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Source Engine
Valve’s Source engine is widely recognized as the most flexible, comprehensive,
and powerful game development environment available.
Source combines leading-edge character animation, advanced AI, real-world
physics, shader-based rendering, and a highly extensible development environment
to produce some of the most popular computer and console games. These games
deliver the most intense, visually-stunning gameplay experiences on modern
hardware, while scaling smoothly on older systems, enabling developers to reach
a diverse range of gamers.
Source technology powers some of the most critically-acclaimed PC and console
games, including:
- Half Life 2 + Episodes One and Two
- Portal and Portal 2
- Team Fortress 2
- Counter-Strike: Source
-
Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2
Thanks to Source’s comprehensive, road-tested collection of tools—the same used
to create Team Fortress 2, Portal and the Half-Life 2 series— developers time
and effort can be spent building creative gameplay and unique content rather
than fundamental systems such as rendering technology or network code or
collision detection.
At its core, Source is designed with a modular, component-based architecture
that enables the seamless integration of new features and technologies. Since
its 2004 debut to third-party developers, Source licensees have benefited from
the very latest tools for level design, modeling and character animation, online
play and communications, console development, and more—all available at no extra
cost or additional licensing fees.
Source’s updated animation system brings expressive characters to life with an
unlimited palette of facial expressions that allow them to convey a message
without having to say a word. These characters possess the industry’s most
advanced artificial intelligence, making them extremely capable allies and foes.
Characters populate beautifully rendered and physically simulated worlds that,
thanks to Source’s integrated and versatile physics system, immerse players in
realistic and responsive environments. This allows developers to break from
authoring the pre-scripted events featured in previous generations of games, and
opens the door for the creation of completely new styles of play.
Source’s multiplayer platform supports some of the world’s most played online
games—including Counter-Strike and Team Fortress 2—and one of the largest online
gaming cultures in the world. Robust networking and multiplayer features include
support up to 32-player LAN and Internet games, an integrated server browser,
and voice and text messaging.