Blade Interactive has successfully developed a physically accurate real-time fluid dynamics engine for games development.

Dr Huw Lloyd, R & D Director of Blade, explains, “Our HydroEngine is the result of nearly three years' intensive development work. Water in games has so far been merely a flat plane with ripple effects and other graphical smoke and mirrors applied to it. The HydroEngine is different in one key respect - the water flows. It looks and behaves exactly like real water. Nothing like this has ever been seen in games before”

The HydroEngine is the centrepiece of a new PS3 and Xbox 360 survival adventure game called Hydrophobia.

“We could have been forgiven if we had merely produced a tech demo,” explains Lloyd. “But this new game is a robust next gen game in its own right that pushes the limits of the new consoles”.

A video presentation of the new water technology is available on YouTube.