dev has been in beta test in major game development studios throughout Europe, and received great responses from the game development community ", said Virtools S.A President and COO Thomas Ormond.

Virtools Features
Virtools Dev includes :

	A behavior engine and a 3D rendering engine.
	A standard library of reusable behavioral components.
	A graphic user interface.
	A SDK.

With Virtools Dev's graphic user interface, developers can import 3D models, textures, keyframe animations and sounds, then quickly apply interactive behaviors to them - designing, testing and refining the gameplay on the fly.

With Virtools Dev's software developers kit (SDK), developers can create new reusable behaviors - as C++ Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs) - to expand Virtools's existing library. Since developers can program new behavioral components one time and add them to the behavior library, they will be accessible to each team member through the user interface and be reusable on future projects. Developers can also replace Virtools's 3D engine with their own and access the behavioral engine to integrate it with their own technology.

Key Benefits
Game Design : Test new ideas early to avoid critical design flaws, without relying on programming.

Programming : Reuse your code and make it accessible to everyone on your team.

3D Graphics : Visualize gameplay implications on your artwork.

Project Management : speed up the production process, capitalize on your proprietary behavior libraries.

System Requirements
Virtools Dev requires a Pentium compatible CPU (Pentium II is preferred), Windows 95 or 98 with DirectX 5 or higher, 32 MB of RAM (64 MB is preferred), 2D/3D accelerator board, and at least 80 MB of available hard disk space.

For more information about Virtools Dev, visit www.Virtoolssoftware.com or contact François Dujardin - Virtools S.A - Tel: +33-1-42-71-46-86.