Euphoria - A proper Explanation

[Kenny Bones]

Ok, I actually had to make a topic (and a user to) about this, because I've been browsing these forums the past couple of months and just get so annoyed when people think they know all about this engine and how it works. So I thought I'd explain it a bit and in a way that's a bit easier to understand.

 

Ok, so Euphoria as we all know it has got something to do with physics and animation. But it isn't a physics engine at all. I'm not sure which physics engine GTAIV will use or if the RAGE engine provides this. But we can all assume it's similar to Havok.

 

Anywayz, traditional physics engines leave bodies "limp" or lifeless and is usually triggered when an NPC dies or similar. The instant moment you shoot someone, his/her body goes to "limp"-mode.

 

Now, when using Euphoria, ALL bodies are limp. Always. The only difference is that Euphoria brings these bodies to life. Think of it as controlling a stringpuppet. That's why every move is different every time. It's all dynamic based on the rules applied by the physics engine.

Edited April 21, 2008 by Kenny Bones

[GTAser]

*tear*

 

beautiful explanation

[Tetra Vega]

Limp, not limb.

[K^2]

Somebody pin this. I'm tired of people imagining Euphoria as a swiss knife that does everything in this game.

 

Edit: And yeah, until we have a major increase in processing power, any successful physics engine will be a lot like Havok.

[Kenny Bones]

Limp, not limb.

Edited first post! Sorry, Norwegian bloke here!

[Kenny Bones]

Just thought people would enjoy a simple explanation without having to quote wikipedia and/or the FAQ on naturalmotion.com

Actually, people from NaturalMotion was put onsite with the RockStar development team to make sure that animations were as fluid as RockStar wanted it to be.

Although nobody at RockStar first thought it was possible even to incorporate Euphoria with their existing systems.

I'm just so happy they accomplished it! Think about the possibilities with Euphoria! The endless variations on gameplay.. Just makes me drool.

 

And I don't even think people know that Euphoria can actually do to a game like GTA. I mean, if there's anything GTAIV will change forever (like GTA3 did) then it's wothout any doubt, animation.

[Jobbie]

thanks for the insight, but nothing I didnt really already know!

[markymark2]

that is 100% wrong

 

[Keldalig]

Markymark2 your a newcomer and you're already flaming people topics... You dont know what your talking about. Next time you decide to post how about you think about what you type...

It was a good description, should be pinned.

[Kenny Bones]

that is 100% wrong

Oh r'lly? Then why don't you describe what's 100% wrong and tell us the proper explanation then?

[Elsparko]

Nice job. I haven't really done much research on Euphoria, but I too thought it had something to do with physics. The way you described it in laymans terms really makes it easy to understand.

 

[gta4hater]

That helped me a bunch.

 

Have a cookie

[Kenny Bones]

Thanx!

It really shouldn't be that hard to understand but other explanations just seem a bit too advanced really. Sometimes it's better to just "keep it simple stupid"

 

Edit: Euphoria also provides other stuff to besied just animation. Remember, this engine was first created by a university group to help study AI and dynamic behaviour. And this later formed Natual Motion as a business. So Euphoria is also really supposed to emulate the human nervous system as well as providing dynamic animations.

Which is why people will react more realistically to stuff around them. Like a pedestrian holding a coffecup and nervously dropping it when Niko's car get just a little to close.

Stuff like this IS next-gen if you ask me.

Edited April 21, 2008 by Kenny Bones

[tootricky]

ah so its the reverse of normal animation logic? Got it. Good simple explanation.

[ramsy66]

Euphoria + GTA = OMG.

[Kenny Bones]

ah so its the reverse of normal animation logic? Got it. Good simple explanation.

Yup, that's why it's so great. Animators don't have to animate every single movement like traditional animation. Also called "canned animation". This new system allows the animators to use their time on other (better) things like variety of movements etc. It also makes it a lot more cheaper to develop and at the same time, RockStar get a much better end product.

[Hart]

that is 100% wrong

Oh r'lly?

[Apollo_33]

Thanks. In other words:

 

Havok and other "ragdoll" systems are used when for example the walking animation is pre-rendered one.

 

We all know that GTA IV is 100% Euphoria as it even animated Niko walking.

[K^2]

Thanks. In other words:

 

Havok and other "ragdoll" systems are used when for example the walking animation is pre-rendered one.

 

We all know that GTA IV is 100% Euphoria as it even animated Niko walking.

Not exactly. A Havok or Havok-like engine is still used. It handles everything in the environment that is not a character (cars, crates, etc), as well as character-environment collisions.

 

Euphoria takes care of characters and ragdolls. In fact, characters are always ragdolls. Difference is that Euphoria controls them like puppets by pulling on invisible strings, trying to match the given animation. However, objects in environment still interact with the ragdoll, so Euphoria can never follow the animation perfectly, which gives you a unique movement each time.

[atix]

 

 

 

example of the engines and how it works.

 

and this looks amazing! specially near the end,

Edited April 21, 2008 by atix

[Kenny Bones]

Exactly! Nice one K^2

Even though Euphoria gives the possibility to do animation on the fly based on physics properties, RockStar can still create animations as they please.

This can be compared to motion capture actually. But this time, the "dots" we've seen before when using Motion Capture just dictates how the ragdoll is supposed to move.

It would still be dynamic animation based on the motion capture info. But it would be more fluid and in less need of tweaking.

[K^2]

 

 

example of the engines and how it works.

Note that only the part with the character is Euphoria. I don't know what they are using for destructible environments demonstration, but Euphoria isn't responsible for that.

[R3VOLUTiON16]

You can download a free copy of it here.

 

CLICK HERE

[Hugef1]

Great explanation. Cheers!

 

I was doing some jumps in San An, and I flew off one of the car park ramps and landed on the pavement skidding along on my roof, wiping out about 30 people..... Imagine THAT in the new game

[Kenny Bones]

Believe me, I'm imagining this ALL DAY LONG! Also, when NPCs lose their balance, they will try to adjust themselves. Can't wait for this game no more!

[K^2]

You can download a free copy of it here.

 

CLICK HERE

That's Endorphin that you'd be downloading. Difference being that Endorphin pre-renders the scenes, while Euphoria computes things on the fly. The core algorithms are the same, but you can do some extra things with Endorphin simply because it has extra "thinking time" when rendering a scene.

[Kenny Bones]

But Endorphin is still a neat way of testing how it works on you local computer. You can't really test Euphoria cause you'd have to have a game engine in order to test it.

Endorphin though would be an equal way of testing it and seing how if works

[DrAKeN3D]

Useless topic, this has been explained by many MANY people before

 

Nice try for originality!

[Kenny Bones]

Yeah, I know. But do you really think that'll stop people from posting stupid questions?

Every time someone says that Euphoria is a physics engine, someone else corrects that person. And so the story goes over and over again.

This should be pinned. Nothing else.

[K^2]

But Endorphin is still a neat way of testing how it works on you local computer. You can't really test Euphoria cause you'd have to have a game engine in order to test it.

Endorphin though would be an equal way of testing it and seing how if works

Yup. Great way to play with it before the game.