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N-World

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N-World, Mirai and Nendo
Developer(s)Nichimen Graphics, Inc.
Stable release
3.2 / January 1999
Operating systemIRIX, Windows
Type3D computer graphics
LicenseProprietary

N-World is a 3D graphics package developed by Nichimen Graphics in the 1990s, for Silicon Graphics and Windows NT workstations. Intended primarily for video game content creation, it offers polygon modeling tools, 2D and 3D paint, scripting, color reduction, and exporters for several popular game consoles. Once ported to Windows, N-World was released as Mirai and Nendo. Its current incarnations can be found as an open source clone called Wings3D.

History

N-World's origins can be traced back to Symbolics, a computer manufacturer notable for producing LISP-based systems in the 1980s. Among the software packages that were produced for Symbolics computers are S-Graphics, a 3D animation suite that includes modules for polygon modeling, dynamics, paint, and rendering — titled S-Geometry, S-Dynamics, S-Paint, and S-Render, respectively.[1] In 1992, Japanese trading company Nichimen Corporation purchased the rights to S-Graphics, ported it to Silicon Graphics IRIX, and marketed it as N-World.

N-World retains the LSD-based underpinnings of its predecessor,[2] but was targeted at interactive content producers,[3] offering features useful for game developers. Pricing was set at US$16,995 for the full suite of tools, later reduced to US$9,995 when N-World as ported to Windows NT in 1997.[4]

N-World was used to create graphics for a number of console games in the 1990s, including Super Mario 64 and Final Fantasy VII.[5] N-World was superseded by Mirai in 1999.[6]

Features

The N-World package, like its predecessor S-Graphics, is divided into several components:[7]

  • N-Geometry: 3D polygon-based modeling tools, including smoothing, "magnet" geometry editing, and instancing.
  • N-Dynamics: Animation tools including scripting, curve-based animation, and skeletal animation.
  • N-Render: Surfacing and rendering tools with ray tracing and materials output to various game console formats.
  • N-Paint: 2D and 3D paint with mattes, effects, color reduction, and a visual VRAM editor for PlayStation.
  • Game Tools: Utilities for game developers, including exporters for PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Saturn consoles.

Credits

The following titles were created using N-World.[8]

  • Rap Stars Online

References

  1. ^ "Lemonodor: Symbolics Color Graphics System". lemonodor.com. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  2. ^ "Franz Inc Customer Applications: Nichimen Graphics". franz.com. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  3. ^ Alias. "Nichimen Graphics and Alias Wavefront Announce Collaborative Agreement". prnewswire.com. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "ACCL Message Board - Msg: 1910481". Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  5. ^ "Super Mario 64 was built with a system written in Lisp - Hacker News". news.ycombinator.com.
  6. ^ "My primary focus in life has been computer graphics, and my first language... - Hacker News". ycombinator.com. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  7. ^ "N-World 3.0 Online Documentation". aaronjamesrogers.com. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  8. ^ "The Rules are Changing". Game Developer Magazine (Vol. 5, No. 5). Miller Freeman Inc.: 37 May 1998. {{cite journal}}: |issue= has extra text (help)
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