[wintersforge]

A lot of new technology is going into Pacific Assault to make the planned gameplay possible. Although parts of the engine are still based on Quake III technology, the EA team has completely rewritten the renderer to make the game competitive with next year's visual standards. The engine will support a lot more objects on screen to allow for dramatic scenes like Pearl Harbor and the terrain engine has been redone to make way for large outdoor environments. There are also a number of new effects that are being prototyped, including an advanced water effect and a particle system that will be showcased by the flamethrower, a weapon most commonly used in the South Pacific fighting. The engine will also have to handle the special lighting characteristics of dense jungle and will have dynamic lighting that we'll see in nighttime sequences where friendly troops throw flares to expose enemies hidden in the darkness. Last but not least, the AI is being revamped to make the enemies behave in a more squad-like manner.