Virtools wisely avoids the phrase 'Rapid Application Development' when it describes Virtools. So-called RAD tools make me think of the control I'm giving up, not the speed I'm gaining. So I was pretty amazed when I realized that Virtools is a Rapid Game Development tool - and I like it.

Virtools is an integration tool, clearly you still have to create the elements which you initially import. As such, it is designed to be used along with graphic content creation tools, such as 3D Studio Max for 3D modelling and animating and Photoshop for 2D artwork. It is the combination of simple integration of this type of content with the power of behaviors that makes Virtools such an attractive solution.

Virtools sofwtare stands apart. The spiritual son of Director, 3DS Max and Quake, crossed with object oriented c++, it allows you create interactive applications caling into play all the resources of real-time 3D, sound and digital video. Color key, stereo sound with effects, animated 3D character controlled directly by the user, collision detection, fog, particle systems, sprites or textured 3D objects are the daily bread of this protean animal.

"Words like miraculous, awesome and revolutionary have been muttered about this solution - and not always by its developers, Virtools. Others were simply rendered speechless. Nevertheless, the French company has every reason to use such superlatives, the Virtools product line has already proven to be an acclaimed hit with European game developers and is currently in use on several upcoming game titles from Carapace Software, Pure Entertainment and Havas Interactive Europe."

"Virtools Dev from Virtools allows game developers to easily prototype or simulate behaviors associated with any 3D object used in a game. The product is intended to speed up development cycles by reducing the amount of code to be written and by allowing developers to test game interactivity from the earliest stages of the development process...

Virtools has a strong technical foundation in the [Virtools] SDK," says Jeff Yates, market manager for games and interactive at Kinetix/Discreet Logic. "They're not out to create a black box that you can't get into-it's very accessible to developers, and at a good price point, too."

An outstanding product due out next month from a remarkable company may enable a substantial acceleration in the creation of 3D animated virtual reality worlds. Virtools S.A., based in Paris, announced last week at the 1999 Game Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif., two 3D interactive authoring products that take a major leap toward making what has been an esoteric technical art accessible to a wider range of non-technical content designers. Virtools Creation and Virtools Developer are high-level, object-oriented tools for developing 3D virtual reality worlds populated with active objects.

France's Virtools announced the release of Virtools, a game development tool designed to help developers prototype or simulate behaviors associated with 3D objects used in games, and then move that prototype into a full-scale production. Virtools generates 3D environments so that developers can evaluate game concepts and ideas, presumably so that game developers can concentrate more heavily upon game play and interactivity.

Virtools, a new French company has just the answer to your development woes. Called Virtools, it's set to rapidly speed up the time it takes to get your ideas from paper play to proper play.

Virtools recently unleashed Virtools Dev, a one stop SDK that enables developers to quickly and easily test out design ideas in a real-time 3D environment. But not just that - once the idea is up and running, the Virtools Dev suite can be utilized to develop the game to whatever stage suits you, right down to a finished gold master, if that's your preference.

Before Virtools, to make 3D games, you needed to be an expert in assembler, in C, in C++, in Photoshop, in 3DS Max, and I simply pass. Or you could content yourself with a Level editor - in the Quake genre - and confront a predetermined interactivity and gameplay. With Virtools, 10,000 FF is all that's needed to play Peter Molyneux or Frederick Raynal (I resume). Classy!