Bethesda Softworks went with the NetImmerse game engine and toolkit when creating The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, the third chapter in the Elder Scrolls series of roleplaying games. NetImmerse 3D Game Engine is an object-oriented C++ software toolkit for creating real-time games and other interactive 3D content for Windows, Windows NT, PlayStation 2, and GAMECUBE. NetImmerse provides plug-ins to 3ds max, Maya and Multigen's Creator, and is compatible with havok.com's physics engine.

“We decided that NetImmerse embodied all of the things we wanted in an engine for Morrowind,” says Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks. “We wanted a generic open-ended system that we could add to and modify easily. In addition, we wanted something cross-platform compatible and with NetImmerse all of our assets and much of our code are platform independent.”

NetImmerse delivers tools that allow artists to create animations without programming. NetImmerse's run-time engine supports morphing vertices, particle systems, quaternion-based key frames and more.

One of the most impressive and challenging aspects of creating the game is its size. “This game is huge, and we have a lot of art,” says Howard. “It’s going to take a long time to see all the stuff in Morrowind. The art pipeline with NetImmerse has been great. It provides us with some key tools for our animation needs and helps with the landscape blending.”

The game is scheduled to be released before the holidays. says, the company, so speed was another issue for the development team. Says Howard, “With MaxImmerse and NetImmerse’s other art tools, we’re able to generate art very quickly and place it right into the game. It’s also helped that we get full source code, so we’ve been able to modify many things to suit our specific needs.”

NetImmerse is from Numerical Design Ltd. (NDL). In addition to Morrowind, other NetImmerse-based game titles include Totally Games’ Star Trek Bridge Commander, Irrational Games’ Freedom Force, Mythic Entertainment’s Dark Age of Camelot and Headfirst Production’s Call of Cthulhu.

For more information about Morrowind, visit the official website at www.elderscrolls.com. Additional information about NetImmerse’s engine and tools is available at www.ndl.com.